It's after Thanksgiving now, so that means one thing: Christmas music in just about every radio playlist you can think of.

There are some great Christmas songs that truly reflect upon Jesus Christ's incarnation. I'm sure you're thinking of a few of your favorites right now.

But there are some truly horrible Christmas songs too. Did you know Ringo Starr made a Christmas album in 1999? The title song I Wanna Be Santa Claus is ... er ... well, I listened to it, but I hope I don't have to listen to it again.

To those of you who read this blog and who have access to Real Rhapsody, I offer a challenge: Assemble a playlist of up to 15 of the worst, tackiest, most awful Christmas tunes you can find within Rhapsody's library. Send me your playlist or point me to a blog entry with your playlist (the actual file) on Friday, December 3. I'll compile them and pop up a blog article. We can vote in the comments or something after putting ourselves through the sheer (yet strangely pleasurable) horror of listening to them.

Are you in? Drop me an email, add a comment, or ping me via trackback to an article on your blog with a similar challenge. We'll assemble some lists and see what kind of crud we can dredge from the Rhapsody library.

Update 1: Eli is in. Any other takers? I have a few dupes with his “originals” list. I have, at this point anyway, deliberately stayed away from bad versions of traditional Christmas songs simply because there are so many horrid attempts at creating new “standards” to choose from. I mean, why go for Babs' idiocy when you can go for, oh, I dunno ... “Melekalikimaka” by the Beach Boys (couldn't find the Don Ho version ... )? Or, to add to Eli's mention of Kenny Rogers' oeuvre, “Kids”? Rhapsody truly offers a wealth of horrible music. I won't even link to the putrescence that is “Larry the Cable Guy” (not suitable for family listening).

Update 2: Jacob Carpenter and Daniel Foster might be in. This is a reminder to all to make sure to send me a playlist before tomorrow (Dec. 3, 2004), when we compare notes. I'll compile initial lists in the morning.