Karen: A big part of the holiday season for me is music. I start feeling that Christmas spirit when I hear any of the tunes off of the Vince Guaraldi "Charlie Brown Christmas" album. That has to be my number one, all-time favorite Christmas music. But there are a lot of other songs I really enjoy. I like the traditional tunes like "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" and old crooners like Bing Crosby and Nat King Cole, but it's great hearing traditional songs with a twist. Surf guitar slingers Los Straitjackets have a great album, "Tis the Season for Los Straitjackets," where they combined traditional Christmas tunes with classic surf songs like "Pipeline" and "Walk Don't Run" to create unique sounds. I absolutely love this album, as it hits two of my favorite genres.
Karen: Last year I was thrilled to run across a little gem in Best Buy - "A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector." This album is a real beauty. It has holiday classics performed by The Crystals, The Ronettes, Darlene Love, and Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans. If you're a Phil Spector fan, or a girl group fan, or just a fan of 60s pop singing groups, this is a terrific album.
Karen: There have been a lot of original songs over the years that I've grown fond of, but none rocks harder than the Kinks' "Father Christmas."
Karen: There are so many more I enjoy -"Little Saint Nick" by the Beach Boys, the schmaltzy synth of "Wonderful Christmastime" by Sir Paul, "Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna Fight Tonight)" by The Ramones, "Christmas Is" by Run-DMC...it seems like everyone has put out a Christmas song. What are your favorites?
