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The 10 Most Streamed Christmas Songs on Spotify

plus Bing/Bowie; Stax; Bob & Doug

There’s a 2022 article, The Most Streamed Christmas Songs on Spotify:

All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey (1) – I continue to find her proclamation and trademark claim that she’s the Queen of Christmas gagworthy. As this article notes, Elizabeth Chan “said that Christmas is not something that a person can claim ownership or a title over. ‘That’s just not the right thing to do. Christmas is for everyone. It’s meant to be shared; it’s not meant to be owned.”
Last Christmas by Wham! (7)
Santa Tell Me by Ariana Grande (9)
It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas by Michael Bublé (6)
Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree by Brenda Lee (2); also #9 on the 1955-2004 list
Jingle Bell Rock by Bobby Helms (3); also #2 on the 1955-2004 list
It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year by Andy Williams (5); I associate this more with a series of back-to-school ads
Mistletoe by Justin Bieber
Snowman by Sia
Do They Know It’s Christmas? – 1984 Version by Band Aid; also #2 on the 1955-2004 list. Well-meaning but terrible song.

I’ll admit that I’d never heard the Grande, Bieber, or Sia songs before.

Interestingly, there was a 2017 roster that had some overlap. (The parenthetical numbers were their 2017 rankings.)

The songs falling out of the Top Ten

4. White Christmas — Bing Crosby, John Scott Trotter & His Orchestra, Ken Darby Singers

8. The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You) — Nat King Cole

10. Feliz Navidad — Jose Feliciano

Other songs

Little Drummer Boy/Peace On Earth – Bing Crosby and David Bowie. As I’ve mentioned, Bing Crosby died of a heart attack on October 14, 1977. The TV special Bing Crosby’s Merrie Olde Christmas, on which this appeared, was recorded on September 11 of that year but didn’t air until November 30. I watched it because Bing Crosby has Ziggy Stardust and Twiggy on his show? Here’s the version with the intro.

12 Gifts of Christmas – Allan Sherman. When I was a kid, this was uproariously funny.

Take Off – Bob and Doug McKenzie with Geddy Lee of Rush

12 Days Of Christmas – Bob and Doug McKenzie. Yes, I have the album, The Great White North, on vinyl.

Christmas Wrapping – The Waitresses. I have this on an EP.

Fairytale of New York -The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl. The Pogues’ Shane MaGowan died recently. “Rob Tannenbaum (a journalist with a very appropriate name for this purpose) published a fascinating piece about the making of the song and the push to send it to the top of the charts in the United Kingdom.”

And here’s some Stax, which, of course, I have.

All I Want For Christmas Is You – Carla Thomas.

Gee Whiz It’s Christmas – Carla Thomas.

Every Day Will Be Like A Holiday – William Bell. This went #33 RB in 1968

The Mistletoe And Me – Isaac Hayes.

Jingle Bells (James Lord Pierpont) – Booker T. and The MG’s

Winter Snow (Isaac Hayes) – Booker T. and The MG’s

A Spotify surprise

J. Eric Smith

Has anything like this ever happen to you? I was visiting the site of one J. Eric Smith, as I am wont to do. In the then-current post, he noted: “It has been almost a year since I reluctantly caved to streaming my music.” He discussed the pros and cons of that.

“On the upside: I do like the ability to create playlists quickly, and there seems to be more of the musical arcana that I like available on Spotify than there was/is on iTunes, which I’d used exclusively for the prior 12 years. We’ve sort of defaulted to themed playlists around the house, ranging from 50 to 100 to 150 songs.

“(I’m obsessive about tidiness on such matters, and couldn’t stand to have a 52-song or 147-song list, no sir, that would not do, not at all).” I could definitely create a 52-song list. There are 52 cards in a standard deck of cards, after all.

Eric posted a great Africa playlist, 100 of his “favorite songs from that continent’s myriad musical cultures. ” I decided I didn’t want to listen to 30-second snippets of songs. So I figured I would finally get a free registration to Spotify.

Oops

Except, it appears that I had already done so. Of course, I didn’t record the password anywhere. So I had to get another one. They had the damnedest Captcha methodology I had ever seen. They showed a series of dice, some standard pips, and Arabic numbers, and you had to match the dice with a number three times.

I discovered that not only did I have an account, but I had made a playlist of my own: 12 Paul Simon songs. I have no recollection of having done so, let alone when or HOW I did that.

This falls into the category of a truism about me. Confronted by almost any technology that I don’t use regularly, it is like I’d never seen it before. When I figure it out again, maybe I’ll create more playlists. I have some particular ideas. And heck, I might even take requests.

Tactile

Or not. I came across this New York Times article. Want to Enjoy Music More? Stop Streaming It. Build a real music collection. Reintroduce intimacy to the songs you care about. Though Denise Lu is much younger than I, she gets me. “Maybe that’s why I never latched onto streaming services — I didn’t like depending on a third-party platform, or being part of a social experiment that feeds Spotify data that it then sells to advertisers.”

Something that Chuck Rozanski/Bettie Pages, the President of Mile High Comics, Inc. wrote on October 9 resonates with me. “I… drove to Jason St. mid-afternoon each day to sort comics until 8 PM. I don’t know why, but there is something about the Zen of spending hours sorting old comic books into categories that has the capacity to soothe the ache in my heart, and to restore my spirit.

“In many regards, for me, it is like visiting with old friends, as I can look at any given title and/or issue number and remember quite vividly where I was (and who I was…) when that issue was first released.”

About every four months, I have to resort all of the CDs I have played. You’d think it would be boring. Not for me. I, too, experience the joy of remembering how I got that album, maybe looking at something on the liner notes I forgot.

2024 Hall of Fame (baseball)

Jim Leyland

Adrian Beltre, Rangers at Orioles 7/19/2017

On January 23, 2024, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America will announce the results of its Hall of Fame vote. Any electees will be inducted into the 2024 Hall of Fame during the HoF Weekend on Sunday, July 21. They’ll be joined by previously announced legend, manager Jim Leyland, selected by the committee deciding on Contemporary Baseball Era Non-Players

Of the 26 people on the ballot, 14 were on for the first time. Here are the possible picks.

If I could actually vote, the first one I’d pick would be Gary Sheffield (10th and final year, 55%). But I expect he’ll come up short because of both the steroid allegations, his mouth, and his mediocre defense.

The next three have also been on the ballot for a while
2. Todd Helton (6th year, 72.2%) – definite HoF numbers diminished in writers’ minds because his home games were in a mile-high stadium, but he’s on the cusp of 75%, and I expect he’ll make it
3. Billy Wagner (9th, 68.1%) – a solid reliever for many years

4. Andruw Jones (7th year, 58.1%) – great defensive outfielder. He provided great offense, too, until his numbers took a precipitous drop.

I suspect Helton and Wagner will make it to the HoF.

Newcomers

5. Adrián Beltré (1st year) – with over 3,000 hits, decent power and batting average, plus a great glove, he’s the only newbie who is close to a lock to get into the Hall

6. Matt Holliday (1st year). A solid performer for a lot of years.

7. Jimmy Rollins (3rd year, 12.9%) – I’m hoping his numbers would go up in a less crowded ballot, but it hasn’t been the case

8. The problem with Carlos Beltrán (2nd year, 46.5%) is the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal. Many voters don’t see his guilt to be significant enough to keep him out of the Hall, if not this year then down the road.

9. Francisco Rodriguez (2nd time, 10.8%), a solid reliever, not getting much love

10. Andy Petitte (6th year, 17.0%). He came clean about his using PEDs early, and MLB did not ban it at the time. But I doubt he will ever make the Hall.

Not voting for

Alex Rodriguez (3nd year, 35.7%). A great offensive and defensive infielder, one of the greats in baseball history. As Wikipedia noted, “Rodriguez amassed a .295 batting average, over 600 home runs (696), over 2,000 runs batted in (RBI), over 2,000 runs scored, over 3,000 hits, and over 300 stolen bases, the only player in MLB history to achieve all of those feats.” Yet, he was using PEDs after they were banned and lied about it. He was ultimately suspended for the 2014 season. His vote increase from the previous year was negligible.

Manny Ramirez (8th year, 33.2%), a quality player, served a 50-game suspension in 2012 for the second drug policy violation.

Omar Vizquel (7th season, 19.5%), a great defensive shortstop, “is seeing his chances at the Hall of Fame disappear because of two scandals involving domestic violence and sexual harassment.” The latter is particularly lurid. His vote count went DOWN by over four percentage points.

Several others I would consider include first-timers Chase Utley, Joe Mauer, and Bartolo Colon.

Sunday Stealing: Pink

cannot draw a circle

This week’s Sunday Stealing is called Pink. I assumed it meant something else. Instead, the progenitor of the post is something called Fickle in Pink.

Ah, what the heck:

The Pink Panther theme

Trustfall– Pink

Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd

Barbie World by Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice, with Aqua

1. Do you tend to have a guilty conscience?

No, and yes. On one level, what is done is done. Still, at unexpected times, I ruminate on how I could have done something better, especially this year.

2. Do you still have your wisdom teeth?

Nope, all gone, two at a time, before I was 30.

3. Peanut Butter – creamy or crunchy?

I don’t eat peanut butter because I don’t like it. When I was three or four, I ate it a lot, Jif brand. I wondered if I had overdosed on it. The valuable aspect of this is that when I’m eating unlabeled cookies, I can take one bite and suss out the PB ones. This was important because my daughter is allergic to peanuts and most tree nuts.

4. Get up off your butt. Take 5 steps. Which leg did you start out on?

My right one always, because it’s in less pain than my left. When I walk up or down the stairs, it’s also the right.

5. What color is your favorite kitchen utensil?

Turquoise spatula.

6. Did you watch the Michael Jackson memorial/funeral?

No, and I had no interest in doing so. Yet I wrote about remembering where I was when I heard he died.

7. Do you know anyone who graduated from high school this year? Were you invited to their graduation party? Did you go?

Yes, some kids from church. We went to two different events. At some point, it rained, but neither party was a washout.

8. White with black stripes or black with white stripes?

Surprise me.

Paul Peca

9. If we were to call your 6th-grade teacher, what would they say about you?

I hope nothing unless you have been conducting a seance since he died in 2011. But Mr. Peca would be pleased because I’m a thinking, opinioned sort. I remember distinctly that he supported Barry Goldwater for President in 1964 when most of the class backed Lyndon Johnson. But he liked the back-and-forth.

10. Can you draw a perfect circle?

Goodness no. I have to draw a clockface for those cognitive tests they give old people. It’s an oval, at best.

11. What was your favorite scratch-and-sniff sticker scent?

I’m not a fan. It makes me slightly nauseous.

12. How many light switches and electrical outlets are in the room that you are in right now?

There are two outlets. The one with a power strip allows me to use my laptop, printer, CD boom box, light fixture, and phone charger.

13. Do you know sign language?

No. I tried a little, but I was not a quick learner.

14. Do you step on cracks in the sidewalk?

I make a point of it. When I try to increase my pace, I try to take fewer sidewalk panels, two instead of three, e.g.

15. And the sheets on your bed look like….?

I don’t know. I usually go to bed after my wife does and in the dark. Currently, they are blue flannel.

The picture above is of our former bathroom sink during the deconstruction before the reconstruction.

More Hot 100 Xmas Hits, 1955-2004

Nuttin’

Here are some more Hot 100 Xmas hits. These ones are far less familiar to me. Some of the songs I know, but by different artists.

Please Come Home For Christmas – The Eagles, #18 in 1978. I prefer the Charles Brown version that came out in 1960 and topped the Christmas charts in 1972.

The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire) – Christina Aguilera, #18 in 1999

Santo Natale (Merry Christmas) – David Whitfield with Stanley Black and his orchestra, #19 in 1955. I am used to unfamiliarity with the newer songs, but I don’t know this one either.

Nuttin for Xmas – Joe Ward, orchestra conducted by Dave Terry, #20 in 1955. What is it about 1955 that allowed three versions of this song to reach the Top 30? And no consistency in the spelling of the title.

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer – The Chipmunks, #20 in 1960

Pre- and post-Twist

Jingle Bell Rock – Bobby Rydell and Chubby Checker, #21 in 1961. This is the period between when The Twist by Chubby Checker was #1 in 1960 and The Twist by Chubby Checker was #1 in 1962 and namechecked some of Checker’s other songs.

(I’m Gettin) Nuttin’ for Christmas – Ricky Zahnd and The Blue Jeaners, with the Tony Mottola Orchestra, #21 in 1955

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town – The 4 Seasons, arranged and conducted by Sid Bass, #23 in 1962. It’s your standard Bob Crewe production for the group. I wrote a whole blog post about naughty and nice in April 2019.

Baby’s First Christmas – Connie Francis, orchestra and chorus conducted by Don Costa, #26 in 1961

If We Make It Through December – Merle Haggard, #28 in 1973, written by the artist. This is a downbeat and not particularly Christmasy track, which may be why I like it. The New York Times reported: “This one might be a Christmas song because it appears on a Christmas album (‘Merle Haggard’s Christmas Present’; please note the cover art), but Merle Haggard only decided to cut that album after the success of this stand-alone single — the biggest pop crossover hit of his entire career. There’s mention of gifts under the tree (or rather, a lack thereof), but the true subject of this melancholy tune is the plight of the down-and-out working man, meaning it is, first and foremost, a Merle Haggard song.”

A bonus from fillyjonk which you of a certain vintage will likely recall: Attention Kmart Shoppers – 8 hours of vintage department store Christmas music (Customusic tapes)