Holiday Music

[killertomata]

I searched and didn't find a thread for this anywhere. What are your favorite vintage or vintage-style tunes to listen to for the winter holidays?

I love holiday albums by Bing Crosby, The Andrews Sisters, Brian Setzer, and Glenn Miller. And the Heat Miser song by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, which they swing out and so it completely rocks.

I also love a lot of the music you'll hear in old radio shows, so I extract them and make mp3s out of just the songs- such as The Fairy on the Christmas Tree, from a 1936 BBC Henry Hall Dance Band Christmas show.

So what about you?

 

[kpreed]

This IS a great time of year for these tune. 25% of the time I do Bing or Gene Autry tunes I have, but most time I just do internet radio. My favorite is Ralphie's Radio at http://www.live365.com/stations/hoolster.This is the Holy Grail of Christmas music! I triple dawg dare you to tune in! Happy Holidays!

 

[deadpandiva]

There are alot of songs I hear while shopping. Macy's plays some great music in general (as long as you're not in the Junior's dept.) At lest they used to when they were Dayton's/Marshall Fields. Theres one I love but I don't know the name of it. the only line I can remember is "Peice on Earth, Goodwill to men". My favorite version was rather somber and sung by a woman (maybe Peggy Lee).

I also love Zat You Santa Clause, Santa Baby, Silent Night performed by Dinah Washington, Blue Christmas performed by Elvis, Mary's Boy Child performed by Harry Belafonte and anything by Mahaila Jackson.

 

[Murph351]

This IS a great time of year for these tune. 25% of the time I do Bing or Gene Autry tunes I have, but most time I just do internet radio. My favorite is Ralphie's Radio at http://www.live365.com/stations/hoolster.This is the Holy Grail of Christmas music! I triple dawg dare you to tune in! Happy Holidays!

Thanks for the heads up on Ralphie's. Great Station!

 

[olive bleu]

This IS a great time of year for these tune. 25% of the time I do Bing or Gene Autry tunes I have, but most time I just do internet radio. My favorite is Ralphie's Radio at http://www.live365.com/stations/hoolster.This is the Holy Grail of Christmas music! I triple dawg dare you to tune in! Happy Holidays!

oooh..i wonder if i can get that up here? I can't wait to get home tonite to try it.

 

[nobodyspecial]

Merry Christmas Baby by Elvis is at or near the top of my list. I play it real loud.

 

[~*Red*~]

This IS a great time of year for these tune. 25% of the time I do Bing or Gene Autry tunes I have, but most time I just do internet radio. My favorite is Ralphie's Radio at http://www.live365.com/stations/hoolster.This is the Holy Grail of Christmas music! I triple dawg dare you to tune in! Happy Holidays!

Thank you for posting this! I'm enjoying it! It has the best selection of holiday music I've herd to date.. without having to make my own playlist.

 

[Josephine]

My mom got me hooked on Johnny Mathis.

 

[~*Red*~]

It's not vintage, but I grew up listening to Andy Williams and we still play his CD every year when we make our tamales and Christmas Dinner.

And it's not Andy Williams, but my all time favorite Christmas song is The Little Drummer Boy. Especially when Bing sings it.

 

[Mike in Seattle]

The one I seem to have on most often during the holidays is Ella Wishes You A Swinging Christmas. I've got a holiday mix on iTunes starting with that and adding these songs & albums, among others:

• Ultralounge Christmas Cocktails 1, 2 & 3
• Polar Espress soundtrack - LOTS of classics on one album
• Glenn Miller Orchestra In the Christmas Mood 1, 2 & 3
• Manhattan Transfer Christmas album
• Kate Smith's It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas and of course White Christmas and Christmas Eve in My Hometown and Silver Bells
• Dean Martin's Baby It's Cold Outside
• Andrews Sisters Winter Wonderland
• Bing Crosby White Christmas
• Brian Setzer Orchestra Boogie Woogie Christmas and Dig That Crazy Christmas (In the Christmas Mood blaring right now as a matter of fact!)
• Bob Rivers Twisted Christmas just for the silliness factor (Teddy the Red-nose Senator, Walkin' Round in Womens Underwear, Chipmunks Roasting Over an Open Fire)
• Singing Dogs Jingle Bells (it's gotta be heard once and only once a year)
• OK, Miz Ella's doin' Jingle Bells now and my fingers are snapping along!
• Elmo & Patsy Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer (I threaten every year to do that as our lawn display with the Reindeer Landing Strip...)
• Perry Como There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays
• Sean Altman Hannukah for Monica
• Spike Jones Let's Sing a Song of Christmas (actually, a very nice choral mix with only a little of the usual Jones sound effects & such - everyone loves it and can't believe it's Spike Jones when we play it at parties)
• Andy Williams Do You Hear What I Hear and It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
• Barbra Streisand's Jingle Bells
• Frank Sinatra - everything EXCEPT Oh By Gosh, By Golly which I hate...
• Mame Broadway soundtrack We Need A Little Christmas Now
• Judy Garland Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
• You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch
• Brenda Lee Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree
  
  

and many, many more...

 

[Snookie]

Last weekend I bought "A Merry Christmas with Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters" from iTunes - 20 tracks for $7, I think. Some real cute ones on the album.

I'm another fan of "Ella Wishes You a Swingin Christmas"...my favorite moment is when Frosty does the Charleston.

"A Swingin Big Band Christmas" is another great one - I think they sell it on Amazon, green cover, cheap - Les Brown doing The Nutcracker Suite, the Gene Krupa Trio playing Jingle Bells. I bought it at a drugstore years before I knew anything about most of these bands, and was thrilled when I discovered it in my collection.

 

[Sertsa]

I like the Setzer Orchestra albums a lot, too. Another favorite is Roomful of Blues' Roomful of Christmas. Also, I'm not sure if it's in print anymore, but I have a couple LPs from my college days of jazz Christmas songs. One is called Jingle Bell Jazz, but there was another as well. At any rate, my favorites on those albums were "We Three Kings" by the Marsalises and Paquito D'Rivera's incredible version of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman," just alto sax and bass.

But coming from a family with very diverse taste, the Nat King Cole album seems to be the one everyone likes.

Edit: How could I forget the Vince Guaraldi Trio's A Charlie Brown Christmas?

 

[cowboy76]

Santa Claus Came In The Spring....an awsome and rare song,...

Any songs pre 1960,...especially the 1940s and 30s,....lots of creativity

...and anything sang by Bing!

 

[flat-top]

Everyone here should love this:
http://www.amazon.com/Vintage-Chris...bs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1196427881&sr=1-1

 

[Antje]

Hey everyone.

I bought a great cd yesterday with al old christmas songs, from Frank Sinatra, to Glen miller, Billy Holliday, Peggy Lee and even Brian setzer,
really great.

Of course I just love my old Elvis christmas records and my al time favorit of Jim Reeves

 

[flat-top]

I Believe In Father Christmas

Does anyone else know this song? It's by Emerson Lake & Palmer. Forget its Prog Rock overtones and give it a listen. I get a lump in my throat everytime.
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=237409603
*The first song on the list is the original version.

 

[SamMarlowPI]

"Christmas in Hollis" - Run DMC

 

[Pink Dahlia]

My absolute favorite Christmas songs are:

"Happy Holidays" by Andy Williams

"Baby It's Cold Outside" by Leon Redbone and Zooey Deschanel
(It's on the Elf soundtrack.) I listen to this one all year round.

 

[BORNTOOLATE]

I found the best internet radio. http://pandora.com/ You create a station by typing in a song or and artist and it compiles a simliar genre of songs and plays continuously free of charge. You can thumbs up or thumbs down the currently-playing song and ultimately fine-tune your individual stations. So far, they have not spammed me. It's amazing to me. I don't even play my cds hardly any more. Back to the topic at hand, I have two Christmas music stations. I typed in Frank Sinatra Holiday and it plays all the stuff you would think of at that era.

 

[Prairie Dog]

I just bought Matt Dusk's "Peace On Earth" CD.
"Christmas Blues" is very retro Sinatra.
The best track though, is "Cool Yule".