Holiday Music

[Hellcat]

Ok so right now I'm listening to some Christmas music and it got me to thinking about what folks on here listen to for Holiday music. Now I say Holiday music rather than Christmas music cause I don't know what holidays folks may celebrate during this season. I mean not everyone celebrates Christmas, right? And I'm really just guess the Christmas isn't the only holiday during the season that has it's own music, though I honestly don't know. But as I said I'm kinda curious what folks listen to for their holiday music. By that I mean a little more who's Holiday music do you like.

Me I tend to go heavily for Nat King Cole. I mean I really can't remember a time when I didn't hear him singing Christmas carols, espeically The Christmas Song. I have to hear him at least once during the season, and if it's only just once I want it to be that particular song. In fact for me there's really no one else that can sing that song.

Besides him I also like Bing Crosby. Again it kinda goes back to when I was a kid and my folks would always play White Christmas, which like The Christmas Song doesn't sound right to me if it's sung by anyone by him. I also enjoy his renditions of Silent Night and Adeste Fideles.

Then there's Chicago's Christmas album, particulary Child's Prayer and One Little Candle which they use a children's choir for and mostly just play instrumental backup for the kids. I like their arrangements on most of the songs, it's very much in their style. How some are kinda rocking, others a little more in a classical vein and other's more jazz like. I also like Bethlehem which I wish they'd had when the album was originally issued in '98 but I'm glad it appeared on the re-release in '03. Kinda reminds me of more traditional Christmas carols.

Then Peter Cetera had a few off his Christmas album I like to hear. Mostly his Something That Santa Claus Left Behind, You Just Gotta Love Christmas, and the Winter Wonderland duet he did with his oldest daughter. Their just beautiful songs.

Of course being a Peanuts fan I like the Vince Guaraldi "A Charlie Brown Christmas" soundtrack for it's jazz Christmas music and more traditional Christmas music. Though of course if you're a big fan of the Peanut's specials you've gotta love this soundtrack for giving us what was once like the theme song of Peanuts in General, Linus and Lucy. But I also like the Royal Guardsmen's Snoopy's Christmas. Really it's got nothing to do with the Peanuts strip or cartoons beyond the band using Snoopy's imagined battles as the WWI Flying Ace vs the Red Baron, but it's still a great song.

Finally there's not terribly many cute or funby songs I really go for but I knida like some by Mel Blanc like The Hat I Got for Christmas is Too Beeg and I Tan't Wait Till Quithmuth Day. Blanc having done so many of the Looney Tunes characters and other cartoons it's more the voices he uses that make me like the songs. It's like picturing the songs being used as the sole dialogue of a cartoon with the main character sing 'em. It's kinda like being a little kid again and watching Bugs Bunny and gang again on Saturday morning (sure I may catch 'em on like Boomerang or some other channel now but it's not the same as when I was a little kid and had no clue that the cartoons were already at least five years older than me and up to forty years older).

So what about you, what holiday music are you into. It doesn't have to be Christmas music as maybe you don't celebrate Christmas.

[Jamfke]

Nat King Cole did some excellent Christmas music, as did Bing Crosby, and many of the other great artists of the 30's 40's, and 50's. So, I'm right there with you on all of those. In fact, I have several megabytes on my MP3 player filled with those old Christmas songs. I've also got a Christmas album by Harry Connick Jr chucked on it too.

I'll have to try to find the Mel Blanc music. I have a few of the silly songs by some of the other artists of the time, like "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas," by Gayla Peevey, and "All I Want for Christmas," by Spike Jones. Fun stuff. There's also the tradition of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" by Gene Autry.

As for more modern music, eh, some of it is good, but most of it just doesn't compare with the oldies for me.