As a child, my grandmother was big into gospel, country, and traditional holiday music. I preferred the stylings of Weird Al Yankovic, The Monkees, and, when I needed to feel sophisticated, The Police. Since the Christmas songs I heard were all traditional Gene Autry/Bing Crosby/Englebert Humperdinck stuff, I never got the taste for it. Flash-forward to my own child, who loves any and all holiday songs, from Wham! to Rosemary Clooney to “Oy Chanukkah, Oy Chanukkah.” The kid’s favorite, though, is “Wonderful Christmastime,” Paul McCartney’s sketchy ode to the moon and synthesizer riffs, leading to today’s seasonal query…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) notes that the recent holiday concert of the high school show choir involved Widget wishing everyone a happy Whamageddon and launching into “Last Christmas,” with backup singers and ad libbed choreography, asking, “When it comes to holiday music, are you a Little Drummer Person or more of a Grinch?”
3 Comments
Little Drummer, please! I have a special warm spot for the traditional pieces that I heard growing up, but also enjoy some more recent releases, too. My current favorite holiday program is Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas, due in no small part to the original Paul Williams’ songs that it showcases.
Tangential anecdote: Growing up I had a book adapting the Little Drummer Boy, gloriously illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats in his inimitable water color style, complete with the musical notation of the piece presented in the back of the book.
Bah Humbug!
give me the comedy christmas stuff. the rest just makes me feel sick….. tooo mushy and cheerfull
Definitely Grinchin’ it up. Working retail off and on from the early 00s to the early 10s sorta beat the cheer out of me in several ways, so explicitly christmas music is generally a no-go. I might make an exception for Christmas Wrapping by the Waitresses, but that’s just a great song that happens to be set during Chrustmas. I guess that makes it the Die Hard of songs.