Pop Standards, Loony Tunes in Rhino’s Christmas Packages

Tired of the same old Christmas albums? Rhino Records, the imaginative Santa Monica-based label, again comes to the rescue.

For those seeking simply the holiday hits, there are two new CDs which have been developed in association with Billboard magazine, the record industry’s leading trade publication.

“Greatest Christmas Hits, 1935-1954” offers a sort of basic, meat-and-potatoes summary of classic, pre-rock Christmas hits. The 10 selections range from Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” to Jimmy Boyd’s “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.” The second volume, “Greatest Christmas Hits, 1955-Present,” continues the concept into the rock era.

Instead of Crosby’s version of “White Christmas,” it contains the Drifters’ R&B; treatment from the mid-’50s. The remaining nine tunes include Elvis Presley’s “Blue Christmas,” the Harry Simeone Chorale’s “The Little Drummer Boy” and Elmo ‘N Patsy’s country novelty “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.”

For those looking for something more adventurous, Rhino serves up another wonderfully loony package by the irrepressible Dr. Demento. Titled “Dr. Demento Presents the Greatest Christmas Novelty CD of All Time,” the 56-minute package focuses on a wide assortment of offbeat but generally endearing recordings.

The lineup includes three selections by Stan Freberg (including “Christmas Dragnet,” with Daws Butler) and one each by Spike Jones (“All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth”), Allan Sherman (“The Twelve Gifts of Christmas”), Tom Lehrer (“A Christmas Carol”) and the Singing Dogs (“Jingle Bells”).

“Bummed Out Christmas!” is less intentionally offbeat, but still a definite step away from the norm. Among the 10 downbeat titles: “Who Took the Merry Out of Christmas?” (performed by the Staple Singers), “Christmas Eve Can Kill You” (the Everly Brothers), “Lonely Christmas Call” (George Jones) and “Christmas in Viet Nam” (Johnny & Jon).

Explains James Austin, who put the album together with Rhino artists & repertoire director Gary Stewart, “We wanted to do a cynical Christmas record, very tongue-in-cheek--nothing offensive, but something that would be fun.”

The final new Rhino Christmas album is “Hipsters’ Holiday,” an especially imaginative collection of jazz and R&B; numbers, mostly drawn from the ‘40s and ‘50s.

The 18 tunes range from Louis Armstrong’s “Zat You Santa Claus” and Lionel Hampton’s “Merry Christmas Baby” to Miles Davis-Bob Dorough’s “Blue Xmas (To Whom It May Concern).” The latter--with lines such as “It’s a time when the greedy give a dime to the needy”--is a slap at the superficiality of Christmas sentiment that could have easily fit into the “Bummed Out Christmas!” package.

MORE NEW CHRISTMAS: Pop sensations New Kids on the Block as well as country favorites Randy Travis, Kenny Rogers and Ricky Van Shelton have released conventional Christmas collections, while the new compilations range from “Nipper’s Greatest Christmas Hits” (a 20-song CD built around RCA recordings by such artists as Perry Como, Harry Belafonte and the Judds) to “Christmas Guitars” (19 Christmas numbers by such guitarists as Larry Coryell, Nancy Wilson of the rock group Heart and Taj Mahal; the Green Linnet Records release is a benefit for the National Coalition of the Homeless).

Other Christmas compilations include “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” (an 11-song package--also a benefit project--from Real Life/Rhino Records featuring the Roches, Nicolette Larson, Dr. John and others) and “Christmas: the Players” (instrumental acoustic performances, organized by Roxy Music’s Andy Mackay and featuring British street musicians and folk and blues artists).