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Christmas Auld Lang Syne

12/30/2021

First, and most importantly, Happy New Year! I hope 2022 is your best year yet!

2021 has been pretty terrific for the Sounds of Christmas, and I wanted to say thank you for being a part of that, whether you listened to this station or to the Sounds of Christmas podcast, Or both.

The Sounds of Christmas podcast is set to pass fifty thousand downloads this weekend. While in the grand scheme of things, or at least as far as that goes in the world of podcasting, that may not be a lot. But it seems like a lot to me, especially since I only started the podcast about eleven months ago.

While that milestone might give some the desire to pause and reflect, I’d rather look ahead at the year to come.

For the podcast, I’ll continue posting episodes year-round. I have just posted the third episode this week, after a few weeks in a row that had one new episode each weekday. The frequency of new episodes will ease up now, going back to a similar schedule as last year. I’ll try to get one new one posted every Monday, but there may be a week or two where that just doesn’t happen.

I do have a wish list of people I’d like to have on as guests, including a lot of artists who had advertised on the Sounds of Christmas station over the years, but haven’t necessarily released any new Christmas music lately. I’d like to check in with them, see what they're up to, talk about the Christmas music they did release, and, knowing me, probably ask them about making some new Christmas music, too.

I have a couple surprises in store, at least I hope I do, with some people I’m working on scheduling for the next month or two, but I don’t have anything set, yet, so I can’t reveal anything at this point. I don’t mean to tease; I just want you to know that I am working on some things I think you’ll like.

The Sounds of Christmas station will continue on, playing the Best Variety of Christmas Music, commercial-free, through the end of September. Then, once again, I’ll switch things over for October, and we’ll be playing the Best Variety of Halloween Music.

Then, on November 1, 2022, a brand new season of the Sounds of Christmas will begin.

Between now and October, I’ll do what I can to keep things fresh, including the addition of a bunch of songs that I didn’t get around to playing this past season. Some I just didn’t find in time. Others were released that last week leading up to Christmas. And others I just wasn’t able to fit in.

I’m writing this on New Year’s Eve Eve, and I noticed that we still have people listening all over the United States and in at least forty other countries. And while that’s nice to see, I know full well it probably won’t stay like that. And really, that’s fine.

I know I mentioned earlier that this weekend the Sounds of Christmas podcast should cross the fifty thousand download mark, and I don’t mention that to brag. It’s more out of surprise and gratitude, which is the same feeling I have seeing all those who are listening to the station tonight.

I didn’t start doing any of this for the numbers, and I really hope it doesn’t sound like that’s the case. In fact, I fully expect the numbers on both the station and the podcast to drop significantly over the next week, with neither really going up much again until next fall.

And that is also fine.

My only hope is that, at some point during the next year, when you feel like you could use a little Christmas spirit, that you remember that we’re still on and you can listen any time. And if you love Christmas music enough that you want to hear me and my guests talk about, I hope you remember the podcast is still chugging along, and if you’ve followed or subscribed on whatever podcast service you use, all our new episodes will be there waiting for you when you feel like checking back in.

Thanks so much for listening, to the podcast and to the station. It has been wonderful sharing part of the season with you, and I look forward to sharing more with you, whether it’s later in January, or April or July or next fall once the new season gets underway (or even if you wait to listen until next December).

Thank you for sharing the season with the Sounds of Christmas.

And may you always believe in Santa Claus.

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12 Days Of Christmas

12/26/2021

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Despite what the traditional radio stations, TV commercials and car dealerships tell you, the Twelve Days of Christmas actually come after Christmas. No, really. Those twelve days mark the time from Christmas Day to Epiphany. I'm not going to get into the weeds of the religious history, though if you're interested, you can check out the info on Wikipedia (among other places).

I always mention this fact, year after year, as it seems many people lose their enthusiasm for Christmas a day or two after.

For our first ten years, the Sounds of Christmas stayed on through January 6. And while there was a drop-off in listeners, it was surprising that so many people, in so many different countries, continued to listen.

Also, listeners sent in emails and messages, asking us to stay on all year long. That seemed a bit much, and I went back and forth on that. Finally, a few years ago, I decided to give it a try.

Surprisingly, aside from that initial drop-off after Christmas Day, thousands continued to listen, all over the globe.

Some people don't like the idea of year round Christmas music, and I get that. It's not for everybody. Some don't like it before Thanksgiving, or before December 1. And some don't like it at all. That's okay. No one has to listen.

But, for those who do enjoy it, the Sounds of Christmas is here for you. Any time you need some Christmas spirit, just click on the player (on the website or through the app) and enjoy it as the Sounds of Christmas turns the Twelve Days of Christmas into Twelve Months (well, eleven months plus Halloween).

As far as the song goes, there are lots of versions of "The Twelve Days of Christmas". Not just different artists and different arrangements, but actual different versions, where the twelve items are in different orders, or the items are actually replaced with other things.

The song was originally published over two hundred years ago.

12 Lords A Leaping
11 Ladies Dancing
10 Pipers piping
9 Drummers Drumming
8 Maids A-Milking
7 Swans A-Swimming
6 Geese A-Laying
5 Gold Rings
4 Colley Birds
3 French Hens
2 Turtle Doves
And a Partridge in a Pear Tree

Those lyrics were printed somewhere around 1800. In the early 1900s, the lyrics were published with a few changes. The four colley birds became four calling birds. Colley had meant black, so these were basically blackbirds. The change to calling birds made the subtle shift that these were songbirds, not necessarily blackbirds.

The Ladies Dancing moved from 11 to 9, Lords A-Leaping moved from 12 to 10, Pipers Piping moved from 10 to 11, and Drummers Drumming moved from 9 to 12. No one seems to know why these changes were made.

Briefly, in the mid-1800s, Pipers Piping became Fifers Fifing. Shortly after, the Pipers were replaced with Ships Sailing, the Ladies Dancing became Ladies Spinning, and the Lords A-Leaping became Bells Ringing.

While those all shifted back a few years later, other changes crept in. French Hens became Fat Hens, the Colley Birds became Ducks Quacking and the Gold rings became Hares Running.

Then those changes went back, and the Geese A-Laying switched to Ducks A-Laying, the Maids A-Milking became Hares A-Running, and the Drummers Drumming were replaced with Badgers Baiting.

In the 1870s, the Badgers were replaced with Lambs A-Bleating, and the Lords A-Leaping became Lords A-Leading.

In the 1880s, the final five gifts were Hare’s A-Running, Bulls A-Roaring, Men A-Mowing, Dancers A-Dancing, and Fiddlers A-Fiddling.

In the 1890s, the Partridge was temporarily replaced with a Very Pretty Peacock, and the Lords A-Leading became Lads A-Louping.

In 1900, Squabs A-Swimming, Hounds A-Running, Bears A-Beating, and Cocks A-Crowing were all added.

A few years later, Boys A-Singing and Asses A-Racing were introduced.

In 1909, the standard that we hear today, for the most part, seemed to be accepted.

12 Drummers Drumming
11 Pipers Piping
10 Lords A-Leaping
9 Ladies Dancing
8 Maids A-Milking
7 Swans A-Swimming
6 Geese A-Laying
5 Golden Rings
4 Calling Birds
3 French Hens
2 Turtle Doves
And a Partridge in a Pear Tree

When I mention all these changes that happened in the 1700s and 1800s, I should mention that there have been publications of those verses with those changes, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they were preferred or more in use than other versions.

Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters are credited with recording one of the earliest versions of the song, and that was in 1949.

Perry Como recorded a version of it in 1953, but switched around the Lords A-Leaping, Ladies Dancing and Pipers Piping.

Many other artists have recorded in the years since, and the order of those last four or five gifts is often switched around. Pentatonix did that a few years ago, and I didn’t know the song’s history, and instead, just got annoyed at them for changing it around. I had no idea that all of these changes had been going on for hundreds of years.

So, Pentatonix, if you’re listening, I apologize.

In 1984, the PNC Wealth management bank in the U.S. began publishing the Christmas Price Index, which computed the entire value of all the gifts in the song. However, this was only for the one gift mention on each new day in the song, instead of adding up all of the gifts (meaning that by the end, there were twelve partridges in twelve pear trees, since one was given each day).

They created a second index to reflect those totals, which they called the True Cost Of Christmas.

In 1984, the True Cost Of Christmas was determined to be $61,318.94.

In 2021, the True Cost Of Christmas has risen to $179,454.19.

Regardless of how much you can spend on partridges and pear trees, or if there are pipers or fifers, the main thing I hope you take away from all of this is that the 12 Days of Christmas come after Christmas.

So don’t let anyone tell you that you should stop listening to Christmas music, even though traditional radio stations, and most stores and other places where music is played, have stopped.

In fact, since we’re on year-round, you don’t ever have to stop. If Christmas music brings you joy, we’re here for you, anytime you want to listen and get a little Christmas spirit, whether it’s December 29th or January 5th or, for that matter, March 5th or June 5th.

The Sounds of Christmas will keep playing the Best Variety of Christmas music, all year long. Well, except in October, when we play the Best Variety of Halloween music.

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Everybody Loves Christmas

12/18/2021

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I came across this song this week, and I decided I wanted to write something about Eddie Money, his Christmas music and this new single that just came out.

Eddie left us just over two years ago. Everybody knows “Take Me Home Tonight”, of course. He had about a dozen top forty hits, and that one was his biggest (though he had several number ones on the rock charts). He also had four platinum albums, the first of which actually went double platinum.

Eddie Money wasn’t really known as a Christmas music guy, though. Still, I have half a dozen songs from him in the Sounds of Christmas library.

In the 80s, there was a Classic Rock Christmas collection that came out with Eddie’s version of "Merry Christmas Baby". This one resurfaced again about 10-15 years ago, but is currently out of print.

In the 90s, Eddie released a live album called “Shakin’ With The Money Man” and that included four new songs, one of which was a Christmas song, “Everybody Loves Christmas”, which also featured Ronnie Spector on backing vocals.

That song also showed up in the movie “The Santa Clause 2” a few years later.

About ten years ago, Eddie performed on a version of “The Little Drummer Boy”, with Corey Glover and the Counterfeiters.

There was a version of “Baby It’s Cold Outside” with singer Carmel five or six years ago. And that was quickly followed by “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” either later that year or the next.

A nice Christmas catalogue from someone not really known for Christmas music. But that’s all in the past. I want to talk about a new single that’s just out.

Eddie’s kids have re-done his song “Everybody Loves Christmas” and I think it’s pretty terrific. The title of their version is actually “Everybody Loves Christmas: A Song For Dad”. They’ve changed the lyrics, to reflect on something many of us have become all too familiar with - a Christmas without a loved one.

But this is not a sad song. It’s warm and hopeful, and reminds us that we should think about all those happy Christmases we were fortunate to have together. And Eddie’s vocals appear in the chorus, singing along with his kids.

Dez Money and Jesse Money, who are singers in their own right, have re-written this song in a way that anyone who has experienced this kind of loss can relate to. I'm not going to post the lyrics here, but if you check out the song on Dez' YouTube channel, you can read them there yourself (and I'll post that link and the video down below).

This song touches me on a very personal level, as I lost my father almost two years ago. I have lots of wonderful memories of my Dad, even at this time of year when we lived on opposite coasts.

While I run the Sounds of Christmas like a traditional radio station, there isn’t much talking. There aren’t a lot of commercials, and my voice only comes up once or twice an hour (and even then, it’s only for about ten seconds). But my Dad used to listen, and he would message me as soon as he heard my voice.

It was silly and sweet, and I sure miss getting those messages this time of year. But listening to this song helps me to think back on these memories with love, and to feel like he’s still around, waiting for my little ten-seconds to come up so he can tell me heard me and he’s so proud of me.

Anyway, I really don’t want to make this all about me. I just wanted to share my experience with this song. And since it’s just come out so close to Christmas, I wanted to share that here, in case you didn’t know about it, so you could go listen to it yourself (either on the Sounds of Christmas, or on Dez’ YouTube channel, or on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify and all the rest of the digital music streaming services).

For the Scrooges out there, I feel like I need to say that I don’t know any of the members of the Money family, and I didn’t know Eddie. This is not a paid advertisement. I simply felt, very strongly, that I had come across something that was pretty special, and I wanted to share it with you as we all get very busy moving through this final week leading up to Christmas.

Anyway, here's the video...

If you want to read the lyrics, you can find them on the original post on Dez Money's YouTube channel right here --> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3N7Hira81G4

Thank you for reading this far, and for listening! And may you always believe in Santa Claus!

Ken

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Christmas Auld Lang Syne

12 Days Of Christmas

Everybody Loves Christmas

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