December 2, 2004 | Posted by David B. at 10:57 PM

They're singing Deck the Halls

Phil Spector

Ugly sweaters. Fruitcake. Ben Gibbard's big round head. These are just a few things I think of when I think of the holidays. I'm a complete sucker for a good holiday song. As one who celebrates Christmas, I have a soft spot for these songs that has nothing to do with what Christmas actually celebrates (cue Linus speech) but everything to do with the fact that I'm a good little consumer (cue Charlie Brown speech). Anyway, there are many surprisingly good holiday songs out there, and I thought I'd post a few of them in the weeks ahead. You won't find any Celine Dion here, but songs you've either heard many times before, or never at all. Though I've known it for a while, I've recently fallen in love with this track:

Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - Darlene Love

It's Darlene Love, from Phil Spector's A Christmas Gift For You album, which I think is generally regarded as the best pop Christmas album ever. (Sorry, Hanson!) I think it may even be my favorite Spector wall of sound song, because it's all there: the great melody, the bells, the drama. If you ever doubted Spector's claim that he was making "little symphonies for kids", check out the piano crescendos at the end. Leonard Bernstein never had it so good.
As for Ben Gibbard, the reason this holiday will always remind me of the little USPS spokesman is that his band Deathcab For Cutie recorded a cover of this song, and it's pretty good:

Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - Deathcab For Cutie

You can find it on the Maybe This Christmas Tree compilation, which also features Ivy and the Raevonettes.

Buy Maybe This Christmas Tree from Insound and A Christmas Gift For You here or from Insound.

PS - I don't want to leave out the Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or Chrismukkah kids. If you've got suggestions for other good holiday songs, pass 'em this way.

Also, don't forget that we still get 10% off of all purchases at Insound through December 12. You just have to enter robot music at checkout. Happy Holidays.

Comments

what the hell has happened to Phil Spector??

Posted by: jc at December 3, 2004 10:02 AM

The best Hanukkah song i've heard is Beck's "Little Drum Machine Boy." Featuring a guest appearence by the Hannukkah Robot which I believe is singing in Hebrew. You can buy it here
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=3481751&originStoreFront=143441

Or if you'd like I can download it here
http://idisk.mac.com/qxbear/Public/Beck.mp3

Posted by: Tyler at December 3, 2004 11:21 AM

Right, Tyler, I have heard that, from the Just Say Noel comp. I'm not a huge fan of that song, until the Hebrew robot, which is awesome. I'll post it soon. Thanks for the reminder.

Posted by: David at December 3, 2004 11:41 AM

Apparently the Spector Xmas album wasn't a big seller at the time because it was released the day Kennedy was assasinated.

Posted by: LondonLee at December 3, 2004 12:02 PM

The DCFC version is not bad at all, but the Darlene Love version is one of my favorite records ever. I can't play it too much, because I don't want to ruin its magic, but thanks for giving me my annual chills up&down my spine Xmas moment. Much of the Spector album is embarrassing and hokey, but this one song is heavenly. Thanks to DCFC for letting me hear the words. I'm usually too transported to hear them.

Posted by: BigSteve at December 4, 2004 12:21 AM

something cool i just found out is that Phil Spector frequents the coffee bean by my house. i saw him in there the other day and got his autograph. He also sent the store a Happy Holiday card.

Posted by: Nick at December 5, 2004 2:24 AM

why cant it be free

Posted by: strike at December 15, 2004 12:32 PM
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