You can have all of your TV Christmas traditions. I’ll take Darlene Love’s annual performance of “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).” She recorded the original version (written by Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich, and Jeff Barry) in 1963, and since 1986 has done it on David Letterman’s final show of the year, backed by Paul Shaffer and his band and a slew of other musicians and singers.
Here’s video of Shaffer and Love behind-the-scenes, along with a montage of their performances through the years. It doesn’t get better than this — or maybe it will this Friday night when the 2011 version airs…