Even I need a break once in a while

Santa Claus had the right idea. Visit people only once a year.

Today's theme - our first guest programmer, the birthday girl.

This year, she went in a more traditional vein:


Little Drummer Boy -



This Christmas classic was originally a Czech song that Katherine Kennicott Davis translated to English in 1941. Under the title Carol Of The Drum, it was covered by the Austrian Trapp Family Singers (of The Sound Of Music fame) a decade later, but a new arrangement titled The Little Drummer Boy was popularized by the Harry Simeone Chorale in 1958. Simeone is credited as a songwriter on the track, along with Davis and producer Henry Onorati, but one name that is noticeably absent is Jack Halloran, who actually came up with the arrangement and recorded it a year before Simeone released his version.


All I Want For Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey



All I Want For Christmas Is You was not released as a commercial single, serving instead to drive sales of Mariah Carey's Merry Christmas album. On airplay, the song made #12 US in 1994 when it was first issued to radio stations as a promotional single. It returned to the Airplay chart at #35 each of the next two years, establishing a place on holiday playlists. By 1999, the Hot 100 no longer stipulated that a song had to be sold as a single to be eligible, and with airplay now a factor, All I Want For Christmas Is You made the chart at #83. (What is it with my family and this song. At least one of them always requests it each year.)


Carol of the Bells - The Tabernacle Choir



Most people automatically associate Carol of the Bells with Christmas, but its origins tell a different story. It's actually based on a traditional Ukrainian folk chant that celebrated the season of rebirth and anticipated a prosperous New Year. In 1916, composer Mykola Leontovich borrowed the four-note melody for a new choir song called Shchedryk, which debuted in the US at Carnegie Hall in 1921. When American choir director Peter Wilhousky heard the song, he wrote new lyrics and introduced his version, called Carol of the Bells, to holiday audiences. He copyrighted and published it in 1936.


O Holy Night  Nat King Cole -



This carol has the distinction of being the first song ever to be played live on a radio broadcast. On December 24, 1906 a Canadian inventor, Reginald Fessenden, broadcast one of the first ever AM radio programs, and the first ever to feature entertainment and music for a general audience, from his Brant Rock, Massachusetts station. After playing Handel's Largo on an Ediphone phonograph, he proceeded to play O Holy Night on his violin, singing the last verse as he played. He finished the broadcast by reading various passages from the Gospel of Luke, before wishing his listeners a Merry Christmas.


Winter Wonderland   The Eurythmics –




This became one of the most popular holiday songs of all time, but unlike most seasonal favorites, there is no consensus on the most popular version of the song. When the bandleader Guy Lombardo recorded it with his Royal Canadians in 1934, the song was a huge hit. In 1946 Lombardo successfully revived it with a Boogie Woogie arrangement accompanied by the Andrews Sisters, which sold a million copies. Perry Como also successfully recorded it the same year, but the song fell out of favor in the Rock era, and no version has made the Top 40 since the 1955 creation of the Hot 100 chart.

Mary would like to wish all the readers, both old and new, a very Happy Holiday!


Avoid Midtown Manhattan today -

The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree will be lit for the first time this holiday season tonight. Remember to wear a mask and bring a polo mallet with you if you, unfortunately, find yourself in midtown.



Thousands of poor souls will gather for the 92nd annual Rockefeller Christmas Tree Lighting. Remember to bring a tube sock filled with pennies with you, if you unfortunately, find yourself in midtown



Do you really want to be stuck in the middle of potential Darwin Award winners and their children who should be forced to play in traffic? So once again, I'm giving native New Yorkers a gentle reminder - watch last year's lighting here.



This year, Chloe Bailey, Adam Blackstone, Cher, David Foster, Liz Gillies, Darlene Love, Seth MacFarlane, Barry Manilow, Katharine McPhee, Keke Palmer, Carly Pearce, and Manuel Turizo, as well as, the refugees from overbooked ancient hotels in the holy land are involved this year.

Exert extreme caution!



Demand Euphoria!