Ken Kessler is a friend of the Mistletunes site, having contributed many tips about hot rocking Christmas tunes over the years, and we've also posted some of his questions about obscure recordings over the years. He's taken his Christmas obsession to the Web with an Internet radio station, The Sounds of Christmas, and for 2009 he's moved on to curate his very own Christmas compilation, proceeds from which will benefit the Hollywood Charity Horse Show. Not surprisingly, he named the collection after his radio station, and it's 15 selections from off the beaten path. Among the highlights is the first-ever CD release of the doo-wop a capella "Winter Wonderland" by Huey Lewis and the News, which was originally released to the fan club only back in 1984; a strong rocking version of "Santa Claus Is Back In Town" from Richard Marx; Stephen Bishop's "Rock Little Reindeer"; the Jimmy Buffett-styled "Christmastime on the Beach" by Roy Holliday; Hayseed Dixie's fabulous rock/bluegrass fusion "Misty Wonderland Hop," combining "Winter Wonderland" with the Led Zeppelin classic; Pete Hopkins' modern r'nb take on "(I'll Be) Home For Christmas"; and a cute, if a bit dated, novelty, DJ Ice Z Ice and the Fresh Elf doing an old-school rap in chipmunk voices with "The Night Before Christmas." William Shatner's "Good King Wenceslas" is his usual overly portentious dramatic reading over a musical bed, something that might get old fast if you're not a Denny Crane fan. The remaining songs on this album track much closer to middle of the road, including former Styx-man Dennis DeYoung's "When I Hear a Christmas Song," but as the album's for charity I assume Ken made his picks to attract a wider audience. Nevertheless, there are some good rocking reasons to go with this collection. For a deeper look at this disc, visit Ken's MySpace page.
The Sounds of Christmas 2009, various artists (SOCMusic)
Ken Kessler is a friend of the Mistletunes site, having contributed many tips about hot rocking Christmas tunes over the years, and we've also posted some of his questions about obscure recordings over the years. He's taken his Christmas obsession to the Web with an Internet radio station, The Sounds of Christmas, and for 2009 he's moved on to curate his very own Christmas compilation, proceeds from which will benefit the Hollywood Charity Horse Show. Not surprisingly, he named the collection after his radio station, and it's 15 selections from off the beaten path. Among the highlights is the first-ever CD release of the doo-wop a capella "Winter Wonderland" by Huey Lewis and the News, which was originally released to the fan club only back in 1984; a strong rocking version of "Santa Claus Is Back In Town" from Richard Marx; Stephen Bishop's "Rock Little Reindeer"; the Jimmy Buffett-styled "Christmastime on the Beach" by Roy Holliday; Hayseed Dixie's fabulous rock/bluegrass fusion "Misty Wonderland Hop," combining "Winter Wonderland" with the Led Zeppelin classic; Pete Hopkins' modern r'nb take on "(I'll Be) Home For Christmas"; and a cute, if a bit dated, novelty, DJ Ice Z Ice and the Fresh Elf doing an old-school rap in chipmunk voices with "The Night Before Christmas." William Shatner's "Good King Wenceslas" is his usual overly portentious dramatic reading over a musical bed, something that might get old fast if you're not a Denny Crane fan. The remaining songs on this album track much closer to middle of the road, including former Styx-man Dennis DeYoung's "When I Hear a Christmas Song," but as the album's for charity I assume Ken made his picks to attract a wider audience. Nevertheless, there are some good rocking reasons to go with this collection. For a deeper look at this disc, visit Ken's MySpace page.
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Thanks so much for the kind words! This one was quite the labor of love to put together, and we're pretty pleased with how it turned out! Hopefully, others are, too!
Thanks so much for the kind words! This one was quite the labor of love to put together, and we're pretty pleased with how it turned out! Hopefully, others will be, too!