A special edition of Friday Night Rock featured the motherlode of Christmas music and had a special guest: old pal and fellow Noel music aficionado Mike Swift, who brought his own freshly made 2015 mix of holiday tunes. We took off from there, heavy on people named Jones — Sharon and George.
On a night when Darlene Love would have been on Letterman singing “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” she was in D.C., playing a concert. And we were playing her timeless classic on the radio, right next to the Pogues’ “Fairytale of New York,” which was also the order of those songs in “A Very Murray Christmas.” We may have gone too far with novelty and country Christmas songs and closed with some crazy mixes.
There was no shortage of technical problems, so no vinyl, no online connection to music (preventing a Christmas donkey trilogy) and for a while, only one working CD player. But — it was a Christmas miracle! — we got enough equipment on to keep the show going for more than three hours. One casualty of gabbing in the studio was not always keeping track of what we were playing.
So this is a playlist of what we remember playing on the radio:
Friday Night Rock, 12-18-15, 9:30 p.m. to 1 a.m., Radio CPR 101.7 FM, Washington D.C.
- “White Christmas,” Esquivel
- “White Christmas,” Esquivel
- “Frosty the Snowman,” Esquivel
- “Talking’ Christmas,” Taj Mahal & the Blind Boys of Alabama
- “Santa Claus,” Little Charlie & the Nightcats
- “Everything’s Gonna Be Cool This Christmas,” The Eels
- “Yabba Dabba Yuletide,” Brian Setzer Orchestra
- “Santa Claus Goes Modern” Bobbie Boyle with the Singers
- “Ole Year Christmas,” The Sisterhood
- “Everybody Deserves a Merry Christmas,” Ronnie Fauss
- “Christmas in Prison,” John Prine (live)
- “God Rest Ye Merry Gents,” Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
- “Funky Little Drummer Boy,” Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
- “Ain’t No Chimneys in the Projects,” Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
- “Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto,” James Brown
- “Hey America,” James Brown
- “Soul Christmas,” Graham Parker with Nona Hendryx
- “Christmas is for Mugs,” Graham Parker
- “Marshmallow World,” Darlene Love
- “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” Darlene Love
- “Fairytale of New York,” The Pogues with Kirsty MacColl
- “Merry Christmas from the Family,” Robert Earl Keene (live)
- “Christmas Time,” Chris Stamey and the dB’s
- “Jesus Christ,” Big Star
- “Children Go Where I Send Thee,” Nick Lowe
- “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight),” The Ramones
- “Silent Night,” The Dickies
- “I Want to Be Home at Christmas,” Marvin Gaye
- “Purple Snowflakes,” Marvin Gaye
- “Gee Whiz It’s Christmas,” Carla Thomas
- “Back Door Santa,” Clarence Carter
- “White Christmas,” Otis Redding
- “Listening to Otis Redding at Home During Christmas,” Okkervil River
- “Give Me a Second Chance at Christmas,” Mike Viola & the Candy Butchers
- “I Want an Alien for Christmas,” Fountains of Wayne
- “Maybe This Christmas,” Ron Sexsmith
- “The Christmas Song,’ The Ravonettes
- “Must be Santa,” Bob Dylan
- “That Swingin’ Manger,” Mr. Bob Francis
- “We Three Bings,” The Three Bings
- “Christmas Land,” Wally Whyton
- “Little Donkey,” Beverley Sisters
- “It’s Christmas,” Elaine & Derek
- “Lonely Christmas,” George Jones
- “My Mom and Santa Claus,” George Jones
- “New Baby for Christmas,” George Jones
- “He’s a Rootin’ Tootin’ Santa Claus,” Tennessee Ernie Ford
- “I’ll Be Walkin’ the Floor This Christmas,” Ernest Tubb
- “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” Beatmas
- “Silent Night,” December’s Children
- “White Christmas,” Corporal Blossom
- “I Saw Mammy Kissing Santa Claus,” DJ Blossom
- “The Christmas Song,” Corporal Blossom
- “Little Drummer Boy,” Corporal Blossom
- “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” No-L
- “Good Morning Blues,” Count Basie (Real Tuesday Weld Clerkenwell Remix)
- “’Zat You Santa Claus,” Louis Armstrong (The Heavy Remix)
Friday Night Rock returns Dec. 25 on Radio CPR, 101.7 FM or online at www.tinyurl.com/radiocpr