Various Artists - Christmas Cocktails (1996)

Fantastic compilation of mid-20th-century exotica/space age/mambo/lounge versions of Christmas tunes. Issued in 1996 as part of Capitol Record's Ultra-Lounge series. From the defunct ultralounge.com website, ca. 1996:

Let's face it, the holiday season provides everybody a great excuse to party! Big bowls of little peanuts with the red skins on' em, cut-glass serving dishes shaped like vegetables overflowing with black olives (you know, the ones you put on your fingertips when you were a kid), and rum-spiked punch in giant bowls with those useless little cups hangin' off the side -- the works! It's Holiday Time at the Ultra- Lounge!

And there's no doubt this set would provide great background music at your next wassailfest. This particular disc of holiday tunes was so popular, it spawned two sequels (neither has appeared on my shelves. Yet.).

But what about the cocktails? Here's the two recipes included in the liner notes. Enjoy responsibly.

And now I've got memories of watching my mother at the stove, making a potent eggnog from scratch. We weren't listening to anything as hip as these cuts back then, though.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: Before purchasing this CD, the only track I had previously heard was the Nat King Cole, which is readily available on many compilations (it's fantastic, no matter the number of CDs on which it appears). Don't skip any of these tracks, but I've checked off today's favorites.

Song	Artist	Year
Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer Mambo	Billy May	1953
Winter Wonderland	Peggy Lee	1965
Christmas Trumpets/We Wish You A Very Merry Christmas*	Ray Anthony	1966	✔
Christmas Is	Lou Rawls	1967	✔
Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town/White Christmas	Jimmy McGriff	1963	✔
I'd Like You For Christmas	Julie London	1957
Holiday On Skis	Al Caiola & Riz Ortolani	1967
(Everybody's Waitin' For) The Man With The Bag	Kay Starr	1950	✔
Jingle Bells/Jingle Bell Rock	Hollyridge Strings	1965
I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm	Dean Martin	1959
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus/Jingle Bells Bossa Nova	Eddie Dunstedter	1965
Christmas Kisses	Ray Anthony	1961
I'll Be Home For Christmas/ Baby, It's Cold Outside	Jackie Gleason/ Jack Marshall	1956/ 1959
What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?	Nancy Wilson	1963	✔
Cha-Cha All The Way*	Capitol Studio Orchestra	1958
The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You)	Nat King Cole	1961	✔
The Nutcracker Suite	Les Brown & His Band Of Renown	1957	✔
Ring Those Christmas Bells	Fred Waring & The Pennsylvanians	1959
Violets For Your Furs**	The Continental	1952
Toys For Tots**	Peggy Lee/Nat King Cole/Nancy Wilson	1956
Jingle Rock The Bells**	"from the folks at Capitol'	1952

  *previously unreleased tracks
  **unlisted bonus tracks

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Hey, Commrades of Cool! Remember when there were postage-paid postcards included in the CD packaging to get you on the record label's mailings lists?