Secular vs. Religious, who cares? I want to know why you no longer hear those great Christmas novelty tunes [Santa Claus Is Watching You, The Chipmunks' Christmas Don't Be Late, Singing Dogs-Jingle Bells, Christmas at Ground Zero, Snoopy's Christmas, Nuttin' For Christmas by Stan Freberg as well as his "Christmas Dragnet", "Father Christmas" by The Kinks, etc.] Now there are some that CANNOT be played on the air unless they're heavily edited [Red Peters "Holy Shit, It's Christmas" among others. I'd listen more if there were a chance I'd hear them! As it is right now, the Christmas tunes come on my radio is turned off till December 26th.
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KOST Goes All Christmas Friday
- Thread starter CaliRadioFan
- Start date
Pretty sure "Christmas Don't Be Late" and "Snoopy's Christmas" still make the playlist at WRCH Hartford, which usually flips on Thanksgiving.
Whatever arguments there are about CNN, that's not the same thing as a music radio program director (or other staffer) planning out the music for a roughly six week stretch of time. CNN deals with news and issues of world importance. Music radio plays in a different space. Their paycheck, and the paychecks of those who work for them, are based on providing what the listeners want. Yes, we all know sometimes there are occasional judgement calls on specific songs. But, again, the idea that hundreds of people with responsibility for programming are collectively saying "no" to religious songs on the basis of religion alone....it's based on no factual evidence whatsoever. If the audience told them to dispense with the tempi and play O Holy Night every hour on the hour for six weeks, you'd be hearing it somewhere. Or if there were a multitude of religious themed songs that tested well and had the requisite tempo, you'd be hearing more of those. That's not some kind of anti-religious bias, it's programming to the audience you actually need to sell.
If you seriously think a bunch of adult contemporary music and program directors have formed a cabal to keep Silent Night off the air...that really is absurd. They have way more important things to do with their time.
The Chipmunk Song and Snoopy's Christmas are both being played by KOST right now. Quite a few other novelty songs that you don't list are being played. But if you don't listen, you won't know.
I think the reason why you see less and less religious songs over the years, is because society in general has become more and more secular. The Christmas music tests I have seen year after year have shown less and less affinity for the old religious Christmas tunes. (So, that's the listeners talking, not the programmers.) Heck, less and less people go to church every year, and we have a whole generation that grew up with no church connection at all. Add to that a while generation of school kids grew up with religious-themed songs at Christmas banned from the Christmas COncert, etc.
BTW...as an aside, I worked with a PD in NYC who didn't want to play ANY religious themed Christmas music, I thought it was because of the heavy Jewish population in NYC....or maybe he thought it was divisive? I don't know.
I know we are going a bit off topic, but, now that you mention it, I am really surprised what a non-entity Headline News has become! It's at the point where most people don't even know what's on the channel. I wonder why they moved away from their original 24/7 newscast format.
I am Jewish and have no problems with "Christmas" music on the radio at this time of year. So many great songs.
Ironically many of them were written by Jewish songwriters. Irving Berlin wrote White Christmas. Buck Ram was a cowriter of I'll Be Home for Christmas. Mel Torme wrote The Christmas Song.
Mix 92.9 (AC) here in Nashville does that, as well. Puts up the billboards all over town, the whole nine yards. The FISH (Christian AC) is about their only competitor in the Christmas sub-genre. They usually do a "preview" of Christmas music on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, which would be next Saturday (November 17th) this year. They both change over on or about Thanksgiving, definitely Thanksgiving week. Last year, Classic Hits 93.3 also went all-Christmas, which was a first for them. They also changed over on Thanksgiving week. It led to rumors of an impending format change, but this turned out to be unfounded.
I would say that there is at least a 95% (if not higher!) overlap between what Mix plays vs. what the FISH plays at Christmas time. Both play sacred and secular Christmas songs (and usually the SAME ones) during this time frame.
I don't really mind losing 92.9 or the FISH to all-Christmas, because I don't listen to them much (anymore) anyway, but the loss of 93.3 stung me a bit. In our market, classic hits stations tend not to go all-Christmas. But they returned to their "normal" format during the "dead week" between Christmas and New Year's.
They tend(ed) to write the secular Christmas songs that we all know and remember so well. Not aware of any "sacred" Christmas songs written by Jewish songwriters, although there may be some.
I am with Fred on this one. As I said above, my favorite Christmas tunes are the parodies and novelty songs like those and many others, and the rock n' roll Christmas songs I grew up with like Father Christmas by the Kinks. I care way more about where these songs have gone as opposed to "Silent Night", because like everywhere else, modern corporate radio succeeds most in taking the FUN out of radio.
As for the other point I was making, I have commented enough and will let my existing comments stand on their own; that thread within this thread has gone off of the rails.
Except that, as I pointed out, they actually ARE playing the novelty songs.
Same here, although I actually prefer the timeless melodies of "Adeste Fideles," "Hark, The Herald Angels Sing," "Joy to the World," "The First Noel," etc. to "White Christmas," "The Christmas Song" or any of the songs that don't mention the holiday at all. I was very upset when SiriusXM cut its classical Christmas channel's run from three weeks to only two days, and replaced many of the choral works with fluff, all the while introducing an insipid Hanukkah Radio for eight days. First, Hanukkah is a minor holiday that overprotective suburban Jewish parents and their oh-so-triggered kids have morphed into an orgy of expensive gift giving to rival the commercial American Christmas. Second, because it is a minor holiday, there isn't nearly enough music to support a one-day channel, let alone an eight-day channel. Rant mode off.
As long as they avoid "Grandma Got Run Over.........." I'm fine with it. The only novelty song in my playlist is the "Chipmunk Song" from 1958
2 of the biggest cuming Christmas stations, KOST and WLTW are not playing any novelty songs.
Read what I said in post #64. All iHeart stations are playing the same songs, and that includes the Chipmunk Song and several Vince Guaraldi songs from the Peanuts Christmas special.
Hate to break this to you, but the Peanuts songs...."Linus & Lucy", "Skating"....etc... are not novelty songs, they are instrumentals, except for a choir version of "Christmastime is Here". The Alvin & the Chipmunks, yes.
How do you feel about the original "You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch?" That's in there.
Some view Mele Kalikimaka and Feliz Navidad as novelties. All three are on several novelty collections.
I'd say in 2018, an instrumental getting airplay on the radio is quite a novelty.
Personally, most of the "novelty Christmas" songs are a huge turn-off to me. Especially Alvin & The Chipmunks.
I think this thread is a microcosm of why it's so difficult, almost impossible, to program radio stations in the 21st century. Because everyone wants what they want.
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