A Christmas to Remember, various artists (Velvel)

This 1998 album is a pastiche of previously released performances and new ones. Among the more widely available cuts are the Smithereens with "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer," "A Song of Christmas" by Lowen and Navarro, and the Alarm's version of "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)." Former Bongo James Mastro and Jill Sobule do some session work on several cuts, including their own "The Saddest Day of the Year" sung by Jill. Although there are some reliable rock credentials at work here, folky and mid-tempo is the order of the day for the most part. Exceptions are the Smithereens and Alarm as well as Pawnshop's "Little Drummer Boy," Lo-Watt's "Christmas Time" and Health and Happiness Show's "Jesus Christ," the Alex Chilton cover featuring Mastro and Sobule. Other tunes include Ian Moore's "It Just Doesn't Seem Like Christmas," Michael Malone's "Feels Like Christmas," Todd Thibaud's "Christmas Without You," Jesse Valenzuela's "Christmas Time," Neal Casal's "Cora Jones" and Natalie Farr's "Ave Maria." Was out of print for a number of years owing to Velvel's demise, but it has been reissued in hard copy and download versions.