A Christmas Record
| A Christmas Record | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Compilation album by Various artists | |
| Released | November 1981 |
| Recorded | 1981 – Detroit, Brooklyn, Manhattan The 2004 reissue also contained tracks recorded in 1988 and 2004. |
| Genre | Christmas, No Wave |
| Length | 39:22 (1981 issue) 36:58 (1982 issue) 50:38 (2004 CD issue) |
| Label | ZE / Island |
A Christmas Record is an LP originally released in 1981 by ZE Records. It was recorded by various musicians from that label's roster, including Was (Not Was), August Darnell, Material, Suicide, Cristina, and The Waitresses, all performing original seasonal songs. The album was reissued in 1982, as a "Special Edition", with a revised track listing. In 2004, a further revised version was issued on CD, as ZE Xmas Record Reloaded 2004. The 2004 version was remastered and re-released again in 2016 under its original title and artwork, with one of the 1982 "Special Edition" songs restored.
The record has been described as "the first-ever alternative Christmas album". ZE Records founder Michel Esteban has described it as an "improbable and delicious offering." It is widely, but unofficially, known as the "ZE Christmas Album". It featured the first release of The Waitresses' "Christmas Wrapping", a song later frequently included on numerous seasonal compilations, particularly in the UK, where it reached the singles chart in December 1982.
By 1981, ZE Records, a New York-based record label established by Michael Zilkha and Michel Esteban, had achieved some commercial success and a growing critical reputation. For the 2004 reissue of the album, Esteban gave the following background explanation in his liner notes:
"Christmas albums are a tradition as old as Rock & Roll itself but I have always thought that principles of Christmas: family, the tree, gifts, peace in the world, etc. were slightly contradictory to a certain vision of Rock & Roll. I found it hard to imagine John Cale and Lou Reed sitting around a Christmas tree exchanging gifts with Nico and tucking into a turkey dinner, the same goes for the members of The Stooges or MC5... Only the painter Guy Peellaert could have imagined such a scene. And yet my teenage heroes all took part in the Christmas song tradition: Phil Spector, Brian Wilson, Elvis. Berry Gordy got the whole Tamla Motown group at it, even James Brown, who wins the prize for the kitschiest sleeve, got in on the action. All of them made an album of Christmas songs, some better than others! In 1981 and 1982 ZE Records published its own Christmas album under the supervision of Michael Zilkha. All the American artists on ZE answered the call and came up with a Christmas track...."
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