Disc 1: A Christmas Full Of Stars 01. Winter Wonderland - Kim Wilde & Rick Astley 02. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - Hue & Cry 03. Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem - Don Mclean 04. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Glen Campbell 05. Christmas Dreaming - Frank Sinatra 06. Zat You, Santa Claus - Louis Armstrong 07. Merry Christmas, Baby - Maria Muldaur 08. Please, Come Home For Christmas - Bobby Kimball 09. Do They Know It's Christmas - Air Supply 10. Merry Xmas Everybody - Leif Garrett 11. I'll Be Home For Christmas - B.J. Thomas 12. The Christmas Song - Crystal Gayle 13. The First Noel - Billy Vaughn 14. White Christmas - Iggy Pop | Disc 2: The Classic Songs 01. Silent Night - Brenda Lee 02. Santa Claus And Popcorn - Merle Haggard 03. Christmas Song - Gilbert O'sullivan 04. Winter Wonderland - The Three Degrees 05. Mary's Boy Child - The Cranberry Singers 06. Merry Christmas All - Brook Benton 07. Christmas Just Ain't Christmas - The Drifters 08. Blue Christmas - The Platters 09. Merry Christmas, Baby - Charles Brown 10. Pretty Paper - Willie Nelson 11. Away In A Manger - Waylon Jennings 12. White Christmas - Louis Armstrong 13. Little Drummer Boy - Rosemary Clooney 14. We Wish You A Merry Christmas - Porter Wagoner |
01. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (After The Rain Mix) - Dj Style
02. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Pink House & Sylvie
03. Jingle Bells - Morgan, G & Christine
04. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting Mix) - Sixth Finger
05. Winter Wonderland (Vintervärld Bossa Remix) - Amazonics
06. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! - Urban Love
07. O Come, All Ye Faithful (Cantus Diversi Mix) - Hypnomusic
08. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - Space Gang
09. Silent Night (Rxmas Edit) - Natascha
10. The Little Drummer Boy - Groovy Waters
11. I’ll Be Home For Christmas (Sweet Breeze Mix) - Natalie Renoir
12. White Christmas - IItuana & Sixth Finger
13. Outro (Icicles & Snowflakes)
The Music Brokers are an international distribution label based in Argentina, but they have offices around the globe, so this one will count as a domestic release (their US operations are in Jersey, fwiw). "Christmas: The Complete Songbook" is a budget priced 3-CD set (note: the label says its a full-priced set, but 3 discs for $15 counts as budget in my book). And its easy to see that they took some of the material already in the possession of their affiliates to put together this collection. Iggy Pop's "White Christmas" is a perfect example of this, recorded for Cleopatra's "All Star Salute" collection a few years ago. Bobby Kimball's "Please Come Home For Christmas" was also on that disc (as were the Leif Garrett and Air Supply tunes). Kimball, of course, is best known for his work with Toto. Then there's the frequent flyer soul and country tunes that have made the rounds; if those aren't already under the control of Music Brokers affiliates, they don't cost much to add. And the third disc? Honestly, I don't even know any of those people, but it looks like Music Brokers are just recycling a 2007 release of their own--"Christmas Chill Out".
All that said, an eclectic mix like this is likely to contain a track or two you hadn't gotten around to adding to your collection. Maybe you've yet to be Rick-rolled by Kim Wilde & Rick Astley. Or maybe their wasn't enough Hue & Cry about Hue & Cry and their 2009 Christmas album and they slipped beneath your radar. Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Christmas Song" is one of those, "Yeah, I'd like to have it just to have it, but its way down the list of things I'm looking for" kind of tracks. And a quick listen to the samples from "Christmas Chill Out" tells me there's some nice change of pace music to be had there (notably the track from Pink House & Sylvie).
Worst thing about "Christmas: The Complete Songbook" is it isn't on the release calendar until November 25 and, by then, most mixes are just about wrapped up with a bow and ready to go. Au August release works better for this kind of collection. That said, there's another Christmas rolling around next year and it pays to start early.