Holiday Season

Governor Perry Signs Bill Allowing Teachers and Students to Say "Merry Christmas"

Last December, Houston Representative Dwayne Bohac picked up his son from first grade and asked what he'd done in class. His son answered that they'd decorated their "holiday tree" with "holiday ornaments." This concerned Bohac. "Why do we call it a holiday tree at school, but a Christmas tree at ... More >>

Robert Earl Keen's "Christmas" Present That Keeps Right On Regifting

For many people, the Christmas spirit fades as soon as the last trash bag bulging with wrapping paper hits the curb. Texas singer-songwriter emeritus Robert Earl Keen is counting on goodwill toward men lasting at least through the end of his "Merry Christmas from the Fam-O-Lee" tour that stops at Ho ... More >>

Elusive White Christmas Evades Houston Again, But Cold Weather On the Way

In 2004, Houston recorded snowfall on Christmas Eve in the rarest of rare circumstances for our city, an actual white Christmas. It didn't stick and, ultimately, it was just damn cold, but for a brief moment, we were living the dream, assuming your dream is a cold, snowy Christmas. For those of us w ... More >>

Your Stress-Free Holiday Dining Guide: Where to Eat on Christmas Day 2012

The presents are unwrapped, the place is destroyed and the pine needles from the Christmas tree have formed a fine carpet throughout the house. The last thing you want to do is dirty up a bunch of dishes cooking after all that. So why not let one of the many Houston restaurants open on Christmas Day ... More >>

Christmas Past: Our 5 Favorite Punk Rock Christmas Songs

While we celebrate the holidays, Rocks Off is resurrecting a few of our best Christmas-themed blogs from the past few years. (Wait... resurrecting is Easter. Never mind.) This blog originally appeared December 11, 2009. Aside from the heavy metal Christmas songs we threw your way earlier this week, ... More >>

Christmas Past: 10 Christmas Songs That Are Really About Drugs

While we celebrate the holidays, Rocks Off is resurrecting a few of our best Christmas-themed blogs from the past few years. (Wait... resurrecting is Easter. Never mind.) This blog originally appeared October 26, 2011. Halloween is right around the corner, so you know what that means: Time to start ... More >>

Your Stress-Free Holiday Dining Guide: Where to Eat on Christmas Eve 2012

Shopping for family, sending gifts to loved ones afar and decorating the house with an obnoxious amount of holiday decor tends to build quite a lot of stress each Christmas. So, we all love anything that eliminates some of the holiday stress. Let some of your favorite restaurants around Houston do t ... More >>

Your Stress-Free Holiday Dining Guide: Where to Eat on Christmas Day 2012

The presents are unwrapped, the place is destroyed and the pine needles from the Christmas tree have formed a fine carpet throughout the house. The last thing you want to do is dirty up a bunch of dishes cooking after all that. So why not let one of the many Houston restaurants open on Christmas Day ... More >>

Saturday Night: Los Lonely Boys at House of Blues

Los Lonely Boys House of Blues December 22, 2012 In the very Texan tradition of "rocking the fuck out!", Los Lonely Boys spent their last show of 2012 at House of Blues this past Saturday. The trio of brothers brought with them the perfect mix of sweet love songs, intense rock jams, and Christmas c ... More >>

Your Stress-Free Holiday Dining Guide: Where to Eat on Christmas Eve 2012

Shopping for family, sending gifts to loved ones afar and decorating the house with an obnoxious amount of holiday decor tends to build quite a lot of stress each Christmas. So, we all love anything that eliminates some of the holiday stress. Let some of your favorite restaurants around Houston do t ... More >>

Your Stress-Free Holiday Dining Guide: Where to Eat on Christmas Day 2012

The presents are unwrapped, the place is destroyed and the pine needles from the Christmas tree have formed a fine carpet throughout the house. The last thing you want to do is dirty up a bunch of dishes cooking after all that. So why not let one of the many Houston restaurants open on Christmas Day ... More >>

Fitz Navidad's Bands Lay Out Their Favorite Christmas Tunes

Thursday night, a heavenly host of Houston's brightest and best musicians will spend a night playing Christmas music to celebrate the holiday season at Fitzgerald's. We decided to catch up with some of the musicians and find out what their favorite Christmas songs are, and why? Austin Smith (A Sea ... More >>

5 More Christmas Songs by Houston Artists (and the Butthole Surfers)

5. Butthole Surfers, "Good King Wenceslas" Would you believe me if I told you that a Butthole Surfers song is impossible to explain? There's a version of "Good King Wenceslas" that Mannheim Steamroller made pretty famous on elevators around the world. You wouldn't recognize the words if I told you, ... More >>

The 10 Worst Holiday Cover Songs Ever

It's the thought that counts, right? Because they had the common decency to make original garbage, this list pardons holiday atrocities like New Kids on the Block's "Funky Funky Christmas" and "Last Christmas" by Wham! The ten "artists" on this list couldn't even be bothered to wrap their own turds ... More >>

Meet Les Heinemann, Baybrook Mall's Bluegrass-Picking Santa Claus

Les Heinemann has played Santa Claus at Baybrook Mall in Friendswood for 13 seasons now. Somebody told him that by December 25 of this year he'll have had almost 300,000 children sit on his lap and sort out their Christmas lists. I first met Heinemann in 2001 when I worked at Baybrook part-time a ... More >>

What the #!?& is Kwanzaa?: 7 Songs to Help You Figure It Out

It's the holiday season again and as usual people are confused: what are all these non-Christmas holidays going on? Last time we helped you figure out what Hanukkah was through the power of song. This time we'll be covering Kwanzaa. Rewind: What the #?!$ is Hanukkah?: 10 Songs to Help You Figure I ... More >>

So This Is 5 Years of Listening to Sunny 99.1's Christmas?

2008: An Hour in Sunny 99.1's Holiday Hell Every year, Sunny starts playing non-stop, 24/7 Christmas tunes by the end of November. You can pretty much bet that by the time you hop in the car after Thanksgiving dinner that Perry Como will be riding shotgun with you up to the gas station for smokes ... More >>

A Soulful Christmas In July

I didn't think I would succumb to sharing with the world how freaking hot I think it is because every time I see one of you complaining about it on Facebook, I envision your head between a Foreman grill. That might be pregnancy hormones speaking, but seriously; it's July, we're in Houston, it's ou ... More >>

Sanders Family Christmas

Classic Christmas: Mannheim Steamroller's Christmas

Over the holidays, we're looking back at some classic Christmas albums taking some track by track and just digging on others. ​Let me just get this out of the way right off the bat: I don't care for Mannheim Steamroller. I think their music is odd and a little creepy. But, that doesn't mean 1 ... More >>

Hail, Santa: The Top 10 Metal Christmas Carol Covers

​Rocks Off likes to believe that Christmas is such a merry holiday, even some of Satan's most stalwart servants can't help but get into the act. Of course, it could be that heavy metal musicians record Christmas music for the same reason as Mariah Carey: Because there's a crapload of money to ... More >>

Capsule Stage Reviews: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, A Christmas Story — A Ghost Story of Christmas, Fruitcakes, The Nutcracker, The Santaland Diaries

Sex and Spacemen: The Weirdest Christmas Songs We Could Find

Photo illustration by John Seaborn GrayI want to believe.​Just the other day, Rocks Off sat at the computer, blank-faced and still, the cursor blinking uninterrupted. See, normally at this time of year, we come up with a list of depressing Christmas songs. This year, though, there was a proble ... More >>

Classic Christmas: Nat King Cole's The Christmas Song

Over the holidays, we're looking back at some classic Christmas albums taking some track by track and just digging on others. ​Originally titled The Magic of Christmas, when it was released in 1963, this collection of Christmas songs was basically cobbled together in support of what many -- m ... More >>

Classic Christmas: The Perry Como Christmas Album

Over the holidays, we're looking back at some classic Christmas albums taking some track by track and just digging on others. ​When we think back now about the 1950's, we tend to idealize them as the birth of rock and roll, when kids were wearing leather jackets and rebelling against their pa ... More >>

Wine for Hanukkah, the Festival of Fried Foods and Olive Oil

Photos by Jeremy Parzen.Tomorrow night is the first night of Hanukkah. In the U.S., Ashkenazi Jews eat potato pancakes to celebrate the festival. Here and in other parts of the world, Sephardi Jews eat doughnuts.​You don't need me to tell you why we eat fried foods for Hanukkah, the Jewish fes ... More >>

Dining Out on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

elitemom.net​It's allegedly the most wonderful time of the year. But we're guessing whomever penned that phrase never spent Christmas Eve amid the pandemonium of wide-eyed, frantic shoppers desperately trying to cross those last few names off of the shopping list, or stayed up until the wee ... More >>

Classic Christmas: Charles Brown & Friends' Merry Christmas Baby

Over the holidays, we're looking back at some classic Christmas albums taking some track by track and just digging on others. ​Blues musician Charles Brown released and re-released Christmas songs numerous times throughout his career. The Texas City native got a lot of mileage out of Christma ... More >>

Classic Christmas: Johnny Mathis' Merry Christmas

Over the holidays, we're looking back at some classic Christmas albums taking some track by track and just digging on others. ​On the popular '70s and '80s sitcom The Jeffersons whenever George wanted to get Weezie in the mood, all he had to do was mimic the voice of Johnny Mathis while singi ... More >>

Classic Christmas: The Andy Williams Christmas Album

​There are two reasons we think of Andy Williams fondly. First, there is the classic episode of The Simpsons when Bart, Milhouse, Nelson and Martin travel to Branson where they see Williams perform. A teary-eyed Nelson said, "I didn't think he'd do "Moon River," but then -- bam! -- second enco ... More >>

"And A S.W.A.T Team in a Pear Tree": Hip Hop Christmas songs

​Have you grown tired of hearing the same played out Christmas songs on 99.1 yet? Of course you have. Even if you avoid the radio, you hear the music at the grocery store, company holiday parties, even at bars you escape to in order to avoid holiday overcheer. It's almost depressing. Christmas ... More >>

A Modern Throwback: Mel Torme's Christmas Songs

​Mel Torme holds a special place in the hearts of Gen Xers because of his re-occurring appearance on Night Court and his classic guest stint on Seinfeld. In fact, Torme put in quite a bit of time on TV and in films despite the fact that his main gig was as a singer and composer. Torme was old ... More >>

Looking Back at A Very Special Christmas Track by Track

In the late 1980's, music empresario Jimmy Iovine cobbled together quite a collection of pop and rock artists to record songs for a Christmas album benefitting the Special Olympics. In 1987, A Very Special Christmas was released and rapidly became an instant holiday classic thanks to the star powere ... More >>

26th Annual Uptown Holiday Lighting

Happy Biebermas: 2011's Bumper Crop Of Holiday Albums

Wishing You An Adorkable Christmas...​The Christmas season started back in the late summer for Rocks Off when we began getting PR e-mails about so and so's new Christmas album, and then in October they started showing up in our stacks of snail mail. This year the biggest complaint amongst ev ... More >>

Winter Wonderettes

10 Christmas Songs That Are Really About Drugs

memecenter.comMerry fuckin' Christmas, mang.​Halloween is right around the corner, so you know what that means: Time to start making a list and checking it twice. Bourbon, gin, scotch, vodka, Xanax, painkillers... Walgreen's and CVS have already stocked their shelves with wrapping paper, plas ... More >>

Odd Pair: Candy Canes & Pink Catawba

​Christmas is nearly here, and I know you all are desperately searching for a wine to pair with your favorite edible Christmas decoration: candy canes! Look no further, dear readers, because after sampling many, many wines while simultaneously licking on peppermint sticks, I have found the pe ... More >>

The Galleria Is Hardly A Winter Wonderland

confarta.com​Rocks Off, like the rest of you, hasn't finished all of our holiday shopping. Every Christmas, we tell ourselves that we'll begin earlier next year, but it never quite pans out the way we want it to. Ain't that feeling all too familiar? While we braved the crowds at the Galleria ... More >>

Blues Christmas

Top 10 Non-Traditional Christmas Songs

"Baby Jesus, born to rock..." ​Amidst the time of year when we're bombarded with cliché holiday tunes and trite Christmas-carol covers, Rocks Off will now take time to appreciate a few original nontraditional takes on festive songs. Whether they're dismal adaptations of holiday malaise, tale ... More >>

Five More Severely Depressing Christmas Songs

​Last year, we rounded up quite a collection of depressing Christmas songs to darken your mood just in time for the holidays, but - as many people were quick to point out - we left a few off the list. Well, we're nothing if not thorough, and this year we've found five more monsters of morosen ... More >>

WAR ON CHRISTMAS: Texas Principals Still Face Lawsuit Over Banning Jesus Pencils & Candy Canes

Who knew Jesus was a "Say my name! Say my name!" guy?​Two Texas elementary school principals have failed in their attempt to have the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismiss a suit filed against them for trying to kill the spirit of Christmas, not to mention Jesus, in innocent young children ... More >>

Our Annual Hour In Sunny 99.1's Holiday Hell

​The day before Thanksgiving, Sunny 99.1, "Houston's Official At-Work Station" did its yearly change-over to all holiday music. It's now a Houston tradition to turn over the dial at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving Eve to snort your first line of Burl Ives or Brenda Lee of the season, before you have ev ... More >>

Seasons of Sharing: Christmas

Have a pint-sized holiday

Wumwoyo Wa Kwanzaa/The Spirit of Kwanzaa

Web exclusive!

Seasons of Sharing: Merry Christmas

Web exclusive!

Christmas Candlelight Tours

Web exclusive!

Very Merry Pops

The Houston Symphony take Christmas tunes from Muzak to merry

BBAP Xmas Tree Project

Local artists create a different type of seasonal decoration