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Squirrel Nut Zippers' CHRISTMAS CARAVAN... Fantastic!

Don't laugh - the soundtrack from the movie "Elf" is playing on my iPod right now! It has a few classics and my all-time-favorite recording of "Baby it's Cold Outside" sung by Zooey Deschanel and Leon Redbone.

Also, "Christmas with the Rat Pack" is a good one.

So nice to see the Pogues on this list!

Step into Christmas - Elton John
Christmas Wrappings - The Waitresses
I Believe in Father Christmas - Emerson Lake & Palmer

The Temptations and Jackie Wilson both have classic Christmas albums... at least around my home.

Ella Fitzgerald Wishes You A Swinging Christmas

Stevie Wonder has some great ones, incl. "One Little Christmas Tree," "Someday at Christmas," and "What Christmas Means to Me"

* Christmas Jollies - Salsoul Orchestra (album)
* (Mamacita) Donde esta Santa Claus - Charo (song)
* Holy Shit, It's Christmas - Red Peters (song)
* Xmas Number One - The Revenge (MP3 Re-Edit of Waitresses Christmas Wrapping via Ooft)

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Some on my Christmas Playlist

Barenaked Ladies - Barenaked for the Holidays
John Denver and the Muppets - A Christmas Together
George Winston - DECEMBER
Harry Connick Jr (both Christmas Albums)

It may not be uptempo enough for a party, but I really enjoy the Jewel Holiday Collection.

I have several Christmas mix CD's.

For R&B, it's the BillBoard R&B top Christmas hits, Rhino (40's-60's mostly)
Rock, Billboard's greatest christmas hits, Rhino
The very Best of Cool Yule, Rhino (out of print)
Dr Demento's all time Novelty Christmas Hits, Rhino
And the Ren and Stempy Christmas CD.
And of course, the Vince Guaraldi Trio's A Charlie Brown Christmas
on vinyl, Julie Andrews Firestone Christmas Favorites (1966, out of print) that's been a staple of my Christmas' growing up.

Don't know if any of the Rhino CD's mentioned are still being released but are worth finding used if need be.

The best rendition of "Baby It's Cold Outside" is Nina Simone and Ray Charles. It's perfect.

Wynton Marsalis, Crescent City Christmas

christmas wrapping - the waitresses
mele kalikimaka - bing crosby
winter wonderland - eurythmics
have yourself a merry little christmas - judy garland
christmas in hollis - run dmc
the christmas song - nat king cole


there's a great list of stuff on itunes if you search under "holiday music", then ckeck out the top songs list.

oh, and feliz navidad by jose feliciano! love that one.

Eartha Kitt doing "Santa Baby."

And everyone loves Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You." Whether they admit it or not. But most admit it.

Thanks for the recommendations, everyone. This helps a lot!

The Alligator Records Christmas Collection is great Chicago Blues. It has such gems as "Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin'" and Saffire - The Uppity Blues Women singing "One Parent Christmas." It's a classic at my house.

Glad to see The Pogues and the wonderful, late Kirsty McCall.

Check out Zune's site - they have a ton of holiday playlists for everything from kid's playlists to the standard, which are free with a 14 day trial pass.