The variety on this annual Christmas program on this online oldies station is truly stellar. Rock and roll, jazz, blues, R&B, country, traditional, novelty and more. On top of that, the hosts offer interesting tidbits about the songs and have a good knowledge of the music they play. I've been listening to it for over a decade now at the holidays. Check it out. It's free to listen to on their web site. www.transistoroldies.com
I have an Amazon Echo on my desk at work and the nurses want to hear Christmas music, but I can't seem to avoid Mariah Carey and Wham. I started with "Christmas Music" and have moved on to "Jazz Christmas" which is better, but I still have to deal with Kenny G once in a while. Luckily there's a skip button for that. At home I stick to Charlie Brown Christmas, Ella Fitzgerald, Tuck Andress and the Blue Note comp Yule Struttin'.
Okay, this is a recommendation for people who love both Christmas music and overplayed 70s rock (or perhaps for people who hate one or both of them enough to want to see them mocked). The Squirrels are a Seattle band who've made what name they have by cleverly rearranging and mashing together songs that don't necessarily fit (eg Seasons in the Sun sung to the tune of The Hustle, Pink Floyd's "Money" sung to the tune of Barrett Strong's "Money", etc). In the 90s they released a Christmas album in several iterations, and it's long been out of print. Rather than try to monetize it in 2020, they've made it available for free download at this location. Admittedly, some of it is quite silly and sophomoric, but some of it is also pretty brilliant. My favorites include "Peaceful Easy Little Town of Bethlehem", "RHIAUDOLPH", "Slow Ride on a Sleigh Ride" and "Smoke on the Housetop."
Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas? Phonogram Records, UK, 1984, FEED 112 FEED 112 A PRC FEED 112 B
Joining in: Mario Lanza - Christmas Hymns And Carols RCA Camden Records, UK, 1969/1963, CDS 1036 PCRS-5315-3C A2 PCRS-5316-3C A1L Reissue.
Christmas is about to dawn over Los Angeles. It is unthinkable that I live in what is now "Ground Zero" for the spread of COVID 19 infection! My usual feelings of hope & happiness on a Christmas morning are non-existent . They are replaced by a sadness and heavy feeling as I think about all of the families who are waking up to their Christmas and face the gut-wrenching realization that they have lost a loved one (or ones) to this unthinkable disease. This is about as weird and unexpected a feeling as I have ever had. I know it will pass but it is something that I needed to share. Merry Christmas, everyone.
Jesus help us!!!!! Mariah Carey's got the world celebrating Christmas like it's 1994 ... her classic "All I Want for Christmas is You" just set a record on Spotify. Her classic XMAS track on Christmas Eve set the all-time record for the biggest, single-day stream in Spotify history with 17.223 million streams, according to Chart Data which provides daily music stats from various sources.
Well now....this thread sure died quickly. Everyone must be celebrating. I am spending Sunday listening to the Starbuck's Classical Christmas Music CD's. So peaceful and relaxing. Lowered my BP by about 10 points!
I am with you all the way, Paul. My pet peeve this time of the year is when some folks rush to try to put an end to the holiday. I do not get taking down the holiday lights or turning off the Christmas music anytime before New Years Eve or New Years Day. Let us keep the spirit of Christmas going a tad longer for goodness sakes, especially after this stressful year. In the spirit of Paul and my thoughts on the matter, I will post a new favorite from one of the most amazing collections of brand new holiday music that I have heard in a long time. Both Paul and @Scourge have posted several great songs from Jamie Cullum's fantastic holiday album, The Pianoman At Christmas. Here is one of my favorite cuts from the album:
Funny, I got my Starbucks CDs out this weekend too. I have them from 2007 until they stopped doing them. Great comps, and nice to play now that the radio stations have stopped playing Christmas music. My favorites:
SomaFM have 5 different 24/7 Christmas stations still streaming into the New Year. We play Christmas music in our house from December 1st to 31st
Yes! It’s almost as if someone somewhere flips a switch on 12/26 and the Christmas season never happened. As for me, I still play Christmas music until I take down my tree in early January.
I do the same thing being a huge Elvis Presley fan, so the Christmas tree and music keeps going until his birthday on January 8th. It just makes for a good cutoff point. Elvis liked to keep his holiday decorations up through his birthday and if it was good enough for him, it is good enough for me, Lol.
Merry belated Christmas wishes to you all! I got a little more verklempt in the days directly surrounding Christmas than I anticipated, mostly on reflection of a rough year. I hope all are well, and here's hoping for a happy new year for everyone! Yeah, my lights are staying up for a bit, and I've got yet more Christmas listening to do...
Glad all is well. Hang in there. I must once again thank you for turning me on to Pianoman at Christmas one of the finest "new" Christmas albums in many years.
I ordered 'Seasons Greetings' from Amazon Canada on October 28. My recollection is that it was noted as being "in stock" when I ordered it. I just received it in the mail today, 63 days later. The usual delivery time for regular shipping from Amazon to my house is two days. Here is the package's itinerary: December 1 - shipped from Phoenix, Arizona to San Bernardino, California, arriving on the same day, December 1. December 1 - from San Bernardino, California, arriving in Kent, Washington on December 4. December 4 - from Kent, Washington to Richmond, British Columbia, arriving on the same day, December 4. December 4 to December 18 - in purgatory. December 18 - from Richmond, British Columbia to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, arriving on December 19. December 19 - from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan to Winnipeg, Manitoba, arriving on December 22. December 22 to December 28. Apparently purgatory is so nice this time of year, the package decides to revisit and spend an extended Christmas holiday there. December 28 - from Winnipeg, Manitoba to Kitchener, Ontario, arriving the same day. At some unknown point between December 28 to December 31 leaves Kitchener and is delivered to my house (a one hour drive away). Happy New Year!
Oh man that is just crazy to hear. I know things have been getting delayed for obvious reasons, but that is just ridiculous. I am so sorry you did not even get it in time for Christmas. I stopped ordering CD's from Amazon due to the fact that they now almost always arrive with cracked jewel cases. I mean like every time. It is a real shame you could not have ordered it directly from Real Gone Music as it was actually available exclusively on their own site in July.
I'll keep that in mind. I'd rather order elsewhere than from Amazon. I thought I'd be getting it within two or three days of placing the order. Delivery times are pretty screwed up this year, especially anything crossing the border. I ordered a couple more Real Gone Christmas CDs after Christmas hoping that delivery times would be improved, but it doesn't appear so. P.S. One more thing ... is the Real Gone Music version of 'Christmas Carols' by Mantovani simply a re-issue of the Collectors' Choice Music edition?
Yes indeed it features the same beautiful remastering, but they did a couple of corrections with regard to the label and cover album artwork. It now has the correct gold color bulb on the cover and the black Stereophonic label as well. There is also more accurate labeling on the CD itself as I recall.
