7:00am

Spinal Tap “Christmas With the Devil” from This Is Spinal Tap (Polydor 1984) —Now this is the reason for the season.Buy it!

7:07am

Mega-Hurts “All I Got For Christmas Was This Lousy Gun” from A Very Bert Dax Christmas Volume Three (Bert Dax Cavalcade Of Stars 2004) —One of the greatest Christmas songs of the past decade or so - cracks me up every time.Buy it!

7:16am

The Temptations “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” from The Best of the Temptations Christmas (Motown 2001) —Wishing you the best Christmas ever and good vibrations for the coming year.Buy it!

7:22am

Clarence Carter “Back Door Santa” from Soul Christmas (Atlantic 1968) —I ain't like ol' Saint Nick. He don't come but once a year.Buy it!

7:27am

Sister Rosetta Tharpe “When They Ring the Golden Bell” from Gospel Train (Verve 1962) —Another great song I learned from John Wendland's invaluable KYULE series.Buy it!

7:35am

Bob Reuter and Kamikaze Cowboy “White Christmas” from better than fruitcake (Sound System 2000) L —Gosh darn it, this cut rocks so hard!Buy it!

7:41am

The Hives & Cyndi Lauper “A Christmas Duel” from download (Unknown 2010) —The line that is unclear in the edit: "Who the fuck anyway wants a Christmas tree"Buy it!

7:52am

The Bee Gees “Thank You For Christmas” from Horizontal (Rhino 1968) —Now here's one I pretty much didn't know existed - thanks to Rob Wagoner for gifting me with a set of holiday music most of which I didn't know.Buy it!

8:01am

Fleming and John “Misty Mountain Wonderland” from download (Unknown 2005) —I'm no fan of mashing up two songs together, unless it's done as brilliantly as this (and done by musicians, not mixers).Buy it!

8:08am

The Ronettes “Frosty the Snowman” from A Christmas Gift For You (ABKCO 1963) —From the greatest Christmas record ever made.Buy it!

8:17am

Rough Shop “Snowbound Girl” from KDHXmas 2012: Holiday Music Sampler Volume II (KDHX kdhx.org 2012) —John Wendland - Mr. Christmas - wrote this amazing song which has become a staple of the Rough Shop holiday live shows, and has now been documented.Buy it!

8:25am

Aimee Mann “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” from One More Drifter In the Snow (Superego 2006) —Lovely take on the traditional song.Buy it!

8:32am

Maddy Prior & The Carnival Band “I Saw Three Ships” from Carols & Capers (Park 1991) —I'd forgotten how great Maddy Prior is - what a joyful take on this trad number.Buy it!

8:39am

Duke Ellington “Jingle Bells” from Jingle Bell Jam: Jazz Christmas Classics (Rhino 1994) —The swingin'est take on this yuletide fave.Buy it!

8:47am

Stevie Wonder “Someday at Christmas” from The Ultimate Motown Christmas Collection (Motown 2009) —No Christmas season is complete without this one.Buy it!

8:53am

Hank Ballard And The Midnighters “Santa Claus Is Coming” from Nothing But Good (1952-1962 (Bear Family www.bear-family.de 2009) —Seriously, nothing but good.Buy it!

9:06am

Aqua Teen Hunger Force & Neko Case “Santa Left a Booger in My Stocking” from Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Have Yourself a Meaty Little Christmas (Williams Street 2009) —Classy.Buy it!

9:12am

Tim Lee 3 “Shiny Red Suit” from download (none 2011) —This is a fun number, for sure.Buy it!

9:17am

Rough Shop “How To Make Gravy” from Just Because It Was Christmas (Santa's Last Stop Records / Perdition 2009) R L —St. Louis take on one of the world's most perfect Christmas songs.Buy it!

9:29am

Martha Wainwright “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year” from The McGarrigle Christmas Hour (Nonesuch 2005) —I try hard to make this song into a standard - don't know if the rest of the world has caught on yet.Buy it!

9:40am

Aimee Mann with Michael Penn “Christmastime” from Just Say Noel (Geffen 1996) —Why don't they record more duets?Buy it!

9:49am

Bobby Lloyd and the Skeletons “Do You Hear What I Hear / You Really Got Me” from Christmas Party With Eddie G (Columbia 1990) —See my note above about mash-ups.Buy it!

9:55am

Darlene Love “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” from A Christmas Gift For You (ABKCO 1963) —Quite simply the greatest single Christmas recording. She'll be on Letterman tonight. That's the symbol that Christmas is really here.Buy it!