Christmas music

[installLSC]

Some questions about Christmas music on radio in the past, especially in the 60s/70s:
--What were the first stations to adapt Christmas-only formats?
--How did stations with regular formats add Christmas music as the season went on?
--Did contemporary stations (top 40/urban) play Christmas music by their regular artists, or did they play mostly standards?

 

[vchimpanzee]

I don't really remember much, but I do remember that sometime in the mid-80s I was surprised when the AC station didn't go all-Christmas even on the big day. I heard one of the latest hits, which happened to be "Gloria" by Laura Branigan, thogh someone could have decided that one was related. She did perform "Angles We Have Heard on High" on "Solid Gold" on TV, but the part with the word "Gloria" sounded ... different.

 

[Mike_Rafone]

--How did stations with regular formats add Christmas music as the season went on?
My reference point is the "old WSB AM 750" during those years. Usually they kind of "folded" the music in, starting around Thanksgiving with maybe one song every quarter hour, then doubling it, then maybe 6 songs an hour but always daily increasing it a little at a time until about a week out from Christmas they'd be playing solid seasonal music. They'd also do a mix male/female/group/instrumental as they increased the number of songs, too.
Did contemporary stations (top 40/urban) play Christmas music by their regular artists, or did they play mostly standards?
You'd be surprised at the number of seasonal albums the contemporary artists of that time period turned out. The Top 40 stations in Atlanta, (WQXI, WPLO, WGST, WIIN, WFOM) simply used their stuff in the same pattern that WSB used. Just imagine Patti LaBelle singing JOY TO THE WORLD! Really was a great time.
As late as 1970 ABC Radio on Christmas Eve would broadcast nothing but half-hours of Christmas music up to midnight Eastern. Traditionally they always ended that last segment with Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic performing THE HALLELUJAH CHORUS followed by another orchestra playing THE CAROL OF THE BELLS as the announced talked about Christmas morning now arriving on the East Coast of the United States after having raced at a 1,000 miles an hour across the Atlantic Ocean. Big crescendo music finish, music out, two beat pause, then the TOH tone and the ABC news sounder. I loved it.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Just imagine Patti LaBelle singing JOY TO THE WORLD!

I'd rather not.

As late as 1970 ABC Radio on Christmas Eve would broadcast nothing but half-hours of Christmas music up to midnight Eastern. Traditionally they always ended that last segment with Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic performing THE HALLELUJAH CHORUS followed by another orchestra playing THE CAROL OF THE BELLS as the announced talked about Christmas morning now arriving on the East Coast of the United States after having raced at a 1,000 miles an hour across the Atlantic Ocean. Big crescendo music finish, music out, two beat pause, then the TOH tone and the ABC news sounder. I loved it.

That's more like it.

Though The Trans-Siberian orchestra has ruined "Carol of the Bells" for me. So has Ray Conniff's group, who sound more like they're doing it at Halloween.

I remember around 1987 or 1988 hearing all instrumental, all soft music on one station. Another station was soft AC the rest of the year but had a mix of soft vocals and instrumentals that made me happy. It's really hard these days to find a station I like at Christmas because so many contemporary versions of songs and contemporary songs exist, and by that I mean that hideous Paul McCartney "Wonderful Christmastime" and others from that era.

 

[Mike_Rafone]

Only cited Patti LaBelle as an example of the range of 60's and 70's artists who did Christmas albums. She wouldn't be my choice, either, but the old mind couldn't come up with a quick citation. There was always Bert Kampfert's THE BELL THAT COULDN'T JINGLE, SNOOPY'S CHRISTMAS, and bunches by the Motown crowd. Contemporary stations actually seemed to have a bigger and more extensive bag from which to select than did MOR or standard stations. They didn't do "voice tracking" back then, just whole pre-recorded shows so the jocks could take off.

CBS Radio, until they ditched all their nighttime programming, ran archived recordings of Bing Crosby Christmas shows on Christmas Eve. Would like to know if anyone knows of other network shows like the ABC one. I think they called if THE SOUNDS OF CHRISTMAS.

The Trans-Siberian orchestra has ruined "Carol of the Bells" for me or was it Mannheim Steamroller?

Here in Atlanta WPCH-FM ("Peach") would have a live remote show a Sunday or two before the holiday to provide "music while you decorate your tree." Their SATURDAY MORNING AT THE MOVIES one year featured nothing but songs taken from Christmas movies.

I emceed a live Christmas concert by the University Symphony at the University Union's tree lighting while I was in Athens. Also produced a re-recorded hour show of music and scripture reading for WGAU for their use on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning.

WCBS-AM used to take breaks from its all-news to broadcast phone calls from NYC families to service personnel overseas.

Let's hear from other folks about what they listened to during the holidays in the 1960's.

Last year here in Atlanta no station went "all Christmas. B98.5 only went that route the day before. Peach at hits heyday would go all Christmas Thanksgiving night, right after they treelighting at Rich's Department Store.

 

[JeffM]

I think it was Burt Bacharach who recorded "The Bell That Wouldn't Jingle," though Bert Kaempfert did make a Christmas album that was very popular. One station up here used the Kaempfert LP along with Mantovani's track "Christmas Bells" as music beds on countless holiday commercials back in the 60's/early 70's.

 

[Avid Listener]

I'd rather not.

Patti LaBelle is an outstanding singer. Though she has a particular signature vocal style she has developed to sell pop records, she is also capable of singing a song "straight". It seems to me that you're simply rejecting her as an artist and as a person because you don't care for her vocal style on pop records. That's an extremely narrow-minded and bigoted perspective, especially with regards to a Christmas hymn. She did, after all, learn to sing in church.

 

[Mike_Rafone]

I think it was Burt Bacharach who recorded "The Bell That Wouldn't Jingle".

I stand humbly corrected. You are correct it was Bachrach. Kampfert's was JINGLE JANGLE.

 

[JeffM]

No big deal. What I wish I knew (and posted about this elsewhere) is when the rules changed and stations could no longer use "regular" records as themes for local programs and music beds for commercials (as with the Kaempfert LP I mentioned) and had to switch over to "production music" only. Yeah, I know I'm taking this thread off topic right now, but what else is new around here?

 

[Mike_Rafone]

…I wish I knew …is when the rules changed and stations could no longer use "regular" records as themes for local programs and music beds for commercials (as with the Kaempfert LP I mentioned) and had to switch over to "production music" only.…

Can't say for certain, but probably in that era in the mid 60's when lawyers suddenly began jumping on perceived copyright violations, or when ASCAP and BMI started demanding payment for the usages. Station managements didn't want to be tagged for that kind of thing but didn't want to go to the trouble of doing extensive auditing and logging to prove the use was insignificant.

Go ahead, start a new thread and we'll carry it on from there. Surely there are some "suits" and lawyers out there who can educate us.

 

[JRH]

In the late 60s, early 70s where I grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa the top 40 stations would begin mixing in a little Christmas music after Thanksgiving, usually using contemporary artists. They didn't go to tranditoinal artists much until a few days before the holiday, and would probably be all Christmas music from 6pm Christmas eve to 6pm Christmas day.

The MOR station was similiar, but with much more traditional artists. Their FM beautiful music station probably mixed in more as it got closer to the holiday, they ran Schuelke, then would run something like 48-hours of continuous holiday music, Christmas eve and day. They would usually buy an ad in the paper (something they rarely did as the paper owned one of the AM top 40 stations) promoting their Christmas music and listing the sponsors.

Oddly, the country station played the most Christmas music... mainly because they weren't doing very well and it was something they could sell. Several days before the holiday they would begin all Christmas, in 15-minute segments, each with a sponsor. They would mix in quite a bit of traditional/MOR with the country. The FM religious station played a lot, too, mainly Christian artists. In the late 70s, the manager of the country station bought the religious station and did what the country station had done... music in 15-minute segments, each sold. They used a lot of traditional artists, Andy Williams, Tony Bennett, etc that otherwise would never been played on the religious format.

 

[Avid Listener]

Oddly, the country station played the most Christmas music... mainly because they weren't doing very well and it was something they could sell. Several days before the holiday they would begin all Christmas, in 15-minute segments, each with a sponsor. They would mix in quite a bit of traditional/MOR with the country. The FM religious station played a lot, too, mainly Christian artists. In the late 70s, the manager of the country station bought the religious station and did what the country station had done... music in 15-minute segments, each sold. They used a lot of traditional artists, Andy Williams, Tony Bennett, etc that otherwise would never been played on the religious format.

I've had minimal exposure to Christmas music on the radio, by my own choice. However, I do recall that the stations that specialized in Christian music did broaden their playlist to include artists who weren't known as specializing in Christian music only. However, they didn't include secular "holiday" songs. It seemed like they would play a religious Christmas song by any artist, so long as it was a Christian Christmas song and not a generic winter song like Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, or Sleigh Ride. Andy Williams' version of O, Holy Night is one of the better ones ever recorded.

I also recall a friend of mine complaining that the local Christian station wouldn't play his request for any version of The Magnificat because it was "too Catholic".

 

[Mike_Rafone]

I also recall a friend of mine complaining that the local Christian station wouldn't play his request for any version of The Magnificat because it was "too Catholic".

Did they also decline a request for AVE MARIA of which Andy Williams also did a fine version, or THE HALLELUJAH CHORUS?

 

[vchimpanzee]

The Trans-Siberian orchestra has ruined "Carol of the Bells" for me or was it Mannheim Steamroller?

I didn't mean to suggest Patti LaBelle was a bad choice but pretty much anyone who wassn't popular by 1960 I'd rather not hear unless they are really trying to do the traditional style. Even Brenda Lee to me is cutting edge.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra is the group that tried to do heavy metal when they played that song (actually a medley whose title I shortened to "Sarajevo" because that is part of the actual title) and I actually heard that garbage on America's Best Music. The minute I hear "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" on a solo cello, the radio goes off or the station is changed.

 

[vchimpanzee]

I've had minimal exposure to Christmas music on the radio, by my own choice.

I could never do it. Once I'm ready, I want to hear the traditional performances as much as possible.

Andy Williams' version of O, Holy Night is one of the better ones ever recorded.

That was my introduction to him. My parents had Album Five, whatever that is. Several of the actual versions of songs from that have shown up on America's Best Music, including Steve and Eydie's "Sleigh Ride", which I hated as a child. It's entirely too silly.

I still have it (and Album Three and Album Four) but don't know if I have anything to play it on. My father's stereo hasn't been played in at least 15 years.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Patti LaBelle is an outstanding singer. Though she has a particular signature vocal style she has developed to sell pop records, she is also capable of singing a song "straight". It seems to me that you're simply rejecting her as an artist and as a person because you don't care for her vocal style on pop records. That's an extremely narrow-minded and bigoted perspective, especially with regards to a Christmas hymn. She did, after all, learn to sing in church.

Is she actually capable of singing straight? I had to assume she sould sing in her special style. I think you know by now that with most music, I'm not open to that, but it's especially true with Christmas music.

And how people sing in church doesn't mean a thing to me. I don't like how a lot of people sing in church in this day and age.

 

[JeffM]

Is she actually capable of singing straight? I had to assume she sould sing in her special style. I think you know by now that with most music, I'm not open to that, but it's especially true with Christmas music.

And how people sing in church doesn't mean a thing to me. I don't like how a lot of people sing in church in this day and age.

That radical Pat Boone, he's just got too much "soul"...

 

[Avid Listener]

Did they also decline a request for AVE MARIA of which Andy Williams also did a fine version, or THE HALLELUJAH CHORUS?

I don't know, because I don't know of anyone who requested Ave Maria. Likewise, I don't know anyone who might have requested The Hallelujah Chorus. However, The Magnificat is based on one of the few psalms in the New Testament and is sung while Mary is expecting Jesus. That makes it an Advent season song, ideal for pre-Christmas music. Ave Maria is rather generic in terms of the church calendar. Both the psalm and the prayer have have been set to music by many composers, and recorded by many artists. Both are part of the Roman Catholic tradition, which many of us Christians regard as part of our extended religious heritage.

I disagree with anyone who would reject playing a musically appropriate recording of The Magnificat at Christmas time as "too Catholic", but I wouldn't strongly disagree with anyone who would reject playing Ave Maria as "not Christmas music". As for the Hallelujah Chorus, it was written by a Lutheran for performance in an Anglican country, so the "too Catholic" argument holds no water at all. It's commonly performed around Christmas and Easter, as well as other times. However, unlike the other two songs, there are no versions of it that fit any usual radio format. There are plenty of recordings of The Magnificat and Ave Maria that would fit with the rest of the music on a CCM, country, or even CHR station. That's not the case for the Hallelujah Chorus.

I've been in choirs that sang the Hallelujah Chorus several times, in several venues. I sang it in high school, in several churches, as the finale/curtain call for the rock opera Jesus Christ, Superstar, and as part of two different flash mobs. Even dropped down to the more tenor-friendly key of C, it's a magnificent, powerful piece of music. But, I can't imagine most modern commercial radio stations playing it.

 

[Avid Listener]

I think you know by now that with most music, I'm not open to that, but it's especially true with Christmas music.

I am well aware that you are so close-minded about music that you make a perpetually misanthropic grouch like me look open-minded by comparison. When I say someone is "closed minded", that's like Shaquille O'Neill saying someone else is really tall.

 

[CTListener]

I don't know, because I don't know of anyone who requested Ave Maria. Likewise, I don't know anyone who might have requested The Hallelujah Chorus. However, The Magnificat is based on one of the few psalms in the New Testament and is sung while Mary is expecting Jesus. That makes it an Advent season song, ideal for pre-Christmas music. Ave Maria is rather generic in terms of the church calendar. Both the psalm and the prayer have have been set to music by many composers, and recorded by many artists. Both are part of the Roman Catholic tradition, which many of us Christians regard as part of our extended religious heritage.

I disagree with anyone who would reject playing a musically appropriate recording of The Magnificat at Christmas time as "too Catholic", but I wouldn't strongly disagree with anyone who would reject playing Ave Maria as "not Christmas music". As for the Hallelujah Chorus, it was written by a Lutheran for performance in an Anglican country, so the "too Catholic" argument holds no water at all. It's commonly performed around Christmas and Easter, as well as other times. However, unlike the other two songs, there are no versions of it that fit any usual radio format. There are plenty of recordings of The Magnificat and Ave Maria that would fit with the rest of the music on a CCM, country, or even CHR station. That's not the case for the Hallelujah Chorus.

I've been in choirs that sang the Hallelujah Chorus several times, in several venues. I sang it in high school, in several churches, as the finale/curtain call for the rock opera Jesus Christ, Superstar, and as part of two different flash mobs. Even dropped down to the more tenor-friendly key of C, it's a magnificent, powerful piece of music. But, I can't imagine most modern commercial radio stations playing it.

It's also not a celebration of the birth of Jesus. In Handel's "The Messiah," it occurs between the crucifixion and the resurrection. A station thinking of going all-Easter might consider it for its playlist!