Saturday, November 29, 2014

It’s Time for Christmas Music

Yesterday I mentioned the MP3 Player is loaded with Christmas music, which to me is the official start of the holiday season. I love Christmas music, I love the fact that a lot of singers got their start singing these same songs in their respective church choirs or school productions. When I worked retail in High School/College it was my job to supply the store with music during the holiday season. I had so many CDs that we rarely heard the same song more than once.  It's a fact that people spend more when they hear Christmas music. It puts them in a shopping mood.

I especially love that no matter the type of music you are interested in rap, soul/r&b, country, classical, pop, cartoon, funny, sentimental, no matter what gets your grove on there is a Christmas CD for you. Plus this time of year sites, artists, and record labels give away free music which as you all know is my all time favorite thing on earth … FREE MUSIC is AWESOME!!!!

So I shared with you my Halloween playlist so now I’ll share with you some of my favorite Christmas songs and must have CDs:

Bryan White @bryan_White has 4 Christmas albums, each one better than the last. His most recent offer A Bryan White Christmas has an acoustic version of Linus and Lucy which is my holiday ringtone by the way, and a song called Finding Christmas which is about an adult rediscovering Christmas through their children’s eyes. It makes me cry …. Every…darn…time. The year before he released an EP of the same name that had two songs featuring his children, Jackson and Justin. I listen to Jackson’s Version of Jingle Bells in May, cause it makes me that happy. Justin’s version of Wish You a Merry Christmas is a perfectly captured moment in time that also makes me smile. However it’s One Bright Star and Holiday Inn on Dreaming of Christmas playing in my ears that really means it’s Christmas season. As I have said before Bryan could read the phone book and I’d buy it and love it. I’ve met his wife, met his children, met him, and have been a fan for many years. I love everything about him, from the way he carries himself to the fact that he literally gets better with each track he creates. I always say my favorite Bryan White song is his next one. Check out this artist then check out his other CDs especially his new CD Shine you will not be disappointed.

Alabama Christmas from the group Alabama @TheAlabamaBand is another must have during the holiday season. Listening to Tonight is Christmas gives me goosebumps, Santa Clause (I Still Believe in You), and A Candle in the Window are always on my MP3 player. Christmas in Dixie is my mom’s favorite, then again I’m deep in the south so that could have something to do with it. Alabama also has some of the tear jerker songs like Christmas Shoes for Mama, which leave the listener a blubbering mess by the end of the track. There’s also a really good Christmas Movie by the same name which is another good tear jerker.

Christmas with the Rat Pack featuring Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and Dean Martin leave me yearning for a different time, a time when men wore suits, women wore dresses and everyone had a drink in their hand. This CD is filled with classics like Jingle Bells, White Christmas, I’ll Be Home for Christmas as well as fun tracks like I Believe and Misletoe and Holly. Plus it has Frank Sinatra’s live version of Auld Lang Syne on it, that track alone makes this CD worth the purchase.

Cyndi Lauper’s @Cyndilauper Feels Like Christmas is your peppy happy music that just puts a spring in your step. If you are trying to finish off a project before vacation, or out doing some Christmas shopping this is the CD for you. She has classics like Silent Night and Rocking Around the Christmas Tree in the way that only Cyndi Lauper can but also has December Child, Christmas Conga and Heading for the Moon which will work hard to boost your Christmas spirit.

Dr. Demento Presents The Greatest Christmas Novelty CD is good for a laugh on your drive to the in-laws or Auntie’s house. Granted some of these songs are not very “kid friendly” but Christmas Dragnet featuring Stan Freberg and Daws Butler is a fun one, and I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas and Nuttin’ For Christmas are fun songs both you and the kids will love. Plus the CD has Christmas at Ground Zero from Weird AL and you gotta love some Weird Al at Christmas.

Additional Classics that always make my holiday playlist include:
§  A Christmas Carol – as read by Frank Petingell
§  A Sailor’s Christmas - Jimmy Buffett
§  Blue Christmas – Jessie Payo
§  Burl Ives Presents – Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer Any and All tracks
§  Carol of the Bells -  by any choir, sit back and marvel at the talent it takes to get this one right
§  Christmas Day – Dido
§  Christmas for every boy and girl - Clint Black
§  Happy Birthday Jesus - Reba McEntire
§  Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - James Taylor
§  How the Grinch Stole Christmas - Boris Karloff
§  I hate Christmas - Sesame Street – Oscar the Grouch
§  I Never Knew the Meaning of Christmas - Nsync
§  I Still Believe In Santa Claus - New Kids On The Block –--- Cause I do!
§  Jolly Ole St. Nicholas – Chet Atkins
§  Little Drummer Boy - New Kids On The Block –--- what can I say boy bands were built for Holiday harmonies and I eat it up!
§  Mele Kalikimaka - Jimmy Buffett
§  Merry Christmas, Alabama (Never Far From Home) - Jimmy Buffett –– however it’s Jimmy reading Twas the Night Before Christmas as a hidden track which is what really makes this track special.
§  Mr. Bailey – Eric Bay
§  My First Snow – Matt Morris
§  My Son – Oak Ridge Boys
§  Night Before Christmas On Sesame Street  - Sesame Street – David
§  Oh Holy Night - Martina McBride –--- quite possibly the most amazing version of this song ever recorded
§  Oh Holy Night - Nsync
§  Rocking Around the Christmas Tree – Brenda Lee
§  Santa’s On His Way - George Strait
§  Slow as Christmas - Clint Black
§  So This is Christmas – John Lennon
§  Some Children See Him - James Taylor
§  Talk a Walk Through Bethlehem - Ray Vega
§  The Birth of the King - Clint Black
§  The Christmas Song - Nsync –--- again boy bands were built for Holiday harmonies and no one … I mean no one did it better than Nsync
§  The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)- James Taylor
§  The First Noel - Nsync
§  The Secret of Giving - Reba McEntire
§  This Christmas Prayer – Steve Wariner
§  This One’s For the Children - New Kids On The Block –– a track created and used by the band to raise money back in the day for a children’s charity but which still speaks volumes today.
§  Til’ Santa’s Gone (Milk and Cookies)- Clint Black
§  Trans-Siberian Orchestra – their entire playlist
§  Twas the Night Before Christmas – Snoop Doggy Dog and Nate Dogg
§  Vince Guaraldi Trio – Christmas Time is Here
§  We three Kings - Blackhawk –– their harmony is beautiful

So that’s more or less my Christmas playlist I have a ton more and may share a few more throughout the holiday season, and will also share a few that I hate and wish to NEVER hear again. What’s on your holiday playlist?!

-marcy

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