Pleasant Valley, NY – Every year it seems like retail stores and radio stations start playing Christmas music earlier than the year before. I try to hold off listening to the Christmas tunes as long as possible because honestly there just aren’t that many good Christmas songs out there. All of the classics are upwards of 50 years old, and the vast majority of the “new” songs are merely remakes of the seasonal standards. I hold off listening because I know I will get tired of them before the holiday arrives.
Just for fun I wanted to see how old these songs actually are. I went on the website for my Christmas music radio station of choice, 92.1 Lite FM and grabbed a portion of their playlist, and using a combination of Wikipedia.org and Amazon.com I found out their age.
1. Martina Mcbride – Do You Hear What I Hear? (1999) Original song written: 1962
2. Frank Sinatra & Cyndi Lauper – Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (1992) Original song written: 1934
3. Vince Guaraldi Trio – Christmas Time Is Here (1965) Original song.
4. Amy Grant – Winter Wonderland (1992) Original written: 1934
5. Clay Aiken – O Holy Night (2004) Original written: 1847
6. Ray Conniff – Ring Christmas Bells (1962) Original written: 1947
7. Bing Crosby – White Christmas (1942) Original song.
8. Thurl Ravenscroft – You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch (1966) Original song.
9. Gene Autry – Rudolph The Red-nosed Reindeer (1949) Original song.
10. Michael Buble – The Christmas Song (2007) Original song written: 1944
11. Paul Mccartney – Wonderful Christmastime (1979) Original song.
12. Vince Guaraldi Trio – O Tannenbaum (1965) Original song.
13. Hall & Oates – Jingle Bell Rock (1983) Original song written: 1957
14. Jackson 5 – I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus (1970) Original song written: 1952
15. Johnny Mathis – It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas (1986) Original song written: 1951
16. David Foster – Carol Of The Bells (1993) Original song written: 1916.
17. Faith Hill – Where Are You Christmas? (2000) Original song.
18. Whitney Houston – Do You Hear What I Hear? (1987) Original song written: 1962
19. Jimmy Durante – Frosty The Snowman (1969) Original song.
20. Air Supply – Sleigh Ride (1987) Original song written: 1948
Average age of the recordings: 30.2 years
Average age of the original songs: 60.6 years
How about some new tunes? Merry Christmas everybody!
-bgaryg
eastcoastpaperboy
fourthestateblues
jonboi
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bgaryg
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felicenavidad99
Fernando, very interesting, we get so used to the sound of the original artists so much, that it takes a while to accept the tunes under a different singer. Some of those songs are quite old! Nice story.