Christmas Music...

Yea for Mannheim and Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

The same old Christmas music you hear every year in fifty different versions, no thanks. I'm full. But I will always appreciate
1) New songs
2) Great instrumentals
and
3) Creative, uncommon, or funny songs.

From I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas and 12 Daze of Christmas to Christmas Wrapping and Walking Round In Women's Underwear, these songs are the ones that put me in a holiday spirit. The rest, well, maybe one or two get a pass, but only a few.

Agreed that Mannheim can get annoying after a while. (But, then, I thought the albums tanked terribly - first one was pretty good, second was okay, after that I didn't bother.)

And TSO - love the first, like some on the second, haven't heard much of the others. But Christmas Eve and Other Stories... it isn't the holiday season until I've listened to it through at least once.

Having been raised on celtic/folk music, I have a weakness for the Clancy Bros. and the Irish Rovers Xmas albums - plus many of Roger Whittaker's tunes. Another nostalgia favorite is John Denver and the Muppets.

And novelty tunes can be fun (though I'm personally sick to death of Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer - I preferred the follow-up that implicated Grandpa.) Twisted Christmas by Bob Rivers and company... always!

Yes for Mannheim and TSO. Yes on Eartha Kitt's "Santa Baby", thumbs down on Madonna's cover (that just may be because I loath Madonna). Also on the thumbs down list are any version of "Little Drummer Boy".

Mostly I just avoid Christmas music as much as possible.

MM

I'm a Mannheim Steamroller lover (for a while, anyway).

But I could listen to "I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas" a million times over.

I love it. So much I love it.

I've got MP3 versions of albums from my childhood, like Andy Williams and the Life Treasury of Christmas Music.

Also a number of the Pentatonix holiday songs. (If your library has Freegal you can download them for free).

Sting's If On A Winter's Night.

And yes, I do favor Medieval carols.

I know it's a moldy oldy, but the Charlie Brown Christmas music gets a lifetime pass for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewG5xsNz5No

Reminds me of my innocence, sometimes wishing I could go back

I love it all!

I take that back: I hate: All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth, Santa Baby, and I want a hippopotamus for Christmas.

Everything else, I love it!

Working retail cured me permanently of enjoying any of the standard holiday music. But I love the camp of it, so I've made it a point to seek out strange, off kilter versions.

Like, oh, Christopher Lee (may he rip) doing power metal versions. Or the every lovable Jonathan Coulton's Chiron Beta Prime.

KateSmash said:

Working retail cured me permanently of enjoying any of the standard holiday music.

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Oh, yes - you don't know how many terrible covers of holiday standards exist until you're stuck in a grocery store all day...

Lavern08 said:

I can deal with the Hippo, Grandma, and even the Chipmunks, but the one that makes me wanna strangle somebody is...

Dominick the Donkey -

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Can I nominate "Christmas in the Stars" by C3PO for your bonfire? (For real, this exists)

All time favorite: "Star of Wonder" by Tori Amos. Awesome!

Mannheim Steamroller is okay. I really like many of the new songs by popular artists, like Paul Simon's "Getting Ready for Christmas Day" or Lenka's "All my bells are ringing." As long as I haven't heard it a million times I'm good.

Oh, I have most of the Winter Solstice albums too! This one is also awesome: http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=210044

Beyond those, I listen to Messiah and the Christmas Oratorio. A lot.

I'll chime in again to agree with Pentatonix - their version of Hallelujah is a personal favorite. I also heard this the other day, and remembered when it came out prolly 10 years ago now and thought "cool, that's different, but classic at the same time":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fe11OlMiz8

(a capella men's harmony with parody style singing of carols in medley)

Oh, Pentatonix is awesome. I wanted to see them when they were in town this spring, but I was traveling that day

Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Not keen on Mannheim Steamroller. Not keen on pop Christmas music, although back in the last millennium I liked Do You Hear What I Hear.

Love the Messiah (the version with Donath and Burrowes, conducted by Richter is my favorite) and the Magnificat (including both versions by Bach and several not by Bach) and the Christmas Oratorio and classical renditions of carols (O Holy Night and Angels We Have Heard On High being the top two) and early sacred music in general. I have a fondness for some of the odd ones: the Heron Carol ("'Twas in the moon of Wintertime"), the earliest carol written in the Americas being a notable example.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

I do listen to "easy listening" instrumental Christmas music while signing the holiday cards.

Maggie Maxwell said:

Yea for Mannheim and Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

The same old Christmas music you hear every year in fifty different versions, no thanks. I'm full. But I will always appreciate
1) New songs
2) Great instrumentals
and
3) Creative, uncommon, or funny songs.

From I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas and 12 Daze of Christmas to Christmas Wrapping and Walking Round In Women's Underwear, these songs are the ones that put me in a holiday spirit. The rest, well, maybe one or two get a pass, but only a few.

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yeah...i don't wanna hear someone else's version of I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus...or Frosty the Snowman....

i wanna hear stuff like Jackson 5's Little Christmas Tree.... or the song 12 Italian Days of Christmas or the 12 PAINS of Christmas. LOL
or, remember those Motel 6 commercials. They have a Christmas version. There's also a "Message from the King" Elvis.

and yes...i so love me some TSO!!!!

(Christmas) Baby Please Come Home - Darlene Love
Please Come Home for Christmas - Don Henley
I'll Be Home For Christmas - Frank Sinatra

Plus, most of the traditional ones, I love Christmas music.

I'm feeling Christmas-y this year, for some reason... not sure why, but I'll take it!

I keep Mannheim's original Silent Night, and TSO's Mad Russian's Christmas, on my Christmas playlist... but that's about all I listen to from them regularly. I can't keep the local Christmas radio station on for more than 10 minutes at a stretch because they play way too many songs I loathe.

I need to replicate my Christmas and Solstice playlists on Youtube... if I do I'll post them here.

Driving Home for Christmas - Chris Rea is my 'modern' favourite, otherwise I prefer the older stuff by Bing Crosby, Patsy Cline, et. al. But I despise The Little Drummer Boy, whoever sings it. Stupid song.

I'm mostly a Grinch about Christmas music (although I'd leave the lights up all year around) but I do like Mary's Boy Child and Feliz Navidad by Boney M, Do They Know It's Christmas by Bandaid, Snoopy and the Red Baron by The Royal Guardsmen, and other songs that are a little atypical and less likely to turn up in the mall's endless repeat loop.

But as for all the standard stuff I've heard a hundred versions of every year since I was born -- most of those songs I find actively irritating to listen to. My brain knows every note that's coming, and so waiting for the next note to appear in my eardrum is just a chore rather than a pleasure. It's like my brain processes those over-familiar songs differently than it does most music.

edutton said:

I'm feeling Christmas-y this year, for some reason... not sure why, but I'll take it!

I keep Mannheim's original Silent Night, and TSO's Mad Russian's Christmas, on my Christmas playlist... but that's about all I listen to from them regularly. I can't keep the local Christmas radio station on for more than 10 minutes at a stretch because they play way too many songs I loathe.

I need to replicate my Christmas and Solstice playlists on Youtube... if I do I'll post them here.

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Here's the Christmas playlist.