[Originally Published: December 21, 2006]
As we approach Christmas, this week’s B List takes a look at the ten great rock and roll Christmas songs. I’m Jewish, but hey, if Bette Midler and Neil Diamond can make Christmas albums, I can at least list my favorite songs.
1. Run Rudolph Run – Chuck Berry: One of the oldest songs on this list (1958), Run Rudolph Run has been performed by everyone from Dave Edmunds to the Grateful Dead to Bryan Adams. I always found it cool (because laziness rules) that Berry just stole the chords from Johnny B. Goode and added new seasonal lyrics, yet 50 years later, Run Rudolph Run is still in regular airplay on the radio.
2. Santa Baby – Madonna: Eartha Kitt, Madonna, Kylie Minogue and the Pussycat Dolls all cover this one — it seems like every 10 years the slutty popstar of the era records a new version of this classic. Madonna is still the sluttiest.
3. Merry Xmas (War Is Over) – John Lennon: John and Yoko wrote this one in 1971, and while it’s not exactly the most uplifting song, it’s got Christmas in the title. The melody is haunting, and the words still ring true today 35 years later.
Read on for the rest of this week’s edition of The B List…