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Posted by: Jack
« on: December 12, 2023, 05:01:51 pm »

Quote from: squarecutter on December 11, 2023, 05:07:03 pm
I hate most of the Cliff Richard Christmas confections and Im totally in with Jack on Wham on nearly everything they did never mind the one he mentioned

I actually enjoy most of Wham's work.  I was about 20 when Wake Me Up was a big hit.

Songs Ive enjoyed are The Pogues Fairy tale of New york, Slade,  merry Chrismas (1973)Greg Lakes I believe in Father Christmas which like the Pogues has a bit of an edge to it. Of those rather twee American ones I think I like Momma kissing Santa Claus best and some of the Motown renditions are ok
[/quote]

I have both Fairy Tale of New York and I Believe in Father Christmas on my playlist.  IF you're talking about my favorites, it would be either the Christmas Canon (I couldn't settle on just one version), or maybe O Come All Ye Faithful by the cast of Camelot from the 2013 Carols for a Cure.
Posted by: afinch
« on: December 11, 2023, 06:26:23 pm »

(Just Sing) A Christmas Song from Elf, the Musical is an ear worm for me.  There is a wonderful UK pro-shot video of the entire show that is pretty easily found.  It has become one of my favorite Christmas things and a must watch.  If anyone wants to see it and can't find it, PM me.
Posted by: squarecutter
« on: December 11, 2023, 05:07:03 pm »

I hate most of the Cliff Richard Christmas confections and Im totally in with Jack on Wham on nearly everything they did never mind the one he mentioned

Songs Ive enjoyed are The Pogues Fairy tale of New york, Slade,  merry Chrismas (1973)Greg Lakes I believe in Father Christmas which like the Pogues has a bit of an edge to it. Of those rather twee American ones I think I like Momma kissing Santa Claus best and some of the Motown renditions are ok
Posted by: David M. Katz
« on: December 11, 2023, 01:27:07 pm »

POV: Mary, Bethlehem, c. 2 - 4 B.C.
You're exhausted just having given birth in a stable. You have finally been able to get your baby to sleep. The baby is sleeping in a manger and you're hoping for a little rest yourself . . . . then along comes this kid banging on a drum.
Posted by: Zyngaru
« on: December 07, 2023, 01:22:43 am »

My favorite of all favorite Christmas songs is,   Rup a pum pum.  The Little Drummer Boy.  For me it has all the right sentiment for Christmas.

As for funny songs that I like.  Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.

As for religious that I like.  Mary Did You Know.  A Cappella by Pentatonix.

As for when to play Christmas songs.  I still haven't started.  It's just when I'm in the mood then I play them.
Posted by: stevieweeks
« on: December 06, 2023, 05:28:09 pm »

Quote from: David M. Katz
I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas

Most people give up on hippopotamuses when they find out that they spray their feces over a very large area by using their tails as a fan...




Posted by: David M. Katz
« on: December 06, 2023, 04:19:06 pm »

"I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" - WTF?

And that awful, horrible, terrible, very bad song, about the kid trying to buy his mother some shoes to die in on Christmas. I turn that thing off post haste.

Posted by: Emlyn Morgan
« on: December 05, 2023, 08:49:02 am »

Ah yes, Christmas!  We don't have it down here. December 25th is just another working day. No Christmas trees, no Santa, no Christmas tat in the shops, no incessant "Christmas songs" on the radio. Thank goodness! or Alhamdulillah as we say.

However, I do watch "Nine Lessons and Carols from King's" on BBC Television. And the King's* Christmas day broadcast. That's quite enough Christmas for me.

*King Charles not King Mohamed!
Posted by: afinch
« on: December 04, 2023, 06:37:07 pm »

"But Auntie Mame, it's only one week past Thanksgiving Day now...."  The song happens right after Mame has lost her job at Macy's and they are looking at starvation.

Hard Candy Christmas is sung by the girls after The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas is closed down by crusanding televangelists.  It was, btw, written by Carol Hall, not Dolly Parton.  They are expecting to have a Christmas where the only possible gifts are penny candies, because they are destitute.

Baby, It's Cold Outside was written by Frank Loesser to be performed with his WIFE (Jo Sullivan) at cocktail parties, and was repurposed in Neptune's Daughter.  It is NOT about date ****.  And it never mention's Christmas.

Last Christmas is the one that drives me crazy--it's about a one night stand.

And while my personal favorite Christmas song is "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" from "Meet Me in St. Louis" (which is not technically a Christmas movie), thank God Judy Garland and Tom Drake  (John Truitt, the boy next door) convinced Hugh Martin to change his original lyrics:

"Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas
 It may be our last.
 From now on we'll all be living in the past."

and I much prefer the original, film version:
"Someday soon we all will be together
 If the fates allow.
 Until then we'll have to muddle through somehow...."

to the Frank Sinatra version which replaces the last line with
"Hang a shining star upon the highest bough."

OK, I'm done.
Posted by: stevieweeks
« on: December 04, 2023, 06:21:14 pm »

Stevie is generally not in favour of the death penalty for a number of reasons, but he would be prepared to make an exception for anyone that plays any Christmas music at all before the fifteenth of December.,,,

The inimitable Scrooge thought of a suitable method of execution: 'should be boiled with his own pudding and buried with a stake of holly through his heart' and Stevie concurs wholeheartedly...
Posted by: Jack
« on: December 04, 2023, 04:30:22 pm »

This is just a minor rant that's not meant to be taken too seriously, but it's something that starts driving me crazy every year about this time.

I think the problem starts with the idea that there are only so many songs that can be played this time of year, even when you mix in non-religious and winter songs.  Despite that limited range of offerings, people want to start playing Christmas music as soon as Thanksgiving is over (if they wait that long), and even radio stations that switch over entirely to 'Christmas music' for the entire season.  Because it's played so much, and no one wants to listen to the same twelve songs over and over again for a month, there has been a sweep to find any music that they think might be even mildly seasonal.

Like what?

We Need a Little Christmas (from Mame) - I love this song; but it's not a Christmas Song.  It's a song about going through bad times and needing some Christmas spirit to help get through.  The entire point of the song is that it is NOT Christmas.  Still, at least it is a song about the Christmas Spirit.

Hard Candy Christmas - Another song (that I love from a musical) about bad times, but this one is about how they're going through a period that's like a Christmas where they didn't get any good gifts. 

Baby, It's Cold Outside - The #metoo movement has given this song a bad rap by taking everything in the worst way possible (and ignoring that the female seems to be flirting and playing hard to get) but it is REALLY not a holiday song.

Those are the top ones that come to my mind.  After that, I start thinking of songs that are Christmas-related, but which I simply hate...  Songs like

Last Christmas (first recorded by Wham, I think).  "Last Christmas, I gave you my heart.  The very next day, you gave it away.  This Christmas, to save me from tears, I'll give it to someone special."  Or - and this is just an idea - wait until you know someone before 'giving them your heart'.  Every time I hear this song, my eyes get sore from rolling.

And I know I'm not the audience for kids' music, but at least Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer is actually a Christmas song.  Why does Frosty get lumped in all the time?  (Also, my I point out that one of my all-time Christmas songs is Snoopy's Christmas, so it's not like I hate all kids' songs.)

And, while I'm ranting, may I point out that Santa Clause is Coming to Town has 3 verses of four lines each, so why does Bruce Springsteen have to spend 5 to 7 minutes screaming 'SAAAAAAAnta Claus is coming..." repeatedly?