Blog Posts

Annie Pattison

8/8/2013

Another Twelve Songs of Christmas! Here are a dozen songs that randomly shuffled out of the Sounds of Christmas library as we get ready for the new season...

My Morning Jacket “Santa Claus Is Back In Town”
The Embers “This Time Of Year”
Alabama “Christmas In Dixie”
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts “Little Drummer Boy”
Colbie Caillat “Silver Bells”
Mannheim Steamroller “White Christmas”
Michael W. Smith “O Christmas Tree”
Savatage “Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)”
Dan Fogelberg “We Three Kings”
Mitch Miller “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!”
Annie Pattison “Love For Christmas”
Bonnie Raitt and Charles Brown “Merry Christmas, Baby”

Thanks for stopping by! And may you always believe in Santa Claus!

Ken

Songs Of The Day

8/6/2013

I know it's still early August, but I'm starting to get things ready here for the upcoming season. To get in the spirit, I've set our library on shuffle, listening to a dozen songs each day. Here's what shuffled out today...

Chicago with BeBe Winans “Merry Christmas, Darling”
Charles Brown “Please Come Home For Christmas”
Home Free Vocal Band “Silver Bells”
Fall Out Boy “What’s This”
Luscious Jackson “Let It Snow”
Glee Cast “You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch”
Bing Croby “It’s Christmas Time Again”
Jack Johnson “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer”
Green River Ordinance “Little Drummer Boy”
Carole King “Love For Christmas”
Al Kooper “Winter Wonderland”
Celtic Woman “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”

And here's the video that inspired one of those songs - Luscious Jackson performing "Let It Snow" for a GAP commercial!

Thanks for checking in! And may you always believe in Santa Claus!

Ken

Judy Pancoast

7/11/2013

Judy Pancoast released a terrific and fun Christmas album in the 90's called "The House On Christmas Street". Her songs from that album quickly became some of the most popular and most-requested songs on the Sounds of Christmas. Since then, she has also been nominated for a Grammy (for best Children's Album) and she has recorded a new Christmas album, which we debuted last year! You'll definitely be hearing plenty of Judy's Christmas music again this season, and to tide you over, here she is performing "Mrs. Santa Claus" live last December!

Blondie

7/1/2013

Most think of Blondie as that late 70's/early 80's new wave band, but not so much as a Christmas music band. Fair enough, though a few years back, on the threshold of a new album, Blondie released a treat for their fans - a rocking cover of "We Three Kings"! Since it's Deborah Harry's birthday, here's the video from that 2009 single...

Keith Richards

6/3/2013

So far, the Rolling Stones haven't released any Christmas music. There is the song "Winter", which mentions "Christmas lights", but it really doesn't fit the bill. However, in 1978, Keith Richards gave us one with his first solo release. Here's Keith with his cover of Chuck Berry's "Run Rudolph Run"

U2

5/10/2013

U2 haven't released much Christmas music. They had a single on the first Very Special Christmas album back in the 80's. In 2008, they covered the classic Greg Lake song "I Believe in Father Christmas". I thought this was kind of cool, Greg Lake posted a video of the "making of" the U2 recording of his classic song! So here's a little inside the studio video of U2 recording "I Believe In Father Christmas"!

Kim Wilde

5/7/2013

Okay, I've gotten a little slack about posting these every day, and I'll try and correct that, especially since we're starting to get some inklings about new Christmas music for the upcoming season! One of the first ones we've heard about will be from Kim Wilde. Kim's a UK singer who scored big on this side of the Atlantic with "Kids In America", and went on to have a string of big hits back in England (and eight or nine other countries). She recently posted on her Facebook page something about her forthcoming Christmas album, though there aren't any details, just yet. In the meantime, the only other Christmas track I could find from her was a duet she did back in the 1980's with UK comedian Mel Smith. So here's Kim and Mel's take on "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree"!

Avery Drummer

4/6/2013

Avery is six years old. And if you haven't heard about him, yet, you will. He'll be on Good Morning America next Friday! Anyway, he loves drums, and has been playing since he was two. He has posted lots of videos on YouTube, playing live and just playing along with songs he loves. Recently, he's rocked out on Van Halen's "Hot For Teacher" and "Panama". As far as Christmas music goes, he's played along to Bruce Springsteen's "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town", as well as this one. From when he was only five, here's Avery playing along to "Mr. Heatmiser"!

Aretha Franklin

3/25/2013

Believe it or not, Aretha Franklin only got around to releasing her own Christmas album a few years ago (in 2008)! She's done a couple singles over the years, but it was only recently that she decided to do her own holiday album. Here she is with a guest appearance on the Today Show, giving you "Angels We Have Heard On High" and "Christmas Just Ain't Christmas"!

Heart

3/16/2013

In the mid-1990's, Heart took a break, while Ann did some solo stuff and Nancy focused on her family. A couple years later, the sisters put out some new music under the name The Lovemongers. Their second release was a Christmas album, which was reissued a few years later under Heart's name. This has been one of my "new" favorites ever since I first heard some fifteen or sixteen Decembers ago. While the band doesn't have an official video for it, here's a fan-made video of their original song "Here Is Christmas"