#77 Show Us Your B-side aka Xmas Music Rocks

I'm not one for pushing Xmas over the November border, in fact I rarely start shopping until Dec 22. However, the combination of media prattling on about the consumerism of Christmas and ers' recent holiday toonage post got me thinking about my love of holiday toonage.

Yes, I admit it, I LOVE the Xmas Music.  I sing along in stores. I use to join in on the group carol sing every morning in high school (when PC still was a political party).  I tune into the Xmas radio station all of December and I dance around to it baking cookies and singing at the top of my lungs.

So when I read Kate's post about her favourite holiday tune, I realized I've always wanted to compile a playlist filled with my favourites.

I'd start with:

• Good King Wenchlessness (sp!)
• Santa Baby (Eartha Kit not Madonna)
• Beuford's getting nothing for Xmas cuz Beuford's been nothing but bad (modified after Beuford the dog killed & ate the Xmas turkey)
• Kermit's One More Sleep 'til Xmas
• Dreidle-dreidle-dreidle
• Let It Snow
• It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
• Winter Wonderland
• The Holly & The Ivy
• Please Come Home for Xmas
• I'll Have a Blue Xmas Without You
• I'm Only Getting Half Of What I Oughta 'Cause My Birthday Comes on Christmas
• and my new favourite: A Christmas Without Weed - Shawn Colvin

Of course one tune that will never, ever, ever, be on my playlist is the one about the kid who tries to buy shoes for his dying mom. You know the one, it starts out as just a sappy country tune but it progresses to something that will wrench tears from the hardest of hearts. And not in a good way.

That song is like crack for Christmas addicts. Thank goodness I'll never be one of those.  Now, where did I put my Frosty-The-Snow-Sweater?

Help me build the definitive Holiday Toonage List -- Tell me your favourite Xmas/Holiday tunes.

 

Comments

[andrea from the fishbowl]

Okaaaaay. I'm looking at your list and I'm NOT seeing the oldy but goodie: "Rockin' around the Christmas Tree"

I LOVE THAT SONG:

Also on my list:

- Silent Night
- Good King Wenceslas (SP!)
- Oh come all ye faithful
- Oh little town of Bethleham
- Winter Wonderland
- anything by Bing.

There are others but it's almost too early to think about it!

[Amanda]

In the Muppet's Christmas Carol they sing a fantastic tune while dancing around the streets of London on Christmas Eve that is, hands down, my favorite Christmas tune ever.

Wherever you may go, it feels like Christmas!

My second favorite song is song by none other than Hanson. Yes, it's true, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed brothers from Tulsa who Mmm-Bopped their way into my 14 year old heart put out a Christmas Album that is my all time favorite Christmas album. The song "At Christmas" is delicious and gets the magic of Christmas bang on.

[Margotinto]

My ab-fav is The Christians and the Pagans by Dar Williams. A couple lesbian pagans go visit relatives. Truly definitive of the Christmas spirit, and I'm not being sarcastic. Will look for a link later when I have a minute......

[Lex]

andrea - I'm a Bing fan too. The music, not the parent.

Amanda - Kermit's One More Sleep 'til Xmas is from the same movie "Light the lap not the rat. Light the lamp, not the rat!"

margotinto - waiting for that link. Sounds great.

[rogue]

The Christmas Waltz -- Frank Sinatra

Merry Christmas Baby -- Lou Rawls

White Christmas and Mele Kalikimaka -- Bing Crosby

Cool Yule -- Louis Armstrong

Let It Snow! -- Ella Fitzgerald

The Man with the Bag -- Kay Starr

As you can see, I dig the old school schtuff. What is it about Christmas songs? I don't even celebrate Christmas but I can't resist the ol' crooners -- maybe it's because they go so well with those merry martinis.

[melissa]

aargh! The Christmas Shoes song! One year at work, we tuned into the station that played all Christmas songs all the time for the month of December. Just over halfway through, I had to change the station cuz of that doggone shoe song! Then they made a bloody movie out of it! I like most Christmas music but that song is just wretched!

[margotinto]

K, I can't find a link to the song specifically, so here's some of the lyrics:
The food was great, the tree plugged in, the meal went by without a hitch,
Then Timmy turned to Amber and said "Is it true that you're a witch?"
Her aunt jumped up and said "The pies are burning!" and she hit the kitchen,
But it was Jane who spoke, she said "It's true your cousin's not a Christian,
But we love trees, we love the snow, the friends we have, the world we share,
And you find magic in your God, and we find magic everywhere."
So the Christians and the Pagans sat together at the table,
Find faith and common ground the best that they were able.
Where does magic come from, I think magic in the learning,
Cuz now when Christians sit with Pagans, only pumpkin pies are burning.

[Lex]

Okay, I gotta say, that sounds like the best Xmas song EVER!

[Rohan Jayasekera]

I very highly recommend Allison Crowe’s Christmas album, Tidings. Reviews here, including this quote from Dr. Christmas&rsquo Radio Show on WRST-FM: “Of over 100 new Christmas CDs played on my show, Allison’s drew the most listener interest”, and the factoid that Hum for the Holidays: CD Reviews in the Toronto Sun, Dec. 19, 2004, gave four stars to only two albums: this one, and The Christmas Collection from Frank Sinatra.

Lex, a copy will be winging its way to you shortly: check your mailbox in a few days for a CD-sized package from Rubenesque Records, Salt Spring Island, BC.

Also, the one-hour TV special Allison Crowe: Tidings, will be broadcast on A-Channel stations across Canada during the week or so through Christmas Day. The Barrie (available on cable in Toronto) and Ottawa stations will be showing it on Wed. Dec. 20 at 8pm, likely repeated later (their online listings currently go only to the 21st).

(Disclaimer: I am a huge fan of hers, and sometimes serve as roadie when she performs in Southern Ontario.)