Xmas music: It was the 1st of December

Thurl Ravenscroft.

GrinchMy wife plays Xmas music as early as she can, and certainly by Thanksgiving. I’m sure she does in her car.

Whereas I tend to wait until December 6, St. Nick’s Day, though I continue until January 6, Three Kings Day, or maybe even the 7th, which we called in Binghamton, Russian Christmas.

The solution, to my ear, is to take the Sedingerian solution and start on the 1st of December. Traditionally, that’s when he has started Your Daily Dose of Christmas. Which is actually Advent, but that’s just me being pedantic.

Child of Winter – Beach Boys. There’s a Beach Boys Christmas album from 1964, but this song isn’t on it because it came out a decade later. I heard this on a Warner Brothers Loss Leader, which the late Dustbury cataloged so well.

Santa’s Too Fat For The Hula Hoop  – The Pixies. No, not those Pixies. This cut featured Thurl Ravenscroft, who you might know as the voice of Tony the Tiger in those Frosted Flakes commercials.

You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch – Thurl Ravenscroft. From The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. I LOVE Thurl’s voice.

Snoopy’s Christmas – Royal Guardsmen. I had a number of email conversations with John Burdett, drummer with the band. I even had the chance to connect John with an old friend. That was cool.

Linus and Lucy – Vince Guaraldi. I read a book about the musician. It was very good but very dense with detail.

Hamildolph – Eclipse 6. I must have gotten this from Kelly Sedinger.

12 Days of Christmas – Bob and Doug McKenzie. I have their whole album on vinyl.

Gone Hawai’ian

Mele Kalikimaka – Bing Crosby with the Andrews Sisters. An incredibly corny song that’s nevertheless been covered a few times.

Christmas Is A-Comin’ – Leadbelly. My father owned an LP on which this song appeared.

Must Be Santa – Bob Dylan. Must be.

All I Want For Christmas Is You – Mariah Carey. I’m fascinated that, 25 years after its release, the song went to #1 in 2019, not on some specialized holiday charts, but on the Billboard Hot 100.

The Holly and the Ivy -· Nowell Sing We Clear. I saw Nowell We Sing Clear live in the Capital District at least thrice in the late 1970s and 1980s

Christmas Time  (Is Here Again) –  The Beatles.  The core of this song was on the Beatles 1966 Christmas record they sent out to their fan club. This track is on the Free as a Bird CD Single and I do have it, of course

Via Sharp Little PencilDing-a-ling, I Feel SO ChRiStMaS-eY! – Liza Minelli and Cyril Richard

So it begins.

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