tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post8567460887900053099..comments2023-11-03T06:02:02.128-07:00Comments on By Ken Levine: Okay, you can start playing Christmas music nowBy Ken Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-83019165550525423012016-11-30T08:51:01.205-08:002016-11-30T08:51:01.205-08:00The Kingston Trio put out several great traditiona...The Kingston Trio put out several great traditional Christmas albums...starting with "Last Month of the Year" in 1960...and more recently "Glad Tidings" in 2012..no Rudolph or Chestnuts...traditional, folky songs played well...RCA released a GREAT live Christmas album by John Denver..recorded three years before his death..sings with a children's choir too..it can be schmaltzy to some but Christmas has always been about heart...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-54454286767663416492016-11-30T07:16:04.072-08:002016-11-30T07:16:04.072-08:00I discovered this gem, Robert Goulet's Hurry H...I discovered this gem, Robert Goulet's Hurry Home for Christmas, a few years ago and love the cheesiness. I chuckle every time I hear it and love it at the same time too...<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzgC_MZKYOM<br /><br /><br /><br />Kim A Tenhornoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-72372646027508805782016-11-29T13:52:29.248-08:002016-11-29T13:52:29.248-08:00"Father Christmas" by The Kinks!!! A gre..."Father Christmas" by The Kinks!!! A great, comical, if somehwat skewed take on the "joyous" season. "Christmas Must Be Tonight" by The Band. Such a beautiful song. And someone mentioned Back Door Santa: The Black Crowes' version is amazing. Ahhh, The Black Crowes. One of the finest bands of the last 26 years, and few even seem to know of them these days. Maybe because a great treasure trove of unreleased material is what shows them for the true gem of a band they were - trust me, I have a lot of it. But I digress....<br /><br />Someone else mentioned Run, Rudolph, Run by Chuck Berry. Right on! One of the great joys of playing shows during the holiday season is when we can play that song instead of The Promised Land or Johnny B. Goode. "Rudolph" always seems to get 'em on their feet.<br /><br />And, Ken: who wrote "God Save The Kinks" on Cheers' men's room wall? I've always loved that scene for that.John the Rednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-43020285845286809602016-11-29T09:42:20.512-08:002016-11-29T09:42:20.512-08:00Here in the U.K, Fairytale of New York is regularl...Here in the U.K, Fairytale of New York is regularly voted the best Christmas song of all time.<br /><br />https://youtu.be/j9jbdgZidu8<br /><br />Which is quite something considering a) how unsentimental it is and b) it has a failrly offensive lyric about halfway through.Myles Whttp://writeandthat.me.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-43687525364417021572016-11-28T22:33:06.341-08:002016-11-28T22:33:06.341-08:00Oh, and one I forgot: Vince Guaraldi's "C...Oh, and one I forgot: Vince Guaraldi's "Charlie Brown Christmas" soundtrack. Pat Reederhttp://www.hollywoodhifi.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-49418474796664275652016-11-28T22:32:15.612-08:002016-11-28T22:32:15.612-08:00Not a big fan of Christmas music, but my wife and ...Not a big fan of Christmas music, but my wife and I like just enough of it to make a soundtrack that lasts about half a day. We play Leon Redbone's "Christmas Island" every year while opening gifts. Other than that, we have albums by Ella, Peggy Lee, the Carpenters and Nancy LaMott; a few songs each by Frank, Nat and Dean; John Fahey's "The New Possibility;" and some random oddities like "Christmas In Jail" or SNL's "Christmastime For The Jews." And despite all the Seth MacFarlane hate around here, I really like his "Holiday For Swing" album. But I don't see the point in every pop and country singer recording identical arrangements of the same handful of tunes ("Frosty the Snowman," etc.) for the 20,000th time. <br /><br />I bought a Linda Eder CD on Ken's recommendation, but she's just not my cup of java. I'm not big on belting. I prefer smooth, rich, pitch-perfect altos like Karen Carpenter or my wife. She's a retro jazz singer whose voice has been compared to Karen's. But one of her hard and fast rules is that she will NEVER record a Christmas song, so I guess we'll be playing Leon Redbone for eternity. <br /><br />Tip: if you can't stand any more Christmas music during long holiday drives, download or stream old Christmas radio shows off the Internet. There are a ton of Jack Benny's, etc., you can listen to for free. Pat Reederhttp://www.hollywoodhifi.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-19631950569390350712016-11-28T19:13:28.924-08:002016-11-28T19:13:28.924-08:00My coffeeshop put out two tip jars today, one labe...My coffeeshop put out two tip jars today, one labeled "More Christmas Songs", the other labelled "NO MORE CHRISTMAS SONGS!!!" Needless to say, the former was empty and I did my part, putting my change in the latter.<br /><br />That said, there are Christmas songs that stay on my iPhone year long because I like having them crop up on random: a cappella mashups, Vince Guaraldi, some silly holiday but not Christmas songs and whatnot. Some of my friends think I'm loopy, but it's precisely because they're songs I like and love on my terms. A couple random holiday tunes in July? Sure, why not. Rudolph on repeat in Decemer? Call the NRA, they've got a new member!Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07159294212873576818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-17106032407800635332016-11-28T17:42:21.352-08:002016-11-28T17:42:21.352-08:00Three years ago, I was in Singapore for a math con...Three years ago, I was in Singapore for a math conference and went into a mall downtown. I was dumbfounded to hear on the mall soundtrack Burl Ives' "Have a holly, jolly Christmas". They really go into the "winter wonderland" style of Christmas observance there; not so many people there follow it as a religious holiday, and of course it's practically on the Equator. The all time record low there is 67.brucehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04867539918269604287noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-45199024107253673322016-11-28T16:13:04.228-08:002016-11-28T16:13:04.228-08:00I still say Phil Spector's Christmas album is...I still say Phil Spector's Christmas album is the best. Too bad no one has the guts to play any of it. Guess they don't want him collecting ASCAP or BMI credits....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-30580234991987563862016-11-28T13:34:26.013-08:002016-11-28T13:34:26.013-08:00Garry, you just explained KRTH in a nutshell. What...Garry, you just explained KRTH in a nutshell. What an awful excuse for an oldies station, particularly one in Los Angeles. (And one I have to put up with when I do laundry in West LA, because it has wi-fi and I can use my laptop there.)<br /><br />And "Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time" is <i>far</i> than Lennon's song. John sings as if he really means it, whereas Paul is simply too glib for his own good. Not the McCartney of "Band On the Run."VP81955https://www.blogger.com/profile/11792390726196611188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-72475018989360057122016-11-28T13:12:16.883-08:002016-11-28T13:12:16.883-08:00An excellent collection is CHRISTMAS A GO GO from ...An excellent collection is CHRISTMAS A GO GO from (Little) Steven Van Zandt and the folks at his Underground Garage station on Sirius/XM...REAL rock n roll Christmas songs...LouOCNYhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16151395857835632917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-43929733497377023932016-11-28T13:05:01.769-08:002016-11-28T13:05:01.769-08:00Given the very deep catalog of Christmas songs, it...<i>Given the very deep catalog of Christmas songs, it seems odd to go such a narrow list. Ratings?</i><br /><br />The majority of people out there don't really want to hear anything other than hits and old favorites. That applies whether you're talking about pop songs or Christmas music. When I was in college and got a job at a local record store, at first I used to bug the store manager about why, for so many artists, he rarely stocked anything other than "greatest hits" collections or "best of" compilations. Turned out he did that for a very practical reason. No matter who the artist was or what the genre of music was, the vast majority of people who came in looking for an album really only wanted what was familiat to them. The big hits and the old favorites. That's true for Christmas music, too. For all the people who complain because the same damn narrow playlist of "holiday classics" gets repeated over and over again, there are a lot more people who don't want to hear anything BUT that same damn narrow playlistGarrynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-17094642172031452272016-11-28T12:51:35.922-08:002016-11-28T12:51:35.922-08:00Love Karen's voice, fantastic! Jazz singer Jac...Love Karen's voice, fantastic! Jazz singer Jackie Ryan has a similar sound, a pleasure to hear and quite a talent. Johnnynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-4018752386805362772016-11-28T12:17:41.703-08:002016-11-28T12:17:41.703-08:00Last Christmas I was on a cruise ship that introdu...Last Christmas I was on a cruise ship that introduced me to the song, There is a Star that Shines Tonight, by Sheryl Crow. It has since become one of my favorite New Era Christmas songs.kenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09216705763011665828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-6169110724561673462016-11-28T12:11:13.108-08:002016-11-28T12:11:13.108-08:00Two of my favorites that Ken didn't mention ar...Two of my favorites that Ken didn't mention are Chuck Berry's "Run, Rudolph, Run" ("Got to make him hurry / Tell him he can take the freeway down") and perhaps the closest Frank Sinatra ever came to his own holiday standard, "The Christmas Waltz." (He recorded it twice at Capitol, each a bit different from the other. Both are fine.)VP81955https://www.blogger.com/profile/11792390726196611188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-54996151334118532562016-11-28T11:35:42.905-08:002016-11-28T11:35:42.905-08:00It's not Christmas music on the radio, but I, ...It's not Christmas music on the radio, but I, for one, miss David Letterman's annual Christmas show, with Darlene Love and Jay Thomas and his Lone Ranger story and knocking the meatball off the top of the Christmas tree with a football. Call me crazy, but I loved that show!Mr. Hollywoodnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-45587197412670919732016-11-28T11:28:18.893-08:002016-11-28T11:28:18.893-08:00I'm with you Ken about X-mas music. Already s...I'm with you Ken about X-mas music. Already sick of it.<br />Chicago has a radio station that started 2 weeks before thanksgiving, and stops on the 26th of December. Never listen to it, but gets big ratings. <br />One song I do enjoy, in moderation, Sarah McLachlan and Bare Naked Ladies doing "God Rest ye merry gentlemen/we three kings".<br />But did enjoy the top 15 count down of X-mas music on Dr. Demento. Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16880646894752760905noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-57997470406031370302016-11-28T11:21:46.219-08:002016-11-28T11:21:46.219-08:00
Perhaps someone could clarify one of the great my...<br />Perhaps someone could clarify one of the great mysteries of the universe:<br />how did two of the greatest songwriters in the history of popular music write two of the absolutely worst, most horrid Christmas tunes ever?<br />And which is worse?<br />John Lennon: Happy Christmas/War is Over<br />Paul McCartney: Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-59463249053449649532016-11-28T11:14:09.682-08:002016-11-28T11:14:09.682-08:00Thanks for the Karen Carpenter video - beautiful.Thanks for the Karen Carpenter video - beautiful.Brianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00760229533287495672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-60854431744772860442016-11-28T11:02:33.660-08:002016-11-28T11:02:33.660-08:00I first noticed "Christmas stuff" this s...I first noticed "Christmas stuff" this season at Costco before Halloween - maybe as early as October 15th.<br /><br />Local FM station (98.9) started with the music the weekend after the General Election (at T minus 43 days). The ex theorized that it was to mitigate Trump Shock. She had a streaming thing going on at Thanksgiving dinner - which worked for me much better than the narrow playlist 98.9 broadcasts. <br /><br />Given the very deep catalog of Christmas songs, it seems odd to go such a narrow list. Ratings?<br />Jahn Ghaltnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-25853517805555914352016-11-28T10:24:36.717-08:002016-11-28T10:24:36.717-08:00The only time I like to listen to Christmas music ...The only time I like to listen to Christmas music is during the middle of the summer. And since that's when Mel Tormé and Robert Wells wrote "The Christmas Song," it's only appropriate. Mel's Christmas album is my go-to Christmas music.Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04942495315172561734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-49789684140151364362016-11-28T10:18:16.450-08:002016-11-28T10:18:16.450-08:00Hate malls but even more with Christmas music. Abs...Hate malls but even more with Christmas music. Absolute worst is when someone butchers a song by "making it their own." Want to shoot myself when I'm near the entrance to a department store when the store music and mall music are duelling. Merry effing Christmas!FFShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12957594809079628577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-24510459175732785762016-11-28T10:00:22.079-08:002016-11-28T10:00:22.079-08:00My favorite Christmas music is contained in albums...My favorite Christmas music is contained in albums titled Christmas in the Northwest. Local Northwest artists recorded these albums of some standard and some original Christmas music and I never get tired of listening to them. <br />Dianenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-23158666749996414472016-11-28T09:47:21.535-08:002016-11-28T09:47:21.535-08:00Clarence Carter's Back Door Santa is outstandi...Clarence Carter's Back Door Santa is outstanding. The Black Crowes really do a nice cover as well (should be on youtube)<br />-SammyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-308716024213752192016-11-28T09:08:41.881-08:002016-11-28T09:08:41.881-08:00Ken: It was KOSI ("Cozy") in Denver tha...Ken: It was KOSI ("Cozy") in Denver that started the all-Christmas rush with the "Cozy Christmas Caravan" back in the late 80s or early 90s. South Park had some fun with it a while back:<br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVM2wtL_CdQMichael Hagertyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10854329436921975104noreply@blogger.com