posted
. . . that there are more than 15 recorded Christmas songs in existence. Some of them actually weren't recorded by Mannheim Steamroller, or within the last 5 years.
I swear our local station plays the same hour's worth of song over and over and over again. Every time I switch to the station it's something I just heard last time I was on that station.
And if I hear one more song about kids on crack or taking a bullet at Christmas I'm gonna write a nasty letter. There's nothing wrong with a sobering moment amidst the joy, but every freakin' hour? Come on! Posts: 6394 | Registered: Dec 1999
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posted
I might be the only one, but I get quite sick of the sentimentality of songs like Christmas Shoes. They don't touch my heart... they don't make me cry.
That particular song reminds me of that old shoe song from Wag the Dog.
But then, I also very quickly got tired of Butterfly Kisses, which is a much better song. I think I cried once, but mostly because I knew it was expected. After that one time, I was finished... but I'm not a daddy.. so...
Posts: 2880 | Registered: Jun 2004
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posted
I don't hear enough Mannheim Steamroller at Christmas time. When I do, it tends to be the same two or three tunes.
I do hear entirely too many songs from contemporary musicians' obligatory Christmas albums. These things are almost never any good. I want to tell the music industry that it is not a requirement for every new top-40 singer or band to release a Christmas album. It's just not.
I don't hear enough actual Christmas carols. I also don't hear enough "oldies". When they do play "oldies" it's almost always Burl Ives, who is okay, but there are so many other great ones. I want more Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, etc.
I was at Disneyland this past weekend, and they had quite a pleasant holiday music track playing the whole time. It was mostly instrumental, and not overbearing. (Their new Christmas parade, however, had the most obnoxious song -- totally not up to par with the song for their original parade.)
Posts: 202 | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
And can someone please tell the pop-artists that singing "Silent Night" as "SIIIiiiIIiiiiiiIIiiiiLent NeeeeeeieiiiiIIIIIIIIIIighghghghghghghghgtttttt!" adds nothing of value to the song itself and makes the artist sound desperate. Just because you can sing scales in the middle of every fifth word of an old favorite doesn't mean you should. And if you're so insecure in the quality of your own voice that you have to hide it in embellisments, maybe you should re-think the whole Christmas cover-song idea altogether.
Posts: 6394 | Registered: Dec 1999
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posted
Also, do we really need to hear Jingle Bell Rock every half hour? I swear, our local station plays that stupid song EVERY HALF HOUR!
Posts: 194 | Registered: Feb 2005
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And can someone please tell the pop-artists that singing "Silent Night" as "SIIIiiiIIiiiiiiIIiiiiLent NeeeeeeieiiiiIIIIIIIIIIighghghghghghghghgtttttt!" adds nothing of value to the song itself and makes the artist sound desperate.
YESSS. Although I think I'm just bitter because when they do that I can no longer sing along and sound decent.
Posts: 308 | Registered: Sep 2005
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posted
KarlEd, where we are 100.7 is the christmas music station. Don't know if that'll come in where you are, but it's worth a shot. We're not that far away.
Kira might know some other ones though. She's the resident christmas expert. Posts: 8741 | Registered: Apr 2001
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posted
Ah... we don't have a station that switches to holiday music... but we do have a talk radio station that plays old time radio drama version of A Christmas Carol.
I do have a favorite from decades ago.. Bing and Bowie singing the Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth duet...
That and the John Denver & Muppets Posts: 80 | Registered: Nov 2005
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Where are you Strider? I tuned to 100.7 on the way home. It came in loud and clear, but it was "classic rock". Posts: 6394 | Registered: Dec 1999
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I'm the type that starts "the season" on the Friday after Thanksgiving and continues it until the weekend after New Year's Day. (But my "end date" there is just my "no-later-than" date for taking down Christmas lights and decorations.)
Posts: 6394 | Registered: Dec 1999
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quote: I don't hear enough actual Christmas carols.
Most of these "all Christmas music, all the time" stations don't play actual carols. I don't know whether it's to avoid seeming too religious, or whether washed-up famous people tend to avoid carols when making half-assed albums of crappy standards.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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posted
I agree with Christmas Shoes. I heard it for the first time this year, and wanted to vomit. My local station has a young Michael Jackson fetish. ::vomit smiley::
Posts: 1757 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
You could always try an online station. (I don't know if their mix is actually any better, I just figured that more options had to be a good thing. Find a half-dozen of these, and you can switch around when one gets old! )
I don't think I'm familiar with "Christmas Shoes."
quote:But then, I also very quickly got tired of Butterfly Kisses, which is a much better song. I think I cried once, but mostly because I knew it was expected. After that one time, I was finished... but I'm not a daddy.. so...
I loathe this song, and will change the station if it comes on--or leave the room. But if you tie me down and force me to listen to it, it will make me cry. But then, I am a daddy. Of girls. So . . .
quote: And can someone please tell the pop-artists that singing "Silent Night" as "SIIIiiiIIiiiiiiIIiiiiLent NeeeeeeieiiiiIIIIIIIIIIighghghghghghghghgtttttt!" adds nothing of value to the song itself and makes the artist sound desperate. Just because you can sing scales in the middle of every fifth word of an old favorite doesn't mean you should. And if you're so insecure in the quality of your own voice that you have to hide it in embellisments, maybe you should re-think the whole Christmas cover-song idea altogether.
ITA
quote:I'm the type that starts "the season" on the Friday after Thanksgiving and continues it until the weekend after New Year's Day. (But my "end date" there is just my "no-later-than" date for taking down Christmas lights and decorations.)
Christmas season ends after the twelfth day of Christmas: January 6, or Epiphany. You shouldn't take down your stuff any sooner. (Why doesn't anyone know about Epiphany in this country?)
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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Christmas season starts Christmas Eve, and lasts until January 6th. Why does nobody [note exageration] celebrate Advent in this country? Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
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The station I listen to only plays Christmas songs every 15 minutes. I think that's enough to satisfy my craving but not so much that I get tired of the same songs.
I have heard some "carols" this year, though. There's a version of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" out and the Proclaimers' "I Saw Three Ships." Kinda cool, if you ask me, especially with their Scottish accents.
Posts: 1903 | Registered: Sep 2003
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I have some real stunners on my computer. As in "ow, my brain just died" type stunners.
I keep them for anthropological interest under "bad Christmas music". Some such as N'Sync singing Oh Holy Night acapella, have no redeeming qualities at all, other than for humour. Others, like "I Believe" just have god-awfully cheesy lyrics. Others are both bad songs and sung badly and aren't worth mentioning.
Although I should add that I am surprisingly open minded about music at Christmas and so I can put up with more as long as it's got sleighbells in the background .
Posts: 8473 | Registered: Apr 2003
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posted
Speaking of advent, where on earth could I find an advent candle holder? My mom has a simple one that's a circle with four holders around the edge and one in the middle. That's what I want, so that I can make a pretty wreath to go around it.
I've looked in craft stores (Michael's and Joann's) and at the Walgreens Christmas section, and found nothing.
Maybe I should just make one completely from scratch. Advent's already half over this year anyhow
posted
Sometimes I like those stations, especially when I'm driving distances by myself. Then I can sing loudly and poorly and STILL think I sound better than the radio - especially when I know I don't
I rarely ever hear Manhattan Transfer (note: Mannheim Steamroller = devil music) on the radio, but their Christmas album is one of my favourites ever. That and the Beach Boys one. I just have a soft spot in my heart for the music of my youth.
Posts: 3932 | Registered: Sep 1999
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A coworker played a version of Adeste Fideles (O Come, All Ye Faithful) by Bing Crosby, that was a travesty. Bing was a great soulful and loungy crooner, bu Adeste Fideles is a fricking triumphal march of a carol! Double-time, Bing, double-frickin-time!!
quote:I swear our local station plays the same hour's worth of song over and over and over again. Every time I switch to the station it's something I just heard last time I was on that station.
Funny, the stations in my town do exactly the same thing. With regular current music. All year round.
quote:Just because you can sing scales in the middle of every fifth word of an old favorite doesn't mean you should.
Ditto for non-Christmas music, if you ask me.
quote:And if you're so insecure in the quality of your own voice that you have to hide it in embellisments, maybe you should re-think the whole Christmas cover-song idea altogether.
Or the idea of having a career in music, for that matter.
Posts: 1814 | Registered: Jul 2004
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quote:Go to Rivendell Par rum pum pum pum My father said to me Par rum pum pum pum I did not want to go Par rum pum pum pum Please let my brother go Par rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum My father's evil. Par rum pum pum pum. And really dumb.
I got on my horse Par rum pum pum pum And brought my round shield too Par rum pum pum pum I said to Faramir Par rum pum pum pum Remember today little brother Par rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum Ignored my father. Par rum pum pum pum He's really dumb.
posted
I like my local christmas station. 100.3 WNIC. They play the same set of music every five hours, but that's enough so you won't hear the same song within the same hour at the very least.
I like a mix of classics, like the Chipmunks singing Christmas Don't Be Late and a mix of the newer songs, like Josh Groban "O Holy Night" and Barenaked Ladies with Sarah McLaughlin singing "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"
Too much Bing Crosby tends to annoy me though. That's maybe my only complaint.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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I have to admit, the only version of Little Drummer Boy that I like is the David Bowie/Bing Crosby duet. I tend to prefer more modern Christmas songs anyway, and for the most part I avoid the religious ones (yeah, I can hear you muttering, "um, Goody, LDB???").
My absolute most hated, sends me running and screaming in terror from the room, song is "Do You Hear What I Hear?". Any version, but Whitney's is the WORST!
And as for stations, I've got my XM radio next to me at the office and they have (I think) 6 stations that I'm bouncing between.
Posts: 4515 | Registered: Jul 2004
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