Martin's Musings

I don’t know exactly when it was that I became such a fan of Christmas music, but 10 years ago I decided to create a mix of my favorite holiday tunes.

A friend of mine suggested I give it out to people as a sort-of Christmas card, and she even gave the mix the name A Very Marty Xmas.

The rest is history.

With the exception of 2008, I’ve made a mix every year for the past decade.

I say humbly that these compilations have become as much of a beloved holiday tradition as A Charlie Brown Christmas or the all-day A Christmas Story marathon on TBS.

And yes, I’m Jewish, which makes the whole thing even more fun. (Then again, so was Irving Berlin, and he wrote “White Christmas!”)

Which brings us to A Very Marty Xmas 2010, the special, extra-festive tenth-anniversary edition. Continue reading →

Every year without fail, someone who receives my annual Very Marty Xmas mix says to me, “Hey, where’s [fill in the blank]?”

That blank can be filled by your choice of Bruce Springsteen’s “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” or Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas” or the Waitresses’ “Christmas Wrapping” or any other favorite tune.

And the simple answer is always that all those classics had already appeared on my mix, back in 2000 or 2001.

In 2005, I toyed with the idea of creating a “best of the box” mix of my favorite tunes, ones that had previously appeared on my mixes, but this year I actually compiled one. Continue reading →

I’m not sure when it started, but as far as I can remember, I’ve always loved holiday music. In 2000, with the help of Napster, I compiled a 2-disc mix of my favorite holiday songs. That year, one of my coworkers suggested to me that a mix of holiday tunes would make for a fun “Christmas card.” So I cut my mix down to one disc, made about six copies, and got an enthusiastic response. And thus, A Very Marty Xmas was born.

Little did I know that five years later, I’d still be compiling these CDs. In fact, the albums have developed quite a following over the years; in addition to giving them out to friends and coworkers, I’ve been asked to make copies for friends of friends, their siblings, some coworkers’ children, and even some parents of friends and coworkers. Every year I hear stories of people who played the CDs while trimming the tree or during a holiday party. There’s always someone who is stunned or amused to learn that I’m Jewish because the mix is so good. And two days ago I actually received a tin of homemade cookies and a card from the grateful family of one coworker. The fact that people seem to genuinely, really like the CDs makes me really happy, and encourages me to continue year after year.

In fact, it is a constant source of pleasure that there is so much good holiday music out there and that I’m always finding more to share. Six discs later, I even have enough material for next year’s CD. But maybe that’s jumping the gun.

As I have mentioned, this week I sent out A Very Marty Xmas 2005. Since I’ve written about the CD a couple of times on this site, I thought I’d post the song listing here. As always, the CD is peppered with quick clips from A Charlie Brown Christmas, Scrooged, and other fun holiday movies and specials, and where those appear is a surprise, so they’re not listed on the cover. Some of the clips this year came from The Daily WAV, so I thank the guy who runs that site.

Alright, without further ado, here is the song listing:

Slade — “Merry Christmas, Everybody”
Eels — “Christmas Is Going to the Dogs”
Gavin DeGraw — “Silver Bells”
Ray Charles — “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”
Queen — “Thank God It’s Christmas”
Rufus Wainwright — “Spotlight on Christmas” (live acoustic)
Bleu — “Snow Day”
Diana Krall — “Jingle Bells”
Harry Connick, Jr. — “I’m Gonna Be the First One”
Jason Mraz — “Winter Wonderland”
Barenaked Ladies — “Sleigh Ride”
Jack Johnson — “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”
Andy Williams — “Christmas Holiday”
Rockapella — “Carol of the Bells”
Death Cab for Cutie — “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”
Brian Wilson — “The Man with All the Toys”
Leon Redbone — “Christmas Island”
Jimmy Buffett — “Ho Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rum”
Melissa Etheridge — “Christmas in America”
The LeeVees — “Latke Clan”
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy — “Mr. Heat Miser”
Elvis Presley — “Santa Claus Is Back in Town”
Stevie Wonder — “One Little Christmas Tree”
Michael Bublé — “Grown-up Christmas List”
Nat King Cole and Natalie Cole — “The Christmas Song”

If you ask me, it’s a perfect blend of jolly tunes, some pop, some rock and roll, a classic or two, some unexpected artists, and some fun. After some shuffling, I found an almost ideal order so the whole thing flows from start to finish. Including the covers, which I designed myself but had the kind folks at FedEx Kinkos print for me so they’d look the way I wanted them to, I think this may be my best mix ever. Suffice it to say, I’m really proud of it.

And considering each year I try to raise the game a little bit, I can’t wait to compile — and hear — next year’s mix. (Somewhere, my sister is already dreading it.)

Over the past two weeks or so I’ve had quite a few discussions about the Very Marty Christmas CDs and all the work that goes into making the disc every year (this is year six). I’ve been joking that when put together, the CDs would make one hell of a boxed set. I mean, really: considering that each disc is nearly 80 minutes of music, you could start playing them all (in sequence) at noon on Christmas Day and have enough music to last until almost 7:30 p.m. That would be one holly, jolly Christmas!

Anyway, so it’s led me to consider compiling a “best of the box” CD for those who have not been a part of the fun for all these years. However, until that day arrives when I actually burn this “best of” CD, here is a list of what I would consider to be the 20 essential holiday tunes that would be on my Ultimate Very Marty Christmas CD, in no particular order:

1. Darlene Love, “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” — The best Christmas record of all time, in my humble opinion. Not even U2’s cover can touch Darlene Love’s original. She sings it every year on Late Show with David Letterman and will be doing so this Friday night. Set your DVR.
2. Donny Hathaway, “This Christmas” — Simply, a soulful classic.
3. Mariah Carey, “All I Want for Christmas Is You” — A good, old fashioned Mariah Carey tune that totally puts you in the holiday mood. This is an irresistible confection; it’s undeniably catchy and hard to dislike.
4. Stevie Wonder, “That’s What Christmas Means to Me” — It’s hard to choose between this song and Stevie’s “Someday at Christmas,” but like Mariah Carey’s track, this song is also irresistibly upbeat and catchy.
5. John Lennon, “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” — Of course. The Corrs’ cover of this song is also quite good.
6. Band Aid, “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” — Untouchable. As last year’s remake proved, it’s hard to improve upon the original, though Barenaked Ladies do a really fun cover of this song live.
7. Andy Williams, “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” — Duh. Like there was any question about including this one.
8. Harry Connick, Jr., “Sleigh Ride” — Had to make a tough choice here. A song by Harry has been on every one of my mixes because his two Christmas CDs are my two favorites of all-time. If they’re not in your collection, buy them now.
9. Jose Feliciano, “Feliz Navidad” — Why not?
10. NSync, “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays” — What? It’s Christmas, cut me some slack.
11. Ray Charles, “Winter Wonderland” — The gold standard rendition of one of the most popular Christmas songs.
12. Bruce Springsteen, “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” — A big, boisterous cover.
13. The Eagles, “Please Come Home for Christmas” — Not a happy song, but an essential nevertheless.
14. Tom Petty, “It’s Christmas All Over Again” — Yeah, again.
15. John Williams, “Carol of the Bells” — Sure, this song will stick out on the mix, but it’s one I just love listening to.
16. Britney Spears, “My Only Wish (This Year)” — You’ve gotta hear it to know what I’m talking about. This is old school Britney, the sweet, pop music kind.
17. James Taylor, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” — A gentle voice makes this song even warmer.
18. Ron Sexsmith, “Maybe This Christmas” — Short, sweet, and to the point.
19. Jimmy Buffett, “Mele Kalikimaka” — This one’s pure novelty. It’s a dose of summer at the coldest time of year.
20. Rufus Wainwright, “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?” — A song of longing, one that ends any mix with a cliffhanger. I also love Vonda Shepard’s version.

Alright, there are plenty, plenty more great holiday songs, but as I’m going through the first five mixes, those are the ones that stand out. And hey, I’m the one making the mix here. You want to suggest a “best of” mix? Go right ahead.

And of course, perhaps this raises a question for you: What’s on this year’s mix? Well, I think it may just be a perfect mix of classic, contemporary, jolly, rocking, upbeat, downbeat, and bittersweet tunes. And, there’s a Hanukkah song on it! I can’t wait for people to finally hear it. I’m putting them in the mail on Tuesday, so midweek, I’ll post the final list. Stay tuned.