Each holiday season, listeners are treated to a barrage of perennial favorites, most of which fade harmlessly into the background. Rock & roller Freddy Cannon seems to think he can do better. Why not make a holiday album that gets the listener's attention and, better yet, makes the listener want to dance? This is exactly what he does on Have a Boom Boom Christmas!!, taking a handful of well-worn songs and a few originals and giving them rock & roll -- circa 1956 -- treatments. Upbeat fare like "Run Rudolf Run," "Santa Clause Is Coming to Town," and "Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer" will make one wonder why nobody has sock hops at Christmastime anymore. There are also good versions of "Feliz Navidad" and "Here Comes Santa Claus." Perhaps the most fun pieces, however, are Cannon originals. "Santa's Got Two Left Feet" offers an explanation of why the jolly old elf can't dance, while "Santa (You're Too Fat for Me)" presents a new way of looking at Kris Kringle's plumpness. Most interesting of all is "Mamacita," a song about Santa drinking margaritas in a south-of-the-border bar, enjoying a little downtime after the holidays. Cannon realizes, just like Jimmy Buffett, that even a North Pole native enjoys a Mexican holiday from time to time. The album is rounded out with a new version of "Palisades Park," making Have a Boom Boom Christmas!! the perfect gift for anyone who believes that rock & roll just ain't what it used to be.