Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

America’s Finest Christmas songs

El Vez is dreaming of a “Brown Christmas.”
El Vez is dreaming of a “Brown Christmas.”

If you’re going to be in sunny San Diego for Christmas, here’s a playlist of local-centric holiday tunes.

The newest, “Please Santa,” was just released as a free download from Flaggs, a relatively new ensemble featuring Matthew Franco, Leslie Schultze (New Kinetics), and Lindsay Matheson (Nervous Wreckords), who sings “I promise to be a better girl” in between the sleigh-bell opening and the thundering punk finale. It was recorded last month at Earthling Studios, operated by Mike Kamoo (the Stereotypes). Also new is “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day,” the bonus track from Scott Samuels’s solo album The Fall, which features Samuels’s recording debut on ukulele, backed by his band the Vinyl Pirates.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Bosen & Suede recorded a track called “San Diego Christmas Song,” which Craig Suede says is “Just a little Christmas song I wrote about moving from Indiana to San Diego.” Though the duo sings, “I miss the snow, and how it used to document every step we took,” Suede replaced the “snow” with the “ocean” and “cement” in San Diego.

Jefferson Jay has “Christmas in San Diego,” wherein he sings “There’s little traffic, many have returned to parents’ home, but it’s fantastic, just some quiet time to gather and alone, on a Christmas in San Diego, in our California home.”

Neal Svalstad released a country-western swing tune, “Christmas Eve in San Diego,” with lyrics such as “I spent holidays in New York and L.A. and on the road from New Orleans to Chicago, ain’t no place I’d rather be enjoying Christmas eve than back at home in sunny San Diego.”

Candye Kane’s Christmas ditties? “Santa Is a Swinger Now” and “Let’s Put the X back in Christmas.”

There’s also a 1988 tune from the Jacks featuring the late Buddy Blue, covering Clarence Carter’s “Backdoor Santa”; Switchfoot’s “Another Christmas (Old Borego)”; Erika Davies’s 2011 track “All I Want Is Cash for Christmas”; and Rockola’s original tune “Just in Time for Christmas.” Candye Kane has “Santa Is a Swinger Now,” as well as “Let’s Put the X Back in Christmas,” a 1992 cut featuring Country Dick Montana (Beat Farmers) and Kim Wilson of the Fabulous Thunderbirds. Jason Mraz’s original “All I Want For Christmas Is Us” features local songstress Tristan Prettyman, and Mraz has also covered “Winter Wonderland.”

As for entire albums, Point Loma’s Kingston Trio released a Christmas-music collection in 1960 called The Last Month of the Year, while It’s Christmas Once Again In San Diego contains holiday music from movie-soundtrack composer Barry Devorzon, best known for “Nadia’s Theme.” Janusz Supernak, organist and cantor at San Diego’s Polish Catholic Mission, recorded a full-length called Christmas in San Diego, featuring seven newly composed songs along with several traditional carols sung in Poland for centuries (all but one of the tunes are sung in Polish).

Other full-lengths include Mojo Nixon’s 1992 Horny Holidays (with a “Mr. Grinch” cover and originals such as “It’s Christmas Time” and “We Three Kings,” which refers to another local-music icon with the line, “We were drunk for three days straight, feeling like we were Tom Waits”), El Vez’s 1994 album Merry Me X-Mas (featuring songs like “Brown Christmas” and a mashup of “Feliz Navidad” and PIL’s “Unlimited Supply”), and Scott West’s 2010 release California Christmas, recorded with Tesla members Brian Wheat and Frank Hannon at Tesla’s Sacramento studio.

And, of course, there’s always onetime part-time San Diegan Bing Crosby, the horse-racing enthusiast whose rendition of “White Christmas” remains the all-time most popular — and best-selling — Christmas song. Though it doesn’t come gift-wrapped, most online downloads of the tune run at least 95 cents.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Top Websites To Buy Instagram Likes + Bonus Tip!

Next Article

20 Best Online Casinos USA For Real Money (2024 List)

USA Online Casinos: Top 20 Online Casino Sites of 2024
El Vez is dreaming of a “Brown Christmas.”
El Vez is dreaming of a “Brown Christmas.”

If you’re going to be in sunny San Diego for Christmas, here’s a playlist of local-centric holiday tunes.

The newest, “Please Santa,” was just released as a free download from Flaggs, a relatively new ensemble featuring Matthew Franco, Leslie Schultze (New Kinetics), and Lindsay Matheson (Nervous Wreckords), who sings “I promise to be a better girl” in between the sleigh-bell opening and the thundering punk finale. It was recorded last month at Earthling Studios, operated by Mike Kamoo (the Stereotypes). Also new is “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day,” the bonus track from Scott Samuels’s solo album The Fall, which features Samuels’s recording debut on ukulele, backed by his band the Vinyl Pirates.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Bosen & Suede recorded a track called “San Diego Christmas Song,” which Craig Suede says is “Just a little Christmas song I wrote about moving from Indiana to San Diego.” Though the duo sings, “I miss the snow, and how it used to document every step we took,” Suede replaced the “snow” with the “ocean” and “cement” in San Diego.

Jefferson Jay has “Christmas in San Diego,” wherein he sings “There’s little traffic, many have returned to parents’ home, but it’s fantastic, just some quiet time to gather and alone, on a Christmas in San Diego, in our California home.”

Neal Svalstad released a country-western swing tune, “Christmas Eve in San Diego,” with lyrics such as “I spent holidays in New York and L.A. and on the road from New Orleans to Chicago, ain’t no place I’d rather be enjoying Christmas eve than back at home in sunny San Diego.”

Candye Kane’s Christmas ditties? “Santa Is a Swinger Now” and “Let’s Put the X back in Christmas.”

There’s also a 1988 tune from the Jacks featuring the late Buddy Blue, covering Clarence Carter’s “Backdoor Santa”; Switchfoot’s “Another Christmas (Old Borego)”; Erika Davies’s 2011 track “All I Want Is Cash for Christmas”; and Rockola’s original tune “Just in Time for Christmas.” Candye Kane has “Santa Is a Swinger Now,” as well as “Let’s Put the X Back in Christmas,” a 1992 cut featuring Country Dick Montana (Beat Farmers) and Kim Wilson of the Fabulous Thunderbirds. Jason Mraz’s original “All I Want For Christmas Is Us” features local songstress Tristan Prettyman, and Mraz has also covered “Winter Wonderland.”

As for entire albums, Point Loma’s Kingston Trio released a Christmas-music collection in 1960 called The Last Month of the Year, while It’s Christmas Once Again In San Diego contains holiday music from movie-soundtrack composer Barry Devorzon, best known for “Nadia’s Theme.” Janusz Supernak, organist and cantor at San Diego’s Polish Catholic Mission, recorded a full-length called Christmas in San Diego, featuring seven newly composed songs along with several traditional carols sung in Poland for centuries (all but one of the tunes are sung in Polish).

Other full-lengths include Mojo Nixon’s 1992 Horny Holidays (with a “Mr. Grinch” cover and originals such as “It’s Christmas Time” and “We Three Kings,” which refers to another local-music icon with the line, “We were drunk for three days straight, feeling like we were Tom Waits”), El Vez’s 1994 album Merry Me X-Mas (featuring songs like “Brown Christmas” and a mashup of “Feliz Navidad” and PIL’s “Unlimited Supply”), and Scott West’s 2010 release California Christmas, recorded with Tesla members Brian Wheat and Frank Hannon at Tesla’s Sacramento studio.

And, of course, there’s always onetime part-time San Diegan Bing Crosby, the horse-racing enthusiast whose rendition of “White Christmas” remains the all-time most popular — and best-selling — Christmas song. Though it doesn’t come gift-wrapped, most online downloads of the tune run at least 95 cents.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Flowering pear trees in Kensington not that nice

Empty dirt plots in front of Ken Cinema
Next Article

SDSU pres gets highest pay raise in state over last 15 years

Union-Tribune still stiffing downtown San Diego landlord?
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.