Holiday Music: Christmas, Halloween, Hanukkah, and more!

[Bastet]

4 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime"

I hate that song almost violently.

[WendyCR72]

6 minutes ago, Bastet said:

I hate that song almost violently.

For as great a songwriter Paul is/was (see Get Back!), like I said, this one wasn't his best. I guess even songwriting machines spit out some trite stuff. (I save my hate for "Christmas Shoes" or whatever that nightmare is called.)

[dewelar]

17 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

Last year, Pentatonix "augmented" Whitney Houston's "Do You Hear What I Hear?". This year, they played around with Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime" (which, admittedly, was no "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)", but pleasant enough...).

Why do they do this? Sigh. For some reason I just cannot put my finger on, this group bugs me. (I know we discussed that.)  I heard some of their original Christmas songs and it all just blends together for me. All a matter of different tastes, etc., I guess.

And yet, I like Straight No Chaser, another group that can do acapella (and other stuff). So, go figure. (Their "Christmas Can-Can" is always good for a laugh.)

Mrs. Dew and I are typically fans of a capella music (her more than me), and have a similar reaction to both groups, especially when it comes to their respective holiday music. I think it might be because Pentatonix sounds too technically polished, where SNC sound more like they're enjoying themselves on their recordings. I remember a few years ago when we saw Pentatonix on The Sing-Off that we were really looking forward to their album, and subsequently being quite underwhelmed. Sadly, nothing seems to have changed.

[WendyCR72]

Stumbled across this just now, had no idea it existed: A sort of oral history of The Waitresses' "Christmas Wrapping".

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

 

[SunnyBeBe]

Happy Halloween! I used to love this song as a kid, but I had not seen the guy who performed it sing it until recently. Freaky!  Truly scary stuff.  
 

[Annber03]

Happy Halloween, everyone!

[SunnyBeBe]

Love this thread!  Another one for Halloween!

[WendyCR72]

Happy November 1st. For any SiriusXM subscribers like myself, the holiday music channels are already officially up and running.

[BlueSkies]

I don't like Christmas music and my older grumpier self don't care too much for the holiday season.  But this song I do love

[KWalkerInc]

My friend has expressed an interest in the Backstreet Boys' new Christmas album, but I looked at the tracks and had to warn her that for some reason they included a version of Dan Fogelberg's "Same Old Lang Syne," which she has grown to hate when it pops up on a local station along with the Christmas songs.  For me it's not the saccharine nature of the song that gets to me as much as the fact that--after downing a six pack in his car--Dan and the old lover he meets at the grocery store both drive home.  I don't think that sends a very good message.

I noticed that a couple years ago, I complained about Music Choice starting Christmas music on R&B Classics on November 1.  Now I'm not sure if they're going to play it on that channel at all, though I think it was well into December before they started last year.  Even though the same songs were often repeated, it would give me good ideas for which Christmas albums to buy next.  I ended up getting Whitney Houston's Christmas album a few years ago after having heard I think every song on that channel multiple times.

[BlueSkies]

Too funny

[DearEvette]

I think Ive mention before that Carol of the Bells is my favorite Christmas carol and I try to collect as many (good) versions of it that I can.  Here is one that came across my radar today and it is gorgeous.

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

Celtic Woman

[BlueSkies]

[Bastet]

I used to play that Chipmunks record over and over as a kid -- my poor parents.

[Annber03]

My mom was the one who played it a lot when I was a kid :D. I very clearly remember the record cover and everything. 

[WendyCR72]

3 hours ago, Bastet said:

I used to play that Chipmunks record over and over as a kid -- my poor parents.

In terms of cartoon characters with Christmas songs, "Snoopy's Christmas" by the Royal Guardsmen was more my jam!

My mother had the 45 when I was a kid. Loved that record. Still love the song, I admit it!

[Bastet]

I didn't even really know who the Chipmunks are (some old animated singing group), so I'm not sure how I wound up with the 45 of that song (presumably someone outside the family gave it to me as a gift), but I thought Alvin's "Okay!" every time the guy finally got his attention and the argument at the end were funny, and liked the way they sang hula-hoop (one of my favorite toys), so I played the hell out of it. 

[WendyCR72]

3 hours ago, Bastet said:

I didn't even really know who the Chipmunks are (some old animated singing group), so I'm not sure how I wound up with the 45 of that song (presumably someone outside the family gave it to me as a gift), but I thought Alvin's "Okay!" every time the guy finally got his attention and the argument at the end were funny, and liked the way they sang hula-hoop (one of my favorite toys), so I played the hell out of it. 

I recall, when I was a teen, so we're talking mid 80s, the Chipmunks had some sort of revival. I recall cousins of mine watching it on Saturday mornings (when Saturday morning cartoons were still a thing!).

Oh, well!

[Annber03]

1 hour ago, WendyCR72 said:

I recall, when I was a teen, so we're talking mid 80s, the Chipmunks had some sort of revival. I recall cousins of mine watching it on Saturday mornings (when Saturday morning cartoons were still a thing!).

Oh, well!

I watched that, too! I was just a little kid at the time myself, but yeah, I definitely remember watching that show. They had the Chipmunks and the Chippettes :D. 

[dewelar]

19 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

In terms of cartoon characters with Christmas songs, "Snoopy's Christmas" by the Royal Guardsmen was more my jam!

My mother had the 45 when I was a kid. Loved that record. Still love the song, I admit it!

This reminds me of one of my best Christmas memories. My mom also had a copy when I was a kid, but it got broken at some point, and she could never find another copy. Years later, when I was in high school in the mid-80s I worked at K-Mart across the street from a record store that I would go into almost every lunch hour (when I wasn't in the arcade next door). One day I was in there and happened across a copy, so I bought it and hid it in my dresser for weeks, then snuck it under the tree on Christmas Eve with a "from Santa" tag. Her reaction was just the best :D .

[WendyCR72]

14 minutes ago, dewelar said:

This reminds me of one of my best Christmas memories. My mom also had a copy when I was a kid, but it got broken at some point, and she could never find another copy. Years later, when I was in high school in the mid-80s I worked at K-Mart across the street from a record store that I would go into almost every lunch hour (when I wasn't in the arcade next door). One day I was in there and happened across a copy, so I bought it and hid it in my dresser for weeks, then snuck it under the tree on Christmas Eve with a "from Santa" tag. Her reaction was just the best :D .

OMG, I love this!

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

 

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

 

[BlueSkies]

 

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

 

[BlueSkies]

Alexander O Neal My Gift To You.  The whole album actually.  Very underrated.

 

 

[KWalkerInc]

On Music Choice's Soul Holiday channel (now just on the app), they bug me because they play a cover of "My Gift to You" by Donell Jones instead of the original.  Jones is a good singer, but I want to hear the original!  They do play Alexander O'Neal, but not that song for some reason.  (Fortunately, I do have the song on a CD.)

[BlueSkies]

2 hours ago, KWalkerInc said:

On Music Choice's Soul Holiday channel (now just on the app), they bug me because they play a cover of "My Gift to You" by Donell Jones instead of the original.  Jones is a good singer, but I want to hear the original!  They do play Alexander O'Neal, but not that song for some reason.  (Fortunately, I do have the song on a CD.)

Actually that’s where I heard the song driving last night.  Sirius Christmas Soul Station or something like that 

 

Yes I like O Neal and didn’t know he had a Christmas album in 1988 until last night.  I loved it.  Will probably listen to it on a yearly basis now 

[Blergh]

'Sleigh Ride' by the Ronnettes (1963) should be required holiday listening,IMO !

It simply embodies the best rendition of that song with the recently departed Ms. Spector's perfect vocal lead (backed up by a wonderful orchestra) inviting the listener to take a horse/reindeer-drawn sleigh ride which one may imagine taking place under a blanket while sipping a thermos of hot cocoa!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

[ebk57]

I miss this every year...

 

[InDueTime]

I like to listen to this song around Christmas time every year.

 

 

[Anela]

I haven't been listening to much Christmas music, after being sick for two weeks, and then there isn't much on the radio, this year, and I keep forgetting to look it up on youtube - I lose the free premium in four days. :/ It's been nice not having to deal with adverts.

Anyway, I heard this in PetSmart, earlier on. I don't think I've ever heard it in a store over here. It's from my childhood, in England. My mood has been terrible for a couple of days - just downhill, all the way. I walked into the store, heard this, and started to sing quietly to it, and started to feel better. not great, but better. 

 

[WendyCR72]

On 12/25/2022 at 2:03 PM, ebk57 said:

I miss this every year...

 

Ask and ye shall receive! Look who reunited for 2023!

 

Merry Christmas, everyone!

[voiceover]

This season someone reminded me that the most poignant line in “Little Drummer Boy” is “I am a poor boy, too”.

Yup.  I always well right up when I hear it.

[Lugal]

Because I hate nearly all Christmas music that gets played on the radio (from years of working retail) I find myself looking for the obscure and unusual, and this year I found this gem: Carol of the Bells played on the hurdy-gurdy

 

[Jaded]

On 12/23/2023 at 10:05 PM, WendyCR72 said:

Ask and ye shall receive! Look who reunited for 2023!

 

Merry Christmas, everyone!

I noticed Dave turned kind of red when Darlene thanked him for helping her music career get off the ground. Hearing how she wasn't invited to sing that song at the most famous Christmas tree lighting and then them having others sing it instead made me mad for her too.

***
Here's another Darlene Love holiday season contribution from 2005...
 

 

[Anela]

I'm a week late with this, but I've just heard it for the first time.