The Month in Review - January

So here's the candidate list so far. Ninety-eight marvelous holiday tunes. Unfortunately there's only room for twenty or so on the final CD and I haven't even started going through my main Christmas CD collection. Someone's gettin' chopped like a Tannenbaum.

1. 2000 Miles - Pretenders
2. A Holly Jolly Christmas - Burl Ives
3. A Merry Christmas At Grandmother's - The Andrew Sisters with Danny Kaye
4. A Spaceman Came Traveling - Chris De Burgh
5. A Very Merry Christmas - Cliff Edwards
6. Baby, It's Cold Outside - Dean Martin
7. Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley
8. Bossa Nova Medley - Living Strings & Living Voices
9. Christmas Carols - Lawrence Welk & His Champagne Music
10. Christmas Chopsticks - Andre Kostelanetz And His Orchestra
11. Christmas City - Merv Griffin
12. Christmas Is - Lou Rawls
13. Christmas Is - Percy Faith
14. Christmas Is The Best Of All - Johnny Tillotson
15. Christmas Is The Time To Say 'I Love You' - Billy Squier
16. Christmas Love - The Rotary Connection
17. Christmas Rush - Vincent Lopez
18. Christmas Time Is Here (Vocal) - Vince Guaraldi Trio
19. Christmas Time in Louisiana - Johnnie Allan
20. Christmas Wrapping - The Waitresses
21. Christmas in Killarney - Bing Crosby
22. Close Your Mouth (It's Christmas) - The Free Design
23. Cool Yule - Louis Armstrong
24. Deck The Halls - The Mike Sammes Singers
25. Deck The Halls With Boughs Of Holly/Wassail Song - Hugo Winterhalter
26. Ding Dong! Merrily on High - The King's Singers
27. Do You Hear What I Hear - The Gamble Folk
28. Early Christmas Morning - Cyndi Lauper
29. Frosty The Snowman - Jimmy Durante
30. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen - Ray Conniff
31. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - George Shearing Quintet
32. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - The Mike Sammes Singers
33. Good King Wencelas - Morton Gould
34. Hang Your Wishes On The Tree - Les Baxter Orchestra & Chorus
35. Happy New Year - The Glad Singers
36. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Judy Garland
37. Here Comes Santa Claus - The Mills Brothers
38. Holiday For Bells - Bert Kaempfert
39. I'll Be Home For Christmas - Doris Day
40. I'll Be Home for Christmas - Frank Sinatra
    
41. It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas - Bing Crosby
42. It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas - Perry Cuomo
43. It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year - Johnny Mathis
44. Jing-A-Ling-A-Ling - Wayne King and His Orchestra
45. Jingle Bells - Frank Sinatra
46. Jingle Bells - The Organ Orchestra
47. Jingle Bells/Mele Kalikimaka - Alfred Apaka And The Hawaiian Village Serenaders
48. Jingo Jango - Bert Kaempfert And His Orchestra
49. Last Christmas - Pas/Cal
50. Little Saint Nick - The Beach Boys
51. Little Stowaway On Santa's Sleigh - The Golden Orchestra
52. Lo, How a Rose E're Blooming - Feist
53. Merry Christmas Darling - Carpenters
54. Merry Merry Christmas Baby -Dodie Stevens
55. Merry X-Mas Everybody - Slade
56. Mistletoe And Wine - Cliff Richard
57. My Favorite Things - Herb Alpert & Tijuana Brass
58. Noite Santa, Silenciosa - Guimaraes e Seu Conjunto
59. O Little Town Of Bethlehem - Domenico Savino And His Orchestra
60. One Little Christmas Tree - Stevie Wonder
61. Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer - Dean Martin
62. Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer- The Organ Orchestra
63. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer - Tex Beneke, Ray Eberle And The Modernaires
64. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer - The Hiltonaires With The Tony Mansell Singers
65. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town - The Goldiggers
66. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town - The Ralph Hunter Choir
67. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - Bing Crosby
68. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - Jimmy McGriff
69. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - Peppermint Kandy Kids
70. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - The Jackson 5
71. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town - The Partridge Family
72. See Amid the Winter Snow - Julie Andrews
73. Skating - Vince Guaraldi Trio
74. Sleigh Ride - ArthurFiedler
75. Snow - Claudine Longet
76. Snowfall - Enoch Light
77. Step Into Christmas - Elton John
78. Thanks For Christmas - XTC
79. The Christmas Song - Nat King Cole
80. The Christmas Waltz - Frank Sinatra
81. The First Noel - Domenico Savino And His Orchestra
82. The Little Drummer Boy - Harry Simeone Chorale
83. The Little Drummer Boy - The Longines Symphonette Society
84. The Man with the Bag - Kay Starr
85. The Man with the Bag - Vonda Shepard
86. The Old Sweet Songs Of Christmas - Frank DeVol & The Rainbow Strings
87. The Sleigh - Hugo & Luigi with Their Children's Chorus
88. The Twelve Days Of Christmas - Andrews Sisters w/ Bing Crosby
89. Twas The Night Before Christmas - Fred Waring
90. Twas The Night Before Christmas - Jo Stafford
91. Wassail Song O Christmas Tree I Saw Three Ships - Arthur Fiedler & the Boston Pops
92. We Need A Little Christmas - The New Christy Minstrels
93. We Wish You A Merry Christmas/Jingle Bells/Where Did My Snowman Go - Gunter Kallmann Choir
94. Welcome Christmas - The Grinch Who Stole Christmas
95. What Child Is This - Julie Andrews
96. What Will Santa Claus Say - Mark Shane Xmas All-Stars
97. White Christmas - Bing Crosby
98. Winter Wonderland - The Peter Wood Singers

Let's start with dear old Santa. Sure, he'll be Coming to Town but that's still eleven months away so we don't need seven versions...

1. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town - The Goldiggers
2. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town - The Ralph Hunter Choir
3. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - Bing Crosby
4. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - Jimmy McGriff
5. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - Peppermint Kandy Kids
6. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - The Jackson 5
7. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town - The Partridge Family

Okay, that's four down and all i have the heart to cut now.I figure Bing's going to have at least one other tune on the mix, the bubblegum versions are terrific but maybe not perfect and the Jimmy McGriff is wonderful but a victim of the numbers. Of course theres no guarantee the three remaining tracks will make it until the end either.

Now it's Rudolph's turn...

Ever since the North Pole Cloning project was abandoned there's been no reason for more than one version of Rudy's tune on TPM.

1. Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer - Dean Martin
2. Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer- The Organ Orchestra
3. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer - Tex Beneke, Ray Eberle And The Modernaires
4. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer - The Hiltonaires With The Tony Mansell Singers

The Organ Orchestra was a dark horse from the very beginning (and they still have a shot with Jungle Bells), Dean's version is top notch but I think he'll make the list with another tune.

The good news for our departing songs is that they are now all in the running for one of our theme mixes - one of which may end up being a runners-up disc.

So, from 98 to 91. Hardly a dent. I'll revisit the list in a couple of days to try and knock a few more ornaments loose.