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Who is playing Christmas music?

I don't know whether today was the first day or not, but America's Best Music is all Christmas now. This is just too early.

The Christmas music is better than last week (it would have to be since the non-Christmas music was better than the Christmas music), but I still heard Point of Grace. I can do without that mess.
 
For me, stations switching over to all Christmas now is just right.

Agree to disagree about Point of Grace. One of the few contemporary artists I can stomach these days.
 
My problem isn't so much with them but the style of the instrumentals.

But I'm very picky about Christmas music, so I'm not going to like the style of that song, period.
 
vchimpanzee said:
My problem isn't so much with them but the style of the instrumentals. But I'm very picky about Christmas music, so I'm not going to like the style of that song, period.
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The style of instrumentation is something that has never really bothered me with Christmas music.
 
Music Lover said:
This station is pretty good if you're into mostly 60s, 70s, and 80s Christmas hits: http://hdwebradio.com/island/holiday/
A lot of the selections played bring back fond memories of an oldies station my family enjoyed. Sadly, the station no longer exists. :(
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Music Lover said:
One of the few things I can't stand on the station are some jazzy selections.
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The thing with jazz is that sometimes it gets too raucous for my tastes. Sorry, any jazz fans here.
 
Vchimpanzee, I'm not trying to sound like a jerk here, but your posts seem to be focused more on what you don't like than what you do. It's like you're grading the radio station, and if they play something you don't like then they are horrible. Radio is supposed to be for everyone, and there may be people who actually enjoy Point of Grace or other songs. I for one absolutely love Merry Did You Know. You don't have to like these songs, but they're not absolute crap just because you don't like them.
 
Well, the truth is that in the post that mentioned Point of Grace I did say that what America's Best Music did play had improved. A lot of it was really good.

I'm going to explain why I'm so picky. A few years ago I wanted nothing to do with Christmas. Then I heard a GOOD version of a GOOD Christmas song while in a mall where they were decorating. That made me feel better. The ones that I consider bad, and the bad versions, are just reminders of Christmas changing, and not for the better. Only one or two songs that weren't in the "good" category have advanced to "acceptable" status based on my hearing them in a situation that made me feel good. Barbara Mandrell's "It Must Have Been the Mistletoe" somehow started making me think of decorating my tree, and while it's not one of the good ones, it sees like one of those.

One of the really good songs is Andy Williams' "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year". K-104.7 plays the right version. The right version was on the local morning show of the station I listen to most. That same station has America's Best Music most of the time and they don't seem to play that one. They play the version with kids where Andy sounds old and it's just not as good.

Getting back to the original topic, I heard about a dozen songs on WAVO Charlotte NC when I was in the area earlier this week. I say "about" because in one area of town the interference was so bad I couldn't tell when one song stopped and another started. Only three or four were Christmas songs at this point. I probably won't have a chance to hear that station again before Christmas.
 
Music Lover said:
The style of instrumentation is something that has never really bothered me with Christmas music.
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I don't know how to explain this, but any instruments that weren't in use in 1960 are symbolic of Christmas changing in a way that I don't want it to change, and even a few of those are suspect.

Mannheim Steamroller's "Deck the Halls" is an interesting novelty but that's as far as I'll go.

And of course, anything I would find unpleasant the rest of the year is automatically out.

If the other music on a station that has not gone all the way is better than the Christmas music, then you know something is wrong with the Christmas music. Christmas music is supposed to make you feel good, not make you have to have something else make you feel good after that terrible experience.
 
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oldiesgirl said:
Vchimpanzee, I'm not trying to sound like a jerk here, but your posts seem to be focused more on what you don't like than what you do. It's like you're grading the radio station, and if they play something you don't like then they are horrible. Radio is supposed to be for everyone, and there may be people who actually enjoy Point of Grace or other songs. I for one absolutely love Merry Did You Know. You don't have to like these songs, but they're not absolute crap just because you don't like them.
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No, you're not being a jerk. I am. But I come here to rant. That's just my nature.

The song they do isn't one of the familiar ones, and it could be good, but someone just chose to add certain instrumentals and various unpleasant (to me) styles of music.
 
passtheword said:
Our Christmas music programming begins tonight at 9 pm CT here on Lite 99. We'll be interspersing the Christmas music alongside the regular programming through Christmas Day, because we know most soft AC listeners don't want to hear nonstop Christmas fare. :)
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I've been checking out some 24/7 Christmas stations on Radionomy.com. The more and more I hear some of the horrible selections some of these stations play (and on top of that, some of them have rather repetitive playlists), the more and more I prefer Christmas songs sprinkled in.
 
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I heard a song today that is really worthy of mention.

The tune is used for "Good King Wenceslas" and "Gentle Mary Laid Her Child" but there are only what those in the Beautiful Instrumentals and Vocals Yahoo group call "wordless vocals". It's an orchestra with some kind of bells at one point.

There is a second "new" song that I developed a taste for. Amy Grant's "Christmas Can't Be Very Far Away". In some cases I just hear a song, like I said, and it becomes associated with feeling good about the season. But it's not a bad song either and woul certainly be my taste any other time of year.

On the other hand, Aaron Shust's "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" would make me want Emmanuel to go away except we can't say that.
 
I can totally relate to associations behind a song ruining it for you. For me "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas' is one of the most flippin' depressing songs I've ever heard, probably because I listened to a 24-hour Christmas station in college and was feeling really depressed, and they kept playing it to death. Actually there are several songs I don't necessarily dislike, but they don't do much for me anymore because if you love Christmas music as I do and like to listen to it a lot, there are certain songs that get over-played to the point where they become a channel flipper. The only two songs I can think of now that I can't stand are "Santa Baby", anyone's version, and "Last Christmas." The only version of "Last Christmas" I can listen to without wanting to get sick is Celtic Thunder. I still don't like it, but I adore CT, and Neil has a great voice so it makes it a bit more tolerable. It was actually pretty good at their concert I went to on November 16, although still not the best song in the world by any means. I think if the guys would have harmonized in it or they would have done it in an Irish style I might have enjoyed it better.

My feelings on instrumental style is that I like Christmas music done in any style that I would normally like. This may not be popular with a lot of you guys, but my favorite Christmas songs are country versions. This is because when I was a kid I listened to country almost exclusively, and I have fond memories of hearing the songs they played on our local country station, especially on Christmas Eve when they had a program with all Christmas music with voiceovers by country artists, although my little kid brain thought they were live. I love all the traditional versions that everybody knows, but those country versions as well as some songs that were original to the country artists are very special to me. There are certain songs that I have to hear, such as John Berry's cover of "O Holy Night" and the Judds "Star of Bethlehem" or it doesn't seem much like Christmas unless I hear them. I know that's probably pretty unusual, especially on this board.
 
JeffM said:
Maybe you should move to a low-rant district? :)
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No, I need to rant somewhere.

Last night as I was driving home the music was so good. And then it wasn't. Two songs in a row sounded more like AC than Christmas music. They don't work for me. And since it was dark, trying other stations was out of the question. It's too risky to try to drive and be constantly switching stations when something really bad comes on. At least on America's Best Music it's only bad, not really bad. For example, no, I don't want to hear what Vanessa Williams hears. I have no desire to hear Caribbean music or anything from "other cultures".

One song that doesn't fit my image of Christmas music which has mysteriously become a Christmas song for me is "Driving Home for Christmas".
 
Lol! Mr. Very Particular is the perfect nick-name for you!
 
While I like Vanessa Williams' version of "Do You Hear What I Hear", it definitely can get over-played.
 
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