Christmas: Are they shoving it down our throats too early?

[D'Snowth]

Twelve.

EDIT: Thirteen.

EDIT AGAIN: Okay, they played Otis Redding's "Merry Christmas, Baby" three times today.

 

[D'Snowth]

Twelve.

EDIT: Thirteen.

EDIT AGAIN: Okay, they played Otis Redding's "Merry Christmas, Baby" three times today.

Same with the Drifters' "White Christmas" and the Simpson sisters' "Little Drummer Boy." Seriously, did Music Choice lose the rights to a majority of their library or something? I've never heard them repeat this many songs this many times in a single day!

And I have to say, Jessica and Ashlee Simpson cannot keep time with their rendition of "Little Drummer Boy."

 

[fuzzygobo]

So much Christmas music can get boring even after a few listenings. There will always be some great Classics ("Phil Spector's Christmas Album" for me) but prolonged exposure makes you forget why you enjoy it so much in the first place.

One chestnut that is wearing thin on me is Springsteen's "Santa Claus is Coming to Town".
Xmas 1984 it was brand new, everybody dug it. Now there have been countless versions of singers copying him. Everybody trying to get that same rasp in their voice. Doesn't work that well.

But if you really want to check out something off the beaten path, I highly recommend the Beatles Christmas messages.
Every year, from 1963 to '69, the Fabs recorded 5-minute spots thanking fans for buying their records, coming to their shows, etc. These were done live in one take. The first few years, they were actually a little drunk. '65, they were giggling under a cloud of pot smoke. The later years, they actually made these elaborate Monty Python-esque vignettes.
If anyone ever liked the Beatles, you gotta check them out on YouTube. Tell them Fuzzy sent ya!

 

[Drtooth]

So much Christmas music can get boring even after a few listenings. There will always be some great Classics ("Phil Spector's Christmas Album" for me) but prolonged exposure makes you forget why you enjoy it so much in the first place.

Even the better songs just get blah after a while. Non-religious Christmas music is essentially composed to get people into stores and buy things. And even some of the religious ones turn into those, which is kind of depressing if you think about it. Then you get to the newer batch of Christmas music (or rather, musak) and it's so incredibly bad and generic that you'd swear the just picked up a Christmas edition Mad Libs and put music to it.

Then there's Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron which no one ever plays. I really gotta suck it up and buy a CD. Something I did years ago and it was a mislabeled generic Christmas music CD!!! No fooling!

The thing that's gotten to me this year is Christmas Specials. I'm even tired of the offbeat Cartoon Network ones. And other than Christmas episodes of things, it really feels like no one can make a good Christmas special anymore, especially when every story is just derivative of the original ones anyway. And like I said, Rudolph is a tongue in cheek, "Tales Calculated to Drive You Mad" Mad Magazine sort of way parody of the saccharine 1930's and 40's Christmas shorts. And it's the established one. Charlie Brown Christmas was the one that said bold things about consumerism, and it itself is so established that Charlie Brown Christmas comes of hypocritical with all their merchandise. I'll say I was pleasantly surprised by "Murray Saves Christmas" last year, but I haven't seen a good newer Christmas special since Prep and Landing, and even then that was a long time coming.

 

[fuzzygobo]

Same thing with sitcoms. As much as I love MeTV's lineup, many shows have the same formula. Every cast member drops by the lead character's living room to exchange gifts, swig egg nog, (drag in the occasional tree) and show a reel of season highlights. That's what Christmas is all about, Mr. Kotter.

At least the MASH episodes are a little darker. But they show a little ray of hope shining through all the death they faced.

One Christmas special worth seeing (if you can track it down) was 1978's "Amahl and the Night Visitors". It was a British operetta that told of the Three Wise Men on their way to Bethlehem to witness Jesus' birth.
Along the way they meet the title character who is a crippled shepherd's boy who, by a miracle, walks again.

Doesn't stand a snowball's chance on ABC Family's schedule, but used to be shown on PBS.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Then there's Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron which no one ever plays.

Tell me about it. When 106.7 started playing that stupid drum machine ladened Winter Wonderland again, I just turned down the volume and listened to Red Baron on YouTube until it was over, lol. Take that, you out dated, wholly inadequate electronic medium!

 

[D'Snowth]

Same thing with sitcoms. As much as I love MeTV's lineup, many shows have the same formula. Every cast member drops by the lead character's living room to exchange gifts, swig egg nog, (drag in the occasional tree) and show a reel of season highlights. That's what Christmas is all about, Mr. Kotter.

How about all the variations on A CHRISTMAS CAROL? I'm pretty sure both BEWITCHED and THE ODD COUPLE did episodes like that.

 

[CensoredAlso]

How about all the variations on A CHRISTMAS CAROL? I'm pretty sure both BEWITCHED and THE ODD COUPLE did episodes like that.

Yeah, that's the one I always think of. The most interesting character on the show gets a case of Scrooge-itis and all the other characters get to ham it up as the ghosts; hilarity and prat falls ensue, and by the end, faith in Christmas is restored again.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Can I just say Kelly Clarkson's Underneath the Tree is one of few newer Xmass songs I actually really appreciate? It sounds like it could have been around for ages!

 

[fuzzygobo]

Just as a side note, the version of "Amahl and the Night Visitors" I was exposed to, the 1978 version, was filmed at Elstree Studios in London. Same time and place as The Muppet Show. I wonder if Jim ever got a peek at what was being filmed next door to him.