| Wednesday 19 December 2007 |
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Classic tunes are Christmas favorites
Ask South Shore folks for a list of their favorite Christmas tunes and you'll get some old standbys: "Jingle Bells", "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", "Silent Night". And then there are more modern hits like Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You".
That one, "for a teenage girl, definitely gets everybody in the spirit", said 18-year-old Sarah Costello of Hingham. Mike Harkins of Weymouth - thinks Carey's "whole Christmas CD is awesome". Still, most South Shore residents interviewed in an informal poll pointed to classics like "O Holy Night" and "Frosty the Snowman" as their favorites.
"It's funny. Most of these songs that are people's favorites have been around for 40 or 50 years," said Ken West, program director for WROR (105.7 FM) in Boston, which switched to an all-Christmas format after Thanksgiving for the first time this holiday season.
Nat King Cole's "The Christmas Song" (known best for the line "chestnuts roasting on an open fire") and "Feliz Navidad" have been the most popular songs at WROR, West said. He said adding new songs to the mix can backfire on radio stations.
The same songs resonate with people year after year because they bring back childhood memories and make people feel safer, West said. Christmas "would have a whole different feel to it" without its music, said Ron Clancy, author of "Best-Loved Christmas Carols".
"There's a certain resonance with any kind of song, but Christmas, especially, is a very special time of year, and therefore its music is very special", he said.
Interviewed at Hingham's Christmas in the Square event earlier this month, Hingham resident Mia Rochte said she had been "listening to Christmas music since Halloween". Rochte's favorite is "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town". Asked why, she motioned to her four kids and said, "To make sure they start behaving."
Of course, one person's beloved Christmas jingle can be another's most annoying. For Ed Carlow of Weymouth, the most grating tune is Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmas Time". "I hate that song. It's just too sickeningly repetitious", Carlow said.
Spotted at South Shore Plaza, Santa Claus revealed that his favorite Christmas song is "The Little Drummer Boy". Asked why, Santa said he didn't know. Apparently, St. Nick has more important things to think about. (The Patriot Ledger)
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