Newsletter Christmas Radio Archives

[RadioJonD]

Greetings! Here are my monthly columns for the now defunct T-X-P Newsletters. The ones where the links are no longer actived have been omited.


June 25, 2006:

Let’s tune in to a Christmas edition of Gene Autry’s “Melody Ranch” radio show this month!

From http://www.geneautry.com/home.php we learn that: “Hard-riding, sweet-singing, cowboy picture star Gene Autry” was heard each Sunday evening on radios across America via CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System. Gene’s Melody Ranch radio show aired for an unprecedented 16 years (between 1940 and 1956), featuring songs, comedy and action filled drama. Throughout the run, the show’s sponsor was cool, refreshing Doublemint Gum.

Old Time Radio Fans has a Melody Ranch Christmas show available for download:

http://tinyurl.com/l77l9
Title - Christmas Party
Size - 7.07 MB
About this episode - We do not know the date of this otr western mp3 of Gene Autry's Melody Ranch. This is a Christmas otr show.

Although the Old Time Radio Fans site lacks information about the original show date, Gene states at the beginning of this show that Christmas is four days away. My research indicates that December 21 fell on a Sunday three times during Melody Ranch Radio’s 16 year run, 1941, 1947, and 1952. I lean toward the 1947 date since “Here Comes Santa Claus”, the first song on the show, was recorded and released that year. The audio sound quality suggests pre 1952 as well.

On a side note, one old time radio site offers a show (for sale) called “Melody Ranch Christmas Party”. They list the broadcast date as December 21,1948 which is on a Tuesday. I’ve found no indication that “Melody Ranch” was ever broadcast on a Tuesday.

So, boys and girls, gather around the fireside and turn on the radio as we go back in time before television was in every home. “Melody Ranch Christmas Party” has a run time of 30:53. In addition to Gene Aurty, the show features Johnny Bonds, The Cass County Boys, Carl Cotner, The Pinafores, and announcer Lou Crosby. In between the gentle banter and gags, Gene and company croon “Here Comes Santa Claus”, O Little Town of Bethlehem”, a Christmas medley, “White Christmas”, and “Silent Night”. The last half of the show is a skit that features a five year old girl named Susan that goes to live with her grandfather following her mom’s death. With the help of Gene and Company, grandfather has a change of heart about the existence of Santa Claus.

Click the link above and choose your preferred player (by right click then “save as”) or click here, http://tinyurl.com/f8h6j to go straight to the Quick Time Player version of the show.

[RadioJonD]

July 25, 2006

This month we’re headed for the land of Auntie! Storman Norman’s Sunday Night Blues Show was a regular feature on station CFMI, Rock-101, in Vancouver, British Columbia from 2000 to 2004. Currently Storman manages The Maple Ridge Jazz & Blues Festival Society, a registered, non-profit society promoting Jazz, Blues, Roots Music & Musicians.

Here is Storman’s Christmas show from 2005. – http://www.sundayblues.com/broadcast.cfm Click on Christmas 2005 at the top & middle of web page. The show will open with Windows Media Player. I’m not sure if this show was aired or only available as a webcast. In fact, this may be a repeat of Storman’s last Christmas show for Rock 101.

From the web page, this is the playlist and a few CD recommendations from Storman Norman his own self.



December 2005
Christmas Blues

Artist-Song-CD-Label

Eddie C Campbell - Santa's Messin' - Blue Yule - Rhino
Koko Taylor - Merry Christmas - Alligator
Canned Heat - Christmas Blues - Blue Yule - Rhino
Mel Brown - Don't Plan To Party - Santa's Got Mojo -Electro-Fi
Charles Brown -Boogie Woogie Santa -Alligator
Charles and Bonnie Raitt - Merry Christmas Baby - Very Special Christmas 2
Katie Webster - Deck The Halls - Alligator
Little Charlie - Santa Claus - Alligator
Lil Ed - I'm Your Santa - Alligator
Billy Boy Arnold -Christmas Time Pt.1 - Stony Plain Christmas
B.B.King -Christmas Celebration -Even Santa Gets The Blues -Pointblank
Detroit Jr. -Christmas Day -Blue Yule -Rhino
Sonny Boy Williamson -Santa Claus - Blue Yule - Rhino
B.B. King - Merry Christmas BabyYule Be Miserable -Verve
Jack Dekeyzer - 12 Bar Days - Santa's Got Mojo - Electro-Fi
Fabulous T-Birds - Rockin' Winter Wonderland- An Austin R&B Christmas


Here is list of Christmas Blues CDs you might want to check out...

Santa's Got Mojo - Electro-Fi
Blue Yule - Rhino
Alligator Christmas - Alligator
Roomfull of Christmas - Bullseye
Bullseye Blues Christmas - Bullseye
Even Santa Gets The Blues - Virgin
Blues, Miseltoe and Santas Little Helper - Black Top
An Austin R&B Christmas -
Stony Plain's Christmas - Stony Plain
Charles Brown & Freinds - Merry Christmas Baby - True North
Charles Brown - Cool Christmas Blues Bullseye
Merry Christmas Kingsnake
Etta James - 12 Songs of Christmas Private Music
Grady Champion - Blues On Christmas Going Back Home
Rommfull of Blues - Christmas Celebration Roomfull of Christmas
Little Jimmy King & Memphis Horns - Happy Christmas Tears -Bullseye
Mark "Kaz" Kazanoff & The Well Hung Ornaments - Blue Christmas - Blues, Miseltoe... (Black Top)
Blue Christmas Instumentals - Evidence
Various - Yule Be Miserable - Verve


How many of those tunes have you heard on your Christmas radio station?

[RadioJonD]

August 25, 2006

For August, we’ll stay in the land of Auntie for another Canadian Christmas radio program.

This one is called “The Spirit of Christmas with Lorne Greene”. Yep, the same Lorne Greene that played Ben Cartright on Bonanza! The show was syndicated and aired sometime in the early to mid eighties in Canada.

Unlike the shows featured before in the newsletter, “The Spirit of Christmas” was a series of short stories as told by Lorne Greene. I suppose that each segment had a set airtime where listeners could tune in for a daily Christmas story as told by Lorne Greene.

http://www.cheezepleeze.com/spiritxmas.html . There are thirty different MP3 files here, each lasting less that two minutes. Don’t expect any tunes, unless they are in the background as Mr. Greene speaks.

If some of you still have the old Bonanza Christmas albums from the sixties, this will be a nice addition to your collection. My favorite is “Christmas In Jail”. What’s yours?

[RadioJonD]

September 25, 2006

Do you know what time it is? For this month, “It’s Howdy Doody Time!” A departure from radio, this month’s offering is from vintage vinyl . The folks over at the Kiddie Records Weekly website (http://www.kiddierecords.com/) are in the middle of a three year project to transfer Kid oriented records to MP3s. These records were produced from the mid forties to the early fifties.

So, boys and girls, instead of gathering around the radio, drag out the record player, plop down the wax and drop the needle on “Howdy Doody’s Christmas Party” - http://www.kiddierecords.com/archive/week_50.htm

This is a double 78rpm record set on the RCA Victor Little Nipper Series release from the 1950s. There are two download options as well as an audio stream.

If you aren’t old enough to remember Howdy Doody perhaps you will recognize the voice of Clarabell the Clown played by Bob Keeshan. Or at least you would if Clarabell talked! Keeshan would go on to become my generation’s Captain Kangaroo! Listen for Clarabell playing the horn.

Hey! Let’s try to hold it down out there in the Peanut Gallery, shall we?

[RadioJonD]

October 25, 2006

The Hound began airing on New York City and the Hudson Valley’s WFMU-FM 91.1 (http://wfmu.org/) in late 1985. Since the show is no longer listed in WFMU’s line up, I assume that the it no longer airs. The latest archive from the show is from late July 1995. Host Jim Marshall, a.k.a. The Hound, has gone back through his archives and transferred a great many of his shows from analog sources to MP3 files. The best part is, these shows are posted on The Hound’s web page ( http://thehound.net/index.html ) for our listening pleasure!

Our featured Christmas Radio show this month originally aired December 22, 1990. Jim conveniently makes the three hour show easy for listening. One can listen to the entire show with one click or choose certain song sets or even individual tracks. My thanks to Jim for taking the time to do this for his fans.
Click your choice to listen or download into an MP3 player for the work commute. - http://thehound.net/19901222/

The Hound as heard on WFMU December 22, 1990 (32 Kbps 22.050 kHz Mono)

-1st set – Christmas Instrumentals-
Ventures - Sleigh Ride
Rockin' Stockings ft Billy Lee
Santo & Johnny - Twistin' Bells

-2nd set 13:46-
Tommy Lee & the Orbits - Jingle Rock
Hepsters - Rockin' & Rollin' with Santa Claus
Cadillacs - Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
Davis Sisters - Christmas Boogie
Marcels - Merry Twistmas
Chuck Blevins - Sleigh Bell Rock

-3rd set 12:46-
Bob Seger & the Last Heard - Sock It To Me Santa
Bobbie & Boobie - Cool Cool Christmas
Little Joey Farr - Rock & Roll Santa
Detroit Junior - Christmas
Cordell Jackson - Rock and Roll Christmas

-4th set -Christmas Surf Hangover 11:08-
Trashmen - Dancin' with Santa
Beach Boys - Santa's Beard
Untamed Youth - Santa's Gonna Shut 'em Down
The Safaris - Surfer's Christmas List
Trashmen - Real Live Doll

-5th set - Christmas Hillbilly Hangover 13:41 -
Ernest Tubb - Merry Texas Christmas, Y'all
Commander Cody - Daddy's Drinking Up Our Christmas
Buck Owens - Blue Christmas Lights
Jerry Lee Lewis - I Can't Have a Merry Christmas Without You
Hank Snow - Reindeer Boogie 2

-6th set 8:11-
Marshall Brothers - Mr Santa's Boogie
Marvin & Johnny - It's Christmas
Babs Gonzalez - Bebop Santa
Christmas Vibe Report 6:30

-7th set- Christmas Vom Set 9:44,-
Sonics - Don't Believe in Christmas
Canned Heat & the Chipmunks - Chipmunk Song Canned Heat Boogie Combo B
Spinal Tap - Christmas with the Devil

-8th set- Christmas Soul Caboose 15:30-
Clarence Carter - Back Door Santa
Gary Walker - Santa's Got a Brand New Bag
Clyde Lasley & the Cadillac Baby Specials - Santa Came Home Drunk
Nathaniel Meyer - Mr. Santa Claus
Johnny and Jon - Christmas in Viet Nam

-9th set 13:13-
Marquees - Christmas in the Congo
Youngsters - Christmas in Jail
Charles Brown - Miserable Christmas
Huey Smith & the Clowns - Silent Night
The Moonglows - Hey Santa Claus

-10th set Christmas Blues Hangover 20:02-
Washboard Pete - Christmas Blues
Titus Turner - Christmas Morning
Sonny Boy Williamson - Sonny Boy's Christmas Blues
Jimmy Liggins - I Want My Baby for Christmas
Robert Nighthawk - Merry Christmas Baby
Hop Wilson - Merry Christmas Darling 3:06, 745 KB

-11th set 8:19-
Hank Ballard & the Midnighters - Santa Claus is Coming
Louis Prima - Santa, How Come Your Eyes Are Green When Last Year They Were Blue
Kay Martin - Santa's Doing the Horizontal
Elvis Presley - live weird Christmas medley

[RadioJonD]

The Newsletter was published weekly in November & December - RJD

November 4, 2006

How many of you saw the movie “Prairie Home Companion” this Summer? Did you like it? Now, how many knew that “A Prairie Home Companion” (PHC) is a weekly radio program on public radio?

Okay, enough with the questions! To kick off our first weekly edition of Radio Archives, here is a PHC Christmas edition from 1996. It runs two hours and is available in segments. There is a tutorial –how to listen- link for online audio files that I thought was a nice touch.

December 21, 1996 - http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/programs/19961221/
Live from Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with The Boys of the Lough, the Sonos Handbell Ensemble, and the Ypsilanti High School Chamber Singers.

Listen to the show
Requires free RealAudio player. See how to listen.

Recorded on December 21, 1996, from Ann Arbor, Michigan.

In segments
Play individual show segments as listed below.

Tishomingo (2:44)
Ann Arbor History/Blow Winter (7:13)
Ketchup Advisory Board (1:29)
GK introduces The Boys in the Lough/Tunes from the Shetland Islands (12:44)
The Twelve Days of Christmas (8:3
GK introduces The Sonos Handbell Ensemble/Three Classics (15:04)
Guy Noir (6:44)
The Ypsilanti High School Chamber Singers (9:19)
Intermission (3:29)
Greetings (5:41)
Little Drummer Boy (2:54)
GK talks to The Boys in the Lough/Jig (6:44)
Monologue (19:3
Pat Donahue/Donahue Blue (1:42)
The Sonos Handbell Ensemble, Bells of Joy (5:0
The Ypsilanti High School Chamber Singers/Three Kings (1:57)
The Ypsilanti High School Chamber Singers/Carols (7:07)
-- THAT'S OUR SHOW FOR TONIGHT!


If you enjoy the music, skits, and monologue, find a public radio station and tune in each weekend. Also follow the links for more shows on line, including Christmas ones! In fact, just about every show after Thanksgiving contains Christmas tunes and skits.

[RadioJonD]

November 11, 2006

Sherman, Mr. Peabody! Start the Wayback Machine!

This week we’ll visit a time before many of us were born or were children. Bob Hope was one of the biggest celebrities for seven or eight decades! He was known for his United Service Organization (USO) tours during various wars and conflicts beginning with World War II. Hope’s Christmas shows on radio and on television from the forties to eighties were legendary.

Align your computer’s AM radio dial to an undated radio Christmas broadcast in the Hope tradition. –
http://www.radiolovers.com/pages/bobhopeshow.htm Choose the fifth show down entitled • Christmas Show Story of Bingsy and Bobsy With Bing Crosby

Announcer - “Welcome to the Bob Hope Show transcribed direct from the Veteran’s Administration Hospital at Long Beach, California with Les Brown and His Band of Renown and special guest, Bing Crosby.”

Says Bob-
“One patient even had the Christmas Spirit while he was being bandaged. He turned to the doctor and said, ‘Before you wrap it, Id like to put a card in it’.”

“I watched one of the nurses decorating the Christmas tree in one of the wards. What a beautiful site! And the limbs on the tree weren’t bad either!”

From the audio quality and fact that the show was recorded in a Veteran’s Administration Hospital, I would guess that this show is from the mid to late 1940’s during World War II. Quite probably this was one of the USO tour shows.

[RadioJonD]

November 18, 2006

Jean Shepherd wrote a collection of short stories for various magazines that were eventually collected and published in a book. Doubleday books released “In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash” in 1966. At least one of these stories would become entrenched in our modern day Christmas traditions.

Shepherd also hosted a radio show on New York City’s WOR from 1956 to 1977. Reading his Christmas short stories on the air became a Christmas Eve became a tradition for listeners of WOR.

Offered for your enjoyment this week is a couple of those readings as heard on WOR in the 1970’s. You may recognize parts of these stories that would become the nucleus of one of our holiday movie favorites. From radio tradition to television tradition, listen to the author read what would in 1983 come to the big screen. We know it as “The Christmas Story” and watch it every year during the twenty-four marathon on one of the Turner channels!

http://www.maskmusic.com/other_music.html Scroll down to about the fourteenth and fifteenth offerings entitled-

December 24, 1971 - Earliest Christmas WOR Jean Shepherd (mp3) - (10.65 MB)

December 24, 1974 - edit - Red Ryder WOR Jean Shepherd (mp3) - (9.34 MB)

These would be good to burn and take on the road for the work or holiday vacation drive! See if you can detect any differences between the short stories and the movie. “You’ll shoot your eye out kid!”

For more about Jean Shepherd visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Shepherd

[RadioJonD]

November 25, 2006

Wow! Only one month to go! This one’s for the more traditional Christmas music lovers among us. Radio Memories Network seeks to archive and preserve old radio programs as well as offer original programming. There is a video channel as well. Whether you are into Old Time Radio (OTR), music, or original programming, Radio Memories has a channel for you.

Let’s sample one of the Christmas shows posted last year.
http://channel1.radionostalgia.libsyn.com/index.php?search_string=christmas&search=1
Scroll down about four entries to:

Sat, 24 December 2005
Big Band Serenade Christmas Special Episode 28-


The Big Band Serenade Christmas Special a blend of classics from our past and new music from the Podsafe Music Network.

Play list in order of play-
The Christmas Song - King Cole Trio
If Everyday Were Christmas ,- Slau,
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - 1944 Judy Garland
Christmas Means Love - NuBeat
White Christmas -1944 - Frank Sinatra,
I Heard The Bells on Christmas - Gary
I'll Be Home For Christmas- 1943 Bing Crosby
A Soldiers Christmas – Jay Goeppner
Blue Christmas – 1949 - Hugo Winterhalter,
Christmas Without You - Beatric Erisson
Christmas Dreaming - 1947 Frank Sinatra
Christmas Feeling - The Ben Vaughn Singers
I Yust Go Nuts At Christmas - Jogi Jorgensen
Merry Christimas Where Ever You Are - Lee Harris
You're All I Want For Christmas –1948 - Franie Lane
LovelySky of Christmas Eve - Gary
Nuttin' For Christmas - Art Mooney & His Orchestra
My Own Merry Christmas - Geoff Smith
All I want For Christmas - Spike Jones
Deck the Halls with We Wish You a Merry Christmas - Doug Boldt
Christmas Cmon - David Williams
We Three Kings - PenMachine
Give Me A Second Chance for Christmas - Candy Butchers
If Everyday Were Christmas - Podsafe For Peace

As you will notice, this is but one of several Christmas archive offerings. Sample the others and post your reviews!

For more Radio Memory Network shows, visit - http://channel1.radionostalgia.libsyn.com/ Choose from any or all of their eight channels; 1- Original Programs, 2- Yesterday USA, 3- Radio Theater, 4- Sports Channel, 5- Sci-Fi Channel, 6- History Channel, 7- Matinee Channel, & 8- Music Channel.

[RadioJonD]

December 2, 2006

Since the May issue of “The Christmas Place Newsletter”, I have posted a link and a synopsis of various types of Christmas radio programming that can be found on the world wide web. Sharing these with you has been a treat for me. Some of you have even found and posted more programs in the appropriate forum discussion threads on the many boards that we frequent. Thank you! Please continue to do so. While I’m sure that there is plenty of material to mine from the Internet, I will never be able to find it all by myself!

The links that I share are current as of newsletter post time, but may become obsolete over time. If you have the means to do so, I recommend that your download these programs into your computer’s hard drive and/or MP3 player. If the links go bad, you’ll still have the shows. One can even burn them to CDs. This works well for me since I have a thirty minute commute each way to work and can take my shows on the road.

Without further adieu, here’s this week’s offering. Many may know Little Steven Van Zandt as Silvio Dante in the HBO series, “The Sopranos”. A few may even know Little Steven as the long time, bandana-covered guitarist in Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band. However, if that isn’t enough, he has a syndicated radio show!

Here are two 2004 Christmas episodes from “Little Steven’s Underground Garage” –
http://www.littlestevensundergroundgarage.com/play/archive04.html . Click on –Jukebox- and the show will open and play in it’s own neat Psychedelic Jukebox window. Look for a playlist link as well.

From the website:
Episode 142: Christmas A Go-Go
I know what you're thinking. It's not that cold out. People are confused, a little depressed, nobody's making any money. Where's the love? Where's the Christmas Spirit? Well look no further baby, help is on the way. It's the Underground Garage Christmas A Go-Go show. That's right. We are live in Rochester, New York for the Chesterfield Kings Annual Christmas Extravaganza this year featuring the Cynics, the Charms, and Rainy Day Saints. We got so many Christmas songs and so much Christmas spirit, we are doing two Christmas shows this year. That's right. Helping us get into the holiday mood will be Social Distortion, the Dickies, Cheap Trick, and Slade. We got the Kinks, Roy Wood, Brian Setzer, and the Ronettes. Find out what Ringo Starr, Rufus Thomas, Louis Prima and Darlene Love have in common. You can't find the Christmas Spirit? Don't worry about a thing. We got more then enough to go around. Join us this week. It's Christmas A Go-Go in the Underground Garage. ~Little Steven~

Episode 143: X-MAS ’04
This is it. This is your last chance to get into the holiday spirit, baby. But don't worry. We're here to help. We're going to keep Christmas rocking all weekend in the Underground Garage. We got Ramones, Sonics, Wailers, no, not that Wailers, the other Wailers, and Keith Richards. We got obscure Beatles fan club stuff, new music from the Charms, and the Cocktail Slippers. Find out what Kris Kringle, the one-eyed demon god Odin, Joe Pesci, Soupy Sales, Darlene Love, and Edd "Kookie" Byrnes have in common. That's right. It's Christmas, Christmas all weekend in the Underground Garage. ~Little Steven~

Want more? Follow links to Christmas shows from other years.

[RadioJonD]

December 09, 2006

Merry Christmas kids! By now Christmas music is permeating from every audio orifice on the planet! You couldn’t escape it now if you wanted to! (And remember boys and girls, a preposition is a terrible thing to end a sentence with!) No doubt you are listening to a seasonal offering right now. Isn’t it nice when the rest of the world finally catches up with our year round Christmas Spirit?

Rather than an archive the next three weeks, I’ll steer you in the direction of some upcoming Christmas shows and encourage you to find your own. All during the month, many public radio stations will feature Christmas music throughout their programming. Many will switch to all Christmas music for the week (especially the weekend) immediately preceding Christmas Day. On Christmas Day, listen for special Christmas programming. Likewise, many commercial radio stations, cable systems, and other music outlets will offer extensive or exclusive Christmas tunes, though they tend to rotate the same short list of traditional songs.

Jon Solomon hosts a twenty-four hour Christmas show from 6:00 p.m., ET Christmas Eve until 6:00 p.m. Christmas Day. The show originates from Princeton, New Jersey over station WPRB
( http://www.wprb.com/ ), 103.3 FM. Jon takes requests. Get yours in early here, jon@wprb.com . Here is last year’s playlist - http://wprb.com/printplaylist.php?show_id=5792 . Those of us not in the broadcasting range of WPRB may listen online at the -listen now- link on http://www.wprb.com/. Maybe you can catch to a few hours while watching the “Christmas Story” marathon. Or, have it on as festive background music. Last year I managed to record all twenty-four hours on three eight-hour VHS HiFi video cassettes! That’s a good thing since this show isn’t archived.

Make plans now to gather around the radio or computer for the annual “Blues Before Sunrise” Christmas show during the wee hours of Sunday, December 24. Check the chat room as some of us plan to have a listening party. Find a station here, http://tinyurl.com/yhfxgf If there isn’t a station near you listen via an on line source such as Alabama Public Radio ( http://www.apr.org/ ). The show runs from twelve midnight to five a.m. CT. APR will air an encore December 30 during the same time slot. Note that BBS isn’t archived either. Here is a past playlist - http://tinyurl.com/ufava .

Last but certainly not least, is our own Uncle Thayrone’s “Bone Conduction Music Show”. We are sure to get a mention on this year’s Christmas show. If you can’t listen to WAAM 1600 from Ann Arbor, Michigan, tune in at http://www.talkradio1600.com/listings14410.asp . The annual Christmas show will be coming up Sunday evening from 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. ET on December 17th. The chat room will be active for this one! Look for an archive a couple of days later at http://www.thayrone.com/listennow.html .

Oh yeah, for a shameless plug, catch my show, “The Mistletoe Mix”, on Coolarity Radio. It will be rotated throughout the season on Thayrone’s on line web station, http://www.thayrone.com/ . If I find out any specific times I’ll post them in the forum Music section.

If anyone else records any Christmas radio shows, I’m up for trading, especially locally produced ones!

[RadioJonD]

December 23, 2006

Merry Christmas 2006 Y’all!

This weekend leading to Christmas, I’ll mention a couple of Christmas radio shows that will air soon.

It’s the annual “Blues Before Sunrise” Christmas Show during the wee hours of Christmas Eve morning. If there isn’t a station near you, join me on Alabama Public Radio via webcast – www.apr.org Tune in between 1:00 am & 6:00 am, Eastern Time. At Newsletter post time, that’s tonight boys and girls!

From the BBS web page –

BLUES BEFORE SUNRISE
Annual Christmas Program

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water - here it is again - the Annual Blues Before Sunrise Christmas Program! Every year it's the same old Christmas records and in pretty much the same order, but listeners love 'em! Charles Brown, Amos Milburn, Billy Eckstine, Louis Jordan, Nat King Cole, B.B.King, Mahalia Jackson and many more! Over the years we've found so many Christmas Blues records we don't have time for all of them - we have to decide who gets played and who gets benched this holiday. Actually it's fun no matter how many times you've heard the Blues Before Sunrise Christmas Program! And here's the Red-Hot news - we've actually located and included a handful of new Christmas records!

The Annual Blues Before Sunrise Christmas Program - Don't miss it - Only on BBS!


Then, get ready kids! It’s Jon Solomon’s 19th annual 24 hour Christmas Show on WPRB in Princeton, NJ. If you can’t tune in for the entire show, get what you can! Follow the listen links to hear the webcast. If you e-mail Jon with a request, please mention the Christmas Place!

From the web site-

Jon Solomon's Christmas Show returns .( http://www.wprb.com/ )

It is that time of year yet again! Jon Solomon presents his 19th Annual 24-Hour Holiday Radio Show. Things will start on Christmas Eve at 6:00 pm ET and run until 6:00 pm ET on Christmas day. If you want to make a request or submit a record for airplay on this WPRB tradition, email Jon at jon@wprb.com

Jon’s web page may be found at www.keepingscoreathome.com

Cool Yule Y’all! We’ll crank it all up again in January!

Jonathan, a.k.a. RadioJonD

[RadioJonD]

I don't think that the downloads are available any longer, but here is the column anyway. See what you missed! RJD

January 25, 2007

January 2007! Hope everyone has gotten off to a great start!

This month we have a download from a web site that I just can’t get enough if during the Christmas Season. The members at www.FaLaLaLaLa.com are busy all through the year ripping vinyl Christmas records to MP3 files. Along about mid November they start sharing their MP3 files. The stipulation to these shares is that the source can not have been re-released in CD format. So, pretty much all of this stuff is no longer available to the average consumer. Very often, the stories of where and how these rare gems were acquired are better than the tunes themselves!

The most anticipated part of the season is ADVENTure in Carols. Beginning December 1, webmaster Brad, a.k.a. “The King of Jingaling”, will offer a tune per day through Christmas Day. Brad sorts through all the music that he has added to his collection and chooses tunes to share. And as if that isn’t enough, cover art is available in CD format so that you have a complete package!

At the end of the season, usually in early January, ADVENTure in Carols is available in one download from rapidshare. So hurry!; this share will only be available through January 31, 2007! You are sure to connect with that special Christmas tune from your childhood!

Check out the site and forums to find links of similar offerings from several members. I know I’ve added a good bit to my collection from these sources!

From the website-
FaLaLaLaLa.com is proud to present the 2006 ADVENTure In Carols.

01 Deck The Halls - The Osmond Brothers 01:57
02 Santa’s Magical Bag - The Peppermint Kandy Kids 02:22
03 Nine Little Reindeer - Santa’s Helpers 01:48
04 Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer - The Hiltonaires With The Tony Mansell Singers 02:46
05 Partridge In A Pear Tree - The Baja Marimba Band 02:48
06 Winter Wonderland - George Garabedian 02:05
07 The Christmas Song - Ray Bloch Singers 03:25
08 Santa’s On His Way - The Town Pipers 01:56
09 Jingle Bells - Welk, Lawrence 02:06
10 What A Land Santa Land! - Don Elliott Orchestra 01:35
11 Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! - Kostelanetz, Andre 01:50
12 Honorable Congratulations - The McGuire Sisters 02:18
13 When Santa Claus Gets Your Letter - The Caroleer Singers And Orchestra 02:35
14 Carol Of The Bells - The NORAD Commanders 02:57
15 Jewish Jingle Bells - Jimmy Haskell With The Jackie Ward Singers 01:18
16 Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Harry Simeone Chorale 01:57
17 A Very Merry Christmas - Merrill Osmond 02:51
18 God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Mike Sammes Singers 02:14
19 Here Comes Santa Claus - Owen Bradley And His Quintet 01:56
20 Jingle Bells - Toots Thielemans And His Orchestra 02:52
21 Little Saint Nick - The Hollyridge Strings 02:15
22 Ring Christmas Bells/The First Noel/Jolly Old St. Nicholas - Frank Devol & The Rainbow Strings 02:44
23 Love Came Down - Harry Simeone Chorale 03:54
24 Christmas With You - Robert Way Orchestra And Chorus 02:04
25 Hark The Herald Angels Sing/Once In Royal David’s City - The Dali Caldis Ensemble 02:43


And now you can download the whole package which includes all 25 mp3 files, a text file with all original album information (which is also in the mp3 tags), and jpg files for the booklet and jewel case insert.

Enjoy!

[RadioJonD]

Some of these downlaods are no longer available but check back often as the Captain will offer repeats from time to time! RJD

February 25, 2007

Hello Children of the Yuletide!

For February we have another one of those departure from radio columns. Oh, don’t worry guys and dolls, we’ll have plenty of music to explore!

Most of you are familiar with FaLaLaLaLa.com. You have heard me go on and on about the place for some time now. One can hardly shake a candy cane at all the Christmas vinyl that the fine folks share over there! One of the prolific vinyl ripping elves of frequent contribution is a cat by the screen name of CaptainOT.

The good Captain adequately and eloquently maintains his very own Christmas Yule Blog, http://christmasyuleblog.blogspot.com/ . There, he tirelessly sorts through the many CDs in his collection, including a mountain of Christmas compilations that he receives from his legion of contacts all around the globe. The good Captain’s enthusiasm will engulf and infect even the most dull of readers as he ponders and comments on each and every track of his daily CD review. His skill with the English language ain’t shabby either!

February’s offering is fresh from the pages of the Captain’s annual review of comps he received last Christmas season. Santastic II – Clausome! http://www.djbc.net/santastic/ is a mash-up mix of some of our favorite, and not so favorite, Christmas tunes reconfigured from the imaginations of the folks that re-mix them! Yep, it’s still available to download.

While you are downloading and burning a CD of Santastic II, please do cruise by and salute the Captain at the Yuleblog and see what he has to say about this and many other works of creative minds of the Christmas music kind. Some will still be available by download. You may even see someone you know! Grab a cup of coffee, some snacks, plenty of hard drive space and/or blank CDs and be prepared to stay a spell. Not one to hog the limelight, CaptainOT also provides links to other sites that will open up even more obscure Christmas and non-Christmas music for you. Leave a comment and tell the Captain I said “Howdy”.

[RadioJonD]

March 25, 2007

The March winds whisk us down to HomeLights Land. In the November 18, 2006 Newsletter we listened to author/radio host Jean Shepherd’s on air reading of his short story that would be made into “The Christmas Story”. This month we will sample another radio talk show host named Bob Lassiter.

According to Wikipedia, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Lassiter) Bob Lassiter was a controversial radio talk show host best known for a long stint in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. A lot of his on air time was spent berating callers who dared disagree with his views. But, we will not get into any of that.

As I sat here typing the article I am listening to a Bob Lassiter Christmas show from December 23, 1988. The show was broadcast over Tampa’s WFLA. Bob, talking to adults, asks “When was the last time YOU wrote a letter to Santa Claus?” I was instantly hooked! After he talks about adults and Christmas, Bob launches into his childhood Christmas memories beginning as a five year old in 1949 and continuing on through and past his parents’ divorce in 1954. We’ll also hear his first Christmas on his own in 1960 after running away from home at the age of fifteen. After this he gets into his radio days as a DJ, my favorite part!

Reminiscent of Jean Shepherd, Lassiter will capture the essence of Christmas in his memories and family observations and bring scenes vividly alive that may even trigger a Christmas memory or two of your own.

Bob Lassiter passed away at the age of 61 in October 2006. A website to his memory is available where we find this month’s feature. Check out http://www.boblassiterairchecks.com/ The third offering down is 1988 WFLA Christmas Show 12/23/88. This program is in two parts. I think these MP3 files may be about thirty minutes each, but I confess that I lost track of time while listening. As I find time, I plan to listen to the other four Christmas offerings that are available.

[RadioJonD]

April 25, 2007

April is Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM)! So we are headed up to Springfield, Massachusetts to the home blog of Jeffrey Siegel. Jeffrey’s blog covers, in his words, “all things jazz…” and is called “Straight, No Chaser – A Jazz Show” Not surprisingly , he includes a weekly podcast of, you guessed it, jazz music.

For our April Christmas “JAM” we going to pick up Jeffrey’s Podcast 25 entitled “For a Swinging Xmas Cocktail Party” http://straightnochaserjazz.blogspot.com/2005_11_12_archive.html originally offered on Friday, December 09, 2005. A play list is conveniently posted along with the entry.

For the traditionalists, there will be no surprises here, just forty-five minutes of smooth Christmas Jazz. Mix a drink, sit back, put your feet up and relax to the familiar Jingle Jazz grooves! If you desire more, there are other holiday podcast themes before and after the Cocktail Party.

Direct to podcast - http://libsyn.com/media/straightnochaserjazz/Podcast_25_-_Xmas_Cocktail_Party.mp3

[RadioJonD]

May 25, 2007

We are taking a trip up to Twinkle’s homeland of Maryland this May! More specifically we are visiting the campus of The University of Maryland in College Park.

From 1998 to 2006, The University of Maryland’s radio station WMUC (http://wmuc.umd.edu/) was home to “Varity Is The Spice Of Life”. Host Christine Moritz offered a weekly program of diverse tunes. Christine didn’t let Christmas slide by without a turn on her show.

Our offering this month is from the December 19, 2005 broadcast of “Christmas is the Spice of Life”. Christine offers a fairly nice mix of traditional and non-traditional tinsel tunes in her three hour show. There is something here for all!

Archived for us on Christine’s own web site - http://www.varietyisthespice.com/radio/christmas.html don’t miss the opportunity to look around to find out more about an interesting person and her passion for music! In fact, Christine is available to “DJ” your next party.

[RadioJonD]

I'm not sure if all of the tune links work with this one - RJD

June 25, 2007

Can you hardly believe it? 2007 is just about half over!

Searching for Christmas audio sources on the World Wide Web doesn’t turn up near as much material as Home-Lights’ quest for videos! Wow! Thanks for the sharing those, H-L! Nonetheless, there are still places for the audiophile to find seasonal offerings.

How would you like to have a jukebox with 1,909 Christmas tunes at your fingertips? Santa Search offers just that and more. Whether searching for a certain artist or a particular version of a Christmas song, Santa Search has you covered. One can browse by title, artist, or author/composer. Once you find what you seek, you may sing along with the included lyrics. Need the sheet music? It’s there as well!

Wonder how many versions of Jingle Bells have been recorded? Santa Search has only twenty-six of them, including one by the Three Stoogies!

Santa Search - http://www.santasearch.org/music.asp

[RadioJonD]

Since there is no newsletter today, I thought I would still share the last column I had prepared. This one is Jayish's July Birthday!

RJD


Merry Christmas in July 2007 lads & lassies!

July is the birthday of our very own JayIsh! Happy Birthday, Pal! In honor of this event, we’re headed to Jay’s home state of New Jersey this month.

According to his profile, Jersey Beat proposes to be 251 years old. But he only began offering his Jersey Beat Podcasts in April 2006. December 2006 was his first Christmas Podcast. So, without further adieu, fire up the first Jersey Beat Christmas Podcast, all music, no talk!

Scroll down to December 12, 2006 - http://jerseybeatpodcast.blogspot.com/2006_12_01_archive.html


Here’s the playlist for the folks who want to keep score at home:

What You Wanted For Christmas - The AV Club

I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus - John Prine

Christmas With This Girl - The Catholic Girls

Feels Like Christmas - Boxcar Nancy

Christmas Time - The dB's

This Christmas - Dismemberment Plan

Holiday Hootenanny - Paul & Paula

Frosty The Snowman - The Ronettes

All I Want For Christmas Is A Beatle - Dora Bryan

The Christmas Song - Alex Chilton

Father Christmas - Billy

We're Gonna Have A Devo Christmas - The Ergs!

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - John Denver & The Muppets