What is it about Christmas music that makes us inherently happy?
I wonder if it's a conditioned response that begins early in life with the excitement of the holiday, before our memory recall even begins.
Every year we rehearsed the standard Christmas songs for a school concert, so we all know them by heart. It was a part of the anticipation of Christmas, presents, and a break from school. We did this yearly for over a decade during the most formative years of our lives, so I can see how the emotions surrounding the songs gets ingrained into our minds.
To this day, hearing "Sleigh ride" evokes a sense of fun and holiday spirit for me. Maybe I just like the sound of the whip cracking. Whip cracks in songs are like cowbell: Too much is never enough.
The best version of Sleigh Ride I ever heard was at my twin daughters' school concert. To hear it live, performed by a large band was better than any recorded version. I may be a bit partial since my girls were in the band. That's likely a proud parent speaking, and I'm not ashamed of that one bit.
There are also what I'll call the Neo-Classics. They are the Christmas songs that have been released in the last 30 or 40 years. Here is a great example:
Kudos for a good use of jingle bells on that one, Sir Paul.
In 1987, A Very Special Christmas was released. It had some of the Christmas standards re-recorded by contemporary artists, along with some newer (soon to be classic) songs:
Who can forget this stand out moment on the album:
The biggest musical collaboration of the 80's was a Christmas song, a little thing called Band Aid. The song: Do They Know it's Christmas?
The listing of performing artists reads like a who's who of 80's music: Bono, Boy George, Simon LeBon, Sting, Phil Collins, some dudes from Kool and the Gang, and too many others to mention. (Mostly because I don't know who they are, it must have been a British thing)
There was even a Band Aid II. Just like most sequels, it paled in comparison the original. (Ghostbusters II, I'm looking in your direction)
Don't believe me? Here is video, which features such notable artists as Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Lisa Stansfield, Cliff Richard, Jimmy Somerville, Wet Wet Wet and Bros.
I'm sorry, who?
Did you make it past the 1 minute mark? If you did, you made it 30 seconds longer than I did.
Some folks are so desperate for new Christmas music that they will create their own. I'll end this post with this mashup. You're welcome.
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