In 1981, Christmas albums for rock 'n' roll audiences didn't exist, and with the exception of a few snotty punk singles, there was nothing for young people who loved the music that emerged after punk and new wave. ZE Records' A Christmas Record occupied that space alone, though as label founder Michael Zilkha explains, the album was more of a marketing project than a specifically commercial venture. Still, it brought the world The Waitresses' classic "Christmas Wrapping," and included music by such iconic figures from the period as Labelle's Nona Hendrix, Was (Not Was), and Suicide.
In this week's episode, Zilkha remembers the label's origins and decline, and how A Christmas Album was in many ways emblematic of its heyday. In our conversation, he talks about Cristina--Cristina Monet--who was an artist on ZE, and she would become his wife. Since Zilkha didn't talk about it in the interview, I didn't bring up her death from COVID-19 in 2020, but I wrote about it at MySpiltMilk.com shortly after she passed.
In this week's episode, I use an excerpt from my interview with Chris Butler of The Waitresses from 2018. Earlier that year, I interviewed Mars Williams, who played saxophone on "Christmas Wrapping," and though I didn't include an excerpt from it, it shines more light on the experience. In today's episode, Zilkha talks about how the song has been covered, and although I don't announce it on the show, at that point I included a version by Kylie Minogue with guest Iggy Pop. The episode ends with an indie rock version by Hate Club from the Christmas compilation No Sleep 'til Christmas 8.
"Joyeux Noël, Bon Chrismeusse" from Lafayette with Chas Justus
Peggy Lee with Holly Foster-Wells
Amy Grant's "A Christmas Album" and Patrick Droney
"Do They Know It's Christmas" with Michaelangelo Matos and Flaming Lips' Steven Drozd
George Winston, The Bird and The Bee, The Myrrhderers, and Mento Buru
Calexico, Grant-Lee Phillips, and Peggy Lee
Big Freedia and Kelly Finnigan
Judith Owen and Harry Shearer, and Office Romance
Jim Brickman and the Return of Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Steven Drozd of The Flaming Lips
"Just Like Christmas" with Low
The Goo Goo Dolls and Tori Kelly
"Mele Kalikimaka" with Ana Cristina Cash
Janie Fricke
The Beatles' Christmas Recordings with Jonathan and Julia Pretus of "Ranking the Beatles"
Rhonda Vincent, and Carrie Underwood's "The Gift"
Mega Ran
Christmas Music on the Billboard Charts with Chris Molanphy
"A Jazzy Little Christmas" with Ernie Haase and Signature Sound
"Hard Candy Christmas," with Alexandra Scott
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