Category: radio

12 Days of Christmas Music That Doesn’t Suck, 2014 Edition (Day 4)

On By angeliquejamailIn "We Three Kings", 12 Days of Christmas, Barenaked Ladies, Christmas, Christmas music, Gentlemen", holidays, radio, Sarah MacLachlan, songs4 Comments

Dear readers, I apologize. If you follow me on Facebook, you already know that I’ve been without a lot of reliable computer access for most of this week because of some home renovations we have going on. Oh, and it was finals week. Great timing, but that’s another story.

Anyway, I haven’t been able to post to my blog the last several days, which meant my 12 Days series got interrupted. Never fear, though; I’ll make it all up by Monday.

A few years ago, I heard this song on the radio and absolutely fell in love with it. It was played — and still is — on Houston’s Official Christmas Music Station, which is proof that their station’s programming director has at least some taste and a few brain cells to rub together. When I first heard it, I recognized the voices immediately as being the Barenaked Ladies and Sarah MacLachlan (two musical acts I rather like, especially the first), and it’s a clever blending of two very cool songs: “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” (which always reminds me pleasantly of Charles Dickens for some inexplicable reason) and “We Three Kings” (a song I loved when I was a kid).

Enjoy!

 

12 Days of Christmas Music That Doesn’t Suck, 2014 Edition (Day 1)

On By angeliquejamailIn 12 Days of Christmas, Christmas, Christmas song, Christmas Wrapping, holidays, Houston, music, radio, songs, The Waitresses6 Comments

Yes, it’s that time of year again. “Houston’s Official Christmas Music Station” — which has been broadcasting Christmas and winter-themed songs since the Friday night before Thanksgiving — has once more conformed to the belief that they must play the same dozen tired crap songs over and over again, with only an occasional good one thrown into the mix.

Thank goodness for my iPod.

Since this series on my blog was such a hit last year (click here to see the first post and then follow the “next post” links to see the rest), I’m doing it again! And while I’ll be sharing a lot of different stuff with you this time around, I’m going to kick things off with what is still one of my all-time favorites, “Christmas Wrapping” by The Waitresses. Perhaps there will come a time when my life isn’t insanely busy, and then I won’t be able to relate to this song as well or enjoy it as much, but honestly, I’m not sure that’s ever going to happen.

Happy Holidays!

12 Days of Christmas Music That Isn’t Awful (Day 1)

On By angeliquejamailIn Christmas, Christmas Wrapping, holidays, music, radio, songs, The Waitresses6 Comments

I have always loved Christmas music.  In fact, it was my very favorite type of music when I was a kid, and I still have “Houston’s official Christmas music” radio station set to play in my car from right before Thanksgiving when the caroling begins.  I know a lot of people find a 24/7 Christmas music station irritating and go on about this at great length every year, but holiday songs generally just put me in a good mood.  It’s my favorite time of year.

That said, not all Christmas songs are created equal.  One of the reasons the radio onslaught annoys so many people is because, frankly, our local station neglects a lot of the best carols out there and chooses instead to play the same godawful renditions of the same tired songs every few hours.

They can do better.  But I’m pretty sure they won’t.

So as an antidote to Christmas Music That Sucks, I’m offering you my own playlist:  12 Days of Christmas Music That Isn’t Awful.  This is not nearly an exhaustive list, but these are just a few of my favorites that can be found playing from my iPod in my car more frequently than the commercial radio fare.  The songs I’ll be featuring are apparently just too wonderful to be played on the radio — or played there anymore, it seems.  My first pick falls into this latter category, since I was introduced to this song on the radio years ago, when a local rock/pop station played it in with their regular mainstream rock/pop rotation.

Remember The Waitresses?  Remember “Christmas Wrapping”?  It’s a great song, though I couldn’t find an “official” video for it on YouTube that seemed like the real deal.  If you find one, I’d love to know!  This one is cute, though.

Who can resist a far-too-busy woman who gets her Christmas miracle?  I can relate, especially now, when I’m neck-deep in grading finals.

Enjoy.