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Our Review

Just for the fun of it, I hopped in the way-back machine and picked up this 1992 Rhino release because I was having trouble finding anything more current to feature in this space. Doo Wop Christmas is a good example of what Rhino Records does best: an awesomely complete cross-section of a period genre. What an eye-opening walk through early popular doo wop, soul and R&B groups. Since it is my bent to sample musical genres through their Christmas music, this CD scored a hit with me.

I was familiar with the Drifters remake of White Christmas, with Margo Sylvia and the Tuneweavers Merry Merry Christmas Baby, along with several others. I was glad these "standards" were included. I was unfamiliar, though, with several other beautiful songs I heard on this record. My favorite was Frankie Lymon's fetching It's Christmas Once Again. Lymon was a popular teen idol in the 1950s who foreshadowed Michael Jackson. His sweet vocals strike a wistful pose that capture an all too familiar mid-December mood.

Capping the "season" of this record was a particularly moving Orioles rendition of What Are You Doing New Year's Eve.

With liner notes by Steve Propes (co-author of The First Rock and Roll Record) that made my job easy, Rhino has put together the definitive doo wop take on the holiday season.

--Richard Banks
(Reviewed in 2000)

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Various Artists

Doo Wop Christmas

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Track List