Favorite Holiday tune?

[CoasterMatt]

So, what's your favorite holiday tune?

I've got mp3s of two of 'em up on my server at the moment

A Christmas Message from Danny Elfman (http://members.dslextreme.com/users/matt.nelson/images/ChristmasHell.mp3)

Tom Lehrer's Christmas Carol (http://members.dslextreme.com/users/matt.nelson/images/Tom%20Lehrer%20-%20A%20Christmas%20Carol.mp3)

[Capt Jack]

without a doubt Blue Christmas - Elvis (and ONLY the ELVIS version, thank you very much)

[wendybeth]

The Nutcracker Suite. I also like Mannheim Steamroller's version of 'Little Drummer boy'.

[Stan4dSteph]

I've got a few:

Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - U2 version - it's the boys!
Stille Nacht - auf Deutsch!
Gabriel's Message - I love how the song tells the story. Very cool.
Joy to the World - best with a huge choir and orchestra. This one makes my soul happy.
Heat Miser/Snow Miser :snap: - swingin'
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Coldplay version - this is the ultimate wistful, melancholic Christmas song

[Motorboat Cruiser]

My favorite is "Christmas Time is Here" from a Charlie Brown Christmas. Such a haunting, beautiful melody.

[Snowflake]

I cannot think in terms of one song, I'm afraid

The entire soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Xmas. A timeless classic if there ever was one!

Xmas albums by:
Ella Fitzgerald
Elvis
Nat King Cole
Luciano Pavarotti
Frank Sinatra
The Chipmunks (the original)
Joan Sutherland (once you've heard her sing the 12 Days of Xmas, you'll never go back)

I love the Nutcracker (Dorati/Concertgebouw version on Philips is my favorite)
Bleeding chunks of the Messiah
and the Festival of Carols with the Cambridge Choir

All of these get me in the mood.

There are more, these come to immediate mind

[Eliza Hodgkins 1812]

I love old school Barry Manilow Christmas songs.

Shhh, don't tell anyone!

[€uroMeinke]

Santa Baby - Eartha Kitt version

[katiesue]

Brian Setzer Boogie Woogie Christmas

Chris Isaak Christmas

White Christmas - Bing Crosby only

Last Christmas - Wham! (I know I know)

Please Come Home for Christmas - Jon Bon Jovi (also sad but true)

Sleigh Ride - Harry Connick Jr

Christmas Song - Nat King Cole

Christmas Island - The Andrews Sisters & Guy Lombardo

Carols - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Silent Night, O Come, All Ye Faithful

Last but not least - Holly Jolly Christmas - Burl Ives

[CoasterMatt]

Please Come Home for Christmas - Jon Bon Jovi (also sad but true)
I *HATE* that song!! That's the kind of song I would play if I was the ATF outside of a David Koresh's Waco Wackoland type barricade situation.

[katiesue]

I *HATE* that song!! That's the kind of song I would play if I was the ATF outside of a David Koresh's Waco Wackoland type barricade situation.


I know it's horrible yet I can't stop from putting it on repeat in my car. Perhaps I should start a cult so you can seranade me with it?

[Brigitte]

Last Christmas! Oh how I had forgotten that song!

I like the Charlie Brown Christmas album too and the Mannheim Steamroller albums are favorites around here. I'm taking notes from this thread so I can pick up some new stuff though!

[SzczerbiakManiac]

I don't especially care for Xmas songs. I got burned-out on them in high school. Our choir hired ourselves out for fund raising and by the time it was over, I was sick to death of carols! So nowadays the Xmas music I enjoy consists of parodies of traditional songs. Some of my favorites include: Wreck the Malls
I Saw Daddy Kissing Santa Claus
Yellow Snow! Yellow Snow! Yellow Snow!
Walkin' 'Round in Women's Underwear (Walkin' In a Winter Wonderland)
Didn't I Get This Last Year? (Do You See What I See?)
We Wish You Weren't Living With Us (We Wish You a Merry Christmas)
Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
yes, I know it's been overplayed, but it's a classic to me
The Restroom Door Said, "Gentlemen" (God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen)But as for "straight" Xmas songs, I enjoy Eurythmics' version of Winter Wonderland.

[Gemini Cricket]

Linus and Lucy ~ Vince Guaraldi
Good King Wenceslas
All I Want for Christmas is You ~ Mariah
Holy Sh!t it's Christmas ~ Red Peters

[Not Afraid]

I haven't pulled out the Christmas CDs yet, so I'm sure I'll add to this, but:

Mojo Nixon - The Grinch Song

Bing Crosby and David Bowie - The Little Drummer Boy

Mitch Miller - Must Be Santa

Baby It's Cold Outside - Tom Jones & Cerys Matthews (or just about any version will do.

Santa Baby - Eartha Kitt

And, oneor two CDs to add to my list that looks inviting:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00006K0A0.01._SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00006IJWZ.01._PE25_SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg

[Prudence]

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00006IJWZ.01._PE25_SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg


We got this one last year. :snap: :snap:

[LSPoorEeyorick]

I prefer Judy Garland's "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." Favorite tune, by far favorite recording of it. I dare you to listen to it and not a want a good stiff drink or a rope.

[Isaac]

It all depends on which holiday you're refering to.

Martin Luther King Day : U2 - (Pride) In The Name Of Love
Valentines Day : Koop - Waltz For Koop
St. Patricks Day : Chumbawamba - Tubthumping
Labor Day : Orgy - Blue Monday
Halloween : Oingo Boingo - Dead Man's Party
Christmas : Ella Fitzgerald - Jingle Bells

[Matterhorn Fan]

I nearly left the lunch place this afternoon because I didn't want to hear "Grandma Got Runover by a Reindeer," but alas, I was starving.

I sped up my grocery shopping this evening when I realized that I was in the middle of what must be one of the worst renditions of "Sleigh Ride" ever. Actually, I think all renditions of "Sleigh Ride" must be terrible. What perplexes me is that when I entered the store, they were playing Norah Jones. What the hell happened between the dairy section and the cereal aisle? Apparently I wasn't paying very good attention.

[CoasterMatt]

I Found The Brains of Santa Claus - Jason and The Straptones

Frosty The Dope Man - Marc Zydiak

[AllyOops!]

Oh! You guys have picked so many that I love! :D

Some of my very, very favorite are....

Christmas Wrapping~ The Waitresses
You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch~ Whirling Dervishes
Gabriel's Message~ Sting
All I Want For Christmas Is You~ Mariah Carey
Sleigh Ride~ Debbie Gibson
Winter Wonderland~ The Cocteau Twins
December Will Be Magic Again~ Kate Bush
Baby It's Cold Outside~ Dean Martin
Santa Baby~ Eartha Kitt
(Everybody's Waitin' For) The Man With The Bag~ Kay Starr
What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?~ Nancy Wilson
I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm~ Dean Martin
Carol Of The Bells~ Trans Siberian Orchestra & Metallica

I love all of the traditional carols like Silent Night, O Holy Night, Ave Maria, Gloria, Hark the Herald Angels Sing and so many more! I always get happy chills when we sing Joy To The World at the end of Midnight Mass (the traditional carol, not the Three-Dog Night bullfrog tribute.)

Sigh. I love Christmas. :)

I love the Vince Guaraldi Charlie Brown Christmas. It's in my car. Along with Christmas Cocktails, from the Ultra Lounge series.That is such a fun CD. The organ is an instrument we don't hear enough of these days.

I have too many to list!

I love all the carols by the Carpenters, but they always make me emotional and weepy. I dig on Bing, too. Crosby, not cherry.

I must confess that I love the dogs barking Jingle Bells. And the Chipmunks' Christmas Time Is Here Again. Little Alvin & his dreams of a hula hoop. :)

[Gemini Cricket]

I just heard an older Xmas tune that I haven't heard before and it's pretty hysterical.
'Must Be Santa' by Mitch Miller

It's so funny and so retro. You gotta give it a listen.
:D

[Not Afraid]

I just heard an older Xmas tune that I haven't heard before and it's pretty hysterical.
'Must Be Santa' by Mitch Miller

It's so funny and so retro. You gotta give it a listen.
:D
Scroll up to my post. ;)

[blueerica]

As usual, Lisa has the hippest list of all! :) Great choices, all!

[Not Afraid]

Yeah, I'm so old I'm hip again!

[blueerica]

LOL, Oh noes, Lisa!!

Nah - those are just the great choices.... some of those songs, I wouldn't have even thought of!

I almost forgot about Christmas Wrapping by The Waitresses that Ally mentioned... the only Christmas song I can't wait to hear on the radio!

[Gemini Cricket]

Mitch Miller - Must Be Santa
Well, dagburn, how'd you edit your post after mine?

Ha.

Shame on me for skimming...

:D

[CoasterMatt]

Yeah, I'm so old I'm hip again!
And it's real hip, not artificial :p

[Gn2Dlnd]

Erica, I love the Waitresses "Christmas Wrapping!" I also love Sleigh Ride and Elton John's "Step Into Christmas." My favorite version of Jingle Bells is Bing Crosby with the Andrews Sisters.

[libraryvixen]

I love the Vince Guaraldi Charlie Brown Christmas. It's in my car. Along with Christmas Cocktails, from the Ultra Lounge series.That is such a fun CD.

I went crazy requesting and checking out any Christmas CDs I could get my hands on at the library and those 2 CDs were in my stack at home!

I'm playing the Christmas Cocktails one as we speak!!

[Kevy Baby]

For those familiar with Trans Siberian Orchestra's "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24," I wanted to share the back story to this song that I heard the other day. I hope can remember enough of it to share.

The song writers had heard a story about an old musician, a cellist. It was during the war in Sarajevo and there was heavy fighting in the city. I understand that Sarajevo is/was an old city that had existed for centuries relatively unscathed, even through WWII. However, the fighting during the war was really destroying so much of the history.

This cellist, who was quite old and had enjoyed a very successful career, had had enough. On Christmas ever, over the extreme objections of his family and friends, he took his cello and went to the town square. Miraculously, despite all the rockets and gunfire flying around, he made it through without a scratch. He started playing his cello right in the main square, playing in spite of all of the war raging around him.

The composers of the song tried to work in three elements of that event: the cello that you here is obvious, the hard-driving rock music is emblematic of the war raging and the symphonic music represents the town in hiding.

Think about that the next time you hear the song.

(And if anybody wants to correct or add to the story, please feel free. Like I said, I am not certain I remember all the details correctly.)