- FRIDAY JAM: A rovin’ a rovin’ a rovin’ I’ll go (12/1/23)1
- SATURDAY JAM: You feel the turning of the world, so soft and slow (11/11/23)
- SUNDAY JAM: Hello, Darkness, my old friend (11/5/23)
- FRIDAY JAM: Plowin’ straight ahead, come what may (10/27/23)1
- WEDNESDAY JAM: Some folks say there ain't no bears in Arkansas (10/25/23)1
- FRIDAY JAM: I took a drive today... (10/20/23)
- SATURDAY JAM: Canadian coldfront movin’ in (8/12/23)1
The 24 days of Christmas (songs)
It's no secret around the BG office or to frequent bannergraphic.com readers that I'm not exactly disciplined about blog posts. I want to do it and I enjoy doing it. It just doesn't seem to get done too often.
With that in mind, and in the spirit of the holiday season, I've set a lofty goal for myself: 24 blogs in 24 days. (25 if you count this Nov. 30 intro.)
The topic? My favorite Christmas songs.
More specifically, this list will focus on "traditional" Christmas songs. You know, songs that have been done by a variety of artists in a variety of styles over the years.
I'm hoping to inspire some good-natured debate. Don't like that I didn't pick Johnny Mathis for "It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas"? Good. Post a comment or send an email telling me why.
Not enough Bing Crosby or Mannheim Steamroller for you? Let me know about it.
(Spoiler alert: Mr. Crosby is well represented, but there is absolutely no Mannheim Steamroller.)
As such, we will be mostly avoiding holiday originals like "Jingle Bell Rock" or "Run Rudolph Run" because although they've been covered, you associate those songs with Bobby Helms and Chuck Berry. Period.
So that's my goal. 24 in 24. It's going to be some extra work at an already busy time of year, but I expect it will be fun.
Each day in this forum, I'll present a brief write-up of the song, followed by the video or audio of the particular version I chose. I hope you enjoy them half as much as I have.
And please don't mistake this for a countdown. I'll actually be opening tomorrow with a version of "Sleigh Ride" that would be in strong consideration for my top Christmas rendition of all time.
So far, I've found one of the hardest parts to be narrowing down the list. There are a lot of great Christmas songs out there and even more solid versions of those songs.
In the end, though, I had to stop and ask myself, "Is my holiday season incomplete if I don't hear this song?" If the answer is no, it doesn't make the list. If it's yes, then it either makes the list or will get a tip of the sock cap somewhere along the way.
Some of the answers will surprise you. They've surprised me as I've spent Thanksgiving week already immersed in Christmas music.
Before I go, I'll finish this off with a song that didn't actually make the list. For the sake of full disclosure I'll say that I don't even really like "Little Drummer Boy" all that well.
With that said, I have to include this classic clip for the comedy (some intentional, most of it unintentional) that it provides. A big thank you to Ziggy Stardust and The Voice of Christmas himself for the memories.
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