Idolator: ho ho ugh

George Michael Tries To Go Back To Last Christmas

Maura Johnston — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:30:00 EST

He's retired from touring (well, after he plays a couple of shows to the big-money audiences in Dubai, anyway), but George Michael is apparently still interested in putting out new music; today he premiered "December Song (I Dreamed Of Christmas)" on British radio, and the song will be available for purchase come Christmas Day. The wistful, stark track (which might be a tribute to his late mother) recalls "A Different Corner" more than it does his other Yuletide staple, but I like it, mainly because a nine-year-old-shaped part of me is always going to be a complete sucker for almost anything he sings on. [YouTube]

A Helpful List Of The Top Twenty-Five Songs You Won't Be Able To Escape Between Now And Dec. 26

Maura Johnston — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 12:30:00 EST

Radio stations all across the country have pre-emptively flipped to the all-holiday-music format—despite Thanksgiving not even being until Thursday—so ASCAP figured the time was right to unleash a list of the 25 most popular holiday songs of the past five years, (Christmas music and lists? Somebody's got their finger on the pulse!) Topping the chart is "Winter Wonderland," which since being written in 1934 has been covered by the likes of the Andrews Sisters, the Eurythmics, the Cocteau Twins, and Air Supply (how have I not heard that cover?), while the most recent entry on the list is 1984's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" The top 25—with the recording artist whose version has received the most radio airplay over the past five holiday seasons—after the jump.

1. "Winter Wonderland," written by Felix Bernard, Richard B. Smith (performed by Eurythmics)
2. "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)," by Mel Torme and Robert Wells (Nat "King" Cole)
3. "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," by Ralph Blane and Hugh Martin (the Pretenders)
4. "Sleigh Ride," by Leroy Anderson and Mitchell Parish; (the Ronettes)
5. "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town," by Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie (Frank Sinatra)
6. "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne (Michael Buble)
7. "White Christmas," by Irving Berlin (Bing Crosby)
8. "Jingle Bell Rock," by Joseph Carleton Beal and James Ross Boothe (Bobby Helms)
9. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," by Johnny Marks (Gene Autry)
10. "Little Drummer Boy," by Katherine K. Davis, Henry V. Onorati and Harry Simeone (The Harry Simeone Chorale & Orchestra)
11. "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," by Edward Pola, George Wyle (Andy Williams)
12 "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," Johnny Marks (Brenda Lee)
13. "Silver Bells," by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans (Kenny G)
14. "I'll Be Home For Christmas," by Walter Kent, Kim Gannon and Buck Ram (Amy Grant)
15. "Feliz Navidad," by Jose Feliciano (Jose Feliciano)
16. "Frosty the Snowman," by Steve Nelson and Walter E. Rollins (the Ronettes)
17. "A Holly Jolly Christmas," by Johnny Marks (Burl Ives)
18. "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas," by Meredith Willson (Johnny Mathis)
19. "Blue Christmas," by Billy Hayes and Jay W. Johnson (Elvis Presley)
20. "(There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays," by Bob Allen and Al Stillman (Perry Como)
21. "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," by Tommie Connor (John Mellencamp)
22. "Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane)," by Gene Autry and Oakley Haldeman (Gene Autry)
23. "Carol of the Bells," by Peter J. Wilhousky and Mykola Leontovich (David Foster [instrumental version])
24. "Do They Know It's Christmas? (Feed the World)," by Midge Ure and Bob Geldof (Band Aid)
25. "This Christmas," Donny Hathaway and Nadine McKinnor (Gloria Estefan)

I'm sort of surprised by the Eurythmics' take on "Winter Wonderland" topping this particular chart, although I guess your Lite-FMs aren't exactly Cocteau Twins-crazy. Anyway, my favorite Annie Lennox-fronted Christmas song isn't explicitly holiday-themed, but the video makes up for it:

It's so shiny! The sound, I mean.

ASCAP lists most-performed holiday songs [Hollywood Reporter]
Put A Little Love In Your Heart [YouTube]

David Cook Would Like To Give You A Warrant T-Shirt For Christmas

Maura Johnston — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 09:15:00 EST

Following in the footsteps of his runner-up David Archuleta, American Idol champ David Cook has shared the contents of "his iPod" with USA Today. This is mainly worth noting because he has Warrant lead singer Jani Lane's version of "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" on there, and Lane's version of the chestnut isn't all that bad, actually—it's a gloomy-then-peppy cover that I will bet cash money was inspired by Joey Ramone's version of "What A Wonderful World." (Ramone, it should be noted, is not on Cook's iPod, although Sevendust is. Sigh.) [YouTube / USA Today]

Flo Rida's Eye Wanders Away From Apple Bottoms, Toward Gap Loose Fits

Maura Johnston — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:30:00 EST

The Gap's holiday ad campaigns have often featured pop musicians recasting holiday tunes—recall Luscious Jackson's take on "Let It Snow," or Rufus Wainwright's "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve"—but this year, in order to get "interactive," the mall staple is letting people remix the Flo Rida/Janelle Monae/Dixie Chicks/Sandra Bernhard/Other People cover of "Jingle Bells" in the ad above to send to friends. Which is a holiday present that's a lot cheaper than a $69.50 pair of jeans. (Plus it has synthesized cowbells!) [YouTube]

The Great Christmas Radio Wars Of 2008 Are Totally On, Grinches

Maura Johnston — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 13:00:00 EST

Those of you who are keeping track of regular radio stations flipping to all-holiday formats before the traditional "day after Thanksgiving" start date, take note: two Boston stations have gone all-Christmas as of today, and I'm sure there are other stations around the country that have followed suit as well. (If you know of any in your neck of the woods, feel free to take to our comments section!) Meanwhile, the New York oldies station WCBS started sprinkling a few holiday surprises into its playlists all the way back in October, when it was trying to boost its listeners' spirits with a Santa Song Of The Day. The lite-FM powerhouse WLTW decided that imitation was the best Christmas gift it could give to WCBS, so it too started playing its own Santa Songs, and that resulted in WCBS throwing a big fat lump of litigation down the waiting-room staple's chimney:

WCBS-FM started playing a "Santa Song of the Day" on Oct. 1, using it for a station contest. It also is calling itself the city's radio "Home for the Holidays."

On Oct. 13, WLTW also started a "Santa Song of the Day" contest - which annoyed WCBS-FM enough that CBS lawyers served Lite with a "cease and desist" order.

So Lite is playing a "Stocking Stuffer Song of the Day."

Meanwhile, the question remains: Isn't going all-holiday-music a really good way to make people switch away from your station? Someone in the radio industry decided to commission a study and find out!

The trade mag Radio & Records recently reported on a study by Direct Marketing Results and Arbitron that breaks down the tradeoff from all-Christmas formats.

In past years, Lite lost half its primary listeners by going all-Christmas.

Wait, what?! That's good news, right? Oh, wait:

But it picked up even more who don't usually tune in, including a lot from urban stations, for a big net gain.

Sigh. But: I wonder if this little bit of news will result in more R&B and hip-hop stations turning to all-holiday-music formats this year?

Local Radio Stations Begin Playing Christmas Tunes [WBZ]
WLTW & WCBS are dueling over Christmas music [NYDN]

You guys: There is a radio station in St. ...

Maura Johnston — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 15:45:00 EDT

You guys: There is a radio station in St. Louis that is already playing Christmas music. Even worse: The format has been in place on Movin 101 since at least Oct. 10. Even more worse: This so means that some genius programmer is going to "get a jump on next year's competition" by never, ever abandoning the holiday-music format, even after the return windows for unwanted gifts have long expired. [A To Z via Twelve Months Of Christmas]

"New York Post" Presents The Classiest (And Ass-iest) Music-Related Gift Guide Of 2007

jharv — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 11:30:24 EST

Yes, those are Norah Jones-branded booty shorts complete with dangling ass cheeks, only $16 and part of the Post's rundown of the hottest music-related junk to waste your gift money on this holiday season. (You can also get Sean Kingston panties, but sadly they don't say "You'll Have Me Suicidal" across the butt. The Bon Jovi thong does say "Slippery When Wet," however, because that's how we do in Jersey.) We're already wearing a pair of Ashlee Simpson's "fingerless gloves with the anarchy 'A' symbol," but we know a few more things we'll be picking up thanks to the witty urgings of the Post's Billy Heller, who should really be moonlighting as an advertising copywriter. Fer instance:

Hopefully, Dave Matthews wasn't thinking about his 1996 double-platinum album "Crash," when he decided to sell die-cast DMB NASCAR models for $64.99.

Or maybe:

Drive into a swimming pool with the Keith Moon drumsticks from thewho.com

Wow, Bill. Just...wow.

Musically Gifted [NY Post]

British Public Tallies Up Favorite Christmas Singles, Can't Account For Taste

Kate Richardson — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 11:30:14 EST

A recent MSN Music poll revealed the UK's most popular Christmas number one singles, a list that includes songs by Elvis, The Beatles, and Michael Jackson—although none of them made the top five.

No. 1: "Merry Xmas Everybody" by Slade

Also voted No. 1 on the "Best Christmas Sideburns" list.

No. 2: "Do They Know It's Christmas?" by Band Aid

OK, fair enough.

No. 3: "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen

Nothing says Christmas like rock opera and white satin.

No. 4: "Merry Christmas Everyone" by Shakin' Stevens

Holy shit, Tim Matheson put out a Christmas song!

No. 5: "Stay Another Day" by East 17

Don't tell Andy Samberg about this video, or he'll be tempted to cross the picket line and write a mediocre SNL Digital Short about it.

Wham's "Last Christmas" only reached No. 2 in 1984, but it will always hold the top spot in my heart.

Ken Barnes' latest analysis of the RIAA's ...

mjohnston — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 12:35:50 EST

Ken Barnes' latest analysis of the RIAA's gold and platinum awards reveals that one holiday staple is hoping for a Christmas miracle: "Can Mannheim Steamroller's [certified platinum] Christmas Song do the trick? It's currently at just 214,000, so it's got a lot of ground to make up. In its favor, though, it will probably improve on its weekly sales rate (last week it sold 62,000), and it may be sold in a lot of places SoundScan doesn't reach (chimneys). For all I know, they may have shipped a million copies out there anticipating demand." In a world blanketed with all-holiday-all-the-time stations, it's hard for me to see demand for the Steamroller's Christmastastic bombast, but if Clear Channel's overlords are to be believed, I'm probably in the minority. [Listen Up]

"Grandma" Singer Gets Run Over By A Lawsuit

mjohnston — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 10:15:45 EST

Surely those all-Christmas radio stations out there have already played "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer" 1,495 times during their all-day holiday blocks, but the incessant playing of that song may prove to be bittersweet for Elmo Shropshire, who warbled the almost-30-years-old song about a tippling grandmother lo those many years ago:

Elmo Shropshire was sued for breach of contract Monday by a company that claims he interfered in a $1 million-plus deal to sell musical trucks, bobblehead dolls, snow globes and cookie jars featuring characters from an animated show based on the novelty song.

The tale about Santa mowing down a tipsy grandma with his sleigh was first heard in 1979 and has become a holiday favorite. It inspired a 2000 animated TV program that continues to run seasonally around the world.

The Fred Rappoport Co. of California contends it has the rights to use the song for products featuring characters from that program. Rappoport claims it got those specific rights under a 2004 settlement of a lawsuit filed by Shropshire.

The new lawsuit, which seeks at least $2 million in damages, was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court. It contends that Shropshire this month improperly sent cease-and-desist letters to two companies that made a deal with Rappoport to market products featuring characters from the animated show.

Shropshire, who lives north of San Francisco in Novato, contended Tuesday that he was legally enforcing his rights to the song.

Rappoport "can sell any characters he wants from the movie," Shropshire said. "But I own the copyright from the song. He can't use the song without my permission."

So he can use the characters... but not reference the song? Confusing! Although this is probably setting the stage for a dis track based on a screwed and chopped sample of "Grandma" to show up on a holiday-themed truck-stop mixtape sometime in the next two weeks or so.

'Grandma ... Reindeer' Singer Is Sued [AP]
Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer [YouTube]

Clear Channel On Listeners Who Hate Christmas Music: "Those People Don't Exist"

jharv — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 12:00:29 EST

So just as quickly as two Chicago radio stations prepared to battle each other with competing all-holiday playlists nearly two months before Christmas, WCKG decided to "continue running highlight clips of afternoon star Steve Dahl." But in case you thought this swift change of plans on the part of WCKG might mean radio stations are rethinking the season-long holiday-saturation format, the bean counters at Clear Channel, which owns WLIT, want to assure you that if you hate Christmas music you're shit out of luck for the forseeable future.

Frankly, Darren Davis, Clear Channel Radio Chicago vice president of programming and operations, was pleased [by WCKG backing off].

"Everyone thinks it's a good idea to be the alternative for all those people who don't like Christmas music," Davis said. "But I see the ratings every year that show those people don't exist."

WLIT also launched its Christmas offensive on Nov. 2 last year. Its cumulative listenership among women between the ages of 25 and 54, which had been 250,000 for the first six weeks of the ratings period, shot up past 400,000 in the first week of yuletide fare.

"And it grew steadily until the week before Christmas, when it was over 600,000," he said. "The sweet spot is clearly right around here, so what the heck."

How can people want more of this stuff after six or seven weeks of solid merriment? There's some Twilight Zone-esque mind control plot going on behind the scenes here, I just know it.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Chaos At WCKG [Chicago Tribune]

Radio Stations Across The Country Continue Battling Each Other With Jingle Bell Rock

jharv — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 15:25:25 EDT

Kansas City residents aren't the only poor suckers caught in the merry crossfire, as two more radio stations have gone to war against each other via all-Christmas playlists. This time, Chicago's WLIT rushed to get its Christmas offerings on the air before dawn this morning, almost a week ahead of schedule, in order to beat WCKG, a former talk station looking to cash in on big holiday ratings. And who loses in this struggle? Only Grinches, of course.

WCKG's "Deck the Halls" gambit of making a playlist and checking it twice may very well set the stage for a competition on a larger scale since a leading candidate for the station's new format is an adult-contemporary brand that would have it going head-to-head with the WLIT for female listeners.

Last year, WLIT, or The Lite, began playing Christmas songs on Nov. 2, attracting strong ratings over the next eight weeks according to Arbitron. As of late Thursday night, a countdown clock on WLIT's Web site indicated the station would switch to a holiday playlist at midnight on Nov. 9, but obviously that was hardly etched in stone.

So since this stunt programming is an obvious ratings grab, it means that—like those Kansas City nutjobs counting down every year until the format switch—a lot of Chicago area listeners are actually waiting for radio stations to begin their double-barreled Yuletide assault. Who are these frightening people? Certainly not the helpless retail employees—like this poor commenter—now forced to live through more than two months of forced cheer. Nothing inches a person closer to suicide than hearing Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas" for the umpteenth time in a single day while stuck behind a register.

Christmas Music Already? Yule Bet [Chicago Tribune]

Kansas City Soft-Rock Stations Acting Like Christmas Creeps

mjohnston — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 17:01:32 EDT

Kansas City's KCKC flipped its format to all-Christmas music today, despite it being a) 60 degrees and sunny in the area and b) October. The switch is the latest chapter in a holiday-music rivalry KCKC has with fellow soft-rock trafficker KUDL; the Kansas City Star news item announcing the format switch was accompanied by a chart outlining just how obscenely early in the year each station made the soft-rock to snow-rock change. (Last year, KUDL went all-Christmas on Nov. 1; presumably the KCKC higher-ups thought they would fake everyone out by switching today.) And just when you think it can't get any sillier, KCKC's Wikipedia page further fleshes out how the two stations have engaged in Christmas warfare over the years:

Star 102, called KSRC-FM until 2006, says they are one of the first stations in the United States to play nothing but Christmas music in December, doing so in 1998. However, rival station KUDL that has been a Soft Rock station since 1987 actually played all Christmas music closer to Christmas for several years before Star 102. Each year many in Kansas City speculate on who will be the first to make the switch. In 2006, KUDL began in early November, with KCKC following suit the week of Thanksgiving. This led to a few listeners (who believe Christmas music belongs to the Christmas season, aka December^*) boycotting both stations.

Sounds ridiculous, right? Well, it sounds even moreso when you realize that the "Christmas Music" section of this page has been edited more than anything else. Seriously, people—even those of you whose proximity to Hallmark HQ has forever linked the holiday season with "profit"—this time of year is supposed to be about fun, not ditching your Celine Dion songs for, uh, Celine Dion Christmas songs. Are we really going to have to settle this by having both stations lay down their "Pretty Paper"-covered arms and play nothing but Paul McCartney's "Pipes Of Peace" for 24 hours straight come Dec. 25?

Christmas music on Halloween? [KansasCity.com]

^*Try reading that aside in a Comic Book Guy voice. Hilarity!