Our annual salute to prisoner 1073015 -

Through the mid-'60s, Phil Spector was focused on singles, with his definition of an album being "two hits and ten pieces of junk." He took a different approach, however, when he put together a Christmas album in 1963, where he put a great deal of effort into every track. So please join us at ACME while we listen to The Phil Spector Christmas Album.



The only original song on the album was Darlene Love's Christmas (Baby Please Come Home), which he wrote with Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich. Spector issued the song as a single when the album came out, but unfortunately this was the same day US president John F. Kennedy was shot and killed. This seriously dampened the holiday mood and the single, as well as the album, were withdrawn.

I know it's not Christmas in our home unless we hear Darlene Love sing, so please enjoy Darlene Love's very first Christmas appearance on the David Letterman Show






And here's her 2014 (and final) appearance on the David Letterman Show:



But fear not -



And she actually sings other holiday songs:

All Alone on Christmas -




Christmas Must Be Tonight




Christmastime for the Jews -




Our second holiday feature is Rockin' Christmas songs (female edition):

2000 Miles   The Pretenders -



First released in 1983 ahead of the album Learning To Crawl, ‘2000 Miles’ was written by Chrissie Hynde. The lyrics were written after the band’s original guitarist James Honeyman-Scott passed away in 1982. Although James Honeyman-Scott died when he was just 25, he made his mark on those early Pretenders records. Guitarist with The Smiths, Johnny Marr, counted Honeyman-Scott as a huge influence on his jangly playing style, and Chrissie Hynde [above] claimed that it was legacy that kept the Pretenders together: “We'd worked too hard to get it where it was… I had to finish what we'd started.”


Silent Night   Stevie Nicks -



It is believed that the carol has been translated into over 300 languages around the world, and it is one of the most popular carols of all time.


God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen   Annie Lennox -



This is a traditional English carol dating back to the 16th or 17th century. It was first published in England in 1833, when it appeared in Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern, a collection of seasonal carols gathered by William B. Sandys.


Joy  Tracey Thorn -



This should be on your Christmas play list


Christmas Wrapping   The Waitresses -



When Chris Butler wrote this song, he was not feeling very festive. The Waitresses were signed to ZE Records, whose boss, Michael Zilkha, asked the bands on his roster to each come up with a Christmas song that would go on a holiday compilation issued by the label. The Waitresses were in the middle of a grueling tour, and weren't happy about the task, especially since it was July and they weren't exactly in the Christmas spirit. He banged out the song very quickly, writing the last of the lyrics in a taxi from his apartment in New York to Electric Lady Studios, where they recorded it. The end result was a very uplifting Christmas song with a happy ending.



Demand Euphoria!