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What is your least favorite Christmas song?
- Thread starter frankberry
- Start date
I actually never minded the Porky Pig version of “Blue Christmas,” and “The War Is Over” has grown on me over the years.
Truth is, I'm pretty much of a Christmas music hater. I hated having to program around it when I did AC radio a lot more than I hated listening to it if that tells you anything. Then again, I've never been in Christmas music's target audience. Having aged into the classic hits target age group, I'm bothered so many of those stations seem to want to offload me to other stations or services this time of year.
I was also reading this morning that hearing Christmas music too early has been shown in at least one study to cause psychological problems. The general conclusion of the study was that it brings back the memories of unhappy events in childhood, like Christmases that ended in disappointment and other bad events that happened around the same time of year.
I can’t say I remember any super disappointing Christmases in my life. So, I don’t think that’s it for me. Then again, Christmas was never that big of a deal in my life. My house was divided religiously. So, we generally celebrated Christmas and Chanukah, but neither was treated as particularly important.
Truth is, I'm pretty much of a Christmas music hater. I hated having to program around it when I did AC radio a lot more than I hated listening to it if that tells you anything. Then again, I've never been in Christmas music's target audience. Having aged into the classic hits target age group, I'm bothered so many of those stations seem to want to offload me to other stations or services this time of year.
I was also reading this morning that hearing Christmas music too early has been shown in at least one study to cause psychological problems. The general conclusion of the study was that it brings back the memories of unhappy events in childhood, like Christmases that ended in disappointment and other bad events that happened around the same time of year.
I can’t say I remember any super disappointing Christmases in my life. So, I don’t think that’s it for me. Then again, Christmas was never that big of a deal in my life. My house was divided religiously. So, we generally celebrated Christmas and Chanukah, but neither was treated as particularly important.
I'm in my 30s. I think it's too early for all Christmas, but my Mom loves it and listens to Lite 100.5 all day long during Christmas Season. This early I can only take it in small does, so I'm listening to my own music on my Walkman and Smart Phone. I can tolerate more Christmas Music the closer it gets to December 25th.
What really surprised me is when 2 years ago when my 21 year old co-worker gave me a ride home from work on December 23rd and he had Lite 100.5 on the radio in the SUV. I asked him about it and he told me in December he can listen to Christmas Music 24/7. Normally he like Hip-Hops and 70s-80s Rock. (The latter because his father listened to a lot of 70s-80s rock when my co-worker was growing up).
What really surprised me is when 2 years ago when my 21 year old co-worker gave me a ride home from work on December 23rd and he had Lite 100.5 on the radio in the SUV. I asked him about it and he told me in December he can listen to Christmas Music 24/7. Normally he like Hip-Hops and 70s-80s Rock. (The latter because his father listened to a lot of 70s-80s rock when my co-worker was growing up).
I recently pointed out a Neilsen study that showed the largest percentage of Christmas music listeners to be millennials, followed by gereration-x and baby boomers & beyond.
For me I would say Elvis Presley's version of Merry Christmas Baby, how many times can you hear him sing "well I am feeling mighty fine, got good music on my radio", he calls out a few people during this song, and what is even worse the Christmas Duets cd has a version that runs about 3 minutes minutes then the original version. Also never been really crazy about Santa Baby either.
Because they only have to record it once, but they can sell it every year.
Eartha Kitt: Good. Madonna: Horrid, but completely in-character.
For years, it was something every country singer had to do. Most did it by the numbers, others (Emmylou Harris and Kathy Mattea come immediately to mind) took chances and produced memorable discs. But how many of those discs get played again after that first Christmas Day, the day they were received?
Emmylou's version of Light Of The Stable gets some airplay today. That song is 30 years old. A lot of it relates to the size of their current fan base. Willie's version of Pretty Paper gets a lot of airplay. Obviously Brenda Lee and Gene Autry still get played. Those songs are classics. Christmas in Dixie.
That isn’t particularly surprising. As millennials move into the money demo, more stations will play music mixes they prefer. That includes Christmas music.
Studies have also shown not many people really want to hear a full month (or more) of Christmas music, but those who do will go straight to it and will almost literally never turn it off.
My own least favorites:
"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" (regardless of whose version). WAAAAAAYYYYY overplayed!!
ANYTHING from the Phil Spector Christmas album.
ANYTHING from A Very Special Christmas. It may have been "special" back in 1987, but it AIN'T so "special" anymore!
"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" (regardless of whose version). WAAAAAAYYYYY overplayed!!
ANYTHING from the Phil Spector Christmas album.
ANYTHING from A Very Special Christmas. It may have been "special" back in 1987, but it AIN'T so "special" anymore!
I meant played by the recipient, not by radio. It was my way of commenting on the silliness of a Christmas album as a gift, given that active enjoyment of it, for many, will last no longer than the fruitcake the in-laws brought over.
Do people still give CDs as presents? Really? Wow. How quaint.
No need for snark. Still plenty of players out there, and country listeners generally profile as more traditional regarding technology. Those current stars who appeal exclusively to teens and early 20s probably won't sell many CDs, if they're doing Christmas albums at all, but I can see Kacey Musgraves and Chris Young's CDs doing well. There's also new product out from Garth and Trisha, Reba McEntire, the Oak Ridge Boys and Loretta Lynn that will certainly find its way under older listeners' trees in the form of compact discs.
Disagree with A Very Special Christmas being bad. I love the Pointer Sisters' 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town,' and it isn't heard often on holiday stations. Also The Pretenders' 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas' is good.
I've never heard track 7 (Sting's 'Gabriel's Message') or tracks 13-15 ('Back Door Santa' Bon Jovi, 'Coventry Carol' Alison Moyet, and 'Silent Night' Stevie Nicks) on any stations. The Run-DMC song I've also never heard but I assume that would only play on urban or CHR stations sprinkled in.
The 2nd and 3rd albums also have some good music. 'O Christmas Tree' Aretha Franklin is a classic. And it's harder to listen to 'Christmas All Over Again' after the death of Tom Petty. I'm sure he's rocking away in heaven with Prince and Chuck Berry, and his Chuck Berry songbook to boot!
I've never heard track 7 (Sting's 'Gabriel's Message') or tracks 13-15 ('Back Door Santa' Bon Jovi, 'Coventry Carol' Alison Moyet, and 'Silent Night' Stevie Nicks) on any stations. The Run-DMC song I've also never heard but I assume that would only play on urban or CHR stations sprinkled in.
The 2nd and 3rd albums also have some good music. 'O Christmas Tree' Aretha Franklin is a classic. And it's harder to listen to 'Christmas All Over Again' after the death of Tom Petty. I'm sure he's rocking away in heaven with Prince and Chuck Berry, and his Chuck Berry songbook to boot!
Will have to agree with "Christmas Shoes" (NewSong 2000). But here is the problem, listeners love it. It tends to be in the top 5 of Christmas songs requested, depending on your market. But it is almost impossible to program. Like going from "Frosty the Snowman" into "Christmas Shoes". Just doesn't work. Not sure about cancer and Christmas working together, but apparently listeners do not share my confusion.
The UK has a couple of Christmas radio perennials that hardly get any airplay here. One is the Pogues & Kirsty McCall's "Fairytale of New York," which starts with the killer line "It's Christmas Eve, babe, in the drunk tank," and goes on to tell the story of an Irish couple who came to New York and how their dreams went wrong. It is very Irish-sounding and, despite containing a word you don't hear much on American radio (a six-letter word for "homosexual"), gets played to death on the BBC regional stations and UK commercial stations. The other is Chris DeBurgh's "A Spaceman Came Travelling," which casts the Nativity as being the doings of people from another world -- the star that shone that night was a spaceship! American radio would, understandably, be reluctant to play this one, but the Brits seem to love it.
Maybe work it in after "Little Drummer Boy," "Do You Hear What I Hear" or any similar downtempo, non-novelty Christmas song you may have on your playist and make sure it runs at the end of the set so you don't have to worry about what to come out of that song with. That might be an even worse problem than leading into it, because you don't want two slow songs to kick off the set.
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