Mambo Santa Mambo, various artists (Rhino)

This now-out-of-print 2000 disc is subtitled "Christmas From the Latin Lounge," and that last word is key; better than half the stuff on here is basically lounge music, although the "mambo" part of the title does come into play as well. Some of the giants of that genre, such as Hugo Winterhalter and Esquivel, are here, and some 50s R&B pays a visit too, such as The Enchanters' "Mambo Santa Mambo" and "Rockin' 'J' Bells" by Little Bobby Rey, who returns later in the album with a Latin-flavored "Corrido de Auld Lang Syne." Bill Darnel and The Smith Brothers do a white-bread version of "We Wanna See Santa Do The Mambo," at least compared to Big John Greer's version, preserved on Rhino's Hipsters' Holiday CD. Steve Allen, the late great Steverino himself, contributes an original, "How Can Santa Come to Puerto Rico," performed by Ricky Vera. Jimmy Boyd, the 1950s pre-pubescent king of Christmas, is here with "I Saw Mommy Do the Mambo (With You Know Who)." An often-used Latin number, Augie Rios' "Donde Esta Santa Claus," makes another apperance here, and Pittsburgh's favorite sons The Flashcats treat us to the only modern-day track, "December Twenty 5," a parody of Lou Bega's "Mambo No. 5." Copious liner notes in the Rhino tradition are contributed by Eddie Gorodetsky, better known to Christmas collectors as Eddie G.