When it comes to Christmas albums, the top dogs on our Christmas records page are usually The Beatles, which mailed flexi-discs to its fans from 1963 to 1970, and Pearl Jam, which has been pressing 45s and 10-inch vinyl for members of its Ten Club since 1991 (skipping a year in 1994). Elvis Presley’s 1957 “Elvis’ Christmas Album” is the best selling Christmas album of all time, but 9-million copies sold means it’s not especially rare.
But if you’re looking for a Christmas album that just about nobody has, check out the private-label, mid-1970s vintage vinyl (shown above) called “Xmas Done Got Funky,” performed by Jimmy Jules and the Nuclear Soul System, with Jackie Spencer. Right now (auction ends December 15), the bidding for a copy of this seven-song, 12-inch, 33 1/3 RPM time capsule is pushing $130 (update: $521.12 was the final price), with more than 81 people watching. Last Sunday, a similar copy fetched $738, which is more than than the $597 price paid last summer and about what the LP was going for in 2009 ($715).
As vinyl futures go, this sounds like a rock-solid investment, but is “Xmas Done Got Funky” worth it for the music alone? Here’s the title track so you can decide for yourself.
The Killer Mobile Device for Victorian Women
If These Shirts Could Talk: The Tantalizing Tales Behind Used Clothes
Gloriously Grotesque 19th-Century Pipes
In the Hot Seat: Is Your Antique Windsor a Fake?
Bizarro Beauty Products, from 1889 to Now
Love at First Kite: How Pizza and Pente Led to One Oklahoman's High-Flying Obsession
Pin-Up Queens: Three Female Artists Who Shaped the American Dream Girl
Say Ahhh: An Oral Surgeon's Quest to Reimagine the Garage-Band Guitar
Tokens for Sweethearts, in Times of War
American Picker Dream, Part I: Mike Wolfe On His Love Affair With Bikes

Happy Kids on Christmas Morning
To Catch A Thief: A Rare Book Expert on His Literary Obsessions
Before Sesame Street and Electric Mayhem, a Crude Kermit Lip Synced Pop Standards
Pin-Up Queens: Three Female Artists Who Shaped the American Dream Girl
The Killer Mobile Device for Victorian Women
'The Great Gatsby' Still Gets Flappers Wrong
If These Shirts Could Talk: The Tantalizing Tales Behind Used Clothes
Before Rockwell, a Gay Artist Defined the Perfect American Male
Gloriously Grotesque 19th-Century Pipes
Jockeying for Position: How Boxers and Briefs Got Into Men's Pants
Everything You Know About Corsets Is False
How Collecting Opium Antiques Turned Me Into an Opium Addict
Blood, Sweat, and Steel: My Afternoon with the Ace of Swords
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