I begin with a slight confession, the remit behind my series Steve's LP Box was that it had to not only be a classic album, but one that I actually own. Having started life on Trent Sound, I intend on bringing the show back as a podcast in the new year, which has the advantage of not being hampered by the 58 minutes required by radio (an hour is actually 58 minutes due to the hourly news). This means that I can do longer albums without having to omit songs, or a shorter album without having to pad. To bridge the gap until the new series, (available exclusively as a podcast), I decided to make a Christmas special, which is where my confession comes in.

My vinyl copy of Phil Spector's Christmas Album went missing a while ago, and I haven't been able to replace it. Not on vinyl anyway, and I kept hitting a confusing brick wall every time I tried to Google it. Instead of the album I was thinking about, I kept finding A Christmas Gift For You From Philles Records, or A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector, and the cover wasn't what I remembered.

The tracklisting however, was exactly as I remembered it:

1. Darlene Love 'White Christmas'
2. The Ronettes 'Frosty The Snowman'
3. Bob B Soxx and The Blue Jeans 'The Bells Of St Mary's'
4. The Crystals 'Santa Claus Is Coming To Town'
5. The Ronettes 'Sleigh Ride'
6. Darlene Love 'Marshmallow World'

In those days, we had to lift the whole thing up, and put it down again. You kids don't know you're born with your auto-reverse on your cassette Walkmans.

1. The Ronettes 'I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus'
2. The Crystals 'Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer'
3. Darlene Love 'Winter Wonderland'
4. The Crystals 'Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers'
5. Darlene Love 'Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)'
6. Bob B Soxx and The Blue Jeans 'Here Comes Santa Claus'
7. Phil Spector and Artists 'Silent Night'

Further research taught me that the album I was thinking of, and the album I kept finding, where in fact the same thing. However, A Christmas Gift For You was the original album, released in 1963. I was thinking of this...

...which was a free gift with this...

...not that it really matters, as they are both essentially the same album.

So this will be the first and only addition to Steve's LP Box that I don't own, although I did once so I'm counting it. In order to be able to do this edition, I had to download the album. 

Listening to the album instantly brought back a flood of memories of childhood Christmases. Phil Spector's Christmas Album was one of our family's Christmas collection and it made its annual debut on decorations day. Even after not hearing it for so long, I knew the order inside out. I have written somewhere before about how the ipod shuffle option has ruined our knowledge of tracklistings, in the old days we could hear a song and know what was coming next because we remembered from the album. Once 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' comes to an end, we know that 'Come As You Are' is coming up next. The opening bass riff to 'Another One Bites The Dust' enters our brains as soon as the cymbal crash climax to 'Bohemian Rhapsody' fades away. There's even an old rock n' roll compilation that my dad used to have on in the car when we went swimming that I still have, and even now when I hear 'At The Hop', I expect 'Barbara Ann' to follow.

I digress. Phil Spector's Christmas Album is a masterpiece. It isn't just one of the best Christmas albums ever, it is one of the best albums full stop. Every song is a work of art, you will smell the pine of the tree just as soon as the needle touches the record, (quote for the sleeve should they ever reissue). Memories came flooding back with every track, but the memories were one rose-tinted amalgamation of childhood Christmas. I don't even think all the memories were mine to be honest, that is the power of this particular album. I was transported back to the happiest period of my childhood, when we lived in Norfolk. The decorations are up, (my mum used to go to town with the Christmas decorations, which is where I probably get it from), and all the family are there. The school has one of those cardboard pillar boxes for us to post cards to our friends, (my 13 year old daughter recently tweeted that she was sad that senior school doesn't have the school postal system, and I share her pain, it's one of those harsh realities of growing up), the snow is falling, and we had mince pies and pop after the school play.

My portrayal as a waiter is one that I have no recollection of.

In my image of this Christmas past, both sets of grandparents are there, as is my younger brother. This is the problem, we only lived in Norfolk for a short amount of time, and only spent two Christmases there. My paternal grandparents spent Christmas 1985 with us, and then my grandad died in February 1986. My younger brother was born in January 1987, just before we moved to Hastings, so never actually spent a Christmas in Norfolk. What I'm conjuring up in my head is the perfect Christmas that I've been striving for in adulthood, but never actually had. I've had very enjoyable Christmases, but I'm always aiming for an image of Christmas that is seen in adverts.

The podcast will be available later on at some point, certainly before Christmas Eve.

I listened to the album in its entirety, the hairs on my arms standing on end from the opening bars of 'White Christmas'. By the end of it I was in tears and covered in goose pimples.