Let's take a poll
Will your local stations known for playing Christmas music switch to Christmas before thanksgiving?
After thanksgiving but still in November?
First week of December?
VOTE NOW!
As a secular station KDX Worldround Radio celebrates the Winter Solstice on December 22, the shortest day of the year, longest night of the year, after which days begin to increase in length slowly by the minute, toward a new year.
Every year we utilize two musical works for the Solstice.
The first is a short popular type song called "Christmas Dream" composed by a 21-year old Andrew Lloyd Weber for the film "The Odessa File," sung by Perry Como because he was popular during the time period covered in the movie, just after the war with Germany. The lyrics spell out the Christmas Dream as the spell experienced amidst wartime population who pause briefly to be friendly and generous.
Our second choice is the 20-minute "Christmas Cantata" written during the last days in the life of Swiss composer Arthur Honneger depicting a cold dead wintery world briefly alive as colored lights and joyous songs erupt from the human inhabitants, eventually fading back to cold, brutal reality.
In a way both compositions express the same idea.
As others celebrate the one-act annual play-act called "Christmas" Carl Blare broadcasts plain, ordinary programming for the minority of evolved men and women who lay low for the holidays.
WDCX now knows as Druid Hills Radio will be broadcasting Polka music from Tim during the holidays. Rumor has it that with Tim's permission a local LPFM (WLSL-LP) might be sending Polka out to the unwashed masses of Eastern Pasco County, Florida.
I start my christmas music the 2nd week in to December, playing 2 tracks an hour. It gets a bit much too early.
I don't do anything special for Christmas music wise. I do like to play this tune however:
My adult kids like it a lot.
Neil
Great Carl, you rock, I appreciate your eccentric thoughts. Reading your post, I was laughing instead of getting sad about local stations leap-frogging one another to be the first to Christmas music on air and cash in.
Atleast here they wait until after thanksgiving.
I've never been much of a believer in fulltime christmas tunes.
None of my part 15s have ever gone fulltime with the xmas jams, I usually just mix them in starting the first or second week into December.
The Full Power I program does the same, except it does go all Christmas on Christmas Day until around noon or three in the afternoon, then I take it all out.
I have always "heard" christmas tunes as commercial jingles. Every one of them says "shop happy","buy plenty","spend-a-lot","guilt-or-give."
Radio stations give away free ad time by playing christmas music.