I feel like I should listen to this more often, because, as Christmas records go, this one is pretty great. Add in that I got it free about 15 years ago, and it's in my top five.
We're probably most familiar with Chuck Berry's "Run Rudolph Run", but I held onto this one for Superchunk's cover of John Cale's "Child's Christmas in Wales". That's a good reminder to keep an eye out for Cale solo records when I'm down in California later this month; they feel like the sort of thing one would find in a Central Coast record store owned by an aging hippie. I am still in the right demographic to be jazzed over a R.E.M. rarity. And, for me, it's worth sitting through the Flaming Lips (yuck!) and Sufjan Stevens (barf!) to get to Joe Tex and Mary Chapin Carpenter. The whole endeavor is capped off with Tony Christie performing a Slade classic. Forgive me if I bust a Christmas cracker a bit early.
