Growing up, the only Christmas music I really remember listening to was the John Denver and the Muppets Christmas album (A Christmas Together), which is still awesome. We would fire that sucker up every year as we decorated the tree. RIP Johnny D. Did I love singing the Animal part of We Wish You a Merry Christmas? Absolutely. Still do. WON'T GO! WON'T GO! WON'T GO!
Rolf and Mr. Denver singing Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas? Damn right. Oh what?!? - there is video of this thing! Terrible audio, but you can Spotify the album to hear it in pristine condition.
Anyway, I never gave much thought to the fact that Christmas music on radio stations is a major moneymaker, but it makes total sense. Soft rock radio is death, but everyone loves hearing Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree 500 times a day! Magic 95 here in Austin switched over before Thanksgiving, but I managed to keep the family away until after Turkey Day. More than the radio, we have been jamming a great Pandora station through the Sonos at home that is based on Bing Crosby's White Christmas. Classic and awesome.
The most surprising thing in that article to me is how Wham! is still cranking out listens of Last Christmas. This garbage song isn't even really about Christmas - he just happens to say that their love happened on Christmas, and then they crank some jingle bells for a bit of the chorus. And now George Michael and the other guy from Wham! likely kill it on royalties in December.
I think every band in the world ought to be required to write an original Christmas song for a battle of the bands-style face-off where the world picks the best one and then we can use those songs for years of listening pleasure. And erase the memory of Last Christmas.
2 comments:
You must listen to Bob Dylan's Christmas album from like 5 years ago. It is so terrible it's glorious! I think the reviewer I heard on the radio described his appearance halfway through a track as "like a drunk uncle who comes in out of nowhere and kicks over the snowman to the horror of the kids." Oh man. It's great.
That does sound awesome. I saw Dylan when he played the Round Rock Express stadium a few years back, and it was entirely unintelligible. I posted something to Facebook about him sounding like the teacher from Peanuts, and people came at me. Look, I get that his lyrics are boss, but I don't understand how someone can defend the singing.
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