I generally hate to add any negativity to this lovely season, but here goes...
I have come to hate all-Christmas radio broadcasting.
There, I said it. I have become a Christmas Crab on this subject. And believe me, I love Christmas. I sing it every year with my group, A Cappella Pops. I have more CDs than my family care for me to have, and I play them constantly. One of my biggest coups in life was getting a car with a multi-CD play that even scrambles the selections. Oh, Joy! Now I can have a wide variety of Christmas music playing during all of my drive time. (Add this to the long list of things that drive my wife nuts.)
However, my idea of Christmas music is not the same as radio programmers. To me, Christmas is about being with family, and believe it or not, I actually believe it is about celebrating the birth of Christ, the seed of the Christian faith. I believe this just as I regard Hanukkah as the remembrance of a miraculous victory rather than eight days of gift-giving.
Yes, I snap my fingers to Mariah Carey singing "All I Want for Christmas is You," but not once an hour. Once a week will do, thank you. And while I believe that the season is captured in the lovely "O Holy Night," I don't think the song was composed so that Celine Dion could pop several arteries proving she can hit the high note at the end.
Now the all-Christmas stations start their assault on Thanksgiving and stop sharp on midnight of Christmas Day. (By the way, people in Europe treat Christmas as a season, not a one-day event. Hello, the 12 days of Christmas? Anyone hear of that?) That's a long time to endure mind-numbingly bad music, such as "Do They Know It's Christmas," or "Grown-Up Christmas List." And please don't get me started on "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer."
So, excuse me, Radio Programmers, I will pass on your secular selections until you show more awareness of what the season is all about. In the meantime, dear readers, I direct you to a performance of what I regard as one of the greatest Christmas songs of all time, In the First Light, as performed by Glad. Enjoy, and happy holidays.
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Pat, a few years back I had an argument with the programmers for 101, Dan Blackman about the same 500 (His total) Christmas songs. But back then you could go to another channel which no longer has Christmas music, so you could change. BUT after so many years, the same 500 songs are still playing including Frosty the Snowman by Jimmy Durante. I HATE that song with a passion. I am going to send this article to Mr Blackman and tell him that I am not the only person that hates the same somgs over and over and over and over and over.......
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you wrote this. I thought mine was the lone voice of dissent. My usual music station changed to Christmas music the week before Thanksgiving, and my second choice music station followed suit. Now I switch over to talk radio or an iPod instead. I wonder how many people advertisers don't reach as they are turned off, too.
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