I seem to do this post later and later each holiday season…but I did start listening to Christmas music earlier in 2015! 🙂
Either way, here is my annual “Christmas Album ‘Must Haves.'” Year-to-year it doesn’t vary much, but I’ve added a few, reorganized a bit, and made sure the links are up-to-date. Also, everything I mention here (plus a whole bunch more) plays on Countdown2.Christmas Radio, my year-round Internet Christmas radio station. I received an interesting note yesterday from a listener:
Who, What are you? We just found your station this morning. It is wonderful. Thank you for making our Christmas more enjoyable.
If you, like that person, enjoy classic, traditional Christmas music with some other great holiday tunes mixed in…then you’ll love Countdown2.Christmas Radio.
Well, enough of the preamble! Here is 2015’s Christmas Album “Must Haves” divided into groups in that will help you, if you are just starting you collection, to know what to get first.
Top 5:
- “The Christmas Song” by Nat King Cole
- “Christmas Classics” by Bing Crosby (includes “Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy” with David Bowie)
- “A Winter Romance” by Dean Martin
- “When My Heart Finds Christmas” by Harry Connick, Jr.
- “Christmas With the Chipmunks” by The Chipmunks
Next 5:
- “Elvis Christmas” by Elvis Presley (no longer available on Amazon MP3, but this might do fine)
- “A Jolly Christmas” by Frank Sinatra
- “Holiday Sing Along with Mitch” by Mitch Miller & the Gang
- “The Very Best Of Burl Ives Christmas” by Burl Ives (and this year I found another one worth nabbing: the “Burl Ives Christmas Album” where much of it is him talking with background music)
- NEW: “The Christmas Song” by Roger Wittaker (boy I love this man’s voice)
And once you have all those, I recommend you grab these…
- “Christmastime” by Michael W. Smith
- “Christmas Portrait” by The Carpenters
- “A Charlie Brown Christmas” by Vince Guaraldi Trio
- “The Classic Christmas Album” by Andy Williams
- “Christmas Cocktails” Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3, and Volume 4 by various
- “We Sing Joy” by Cloverton (this was my favorite add in 2014)
- NEW: “A Holiday Celebration With The New York Choral Society” by Peter, Paul, and Mary
- NEW: “Let’s Sing A Song Of Christmas” by Spike Jones (includes the best version of “All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth”)
Some singles:
- “The Christmas Shoes” by Eric Dodge
- “Mary Did You Know?” by The Gaither Vocal Band (basically, Mark Lowry…this is the original and best version of this song)
- “The Chanukah Song” by Adam Sandler. Okay, I know it’s not Christmas, but it is hilarious 🙂
- “Christmas at Ground Zero” by “Weird Al” Yankovic
- “Yellow Snow” by Bob Rivers (not available on Amazon MP3)
- “Christmas With a Capital C” by Go Fish
You may also want to see what Pentatonix, Ella Fitzgerald, Martina McBride, Perry Como, Kenny Rogers, Ann Murray, Louis Armstrong, Carole King, Amy Grant, Gene Autry, The Jackson 5, Pink Martini, Andre Rieu, The Four Seasons, and Celine Dione have done.
Now that you know what I put at the top of my Christmas music list…what’s on yours? Anything you would add or subtract? Please let me know!
Finally, if you do not know Jesus Christ…trust me that He is greater than any Christmas album you can listen to. Jesus “…emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:7-8, English Standard Version). We celebrate the birth of a child that allows us to be reborn into something better than we were.
A very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours!
Cross-posted on Countdown2.Christmas.