Thursday, December 07, 2006

Christmas Music, 24/7

God deliver us.

We have two Adult Contemporary stations, and around Halloween they start salivating all over themselves to see who's going to be the first with the Christmas music. They start with "weekend previews" -- okay, do I really need a preview of Christmas music? Uh, most of it I've heard for years.

I hate it. I remember when one of those stations was an easy listening/MOR, and they would do 24-hour Christmas music on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. That was it. But then again, none of the other stations shoved Christmas music down everyone's throat.

Call me the Grinch or Scrooge or whatever. I am so tired of it already. I don't listen to these stations anyway unless a song I like just happens to come on. One of them I pretty much flat refuse to listen to, because it's owned by a certain media conglomerate that wants to rule the world (doesn't everybody? Didn't we learn that in '85?). Anyway, I do my best to avoid them most of the time.

But I find myself hoping to catch just one Christmas song on there that I love with all my heart. So I will punch up their frequencies. And I've yet to catch this song on there. I drove to Atlanta last weekend and happened to catch it on one of their stations: the Christian station. I didn't know whether to be happy at hearing it or sad that the dadgum CHRISTIAN station was playing it. Because believe me, when I hear this song, the last thing on my mind is a manger in Bethlehem. But that's another post for another time (heh heh heh)........

Play the song more often. It can't be any worse than Mariah screeching the hell out of "Oh Holy Night" (to which I think, "Oh holy Jesus...."). And how many damn times can you play Bing and "White Christmas"? ENOUGH ALREADY!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Amen, sister.

If I have just one Christmas carol rant, it's these modern renditions with these freakin' manglings out of fine old carols that don't need to be tarted up by the latest fly girl or guy.

And if I get a second one, it's the *bleep bleep* commercials on TV and the radio where they turn Christmas carols into advertising jingles. ALRIGHT ALREADY WITH THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS GIFTS FROM YOUR PARTICULAR STORE.

I'm going to go sit in the grumpy corner now.

I love Christmas with all my heart, it's my favorite time of year. But I HATE HATE HATE how it starts earlier and earlier every year, and how it gets more and more and more and more and more about buying, buying, buying, spending, spending, spending and less about peace on earth and being nice to each other.

Talmadge said...

Nettiemac & Kate/Susan:

You both have expressed so eloquently what I've been trying to convey to Seraphim without coming across as hating Christmas. My sweet wife, I have to say, eats up the Christmas music on our local AC station (owned by aforementioned "certain media conglomerate"). She can like it for both of us.

I've mixed Christmas music into my MP3 player, becuase I do like a peppering of it -- the way it used to be. Once upon a time, stations would start after Thanksgiving (remember that holiday?), playing ohhhhh 1 holiday record an hour, going to 2-3 the next week, and maybe 40% by Christmas Eve, and at 6:00 on the 24th, go all Christmas until 11:59 PM on the 25th.

Christmas music is like cake. Great in sparing quantities. But who wants to eat it 3x/24/7?? (no offense to my wife, the Cake Queen)

And the advertising -- it gets worse and worse each year. Stores don't care about you, just the wallet you carry. These same businesses, while exploiting the whole Christmas magic and spirit, waste no time laying people off, and allowing indifferent employees and management to treat us like cattle.

This is far more of a bastardization of Jesus Christ than any well-meaning employee who prefers to say "Happy Holidays", so those of other persuasions feel included too.

Funny, the "christians" are awfully quiet about the commercialization. Typical.

I'm just glad we got all our Christmas shopping done BEFORE that hol--ummmm, what day is that again, errrr, uhhhhh, YEAH! Thanksgiving!

--Talmadge "Bah Humbug" Gleck

Seraphim9 said...

OK, yeah, yeah, yeah, so I like the Christmas music. I only have it on at work and the majority of the time it's just background noise.

There are quite few songs I have to grit my teeth through. #1 on my list is Rod "The Bod" Stewart singing "My Favorite Things". Darned if it didn't just come on while I was eating my lunch. I nearly lost my $1.99 salad from the cafeteria.

And if I hear "Christmas Shoes" one more time I am going to OD on Hall's Plus Cherry-flavored mentholum lozenges.

-Seraphim "I'm getting a root canal for Christmas" Gleck

bolivar said...

Oops - I wonder if I should let Nettie, Tal, Sera, & Kate/Susan know that I am going to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra at Alltel Arena in Little Rock on Dec. 21.

Uh-oh, I think I just did.

Talmadge said...

Tiger and his mother saw the Trans-Siberian Orchestra last year when they were in Birmingham. Tiger said tell you that you'll love it.

And now, if you folks will excuse me, I have to find myself an adult contemporary radio station with an all-holiday playlist.

Hmmmm, here's one that doesn't. "Same local ownership since 1964" -- hmmm, must be WHY.

--Talmadge "The Only Quality Time in Troy Is When The Kid's With Me" Gleck

MsCarolM said...

"But I find myself hoping to catch just one Christmas song on there that I love with all my heart"

And that would be "Christmas Shoes" now, wouldn't it???

Walking Each Other Home

​I wanted to share with you a thing of true beauty I saw today at church.  Let me preface it by saying while I am no fan of Clemson Universi...