Randy Anthony has led an immersive musical life. As a musician, former record store owner, and the creator of the music website Randy’s Rodeo, he’s found multiple outlets for his passion from his home in Texas. When Randy developed his first music website, Randy’s Rodeo, a funny thing happened. The Christmas music section of the site exploded and become bigger then the rest of the site combined. So, he spun it off and created HipChristmas.com, a website that specializes in holiday music that “rocks, rolls, swings, and twangs” and he’s never looked back.
I recently sat down with Randy to talk about his website and love of holiday music, what sparked his interest in the holiday music genre, and more in our latest Big Christmas Interview. But we didn’t stop with just an interview. One of Randy’s Christmas music recommendations is featured in our song spotlight and he’s even contributed to our Christmas Lists section (What’s new in holiday music in 2025!).
Q: Hello Randy and welcome to Christmas Every Minute. As you know, I’m a huge fan of your website, Hip Christmas. It’s my go-to site every year for all things Christmas music. As the editor-in-chief and creator of the site, your love of holiday music knows no bounds. When did you first get started on the website, and what inspired you to build it?
RA: Thank you! I started writing about Christmas records for my record store, ABCD’s, in the late 1990s. After the store closed in 2001, I started a personal website, Randy’s Rodeo, so I could continue to write. Eventually, that spawned Hip Christmas around 2003. I enjoy learning about music and writing about music – evangelizing, basically. I wanted to spotlight all the great, weird, nontraditional Christmas music that gets overlooked.
Q: When did you first become interested in Christmas songs?
RA: I liked Christmas music as a kid, but I had little interest in it as a budding record collector in the 1970s. Christmas music was for squares – or so I thought. And, at the time, very little hip Christmas music was being made, and even less was being played on the radio. But, a list in The Book Of Rock Lists (1981) hipped me to a hidden world, and my Christmas collection soon began to grow. I started with Elvis Presley, Motown, and Charles Brown and worked my way out.
Q: How do you discover new Christmas music every year, and have you connected with others who share your passion?
RA: Well, it’s evolved over the years, but it starts with a lot of frustrating hours combing through thousands of new releases on sites like Amazon, Bandcamp, and Apple Music. And, I am constantly looking at the blogs and websites mentioned on my Festive Friends page, including Christmas Every Minute, and especially Christmas A Go Go, Christmas Underground, and Mistletunes. As for sharing my passion, my website is the obvious answer. I do, however, post a lot on the FaLaLaLaLa. And I’m very active on Facebook, as well as Instagram and Pinterest.
Q: Do you create a new Christmas playlist every year and, if so, how do you decide what goes on it?
RA: Not really. The website keeps me busy enough. You can consider the “Top” lists on my website’s new release pages to be my annual playlists.
Q: What makes a Christmas song special to you?
RA: Well, two things mainly. First, I want to hear the artists in the style they usually perform in – country, punk, funk, whatever. I don’t want to hear, say, Billy Idol croon like Frank Sinatra – which he did on his very disappointing Christmas album. Second, I very much prefer original songs to covers of carols and standards. That may just be an artifact of owning, like, 200 versions of “Little Drummer Boy,” but even rock classics like “Run Rudolph Run” get old after a while. It’s a conundrum of doing what I do. Most artists make one Christmas album, and they want to play the classics. Most people own just a few Christmas albums, and they want to hear the classics. But, when you have thousands of Christmas records, you learn to value originality.
Q: What are some of the most prized possessions in your collection?
RA: Hard to say. With limited time, budget, and space, I don’t get too attached to the things themselves. For instance, I don’t own copies of the original albums by Elvis Presley or James Brown. Instead, I have more “efficient” CD collections. But, if a fire broke out, I’d probably grab older vinyl albums that have a strong sentimental value – like Rhythm & Blues Christmas on United Artists, one of my first “hip” purchases, or my Johnny & Jon 45, which kicked off my Christmas In Vietnam fascination.
Q: As the owner of more than 4,000 Christmas songs myself, I’m always looking for songs that appeal to my classic rock and R&B tastes, but I also find myself seeking out the weird and wacky. What is the oddest Christmas song in your collection?
RA: Where to begin? When I was a much, much younger record collector, I liked novelty records – not so much anymore – and I might point to some of those. For instance, “Santa Jaws” by Homemade Theater (1975) or “White Christmas (Three O’Clock Weather Report)” by Bobby The Poet (1967). But, I think my favorites are the Christmas records that are trying to be serious but end up hilarious or horrifying. A couple of those Christmas In Vietnam records qualify: “Little Becky’s Christmas Wish” by Becky Lamb (1967) and Derrik Roberts’ “There Won’t Be Any Snow (Christmas In The Jungle)” (1965).
Q: Who is your favorite little-known Christmas artist that no one has heard of but should?
RA: I’m not sure she’s obscure enough, but I never miss an opportunity to praise Lisa Mychols. Her debut album is a Christmas classic, “Lost Winter’s Dream” (1990), made with the guys who would become the Wondermints, who would become an integral part of Brian Wilson’s band. About 20 years later, Lisa started dropping quasi-annual Christmas singles, many of which measure up to the album. As for more classic stuff, I think June Christy’s “This Time Of Year” (1961) is a near-masterpiece, but only hardcore collectors know about it.
Q: What is your format of choice (e.g., vinyl, CD, cassette, or digital)?
RA: I embraced the CD pretty hard when it came out in the 1980s, and I replaced all of my vinyl that I could. One could argue that was a mistake, but I’m not going back… That said, like most people, most of my listening is done these days on digital devices, so I’ve transferred a lot onto my computer. I have an iPhone and an ancient iPod Nano 3G. Moreover, since about 2015, I’ve gone mostly digital. I literally ran out of storage space, so if I get a new CD, LP, or 45, I have to get rid of one to make it fit.
Q: I imagine you got lots of holiday vinyl or CDs as a kid, depending on your age. Was there a particular Christmas album that you got as a gift that has remained a favorite?
RA: Actually, no. I didn’t get into Christmas music until I was about 20, and besides, my parents didn’t approve of my love of “evil” rock ‘n’ roll. My brother shares my passion, though, and I’ll bet he’s given me a few treasures over the years. We used to have to sneak records into the house so our parents wouldn’t get mad.
Q: During the holidays in my house, Christmas music was ever present, including all the classics by Nat King Cole, Johnny Mathis, Julie Andrews, Andy Williams, Frank Sinatra, and so many more. Were your parents into Christmas music, and what were some of the first songs and artists you remember hearing as a child that jump-started this amazing collection?
RA: Hmmm, tricky question. For years, I only collected the “hip” stuff, pointedly avoiding anything that could be interpreted as my parents’ music. Eventually, I started schooling myself about all that, particularly the major vocalists like those you mentioned. I still do my very best to avoid true “easy listening” music, like Mantovani or Living Strings. I have a real soft spot for Ray Conniff’s first two Christmas albums, however. They were on my parents’ turntable throughout the holiday season.
Q: What do you think is the biggest misunderstanding about Christmas music?
RA: That I like it. Just kidding! Sort of. All of my friends think I like all the stuff they hear on the radio every year. True, there’s some overlap, but I seek out the stuff that I want to hear. That would be songs that sound like all the other music I like – punk rock, disco, power pop, doo wop, hard bop, and much more. For instance, Everything’s Gonna Be Cool This Christmas by the Eels. It’s just a fantastic record – period. And, thematically, they are often songs that run counter to our expectations of the holidays – like Hating You For Christmas by Everclear. Or, they reveal the dark side of the season – like Merle Haggard’s “If We Make It Through December,” the Everly Brothers’ “Christmas Eve Can Kill You,” or Paul Kelly’s “How To Make Gravy.” And, that finally answers your question: Most people think it’s all Mariah Carey and Bing Crosby. There’s just so much more.
Q: If your visitors had three areas of your website to visit first, what would they be and why?
RA: Well, my most popular page is my Top 100 Songs, and that’s a great place to start, and a big chunk of those songs are found on my Top 20 Albums. Next, I have indexes listing thousands of Artists, Songs, and Various Artists. That’s where you go for the deeper dive. And finally, I have a “Jukebox” where you can actually hear the music I write about – there’s a link at the top of every page.
Q: Tell us how you elected to organize your website, and what are your future plans for it?
RA: When I started, I planned to simply write reviews of records I already owned, thinking my collection was complete. Boy, was I wrong! Eventually, I got out over my skis – too many records, too much research. That’s when I began building those indexes. Essentially, they are the skeleton of the website, and they are largely complete. My plan, now, is to write reviews for all of those albums and songs, and really put some meat on those bones. I’ll count myself lucky if I finish before I die. I also want to expand my Top 100 Songs and Top 20 Albums, then make completely different lists covering the 21st century. The world of Christmas music changed fundamentally after the Internet really got going, so it’s almost a separate topic.
Q: Do you have any advice for other Christmas music collectors?
RA: Don’t do it! Seriously, it can be addictive – always looking for the next cool or super rare thing. Mostly, I’d say find what you love and never apologize for it. If you love Kenny G or Mannheim Steamroller then, well, you go girl.
Q: To wrap up here, what do you think makes Christmas music or a Christmas song so enduring?
RA: For most people, it’s the sentiment. That’s why the happy, fun, catchy songs are so enduring. For me, it’s not quite the opposite, but close. Happy, fun, and catchy is fine. But, I prefer the outrageous, strange, disturbing, and weird songs, the ones that challenge the stereotypes about Christmas, both the holiday and its music. As I say on my website, I love those songs for what they say about my culture, what they say about my music, and what they say about me.
Hip Christmas.com is amazing! Great writer and collector! BTW, Randy was lead singer of The Infractions and Spiny Norman – rock groups who gigged around central Texas in the 80’s and 90’s.
But he never spent Christmas In Jail (as far as I know).
Thanks for writing to us Bill and the kind words! I was excited to get Randy for our Big Christmas Interview and have been a devoted follower of his website for years and years. We’ll have to track down some of his music and feature it in a future song spotlight 🙂 Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter to get all the latest content on Christmas Every Minute.