By Alan Haber – Pure Pop Radio
It’s that time of year again, when bells ring and chime and catchy, melodic Christmas songs form the soundtrack of our lives.
We’ve got more classic Christmas songs to tell you about today as part of our Holly Jolly Christmas Party; don’t forget to follow us all week long for more melodic wonders. And be sure to fill out the form below to win another pair of Christmas presents from Pure Pop Radio; today, we’re giving away Curry Cuts’ brand-new tribute CD, White Lace and Promises: The Songs of Paul Williams, and Vegas With Randolph’s Legs & Luggage.
Let’s get started, with a truly special Christmas album from Ronnie D’Addario…
Ronnie D’Addario | A Good Old Fashioned Brand New Christmas
(You are the Cosmos, 2018)
Just out on You are the Cosmos is Ronnie D’Addario’s superb collection of songs celebrating the season and, not surprisingly, the art of singing rich, glorious harmonies atop catchy melodies.
D’Addario is well known in the pop community for his deep catalog of catchy melodic pop songs, collected in two must-have three-CD box sets by You are the Cosmos. This Christmas album, composed of D’Addario originals, covers and traditional numbers, is an important, joyous addition to his astounding and sturdy body of work.
“Keep His Name in Christmas” is a lovely, original mid-tempo ballad, introduced with a 24-second, rich a cappella, Beach Boys-like open that will leave you absolutely breathless. Another D’Addario original, “Brand New Christmas,” is a hit-worthy, upbeat pop-rocker buoyed by incredible harmony vocals and Brian D’Addario’s lead guitar (Brian and his brother Michael perform as the Lemon Twigs). And, speaking of the Lemon Twigs, both are the stars of yet another D’Addario original, “One Day” (a young Brian sings, supported by Michael and dad on harmonies).
“Caroling, Caroling,” written in 1954 by Wilha Hutson and Alfred Burt and conceived of as music to go with a Christmas card, was famously recorded by Nat King Cole; here, D’Addario delivers the melody with a rich harmony vocal. It’s a wonderful, truly affecting and special performance.
These are just a few of the highlights of this great Christmas album. A Good Old Fashioned Brand New Christmas deserves to be played year after year and exist in the same company as other melodic pop classic holiday collections such as Yuletunes, Cool Yule, and the Beach Boys’ Christmas Album. Don’t miss this one.
Where to Get It: Ronnie D’Addario, You are the Cosmos
Herb Eimerman | “Don’t Ask for More” (2018)
Pure Pop Radio played the music of melodic pop great Herb Eimerman pretty much since the beginning of our old weekly show. Herb’s latest release is a distinctly Byrdsian upbeat number with a timely message for the holidays: love is the answer (“I know what we need this year/Give your heart and share your cheer”). Playing most of the instruments and supported by Mark “Sid” Eaton on drums and Joe Algeri on the 12-string Rickenbacker, keyboards and tambourine, Herb has come up with another winner. More, please.
Where to Get It: Bandcamp
Super 8 | It’ll Soon Be Christmas (2018)
Paul Ryan made three albums in 2018 and still had time to bang out a superb Christmas song that’s a bit chill but not chilly. “It’ll Soon Be Christmas” is rather warm and makes the most of its central message: make the best of a bad year, feel the goodwill, pass it on to others, and come out stronger for the effort. With Futureman Records head honcho Keith Klingensmith (also a member of the Legal Matters) helping out with background vocals, this has the makings of a perennial Christmas favorite.
Where to Get It: Futureman Records on Bandcamp
Mr! Mouray | “Christmas Belles – Christmas Bells” (2018)
Written by Bullseye Records’ Jaimie Vernon, this vibrant, upbeat tune sounds like so many of the classic Christmas records of the 1960s–catchy and uplifting and full of the joyous sound of bells. The chorus says it all: “Christmas Belles have told the stories/Of joy and reverie/And Christmas Belles/Bring peace and harmony.” A little more echo and this would sound like a Phil Spector production, a good thing for sure. Good job, Mouray.
Where to Get It: Bullseye on Bandcamp
Bill Lloyd | The Day After Christmas (2012)
Any addition to your Bill Lloyd collection is a treat at any time of the year. Since it’s Christmas time (ain’t been ’round since you know when), it’s as good a time as any to focus on this sterling four-track EP from 2012. Each song shows off Bill’s very many skills that come together–words drawing breath as poetry, notes next to notes forming lyrical melody lines.
The acoustic title song, in which traditional motifs meet those of the folk variety, posits “The Day After Christmas” as a day of rebirth–a day to start all over again with a glimmer of hope. The electric, mid-tempo rocker “Under the Christmas Tree” contains a real lyrical pearl: “Holidays can simply floor you/Can’t you tell how I adore you.”
Another electric, mid-tempo number, “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” is as satisfying a side as they come (extra points for name-checking A Partridge Family Christmas Card as “the Partridge Family Yuletide Album,” which might be a better, more satisfying moniker. And the short, blissful, acoustic “Out of Season” looks at a beach town closing for the summer season and being reborn when the Christmas season arrives.
Bill has been on a rather extraordinary run of career high albums of late; his latest, Working the Long Game, is maybe his best long player ever. But since this is the season, and the spirit is bright, you’ll want to play this one during Christmas’s dozen days…and beyond.
Where to Get It: Amazon, iTunes
Win a Pair of Presents!
Enter below to win a pair of melodic presents for the holiday season from Pure Pop Radio (Curry Cuts’ brand-new tribute CD, White Lace and Promises: The Songs of Paul Williams, and Vegas With Randolph’s Legs & Luggage). Be sure to fill in all fields (type “Paul Randolph” in the Comment field), and send the completed form to us by tomorrow, Wednesday, December 19, at noon ET. US residents only. Good luck!
Alan Haber’s Pure Pop Radio is the premiere website covering the melodic pop scene with in-depth reviews of new and reissued recordings, and a wide variety of features. We’ve been around since the first weekly Pure Pop Radio shows, which began broadcasting in 1995 and ended this past August. Welcome to your number one home for coverage of the greatest melodic pop music in the universe from the ’60s to today. Happy holidays!