E
EZway2go
Guest
Christmas is a-comin'... another playlist full of burnt chestnuts. Two of our local AC stations made their usual switch to all-Christmas music the other day. I don't know about you, but for some strange reason I always look forward to this annual event with great anticipation, only to find ho-ho-ho turning into ho-hum by the end of the second day.
The only saving grace is that we still get to hear Bing and Burl once in a while, and those familiar chords of rum-pum-pum-pum always put me in a better state of mind. But this time of the year I really miss that bygone era of beautiful music stations. Back in the 1980s I may have listened to Culture Club or Pat Benatar throughout the year, but right after Thanksgiving, on went what we used to call "doctor's office music."
I am so glad I had the foresight many years ago to record some beautiful music on a cassette one Christmas. Cassettes don't last forever and I have spent twenty years or so trying to track down the source of around ten of my favorite songs before losing them forever. This was no easy task. As you know, beautiful music stations really had no DJs, at least none who told you the artist after every song played. Furthermore, how many people do you know who can tell the difference between Mantovani and 101 Strings? "Hello, I'm looking for one particular version of 'Jingle Bells.' I have no idea who it's by, and all I can tell you is it's an instrumental." Okay, well, let's see... an mp3 search on amazon brings up over 6,000 possibilities. Of course, vocalists you know and singing dogs can be weeded out right away. (By the way, there is actually a Jingle Fart Orchestra. Who knew?)
No, I would definitely recognize each of these songs if I heard them. Call it a keen ear for musical notes or something, but these songs had some distinguishing feature which made them stand out for me (for whatever reason... I don't know why). Even the non-instrumental choral versions on this list were just as hard to find. But here they are... my personal Top Ten list. It took a long time, but I'm happy to say I've found them all. And there's a story behind how I found each one which I won't bore you with here; but I can say that most were found by accident. Along the way, I learned a lot about the music of a bygone era. It's just a shame that these songs have been relegated to the Island of Misfit Toys by today's radio stations.
"Christmas Is A-Comin'" by The Jack Halloran Singers
"Jingo Jango" by Bert Kaempfert
"Jingle Bell Rock" by The Hollyridge Strings
"The Christmas Tree" by David Rose
"Christmas Bells" by Mantovani
"Ding Dong Merrily On High" by Geoff Love
"Jolly Old Saint Nicholas" by Hugo & Luigi's Children's Chorus
"Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" by Percy Faith
"Still Still Still" by Mannheim Steamroller (featuring The Cambridge Singers)
and that version of "Jingle Bells" I was looking for... it's by Raymond LeFevre
The only saving grace is that we still get to hear Bing and Burl once in a while, and those familiar chords of rum-pum-pum-pum always put me in a better state of mind. But this time of the year I really miss that bygone era of beautiful music stations. Back in the 1980s I may have listened to Culture Club or Pat Benatar throughout the year, but right after Thanksgiving, on went what we used to call "doctor's office music."
I am so glad I had the foresight many years ago to record some beautiful music on a cassette one Christmas. Cassettes don't last forever and I have spent twenty years or so trying to track down the source of around ten of my favorite songs before losing them forever. This was no easy task. As you know, beautiful music stations really had no DJs, at least none who told you the artist after every song played. Furthermore, how many people do you know who can tell the difference between Mantovani and 101 Strings? "Hello, I'm looking for one particular version of 'Jingle Bells.' I have no idea who it's by, and all I can tell you is it's an instrumental." Okay, well, let's see... an mp3 search on amazon brings up over 6,000 possibilities. Of course, vocalists you know and singing dogs can be weeded out right away. (By the way, there is actually a Jingle Fart Orchestra. Who knew?)
No, I would definitely recognize each of these songs if I heard them. Call it a keen ear for musical notes or something, but these songs had some distinguishing feature which made them stand out for me (for whatever reason... I don't know why). Even the non-instrumental choral versions on this list were just as hard to find. But here they are... my personal Top Ten list. It took a long time, but I'm happy to say I've found them all. And there's a story behind how I found each one which I won't bore you with here; but I can say that most were found by accident. Along the way, I learned a lot about the music of a bygone era. It's just a shame that these songs have been relegated to the Island of Misfit Toys by today's radio stations.
"Christmas Is A-Comin'" by The Jack Halloran Singers
"Jingo Jango" by Bert Kaempfert
"Jingle Bell Rock" by The Hollyridge Strings
"The Christmas Tree" by David Rose
"Christmas Bells" by Mantovani
"Ding Dong Merrily On High" by Geoff Love
"Jolly Old Saint Nicholas" by Hugo & Luigi's Children's Chorus
"Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" by Percy Faith
"Still Still Still" by Mannheim Steamroller (featuring The Cambridge Singers)
and that version of "Jingle Bells" I was looking for... it's by Raymond LeFevre
