Several radio stations in our area started playing Christmas music the day after Halloween. That’s too soon for me. I prefer listening to Christmas music after Thanksgiving. Each year, Diane and I buy one or two new Christmas music CDs (we have about 50 in our CD collection). This year, it was Katherine Jenkins’ This is Christmas. I’ve been a fan of Katherine Jenkins for years. She gained a whole new audience with her appearances on Dancing With the Stars. If you’re looking for a delightful Christmas CD, I recommend this one. Take a listen below:
Track List:
1. O Come O Come Emmanuel
2. Ding Dong Merrily On High
3. Away In A Manger
4. In Dulci Jubilo
5. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)
6. Santa Baby
7. The Little Road To Bethlehem
8. Deck The Halls
9. Angels From The Realms Of Glory
10. Sleep Quietly My Jesus
11. I Wish You Christmas
12. Hark The Herald Angels Sing
13. Come What May (with Placido Domingo)
Well, any Christmas CD that includes “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” (the loveliest carol ever, IMHO) deserves a place on the Christmas music shelf. I shall look for this one. Like you, we try to buy at least one new Christmas album every year–mixing secular and sacred music in the blend.
I think BEST BUY had THIS IS CHRISTMAS for $9.99, Deb. I bought my copy on AMAZON.
Lite FM starts playing round the clock Christmas music around Thanksgiving and whenever I do the laundry I am treated to that in the laundry room. That’s mostly enough for me.
When I was sitting in the Waiting Area at the car wash yesterday, Jeff, I was treated to wall-to-wall Christmas music on the loud-speaker system. Dreadful!
My favorite is always the Motown one. It never feels like Christmas until I hear that one. We have about twenty. My other favorites are the Peanuts one and Ella Fitzgerald.
THIS IS CHRISTMAS by Phil Spector is one of my favorites, Patti. It features the amazing Darlene Love, The Crystals, The Ronettes, Bob B. Soxx And The Blue Jeans, even Leon Russell on piano and Sonny Bono on percussion!
So what is your favorite Christmas song, George? I’d go with I WONDER AS I WANDER.
My eyes always get misty when I hear “The Holly and the Ivy,” Jerry.
If I bought I’d just stare at the cover all day. What a lovely woman.
Favorite Xmas song? O Holy Night with Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas as a close second.
You should watch the DOCTOR WHO episode with Katherine Jenkins in it, Bob. It’s a classic.
What George said. The Phil Spector Christmas album is the best, if only for Darlene Love singing “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” which is amazing.
Of course I seem to be one of the few people who gets a kick out of “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer” by Elmo & Patsy, mainly for the clever lyrics. And of course there is the semi-legendary (well, I love to drive Jackie crazy with it) “Mamacita, Donde Easta Santa Claus” by (Little) Augie Rios from 1958.
More serious songs? I like “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” (introduced by Judy Garland in MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS) and Nat King Cole’s (“The Christmas Song” – co-written by Mel Torme).
For secular music, I strongly recommend “The Most Fabulous Christmas Album Ever,” which has everything from Eartha Kitt’s Santa Baby to Spike Jones’s All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth. I also live that Trans Siberian Railroad doing Wizards in Winter.
I like the classics: Silent Night, We Three Kings, The Wassail Song, etc.
What about the Paris Hilton Christmas album? Is there one?
😉
Crider would know, Jeff.