A MFD CHRISTMAS [2014]

HERC's good friends the soft rock kid™ and Dirk Digglinator® have just taken the pretty paper off the only holiday album you'll need this celebratory season.  (Or if you're a greedy man like HERC, you're hoping its the first in a series!)  Read more about A MFD Christmas HERE, on the kid's own 1976-1985: My Favorite Decade site or listen to it HERE on Dirk's Mixcloud.  In today's post, HERC takes a closer look at the records that make up his favorite new Christmas compilation.

HERC has this one on no fewer than ten different CD compilations but would love to have the red vinyl FOR JUKEBOXES ONLY! 45 shown on the right

Motown and their associated labels issued one or more Holiday albums seemingly from each and every artist on the roster as well many various artists compilations.  HERC's three favorite Motown Christmas albums are from Stevie Wonder, The Jackson 5 and this one by the Temptations.

One Summer Day in 1983, HERC's mom brought him two or three albums home.  They were given to her by her co-worker whose brother was a radio station DJ.  One of those albums was the triple album Wings Over America and another one of those albums was the debut, self-titled album by Root Boy Slim & the Sex Change Band with The Rootettes. When HERC pulled the record out of its jacket, this 45 fell out.  It soon became a favorite and appeared on two early cassette Christmas comps HERC made.  Sadly, the album and the "hidden" 45 were borrowed indefinitely at one of the only two parties HERC ever held at his apartment in the mid Eighties.  Sure, he has it on CD now but he still misses that 45.

HERC has never included this song on any of the many Christmas mixtapes, CDs and playlists he's compiled over the past 30 years.  Thanks to its inclusion here, in the context of other Holiday songs, that streak is about to be broken.

This is one of the few videos HERC remembers seeing on MTV.  So festively cheesy - that's HERC's kind of Christmas.  This song came relatively late in the boys hit-making career and wasn't included on any of their albums.  HERC scored a 12" promo copy at Al Bum's or PDQ Records but there was also apparently a 12" picture disc and both red and green 45s pressed as well.  One side of each of these records featured Daryl Hall on lead vocals while th eother one featured John Oates.  They finally issued an entire Christmas CD entitled Home For Christmas in 2006.

Originally released on the comeback album Learning To Crawl and as the B-Side to the "Middle Of The Road" single in the States, "2000 Miles" was released as a single all across Europe.  HERC has this one on an even dozen CDs.

Definitely a Top 10 song in HERC's holiday hymnal of hits.  He never knew it was released on white vinyl until just now.  Despite having the song in both its more than and less than five minute incarnations on over a dozen CDs, HERC now wants the white vinyl.

HERC has this song on the same CD we all probably do: Rhino's Have A Nice Christmas Holiday Hits Of The '70s.

Another great song available in three sizes: the 4:22 regular, the hard-to-find 4:45 medium and the 6:43 large (aka Pudding Mix).  Not to mention dozens of covers over the past thirty Christmases.  HERC has this song on only nine CDs. He totally thought there would be more. 

The generation before HERC's know this song as a Charles Brown blues number.  The generation after HERC's know it as a Jon Bon Jovi song.  HERC has this on 45 and a CD made to resemble a 45.  He once had another 45 of it - bought it at Hollywood Records after someone returned it because it had the A-side label on both sides of the 45!  Paid $1.99 for it and sold it three years later for an even $20.

Gorgeous song performed by a gorgeous voice.  Horrible bang cuts on the record sleeve, though.

Haggard's always managed to rub a few folks the wrong way and he's admittedly fine with that but this Christmas album was a great discovery while visiting HERC's various aunts, uncles and cousins at Christmastime in 1975 or maybe 1976. Never knew this song in particular saw a 45 release, albeit on the B-side to Hag's more famous Holiday hit "If We Make It Through December."

"One Christmas Catalogue" is probably HERC's least favorite of the fourteen songs on A MFD Christmas.  This one can be found on Rhino's Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Christmas like a couple of other songs here.  The original single pictured above has a cover of Frankie Goes To Hollywood's "Relax" on its B-Side.

Disco Christmas Medleys are not hard to find.  Good Disco Christmas Medleys, on the other hand, are extremely rare. Scooch over Rudolph, Olive, Ernest and especially you Kirk Cameron.  The Salsoul Orchestra is saving Christmas once again.  For completists, there's also the well-intentioned but weaker Christmas Jollies II from 1981.