Akron songwriter Chris Butler never expected to create a holiday classic. Forty years later, he’s still amazed when he hears the tune blaring on the radio, wafting through a mall or playing in a movie ...

Forty years ago, indie label ZE Records released the holiday compilation A Christmas Record, the very first alternative music Christmas album, featuring esoteric offerings by NYC no/new wave artists ...

It's a short story about a woman who just wants to spend the holiday alone, from a band that had no interest in writing what would become a... Couldn't Miss This One: Behind 'Christmas Wrapping' Chris ...

“But it was such an oddball thing that we didn’t think that anything was going to come of it and promptly forgot about it,” he said. “It was like, ‘Okay, we got it.’ We mollified the label head on ...

Chris Butler was the least likely person to write a Christmas song, he recently told the Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal. During his childhood, he hadn’t found much joy in the holiday. His family, which ...

Even if you’re a child of the early 1980s, you might not. However, you will recognize the one song for which the new wave outfit is best known — even if it wasn’t a big hit at the time of its release.

Known for new wave hits such as “I Know What Boys Like” and “Christmas Wrapping,” the Waitresses were one of the most significant bands to emerge from the same Akron scene that produced acts such as ...

EDITOR’S NOTE: We wrote this back in 2021, but with the holiday season back once again we felt like it was the perfect time to update it. There's nothing that brings the world together more than ...

“Last Christmas” – Wham! (Merry Synthmas!) “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?” – Ella Fitzgerald “Merry Christmas, Darling” – The Carpenters “Christmas Wrapping” – The Waitresses ...

Chris Butler was an unlikely person to write a Christmas song. During his childhood, he hadn’t found much joy in the holiday, he told the Akron Beacon Journal in December 2021. His family, which he ...