136 It’s the day after Thanksgiving. “Black Friday,” if you will (and I choose not to). Santa has passed through Herald Square, and according to my personal rules for my personal household, my person is now allowed to listen to Christmas music. Personally.So I thought today I would share with you my personal Christmas music playlist! It hits all the classics and the best of the novelty songs (no “singing dogs” here — you’re welcome), some tunes you may not have heard before, a couple of concert and marching band pieces from my high school years, and even a few albums. There’s plenty of variety, even if some of the songs are duplicates performed by different artists. I’ve spent many years collecting this stuff, all the way back to my childhood. All told, it’s 165 tracks totaling eight hours and just over 44 minutes. I’ll break it up into three different categories for ya: albums, my favorite singles, and then everything else.The Full AlbumsAmy GrantA Christmas AlbumMyrhh, 1983As I recall it (and my memory could be incorrect), this was the very first CD my family ever owned. It was a Christmas gift from someone — I don’t recall who — and it actually prompted my father to go to Circuit City and buy not only a CD player, but an entirely new integrated stereo system altogether… one of those all-in-one black plastic bookshelf monstrosities that were made to look like high-quality separates when, in reality, the good ones were middling at best, and the cheap ones might have lasted you a couple years before breaking down.To be fair, the late-70’s Realistic component hi-fi system that I’d grown up with, while still mostly functional, was having some issues, so I’m sure he felt justified in replacing it. Though now that I know what I do about electronics, it probably just needed some internal cleaning and maybe some new capacitors. Back then, though, I was all of five years old (or just shy of it, having been born in February), so I certainly wouldn’t have known what to do with it, let alone been able. But boy, do I miss it. The new one never sounded anywhere near as good, and the knob feel… my goodness the knob feel!Anyway, if it were possible for CDs to get worn down by playing them like records do, this disc would have been vaporized long ago. It got multiple plays every year in our house. Beginning to end, it is a masterpiece of early-80’s musicianship. Yes, Virginia, there is a synthesizer! But it’s never harsh or cheesy-sounding, and there’s also a full orchestra and some incredible arrangement work regardless of instrumentation. Plus, Grant’s voice is soft and intimate at times while soaring and powerful when called for. This album will make you feel things.If it’s the synthpop you’re after, the back-to-back-to-back combo of Preiset Dem Konig!, Emmanuel, and Little Town (tracks 3 through 5) will easily satisfy you.Preiset Dem Konig!, subtitled with the English translation Praise The King!, is an original composition by Shane Keister, who played multiple keyboards on the album. While the official track artist is Amy Grant, this is really Keister’s song. It’s a peppy little Baroque-style interlude played entirely on synthesizers with a very flourished and rich sound.As for Emmanuel, Grant co-wrote it with Michael W. Smith — yes, it’s THAT Emmanuel — and while his orchestra-backed version is great in and of itself, Amy’s rockin’ version is an absolute hard-hitting banger. The middling power of the mix is a product of its time, unfortunately, and it will leave you wishing for a bit more edge, but once you have it committed to memory, you’ll hear it in your head exactly as you and I both know it should sound. If I could only get my hands on the masters…It flows directly into Little Town, which is O Little Town of Bethlehem set to a completely different and original tune. Despite being the same tempo, it’s appropriately softer than the song before it. The unique structure is a bit difficult to get a handle on at first, especially when you’re dealing with lyrics that you already know, but it’s intriguing, and once you figure it out, it’s easy enough to remember.The symphonic material is equally as impressive.Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (track 2) is exactly as you know it, backed by a full orchestra and choir. It begins with only Grant’s voice, adds some synthesized keys into the mix, then adds the orchestra, and builds up to a MASSIVE finish with an electric drum set added for emphasis. I would change absolutely nothing about this track.Christmas Hymn (track 6) is another Grant / Smith collaboration, though to the best of my knowledge, Smith has never recorded this one. I believe he does perform it at his Christmas concerts, however, and it’s a very popular song for church choirs to do at Christmas services and performances. Thus, this truly is the definitive version, and it’s suitably arranged. Everyone else who takes it on has this standard to live up to.I don’t know about CCM stations across the rest of the country, but my own WMCU in Miami landed on Love Has Come (track 7) as the single from this album to run into the ground every Christmas season. To be fair, out of all 11 cuts, it’s perfectly suited for the role. Tennessee Christmas (track 1) and Heirlooms (track 10) are a little too “secular” for a Christian radio station of the 80’s, Preiset Dem Konig! is strictly instrumental (and too short), and everything else is either traditional or a remake. So Love Has Come it was. Which I don’t say to take anything away from it! On the contrary, it’s a lovely little light pop tune with both synthesizers and the orchestra. And this one is credited to Grant, Smith, and Keister, rounding out both Smith and Keister’s total count of writing credits on the album.Grant’s versions of Sleigh Ride and The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On an Open Fire) (tracks 8 and 9) are excellent. Neither are my favorite versions of those songs, but they’re both wonderful in their own ways and are well-suited to this track list.But she saved the best for last. The big finale, track 11, begins with a gorgeous instrumental version of A Mighty Fortress Is Our God performed in sections by the orchestra. You’re gonna want to crank this up full blast, because you NEED to feel like you’re right there in the hall with them. It’s that good. Then a piano and the choir join in for a truly EPIC rendition of Angels We Have Heard on High. The big finish — and it is BIG — will make you want to jump out of your seat and cheer. I have tears in my eyes right now as I listen to it while typing this.Trust me, you will finish the album and come to the realization that it is darn near perfect, and you will want to hear it again and again all season long. There’s a reason I said we would have worn this one out if that had been possible. It’s a masterpiece.Dallas BrassA Merry Christmas with BrassWord, 1989My introduction to this one came a little later in life, but was the result of a really cool experience. In my eighth grade year, Mrs. Vagi, our superb band director at Pioneer Middle School in Cooper City, Florida, found that the Dallas Brass, a brass (obviously) quintet from Dallas (obviously), was doing a school tour with the opportunity to have your bands join them for a performance. So she had them come in for a special concert in which each band (the 6th grade beginners, followed by the 7th and 8th grade combined group) played a song with them on stage in the Cooper City High School auditorium.Which, to get off-topic a little bit here, was a far superior acoustic environment compared to the Pioneer Middle School “cafetorium.” We usually did perform our concerts at the high school, but I mention the cafetorium because there were occasions when we performed there, as well, and if you’ve heard me complain about Southwest Guilford High School’s auditorium (if you haven’t, you will), let me tell you: Pioneer was ten times worse. Completely untreated room made of shiny painted cinder blocks and a linoleum tile floor over a bare cement foundation. The normal-height raised stage meant a significantly lower height to the upper wall above stage front, so if you had a tuba or baritone that pointed up instead of out (and one of my baritones did), you would not be heard. That sound was going directly into the rafters and it wasn’t coming back down. I still have nightmares.Anyway, as I recall it, the Dallas Brass were giving away one CD apiece to each band member at their merch table after the concert, and this was the one I picked out. Aside from their performance that night, I had never heard them before, but I love instrumental Christmas music, so this was a natural choice, and I was not disappointed!I can’t really give you a track-by-track breakdown like I did with the Amy Grant album, I’m not quite that enamored with this one, but if you like instrumental Christmas music like I do, and especially if you’re a band geek like I am, it’s a fun listen!Dallas BrassNutcrackerDallas Brass Inc., 1996You know how I said I love instrumental Christmas music? There is no more quintessential a Christmas ballet than The Nutcracker, and the Dallas Brass put their own unique spin on it. According to Michael Levine, the group’s founder and director, they wanted to do more than just the condensed concert playlist known as The Nutcracker Suite, but they knew they couldn’t fit the whole ballet on one album. So they chose to do as much of it as they could, shortening some of the longer pieces and omitting three altogether (including the battle scene). They also brought in some additional instrumentation to give it something closer to a full symphonic feeling. It’s a different approach to the full production that includes some parts you may have never heard before!My Favorite SinglesThe Airmen of Note — I’ll Be Home For Christmasfrom Cool YuleAltissimo, 2011I first heard this one on a soft instrumental Christmas music stream several years ago, and my ears perked up. It’s the United States Air Force’s big band, performing the song we all know and love, but worked into the style — and including some hints — of Glenn Miller’s Moonlight Serenade. It absolutely blew my mind. My mother doesn’t like listening to it because it confuses her, so if you’re not a fan of this type of mash-up, you might want to stay away from this one. But I would encourage you to at least give it a shot, because it’s really cool!It actually inspired a scene in one of my TV shows, Miami High. The family of Felicia Lesley, one half of the protagonist couple, just moved to Miami ahead of her freshman year. She was born and raised in Colorado Springs, as her father is an Air Force officer and was assigned to USNORTHCOM for many years, but he’s just been reassigned to USSOUTHCOM in Doral, so this is her first Christmas away from home, and she is missing it terribly. The one bright spot is her new boyfriend Scott Marks, a born-and-raised Miamian who she met at Hollywood Beach over the summer, only to find that they’d both be going to the eponymous school this year. She invited him to a Christmas ball that her father’s office is holding, The Airmen of Note are performing, and this is their first ever slow dance. It’s a bittersweet moment for her, and he simply holds her close for comfort as they move together.It’s possibly a bit anachronistic in that this scene would be taking place in 1999, this album didn’t come out until 2011, and I have no idea when they actually wrote the arrangement or began performing it. But that’s the type of thing we can excuse with “artistic license.” After all, both songs were around long before either the setting of the scene or the album’s release. Who’s to say they haven’t been performing it live all this time? Other than, y’know, the band themselves, but still.The Brian Setzer Orchestra — The Nutcracker Suitefrom Boogie Woogie ChristmasSurfdog, 2002If you thought the Dallas Brass’s take on this thing was something, hold on to your zoot suit! Setzer is in all-out Big Band Mode here, with styles ranging from swing to bossa nova to rockabilly, and even a version of Trepak that the Rockettes would be right at home doing high-kicks to. It’s a vivacious romp through the higher points of the suite, done with that signature Brian Setzer flair!I have WCSR’s Andy Brown to thank for introducing me to this one. He played it several years back while I was out running errands with my mother, she had to run into the bank for a moment, and I waited for her in the truck… which is really the only time I listen to the station anymore. Glad I was doing so that day, because this instantly became a must-have for me!Chanele McGuinness — Christmas Day (We Are Not Alone)singleindependent, 2012I’m throwing the world a bone on this one, because the artist seems to have removed all traces of it from the Internet, and it was already very obscure to begin with, so I’m glad I grabbed a copy of it while I could. Hopefully I’m not violating anyone’s sworn oath to never let it be heard again or anything, because it’s absolutely worth hearing. It’s a cover of a song by indie band Paper Route, who shared it to their Facebook page when she released it.Chanele is a songwriter, session singer, and voiceover artist from a rural town in Ireland. She and the band’s leader, J.T. Daly, later worked together on a song called Tangled Up in 2019, so I don’t know if they’d known each other prior to this recording, or if this was how she got noticed by him. The original is a full studio production, but this one is just Chanele (with some multitracking) her guitar, and a very light synth pad. Quite honestly, while I enjoy Paper Route’s music, I much prefer this version. It has such a light touch, a bit of melancholy and mournfulness, but the message of people being there for each other shines through.Now, I swear I didn’t plan this, these things just happen, but this one also inspired a Christmas-episode scene in one of my TV shows, Lilly (hence the graphic in the video). It’s the second Christmas since our girl has moved in with her older sister Brittany after being kicked out by their parents, and last year’s event was… well, not much of an event. The sisters opened their presents, then just kinda lazed about all day. Lilly hasn’t said word one to Brittany about it, but she’s missing the joys of having family around on the holiday itself. The good thing is, Brittany can pick up on these things (she is a psychiatrist after all), so she invites Lilly’s circle of closest friends and their families over for Christmas dinner. This song plays out the episode’s concluding montage, complete with a meaningful look between the sisters at the very end.I can get really sappy when I want to, can’t I?La Rondallita — El Burrito de Belén (El Burrito Sabanero) (DJ Laz Remix)in-house production for WPOW, 1992It was only this past January that a suitable copy of this classic got uploaded to YouTube (or anywhere else, for that matter). And unless you grew up in Miami or somewhere in Latin America, you probably have no clue what the hell this is. Let me explain. The song itself originated as a Christmas song by Venezuelan musician Hugo Blanco in 1972. Simón Díaz was the first to record it that year with the Venezuelan Children’s Choir, followed shortly thereafter by the children’s group La Rondallita, which is the version you’re hearing sampled here.In 1992 or thereabouts, Lazaro “DJ Laz” Mendez — a rapper, producer, mix DJ, and radio personality; then at Power 96 in Miami — produced this remix with a couple of different hip-hop beats and some other samples for effect. It was an instantaneous hit. Car radios would get cranked up when the station played it. Subs would boom. Trunks would rattle on the next three cars around. It became synonymous with Christmas in Miami, as in: it was not the Christmas season in Miami until Power 96 began playing this song.I believe it was in the mid-2000’s when “Miami’s Party Station” had A.T. Molina take another crack at it, and he came up with this version, which is what they’ve been using ever since. I can’t fault them for modernizing it. By then, Laz’s remix had a dated sound. Musical styles evolved very quickly in the 90’s and early aughts, Miami was the center of a lot of it, and between the vastly changed sounds of pop, rap, R&B, and the insanely huge popularity of reggaeton at the time, that early-90’s vibe just wasn’t going to work anymore.But for those of us who were there in the 90’s when it DID work, when bass was the name of the game, this will always be the OG version.Interestingly enough, there are multiple copies circulating on YouTube and elsewhere nowadays with the names of other radio stations attached, and they’re clearly tape recordings from a radio broadcast, this one included. It’s entirely possible that Laz had passed it out to stations in other markets, which he would have been free to do as long as no one else in Miami tried to play it. This was a Power 96 exclusive in terms of who got to play it in Miami (and probably in the Palm Beach market, as well). I was under the impression that it was only being aired in Miami, but I could very well have been wrong about that.Gary P. Gilroy — A Royal Christmas Paradeas performed by Kelley’s Heroes, because that’s the only decent version I could findsingleindependent, 2012There are only two things this piece is good for:Performing in freezing cold weather while marching up Main Street in the High Point Christmas Parade Using as bonfire kindling to warm up after you’ve performed it in freezing cold weather while marching up Main Street in the High Point Christmas Parade.I would not trade those memories for the world, but I still have the annoying habit of flapping my lips when I’m outside in the dead of winter.James D. Ployhar — Christmas Sing-a-Longas performed by the Charleston Concert band, because once again, that was the best version I could findsingleindependent, 2012One of two Christmas concert staples for both of my high school bands, both being medleys. This one is very simple, not overly complex, easy to play, and fully intended for the audience to participate, as the title implies. It may not seem like something you’d want to listen to as just a standalone piece, but when you’ve spent four years playing it but never actually sitting back and hearing it, it’s nice to be able to focus in and find the part you know so well.Plus, it’s nice to hear a recording from an auditorium that doesn’t have all the acoustic properties of a styrofoam cup. (I told you you’d hear me complain about Southwest later. The shell was installed backwards. I am not joking.)Julian Casablancas — I Wish It Was Christmas Todayfrom Phrazes for the YoungCult / RCA / Rough Trade, 2009A must-have for we SNL junkies. This ridiculousness started on December 9th, 2000, when the legendary Don Pardo, over a simple graphic, announced “Season’s greetings from all of us here at Saturday Night Live!” After which we were shown Home Base, where standing between two fully-decorated Christmas trees were Horatio Sanz holding a guitar, Jimmy Fallon standing ready behind and to his left, Chris Kattan to his left holding a keyboard for him to play, and Tracy Morgan on the other side of Kattan, simply standing there. Horatio and Jimmy counted off, the beat from the keyboard’s drum machine started, and the world was forever changed for the better.Since that night, some variation of this song has appeared a total of ten times on SNL, plus a performance on Fallon’s Tonight Show, and one extra SNL outing that got cut after dress rehearsal. It is cheesy, it is simple in its presentation — with only Sanz and Fallon singing, Kattan swinging his head back and forth to the beat, and Morgan doing nothing but a little tiny-movement dance — and it is totally and completely perfect in every way.So it was a big deal when Casablancas, front man of The Strokes, put it on his solo debut. Fallon promoted the hell out of it. I snagged a copy of the single as soon as I could. This loud, brash, rock-out-until-you-knock-out take on it brings a whole new level of energy to it that doesn’t betray the heart of the original. If anything, it adds a new layer to it. It is pure joy. Absolute madness, but pure joy through and through.Leroy Anderson — A Christmas Festivalas performed by The President’s Own U.S. Marine BandSongs of the Seasonunknown label, 2009The other of two Christmas concert staples for both of my high school bands. This one isn’t meant to be sung along with, but that won’t stop the audience from trying, even if the section is a song they don’t actually know the lyrics to. It’s a lot of fun to play, and unlike the sing-along, this one has a lot of complexity that’s also fun to listen to.I do, however, have one very important nit to pick with Lt. Col. Fettig here. He takes the finish waaaaaaaaaaay toooooooooo slooooooooowlyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. I don’t give a damn what it says on the page, and neither did either of my directors (Mr. Eggleston at Cooper City or Ms. Lily at Southwest). That section HAS to be 150 BPM, no less. Fettig is taking it at 138 BPM. Where’s the DRIVE?! Where’s the ENERGY?! Where’s the WOW factor?! I’m just not feeling it. And I can’t edit it to speed it up without it sounding crunched, because no sample rate is going to compensate for the artifacting that comes from maintaining pitch while chopping it up and squeezing it back together to that extreme. So while this is the best recording of the piece that I’ve been able to find so far, I have to lodge a formal complaint about the ending. That is not how it’s done.Michael W. Smith — The Callfrom FreedomReunion, 2000Technically speaking, this isn’t actually a Christmas song. Freedom was an entirely instrumental album — Smith’s first of that type — and he was promoting it during his 2000 Christmas tour, which was the first event I ever went to see at the Greensboro Coliseum after moving to the Piedmont Triad that previous April. When the concert was over, he left the stage as his band played this song, and it’s been associated with Christmas in my mind ever since. It does kinda work as a Christmas song in terms of some of the instrumentation.Unrelated to the song itself, that concert included a moment predicated on what I’m almost certain was a little bit of a white lie (and if other people chime in and say this happened at other stops on that tour, I’ll know I’m right). About halfway through, Smith claimed that his audio crew was telling him there was some sort of technical problem and they had lost connection to everything except his microphone and the piano. Now, I’m no dummy. From my vantage point, I could see the console and the people working on it. Nobody was in any rush to get anywhere and check connections or was even looking at anything that might have had anything to do with reestablishing those connections. Even at 15 years of age, I knew enough to know this was a set-up for him to sit at the piano and play something soft; maybe one of his worship songs.He asked the audience to call out suggestions, as if he didn’t already have something ready to go. So I shouted out “WIRED FOR SOUND!” If you’re not familiar, it’s a big, bombastic, synth-driven rock ballad from 1986. So the double joke is that they lost sound connections and I was requesting a song that in no way, shape, or form could reasonably be performed only with a piano backing him.I’m probably the only person in that arena who laughed at it (and I certainly got a few looks, including from my own family), but that’s enough to make me happy.Shirley Walker — Nutcracker Suite Medleyfrom Batman: The Animated Series Original SoundtrackLa-La Land Records, 2008 / 2012The following facts are not up for debate:Kevin Conroy was the best Batman. Mark Hamill is the best Joker. Danny Elfman’s is the best Batman theme.Okay, good. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, right now you’re probably asking, “Josh, another Nutcracker piece? And from a Batman cartoon? Really?”What can I tell ya? Dark Deco is a way of life, and Shirley Walker has a way of telling a story with music that I’ve never heard anyone else pull off anywhere near as well. And that minor-key version of Trepak! Ugh! Chills! You don’t even have to know what’s actually happening on screen; just by hearing the music, you can tell Joker is doing something especially dastardly. The flow of the music might match the visual action, but the music is providing the emotional emphasis.Why would Summer Gleeson be holding a Betty Blooper doll, anyway?Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews, Kirk Joseph, Mervin ‘Kid Merv” Campbell, Roderick Paulin, Frederick Shepherd & Stephen Walker — O Holy Nightfrom the television show Studio 60 on the Sunset StripNBC, 2006Aaron Sorkin is an amazing writer. Of that there is no doubt. But none of his shows have ever connected with me the way the short-lived Studio 60 did. The fact that NBC cancelled it because it was more viewed in the unofficial Live+7 ratings the year before the Live+7 ratings were made official is just more proof that when NBC isn’t being run by people who actually know what they’re doing, they’re being run by goddamned morons. I would love for one of my shows to get picked up by NBC just for the aura of prestige that comes with the Peacock, but on the other hand, I don’t want to take the chance that I’ll get jerked around by executives who wouldn’t know their ass from a plot hole.Hell, it was exactly those types of executives that Sorkin was talking about in the show when one of his characters, the new president of the fictitious National Broadcasting System, told a bunch of media beat reporters at a press conference “I’ll tell you what I do believe. I believe that the people who watch television shows aren’t dumber than the people who make television shows. I believe that quality is not anathema to profit.”NBC’s then-leadership disagreed. But before they axed the show, at least we got some incredible moments like this one.This is from the eleventh episode, “The Christmas Show.” It’s just over a year since Katrina, and New Orleans is still reeling, wallowing in the totally insufficient government response. Show-within-a-show producer Danny Tripp catches wind from Tonight Show bandleader Kevin Eubanks that band members from all the late night shows have been calling out sick recently so that homeless musicians from the hurricane-ravaged city can make their way to Los Angeles or New York and pick up the temporary gigs. So he gets some calls made and puts together an entire band of New Orleans players to perform a centerpiece number for the Christmas show while a video of the storm’s aftermath plays on a giant screen behind them.This is that number.I won’t bother you with the little things that go on during the montage during which this runs; you’d have to have watched the whole episode (if not the whole series up to that point) to know what was happening, but suffice it to say that it was a tear-jerker set to one of the most beautiful arrangements of one of the most beautiful Christmas carols in existence.“I went to a place called ‘say it, say it, say it.’ I said it.”White Heart — Little Drummer Boyfrom the compilation album ChristmasSparrow, 1988Remember when Christian hit music was actually good? Y’know, before the labels decided to destroy themselves by mandating the “Praise Craze” in the early aughts? Because I do. Very well. I grew up with that music. It was awesome. I miss it. And this album (I had the cassette) was a fantastic example. I mean, look at those names! Bebe & Cece Winans! Margaret Becker! Steven Curtis Chapman! Geoff Moore! Steve Camp! Michael Card! Deniece Williams! Steve Taylor! Legends, all!And when it came to Christian rock in the 80’s, there were two big names: Petra… and Stryper. No, I’m just kidding; WHITE HEART! White Heart was Christian metal! Even when Petra went soft rock, White Heart stayed pumping out the energy. This is a version of Little Drummer Boy that’ll tease your hair out for miles and put you in tight leather, top and bottom.My fellow youth group kids will know what I’m talking about. Those trips to the concerts in the beat-up old church vans, praying to God (literally!) that you’ll make it without a breakdown this time, rocking out all night, then coming back to the church with your ears ringing? Audio Adrenaline and the Supertones literally wrote a whole song about it. What a time to be alive.Everything ElseI won’t be linking all of these; they’re the common songs that you probably already know and should be able to find pretty easily.Andy Williams — Happy Holidays / The Holiday Season Andy Williams — It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year Art Mooney & His Orchestra feat. Barry Gordon — Nuttin’ For Christmas Band Aid — Do They Know It’s Christmas The Beach Boys — Little Saint Nick Billy Squier — Christmas Is the Time to Say “I Love You” Bing Crosby — Deck The Halls Bing Crosby — It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas Bing Crosby — Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow Bing Crosby — White Christmas Bing Crosby & David Bowie — Peace on Earth / Little Drummer Boy Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters — Mele Kalikimaka Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters — Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town Bobby Helms — Jingle Bell Rock Brenda Lee — Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree The Brian Setzer Orchestra — (Everybody’s Waitin’ For) The Man With The Bag The Brian Setzer Orchestra — Dig That Crazy Santa Claus Britney Spears — My Only Wish (This Year) Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band — Merry Christmas Baby Burl Ives — A Holly Jolly Christmas Carnie & Wendy Wilson — Hey Santa! The Chipmunks — The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late) Chris Brown — This Christmas Chuck Berry — Run Rudolph Run The Cowsills — Christmastime (Song For Marissa) Darlene Love — Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) David Foster — Carol of the Bells Dean Martin & Marilyn Maxwell — Baby, It’s Cold Outside Destiny’s Child — 8 Days of Christmas Dolly Parton & Rod Stewart — Baby It’s Cold Outside Donny Hathaway — This Christmas Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong — Baby, It’s Cold Outside Elmo & Patsy — Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer Elton John — Step Into Christmas Elvis Presley — Blue Christmas Gayla Peevey — I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas (Hippo the Hero) Gene Autry — Frosty the Snowman Gene Autry — Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer The Jackson 5 — I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus The Jackson 5 — Santa Claus is Coming To Town José Feliciano — Feliz Navidad Justin Bieber — Mistletoe Kay Starr — (Everybody’s Waitin’ For) The Man With The Bag Kenny G — Winter Wonderland Kenny G — Silver Bells Kurtis Blow — Christmas Rappin’ Mannheim Steamroller — Angels We Have Heard On High Mannheim Steamroller — Celebration Mannheim Steamroller — Deck the Halls Mannheim Steamroller — Faeries Mannheim Steamroller — God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen Mannheim Steamroller — Good King Wenceslas Mannheim Steamroller — Hark! The Herald Trumpets Sing Mariah Carey — All I Want For Christmas Is You Martina McBride & Dean Martin — Baby, It’s Cold Outside Michael Bublé — Let It Snow! Michael Bublé — Santa Baby Michael Bublé — Santa Claus Is Coming To Town Michael W. Smith — Gloria Mike Oldfield — In Dulci Jubilo Nat King Cole — The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You) Nat King Cole — Deck The Halls Paul McCartney — Wonderful Christmastime Pentatonix — Angels We Have Heard On High Pentatonix — O Come O Come Emmanuel Pentatonix — Carol of the Bells Pentatonix — The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) Pentatonix — O Holy Night Pentatonix — This Christmas Perry Como — (There’s No Place Like) Home For the Holidays Perry Como — It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas Rod Stewart — I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm Run DMC — Christmas in Hollis Sam Smith — Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas Sia — Candy Cane Lane Spike Jones & His City Slickers — All I Want For Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth) Steve Wingfield Band — Winter Wonderland Steve Wingfield Band — Run, Run Rudolph Steve Wingfield Band — Holly Jolly Christmas Steve Wingfield Band — Jingle Bells Steve Wingfield Band — Sleigh Ride Steve Wingfield Band — Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas Steve Wingfield Band — We Wish You a Merry Christmas Steve Wingfield Band — Jolly Old Saint Nicholas Steve Wingfield Band — Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree Stevie Wonder — What Christmas Means to Me Straight No Chaser & Paul McCartney — Wonderful Christmastime Taylor Swift — Last Christmas Thurl Ravenscroft — You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch TLC — Sleigh Ride Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers — Christmas All Over Again Train — Merry Christmas Everybody Trans-Siberian Orchestra — Christmas Jam Trans-Siberian Orchestra — The March of the Kings / Hark The Herald Angels Sing Trans-Siberian Orchestra — O Come All Ye Faithful / O Holy Night Trans-Siberian Orchestra — First Snow Trans-Siberian Orchestra — A Mad Russian’s Christmas Trans-Siberian Orchestra — Christmas Eve / Sarajevo 12/24 Trans-Siberian Orchestra — God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen Trans-Siberian Orchestra — Faith Noel Trans-Siberian Orchestra — O Come All Ye Faithful Trans-Siberian Orchestra — Midnight Clear Trans-Siberian Orchestra — Nutrocker Trans-Siberian Orchestra — Dreams of Fireflies (On a Christmas Night) Vince Guaraldi Trio — Christmas Time is Here (Vocal) Vince Guaraldi Trio — O Tannenbaum Vince Guaraldi Trio — Skating Wizzard — I Wish It Could Be Christmas EverydayMerry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Kwanzaa! Fuck It That's Too Much Stuff to Tag 0 comments Josh Colletta When he was a kid, everything was a microphone. So they put him behind one, and he started in radio at the age of 8. Now, some 32 years later, Josh Colletta is doing what he's worked toward all his life: talking with you about things that matter, things that don't matter, and life in general. From politics to sports to Star Trek to civil engineering, and plenty of other geeky endeavors, let's have fun keeping the doctors confused! You may also like Congress Has Bought the Bullshit on AM Radio... Published: Tuesday, February 18th, 2025 Bishop Budde Demonstrated REAL Christianity Published: Friday, January 24th, 2025 So You Think You Can Plan Published: Wednesday, January 8th, 2025 No, Climate Change Is NOT Causing Miami’s High-Rises... Published: Monday, January 6th, 2025 The 163rd Street Mall is Dead. Long Live... 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