Wishing You a Different Kind of Christmas
Quick programming note: thank you for reading The Austin Tadarida this year. I hope to publish more art and writing from other contributors in 2026, and I'm currently working on a couple of other pieces for this blog. 2025 has been difficult, with both of my parents spending time in the hospital. I am grateful that they both seem to be doing better as we close out this crappy year. Happy 2026!
Last thing: I want to further share my appreciation for the Wellcome Collection, which has so many images available for use...even for blogs like this one!
Depending on your background, Christmas can either feel deeply nostalgic or as an exercise demonstrated by other people, for them. Growing up, our experience of Christmas was best expressed by its absence in our home. The religious and the "secular" side of Christmas were all one thing to our (Jewish) family. It wasn't, and it couldn't be, for us.
Then, I met Leah, who was born into a Methodist family in North Texas. After enough Christmases helping make their traditional enchiladas and margaritas while listening to Rod Stewart’s holiday-appropriate duets, I allowed myself to think a little bit more about — and then love — Christmas music. With so many years having passed without intentionally listening to Christmas music even once, I now let the sounds of the season wash over me like so much lactose-free nog.
Here are some of the more unique Christmas albums I've come to enjoy.
John Waters - A John Waters Christmas
Leah turned me onto this one, and I’m shocked it isn’t available on vinyl — there is no doubt in my mind that Waters fans are more likely than most to have a turntable, likely of the vintage and/or campy variety. True to the John Waters form, these tracks seem like they were pressed onto obscure ‘45s left mouldering until a curious listener (Mr. Waters himself?) discovered them and spread the Good News, including that "Santa Claus Is a Black Man."
The American Song Poem Christmas
The already obscure genre of song-poems finds a way to move into an even smaller niche with this collection of holiday compositions. At worst, the pitch of the song poem (if you are unfamiliar, I really recommend this doc) was designed to fool cranks and would-be poets into believing that their verses about the city’s hospital patients or the difference between big wood and brush could, with the help of a crack team of session musicians and their own money, break into the charts. And while the genesis of these recordings may be scammy, can you argue with the results? Listen to the intersection of the American id and the rocket pace of pay-for-play studio musicians in “The Rocking Disco Santa Claus,” and you will hear the true sound of a weird American Christmas.
Merry Christmas from the Beach Boys
With Wings folding and the electronic age in view, Paul McCartney got strange in the studio and created the quirky McCartney II. While the resulting album was both befuddling and somewhat adorable, another song from the sessions — “Wonderful Christmastime” — continues to provoke stronger reactions today, with some folks heralding it as an essential Christmas song, while others recoil at the very thought of the bouncy intro.
Little did Paul probably know, The Beach Boys had tried a couple of years earlier to make their own synthy Christmas songs. The resulting, rejected album Merry Christmas from the Beach Boys would see a few songs resurface on the Ultimate Christmas collection, and you can hear a “fanmade creation” of the original album here. While Merry Christmas would never be the smash that was The Beach Boys’ Christmas album, the peppy but bizarre approach to these recordings (especially the originals) deserves at least a limited release, and not to be shelved indefinitely by Warner Bros. stooges. How about a special Record Store Day just for neglected winter holiday releases in 2026?
Christmas Dreamers: Yuletide Country (1960-1972)
The Numero Group has a strong lock on the release of quixotic compilations and a firm love of odd, under-produced country music, and the two come together on this 2021 collection of what would be Christmas classics in another, better universe. Excellent tracks include “All I Want For Christmas (Is A Go Go Girl)” and “What Would Santa Think.” For a fun pairing, consider the argument made by this comp’s “Santa Claus Ain’t A Hippie” versus Jethro Homer’s “Santa Claus, the Original Hippie.”
Christmas Party Time In The Tropics
My former stepfather was the kind of man to fall for a time-share scam, and I was the lucky beneficiary of his ignorance when I got to visit one of his 'properties' in the Bahamas, once, at the end of high school. On that trip I learned that conch could be prepared as a dish in many forms, that “unlimited Bahama Mamas” on a tour bus is too many, and that Christmas music on the island was…not that different from regular island music. Jamaican Christmas doesn’t get much better than the expansive Trojan Christmas Box Set, but this album by Byron Lee and The Dragonaires (a compilation itself, it spans two of Lee’s albums) is a smooth introduction to a world where you’ll find sand instead of snow on Christmas day.
Season's Greetings from Barbara Streisand...and Friends
I almost forgot about this one, which we own on vinyl. According to Barbara Archives (!), this album was sold as a tie-in with Maxwell House Coffee: "Maxwell House coffee was the corporate sponsor in the U.S. (Canada Dry in Canada), and the albums were sold for $1.00 in grocery stores featuring big displays of the album — and Maxwell House coffee!" Jim Nabors is one of the "friends," and has a lovely voice.
Happy Holidays!
