The Reggae Christmas Hits Album, John Holt (Trojan)

I first heard of John Holt from an early ska album entitled 1,000 Volts of Holt. Here on this 1986 album, he takes on a number of Christmas pop-rock standards, reggae style, and the results are good, though a bit monochromatic to listen to all the way through. He performs ELP's "I Believe in Father Christmas," the Lennons' "Happy Xmas (War is Over)," Chris de Burgh's "A Spaceman Came Traveling," Wham's "Last Christmas," the ever-popular "Blue Christmas" and a Chinn-Chapman tune called "Lonely This Christmas," originally performed by British teeny-bop band Mud. Strangely, there's a Slade tune called "My Oh My" that has nothing to do with Christmas; considering that group had a holiday tune called "Merry Xmas Everybody," it's an odd choice for this CD. "Auld Lang Syne" closes the album.