A New Breed of Christmas Songs

"Ubiquity breeds contempt". I read that line recently, and it was used in reference to the constant rotation of the same set of Christmas songs playing in every store, mall, and public place imaginable. I'm not trying to be a Grinch about this; it's just that nobody puts any real thought into their establishment's musical backdrop. They all just click on the same satellite station they did last year, and away we go.

 Over and over and over. Hey, the traditional Christmas songbook isn't really all that big, so when you work in retail, which I do, you get the same handful of songs on repeat all day long, for a whole month. Sometimes you even hear two different versions of the same song back to back. Too much!

Plus the really old-timey songs are kinda wearing thin on me. Sorry, but Bing Crosby and others from that bygone era really aren't cutting it with the younger crowd today... are they? Having said that, I do like some Dean Martin and Tony Bennett renditions of the classics. But there are some truly horrific versions of the oldies, both instrumental and vocal. I don't know what people were thinking back in the 50's or 60's when they thought it was a good idea to get screechy, brassy vocalists to belt out noisy, irritating travesties of the classics - and record them. Some of those tunes sound terrible and inappropriate... very un-Christmas-y. I wish I could name those artists who sullied the reputations of the originals, but I don't even know who they were. There's a cover of I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus that feels like a drill going into my brain bone. And what about that psychotic-sounding choir screaming out Rudolf and other songs? Ugh.

Anyway, when I get frazzled by that unimaginative playlist, I try to think of seasonal tunes that aren't overplayed and overwrought, and which are actually pretty good. Fun even. The ones that come to mind happen to be more modern (though some go back as far as the 1950's), often by pop artists, and they are originals. Well, there a couple of covers there, but they are still of not so old-timey pieces. Lively and sometimes downright rockin', these songs are much more listenable. Or at least more tastefully performed. We really need a new Christmas songbook for this millennium. Maybe hang onto a few of the most enduring 20th century tracks.

I posted about this same topic at Christmas 2016 - you can read it here. I assembled a list of festive tracks that I happen to like... even stuff by artists I'm not normally fond of (Mariah Carey, to name the only one). This year I've actually assembled a playlist (above) of those same songs, so you can punch this up while you're opening gifts on Christmas morning. Enjoy!

Honourable mention goes to Twisted Sister for their amplified versions of several seasonal classics, including Oh Come All Ye Faithful and Silver Bells, on their A Twisted Christmas album. Though these aren't originals, their Sister treatment makes them fun and heavy and cool. The accompanying videos, which can be found on YouTube, are the best part.

Oh, and by the way... Merry Christmas, dear readers!