Have a Nice Christmas: Holiday Hits of the '70s
Have a Nice Christmasbills itself as capturing the holiday hits of the 1970s, and the collection is more representative than one might think.  There's the wholesome, family aspect of the decade represented by--who else?--the Osmonds. The boys handle "It's Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas" nicely while Donny breaks off to team up with Marie for a song that might not be all that appropriate for a brother and sister to sing together: "Winter Wonderland." Liberace turns his showmanship to snowman-ship with his nimble-fingered "Jingle Bells," while Jim Croce and Glen Campbell cover the "good guy done wrong for the holidays" corner with "It Doesn't Have to Be That Way" and "I Believe in Christmas," respectively. The CD even dabbles in glam with Gary Glitter's "Another Rock 'n' Roll Christmas," and Wayne Newton makes a suitably tacky contribution with "Jingle Bell Hustle." And for those for whom the smoke still hasn't cleared, Cheech and Chong make an appearance, as does Martin Mull with his questionable "Santa Doesn't Cop Out on Dope."--Steve Gdula