Search - Various Artists :: Rockin' Christmas Party, Volume 1

Have yourself a rock & roll Christmas!

Laura Pinto | St. Petersburg, FL United States | 11/17/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ron Dante, best known as the lead singer of The Archies and producer of Barry Manilow's first wave of million-selling recordings, has lost neither his golden voice nor his golden touch ... his latest production effort, "Rockin' Christmas Party," a super-cool compilation of holiday tunes, bears this out. This CD features a pleasing mixture of Yuletide classics and original tracks (tomorrow's classics) - the familiar coexisting comfortably with the new, just like the meaning of Christmas itself. The music is fantastic! - but with heavyweights such as Ron, Lou Christie, Tommy Roe, Bobby Vee, Gary Lewis and Chris Montez contributing their talents, what else would you expect? Plug in the Christmas tree lights, grab a cup of eggnog, and settle back for some very pleasant listening.



The first of Ron Dante's four tunes on the CD, "Rock & Roll Christmas," is fast-moving and energetic, the epitome of holiday fun, underscoring Ron's talents as composer, producer, and performer; no better song could have been chosen for the opening track. "Christmas in New York," performed by Lou Christie along with his backup singers, The Crayons, is a sentimental midtempo offering; listening to it makes me want to hop a plane to Manhattan and Rockefeller Center at tree-lighting time, and even those who weren't born and raised in the NYC-Metro area, as I was, will get a warm and fuzzy thrill from this original holiday tune.



Tommy Roe's "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," is, in a word, electrifying ... folks who remember Tommy only for his candy-coated 60's hits "Dizzy" and "Sweet Pea" will be blown away after hearing this one. "This Diamond Ring" purveyor Gary Lewis presents a rockin' good time with "Jingle Bell Rock," followed by Bobby Vee taking us "Home for the Holidays" with a lilting country twang. Next comes a pleasant surprise as Chris Montez serves up his own salsa-flavored version of "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree." (For the trivia buffs among you, this song was penned by the same composer who gave us "Rudolph" - the incomparable Johnny Marks.)



The lovely "Shine Your Light On Me" is illuminated by Ron Dante's flawless vocals and impeccable phrasing, and is the perfect lead-in for Lou Christie's "O Holy Night," in which the falsetto king (remember "Lightning Strikes" and "I'm Gonna Make You Mine" from the 60's?) proves not only that he can still reach the notes but also the heartstrings. Gary Lewis returns with another Marks classic, "Holly Jolly Christmas," then Ron takes center stage with a strong rendition of "Santa Claus is Coming To Town." This version, with the titular observation repeated three times in the refrain, was popularized by the Crystals and later picked up by Springsteen, among others - but Ron truly makes this song his own, and this track is itself destined to become a holiday classic. Bobby Vee's "Peace on Earth," another pleasant Yuletide offering, is sandwiched between "Santa" and another future holiday classic courtesy of Ron Dante, the lovely "The Christmas Of Our Lives."



The words "Volume One" splashed across the cover of this CD indicates that future editions will be forthcoming. If the subsequent releases are as good as this one - and I have no doubt that they will be - I'll be first in line to buy 'em!"

Rockin' Christmas Party Vol. 1

Shirley Suto | Depew, New York United States | 12/16/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It is a great cd. All of the Christmas Favorites sung by some of our old time favorite people. Ron Dante just keeps getting better as the years go by. He is a great writer and an even

greater singer. The other guys aren't too shabby either."

Busted disc

D. Nix | Nampa, ID United States | 02/09/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The music selection is good but even after I returned the first cracked disc the replacement disc was also cracked. But the second one at least played in the computer. I do have to wonder about the quality of production with two in a row being cracked."