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SUPPORT ME ON PATREON\n\nWATCH MUSIC is not a GENRE VIDEOS and MORE\n\n\n\nA few years ago, I started a playlist called MY Christmas. It\u2019s an offshoot of the Christmas CDs I\u2019ve collected over the decades, which themselves were inspired by the very eclectic collection of Christmas vinyl & cassettes my dad plays every year. The playlist is my declaration of independence from standard Christmas mixes with all the usual suspects. Great songs most of them, but there\u2019s no reason to limit ourselves to just those. So I curate a playlist that might rank as the most diverse collection of Christmas songs anywhere. You can hear it here:\n\nhttps://open.spotify.com/playlist/76cDL5B7IyCLtqWGkUF6cq?si=272cd5c160bf4215\n\nEvery year I add to it. I\u2019m always looking for new material, whether that means actual new holiday songs or old songs I\u2019ve never heard or simply forgot about. That last category includes this week\u2019s topic, the 1967 Lou Rawls album, Merry Christmas Ho! Ho! Ho!. It\u2019s a CD I\u2019ve had since the mid-1990s. I can\u2019t remember what prompted me to buy it, but as soon as I did it became a perennial favorite. It\u2019s a great mix of traditional & irreverent, cheese & soul. Which also describes Lou Rawls, one of the greatest pop-soul singers of the 1960s-70s. His is a name you\u2019d hear pop up along with all the other famous crooners of that era. He was one of those dudes who bridged the gap between old & new, and made it seem effortless.\n\nAnd YET, I totally forgot about this CD until last year, when I quickly added several of the songs to my playlist. And here\u2019s why playlists matter. They are the closest mainstream & accessible thing we get to mixtapes, DJ mixes, and/or old school radio stations that would play more than one genre. The best playlists aren\u2019t just a bunch of songs thrown together to serve some general purpose or evoke a certain mood. They\u2019re carefully considered collections of songs that matter to the curator. They do what the best playlists, mixtapes, DJs & radio stations have always done: introduce lesser known interesting material into a mix of better known songs, so those more obscure songs can be exposed to a wider audience. They evoke a mood, serve a purpose, AND move the music conversation forward. They create connection & promote diversity. They bust through genre conventions and laugh at the Clear Channels of the world.\n\nI haven\u2019t done this in a while, but this album totally deserves it. My favorite tracks are #s 2, 5, 6, 7 (even with the mucked up lyric!), and 10. In particular, 7 & 10 are two of my favorite versions of two of my favorite holiday songs.\n\nI won\u2019t pretend there\u2019s any direct influence, but you can hear the mix of traditional rock, irreverent lyrics, and loose holiday theme in this REC song. It\u2019s also in the MY Christmas playlist on Spotify.\n\nREC \u2013 \u201cXMiss\u201d (from the album The Sunshine Seminar)\n\nDid you know this album? Or Lou Rawls? What are some of your favorite holiday songs/albums that you think other people might not know but should? Do you take as much care as I do to create playlists? Have you discovered new songs & artists on other playlists? Discuss dammit!\n\n\n--- \n\nThis episode is sponsored by \n\xb7 Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app\n\nSupport this podcast: https://anchor.fm/musicisnotagenre/support\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices