Posted on 12/19/2011 2:38:54 PM PST by illiac
It’s that time of year again, when you can’t walk into any retail shop without being blasted by Christmas music.
I can’t be the only one who wants to clean my ear canals with a butcher knife whenever I hear “Silver Bells” or “Little Drummer Boy.” “Frosty the Snowman” and “Jingle Bells,” my favorite carols as a kid, are now the bane of my holiday existence. “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”? No, I’ll be Van Gogh by Christmas.
As famed Web-comic XKCD and, now, a popular Reddit thread have pointed out, most of our traditional Christmas music was recorded in the 1940s and ’50s. Yes, it seems Santa Claus is a Baby Boomer.
So, aren’t there any better Christmas songs? Or some unorthodox ones? I mean, better than that Boyz 2 Men album in the ’90s, that Justin Bieber album today, or – God forbid – a combination of the two. (And no, Mariah Carey doesn’t count.)
Well, how about these?
(Excerpt) Read more at blog.seattlepi.com ...
No.
No Thanks, I’d rather be back in the 40’s and 50’s.
I’m partial to “Marry Christmas from the Family” by Robert Earl Keen. Hits much closer to home.
As would I.....
Take it the likes of Wizzard, Slade, Jona Lewie and Paul McCartney’s Xmas songs aren’t staple fair in the US like they are here in Britain then (they’re mostly 70s and 80s)...
As a matter of fact...YES!!!!
Life is too short to be forced to listen to crappy old worn-out music. However, those all pretty much sucked, too. And if I'm honest, I used to love the Trans-Siberian Orchestra piece, but it's getting a bit played out, too.
Rock and punk and rap Christmas carols? No, thanks.
I tried listening to the trans-Siberian one at the bottom, but couldn’t even get through that.
A local radio station has continuous format of about 40 songs that play over and over and over and.......ad nauseum. I'm sick of them too.
There's literally hundreds if not a thousand of great Christas CD's available and why they are not integrated into the program format is beyond me..........
Andrea Bocelli, Chichester Cathedral Choir, Choir of Trinity Church (Wall Street, NY), The Three Canadian Tenors all provide excellent Christmas offerings.
Okay, I only listened to two... First, I personally like Mannheim Steamroller, and thought their video was pretty cool. Trans-Siberian Orchetra was all right, but I did’nt open the video so can’t comment.
If you want to hear REALLY different Christmas music, try to find “Merry Chris-meows” by the Tabbynacle Choir. (It is really outh there, somewhere.)
Merry Christmas to all, and a Blessed New Year.
It took a few listens to get into, but I love the Relient K album “Let it Snow, Baby, Let it Reindeer”
.
Well said!
>> I can’t be the only one who wants to clean my ear canals with a butcher knife whenever I hear...
I kinda like *good* renditions of the old Christmas carols. Not tired of ‘em yet.
Still, the “clean my ear canals” comment makes me LOL.
Not to mention Handel’s Messiah and all the older Christmas music.
“XMAS at K-Mart,” by Root Boy Slim and the Sex Change Band with the Rootettes
“Father Christmas” by The Kinks
“Christmas Wrapping” by The Waitresses
And a Merry Christmas to you!
Most of these can be listened to on Youtube (nope, sorry. find it yours elf). The video usually is very lame but they are good cuts.
I like the standards allright, but when you get to the point that you can play absolutely every note and nuance in your head from start to finish it's time for new material. This list is new material, rather than the same old pathetic redo of stuff that was beaten into the ground 30 years ago.
No thank you! And I dislike rock music. I don't think they have good voices and their effort to f... up the system* (read without the ellipses) -- any system, does not appeal to me with my early listening of Beethoven, Brahms, and Tchiakovsky.
*I heard that remark by a rocker at an awards ceremony.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.