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The most loved Christmas song on Edison Media Research's 2007 survey is "The Christmas Song" by Nat King Cole. I believe it, based on the number of times I have heard its first few notes and changed the station. I don't hate the song but it is burned out to me, like chestnuts left on an open fire for 50 years.
The Edison results are reported by Sean Ross, who I think might be the same Sean Ross I knew at my first radio job at WVBK in Herndon, Virginia. Sean points out that the newest song on the most loved list is 36 years old. I know I've covered this topic before but it's still something that interests me.
My friend Bean has some insight about why we still hear the same old Christmas songs over and over. He picks Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" as a song that will stand the test of time.
I'm thinking that Wham's "Last Christmas" is becoming a classic, especially now that there are more cover versions of it. In the past few years I have heard covers of it by Dexter Frebish, Jimmy Eat World, Ashley Tisdale and Taylor Swift. Even the Wham original is easier to find than it was about six or seven years ago when I tried to catalog my collection of Christmas music. As I made a spreadsheet of the songs on my CDs, I realized that I didn't have a copy of the Wham tune. I searched for it online and in record stores to no avail. My wife finally found it at the Virgin Megastore on an expensive British import compilation two-disc set. It was my favorite gift that year.
The Knoxville Blog Network tipped me to a list of Jim Miller's personal top ten Christmas songs. I like that he picked "Last Christmas" as his number one but I must disagree with his choice of Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime." This is not a surprise to longtime readers of mine.
Edison's most hated list contains no surprises. Although I would have liked to see the McCartney song on there, I was pleased to find Barbra Streisand's version of "Jingle Bells" at number 5. I don't remember ever hearing the song until I worked at a local oldies station but I do remember instantly disliking it. While I still loathe the song, I had to laugh at the guys who lip sync it on YouTube, whether in their bedroom or in a drag club.
The Edison results are reported by Sean Ross, who I think might be the same Sean Ross I knew at my first radio job at WVBK in Herndon, Virginia. Sean points out that the newest song on the most loved list is 36 years old. I know I've covered this topic before but it's still something that interests me.
My friend Bean has some insight about why we still hear the same old Christmas songs over and over. He picks Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" as a song that will stand the test of time.
I'm thinking that Wham's "Last Christmas" is becoming a classic, especially now that there are more cover versions of it. In the past few years I have heard covers of it by Dexter Frebish, Jimmy Eat World, Ashley Tisdale and Taylor Swift. Even the Wham original is easier to find than it was about six or seven years ago when I tried to catalog my collection of Christmas music. As I made a spreadsheet of the songs on my CDs, I realized that I didn't have a copy of the Wham tune. I searched for it online and in record stores to no avail. My wife finally found it at the Virgin Megastore on an expensive British import compilation two-disc set. It was my favorite gift that year.
The Knoxville Blog Network tipped me to a list of Jim Miller's personal top ten Christmas songs. I like that he picked "Last Christmas" as his number one but I must disagree with his choice of Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime." This is not a surprise to longtime readers of mine.
Edison's most hated list contains no surprises. Although I would have liked to see the McCartney song on there, I was pleased to find Barbra Streisand's version of "Jingle Bells" at number 5. I don't remember ever hearing the song until I worked at a local oldies station but I do remember instantly disliking it. While I still loathe the song, I had to laugh at the guys who lip sync it on YouTube, whether in their bedroom or in a drag club.
posted by Frank Murphy at
11:33 PM
4 Comments:
Frank
Gotta love the Harry Simeone Chorale "Little Drummer Boy." I hear that song and am transported back to Christmas afternoons at my grandparent's house in Wisconsin, eating too many cut-out cookies and watching their holiday train glide on its tracks. Nice!
Wow. I had no idea "Wonderful Christmastime" was so despised until I checked out your links!
Nonetheless, I stand by my #4 song. When it plays on the radio, I turn up the volume!
frank, thank you so much for the link to www.christmasmusiceveryday.com.
next week i plan to post a cover version of paul mccartney's "wonderful christmastime" that i hope you will find tolerable. i happen to love the original but see you and some of your readers do not share the love.
also, until i saw your sponsor link i had no idea that tower records still had an online presence since they closed up their retail outlets last year.
sure enough, i clicked through and they are still selling music! thanks...
bean :)
frank, thank you so much for the link to www.christmasmusiceveryday.com! i plan to posta cover version of paul mccartney's "wonderful christmastime" next week that i hope you and your readers who hate the original will find more palatable. oh, and you guys are all wrong by the way.
:)
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