Perfect Candidates Week Ten

Just got back from an unplanned extended vacation in CT. so I'm a bit behind.

Here's another batch of Christmas Crackers vying for a position in the Perfect Christmas Mix.

1. A Christmas Toast - Bing Crosby
2. A Five Pound Box of Money - Pearl Bailey
3. A Time To Be Jolly - Bing Crosby
4. A Winter's Tale - Mike Batt & David Essex
5. And The Bells Rang - Bing Crosby
6. Breath of Heaven - Amy Grant
7. December Will Be Magic Again - Kate Bush
8. Driving Home For Christmas - Chris Rea
9. I Saw Three Ships - Nat King Cole
10. It's Clichéd to be Cynical at Xmas - Half Man Half Biscuit
11. Just Like Christmas - Low
12. Let It Snow - Ray Brown Trio
13. Mary, Did You Know - Kathy Mattea
14. Oiche Chiún (Silent Night) - Enya
15. Round and Round The Christmas Tree - Bing Crosby
16. Sleigh Ride - The Ventures
17. Song of the Sleigh Bells - June Hutton
18. The Holly And The Ivy - The Norman Luboff Choir
19. The Twelve Days Of Christmas - Ray Conniff & Singers
20. We Wish You A Merry Christmas - The Kingston Trio
21. What Child is This - Vince Guaraldi Trio

Many of this week's tunes came from the following albums (selected favorites in bold)..

(I was pleasantly surprised by The Moody Blues offering - I'd only sampled bits of it in the past but it's likely to get a lot more spins from me in future. The Bing Crosby album 'A Time to be Jolly" is a one of Der Bingle's later efforts and holds great sentimental value for me -thus four tracks make the list - how many will survive until the end remains to be seen.)

A Carnegie Hall Christmas Concert
A Charlie Brown Christmas - Vince Guaraldi Trio
A Classical Christmas - Helmut Lotti
A Merry Affair
A Pooh Christmas
A Tapestry of Carols- Maddy Prior & the Carnival Band
A Time to be Jolly - Bing Crosby
A Washington Christmas - United States Marine Band
Best Christmas Album Ever
Blanca Navidad - Eydie Gorme y Los Pancho
C'est Noël Luis Mariano
Cambridge Singers - Christmas Night
Caribbean Christmas Party - The Merrymen
Carols & Capers - Maddy Prior & the Carnival Band
Celtic Christmas - Katie McMahon
Cheery, Vol. 1
Christmas All Over the World
Christmas Is For the Family - Dennis Day
Christmas Rocks
December - Moody Blues
Do You Hear... Christmas with Heather, Cookie and Raylene Rankin
Fröhliche Weihnacht überall - Calimeros
Frank Sinatra's Christmas Cabaret
Holiday Guitar - Dan Crary
In the Moon of Wintertime - Barbara Semmann
In the Spirit - Michael McDonald
Kidz Bop Christmas
Let's Share Christmas - John Pizzarelli
Meowy Christmas - Jingle Cats
Nature's Noel - Bruce Kurnow
Osmond Family Christmas
Radio City Music Hall Presents Songs Of Christmas - Stephen Hill Singers
Rock n' Roll Christmas - Dion
Sounds of Christmas - The Living Strings
The 20 Greatest Xmas Songs - Boney M
The Christmas Song - Nat King Cole
The Last Month Of The Year - The Kingston Trio
The Bing Crosby Christmas Album
The Sounds Of Christmas
The Three Tenors Christmas
The Ventures' Christmas Album
This is Christmas - Jimmy Joyce Singers
Trojan Christmas Box Set
Ultimate Christmas - Beach Boys
What Would Santa Say - Mark Shane
WOW Christmas
World Christmas
Yule B' Swingin' Too

Perfect Candidates Week Nine

Here are the latest additions to the Perfect Christmas List song candidate list.

A Marshmallow World - Johnny Mathis
And The Bells Rang - The Modernaires
Caroling, Caroling - Nat King Cole
Christmas Collage - Kathy Mattea
Deck The Halls - Sandler & Young
Do You Hear What I Hear - Bing Crosby
Driving Home For Christmas - Michael Ball
First Snowfall Medley - The Carpenters
Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane) - Elvis Presley
I Wouldn't Trade Christmas - The Sinatra Family
Jingle Bells - Diana Krall
Jingling Brass - Danny Davis & The Nashville Brass
Little Drummer Boy-Peace On Earth -Bing Crosby & David Bowie
Oh Come, All ye Faithful - Elvis Presley
Pretty Snowflakes - Patti Page
Santa Bring My Baby Back (To Me) - Elvis Presley
Santa Claus Is Back In Town - Elvis Presley
Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town - Bruce Springsteen
Schlittenfahrt Zum Weihnachtma - James Last
Silent Night - Elvis Presley
Sleigh Ride - Ella Fitzgerald
The Christmas Waltz - Peggy Lee
The Secret of Christmas - Julie Andrews
Twinkle Twinkle Little Me - Stevie Wonder

...and here are the best of where I found this week's tracks...

A Disney Family Christmas
A Renaissance Christmas - The Boston Camerata
Christmas - PlusOne
Christmas with Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass
Christmas with Julie Andrews
Country Christmas -Johnny Cash
Cowboy Christmas - Gene Autry
December II - Dag Kolsrud
Elvis' Christmas Album - Elvis Presley
Elvis Sings the Wonderful Songs of Christmas - Elvis Presley
Gipsy Christmas - Los Reyes
Happy Holidays - Sandler & Young
Hey, Mr. Christmas - V.A.
Holiday Sing Along With Mitch - Mitch Miller
Merry X-Mas from the Space-Age Bachelor Pad - Esquivel
Miracles - Kenny G.
Now! The Christmas Album - V.A.
O Holy Night - Luciano Pavarotti
Pretty Paper - Willie Nelson
Someday At Christmas - Stevie Wonder
Songs of the Season - Jane Olivor
Star Wars Christmas Album
That Christmas Feeling - Glen Campbell
The Sinatra Family Wish You a Merry Christmas
To Drive the Cold Winter Away - Loreena McKennitt
White Christmas - Bing Crosby
Winterludes - V.A.
Wurlitzer Christmas - Matthew Ross
The world of Christmas Carols - Bach Choir
wonderful Christmas - James Last

Updated master list

This week I managed to pull 16 tracks off the candidate list including a couple of charming, but not quite perfect, versions of Santa Claus is Coming to Town. As usual I love all these tunes and will be making use of most of them in other comps eventually. That leaves us with 90 songs on the master list with a new batch of candidates being added tomorrow.

Farewell to...

Bossa Nova Medley - Living Strings & Living Voices
Christmas Time in Louisiana - Johnnie Allan
Deck The Halls - The Mike Sammes Singers
Good King Wencelas - Morton Gould
Hang Your Wishes On The Tree - Les Baxter Orchestra & Chorus
Jingo Jango - Bert Kaempfert And His Orchestra
Little Drummer Boy - The Soulful Strings
Little Stowaway On Santa's Sleigh - The Golden Orchestra
Mistletoe And Wine - Cliff Richard
Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer - The Hiltonaires With The Tony Mansell Singers
Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town - The Goldiggers
Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town - The Ralph Hunter Choir
The Sleigh - Hugo & Luigi with Their Children's Chorus
The Old Sweet Songs Of Christmas - Frank DeVol & The Rainbow Strings
We Need A Little Christmas - The New Christy Minstrels
Winter Wonderland - The Peter Wood Singers

1. 2000 Miles - The Pretenders
2. A Holly Jolly Christmas - Burl Ives
3. A Merry Christmas At Grandmother's - The Andrew Sisters with Danny Kaye
4. A Very Merry Christmas - Cliff Edwards
5. All I Want for Christmas (is my Two Front Teeth) - Nat King Cole
6. Baby, It's Cold Outside - Dean Martin
7. Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley
8. Boogie Woogie Santa Claus - Lionel Hampton
9. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - Darlene Love
10. Christmas Carols - Lawrence Welk & His Champagne Music
11. Christmas Chopsticks--Bobby Vinton
12. Christmas Chopsticks - Andre Kostelanetz And His Orchestra
13. Christmas Is - Lou Rawls
14. Christmas Is - Percy Faith
15. Christmas Is The Best Of All - Johnny Tillotson
16. Christmas Love - The Rotary Connection
17. Christmas Rush - Vincent Lopez
18. Christmas Time Is Here (Vocal) - Vince Guaraldi Trio
19. Christmas in Killarney - Bing Crosby
20. Cool Yule - Louis Armstrong
21. Deck The Halls With Boughs Of Holly/Wassail Song - Hugo Winterhalter
22. Deck the Halls - Nat King Cole
23. Ding Dong! Merrily on High - The King's Singers
24. Do You Hear What I Hear - The Gamble Folk
25. Frosty The Snowman - Jimmy Durante
26. Gee Whiz, It's Christmas - Carla Thomas
27. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen - Ray Conniff
28. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - The Mike Sammes Singers
29. Happy New Year - The Glad Singers
30. Happy Sleigh Ride - Ferrante And Teicher
31. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Judy Garland
32. Here Comes Santa Claus - The Mills Brothers
33. Here We Come A-Caroling - Ray Conniff Singers
34. Holiday For Bells - Bert Kaempfert
35. Holly Jolly Christmas - Burl Ives
36. I'll Be Home For Christmas - Doris Day
37. I'll Be Home for Christmas - Frank Sinatra
38. I Don't Intend To Spend Christmas Without You - Claudine Longet
39. I Don't Intend To Spend Christmas Without You - Margo Guryan
40. I Love The Winter Weather - Tony Bennett
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 - Andy Williams
44. It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year - Johnny Mathis
45. Jing-A-Ling-A-Ling - Wayne King and His Orchestra
46. Jing Jing A Ling - Honey And The Bees
47. Jingle Bell Rock - Bobby Helms
48. Jingle Bells - Frank Sinatra
49. Jingle Bells - Glenn Miller and His Orch.
50. Jingle Bells - Johnny Cole
51. Jingle Bells/Mele Kalikimaka - Alfred Apaka And The Hawaiian Village Serenaders
52. Kay Thompson's Jingle Bells - Andy Williams
53. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! - Andre Kostelanetz
54. Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow - Dean Martin
55. Lo, How a Rose E're Blooming - Feist
56. Merry Christmas Baby - Otis Redding
57. Merry Christmas Darling - Carpenters
58. Merry Merry Christmas Baby -Dodie Stevens
59. Midnight Sleighride - Sauter-Finegan Orch.
60. Mistletoe & Holly - Jack Jones
61. Mistletoe And Holly - Frank Sinatra
62. My Favorite Things - Herb Alpert & Tijuana Brass
63. O Little Town Of Bethlehem - Domenico Savino And His Orchestra
64. Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee
65. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer - Tex Beneke, Ray Eberle And The Modernaires
66. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - Arthur Lyman
67. Santa Baby - Eartha Kitt
68. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - Peppermint Kandy Kids
69. Skating - Vince Guaraldi Trio
70. Sleigh Ride - Al Cailoa & Riz Ortolani
71. Sleigh Ride - Arthur Fiedler
72. Snow - Claudine Longet
73. Snowfall - Enoch Light
74. The Bell That Couldn't Jingle - Burt Bacharach
75. The Christmas Song - Nat King Cole
76. The Christmas Waltz - Frank Sinatra
77. The First Noel - Domenico Savino And His Orchestra
78. The Little Drummer Boy - Harry Simeone Chorale
79. The Man with the Bag - Kay Starr
80. The Merriest - June Christy
81. The Twelve Days Of Christmas - Andrews Sisters w/ Bing Crosby
82. Twas The Night Before Christmas - Fred Waring
83. Twas The Night Before Christmas - Jo Stafford
84. Vive le vent - Ginette Reno
85. Wassail Song O Christmas Tree I Saw Three Ships - Arthur Fiedler & the Boston
86. We Wish You A Merry Christmas/Jingle Bells/Where Did My Snowman Go - Gunter Kallmann Choir
87. Welcome Christmas - The Grinch Who Stole Christmas
88. What Child Is This - Julie Andrews
89. White Christmas - Bing Crosby
90. Winter Wonderland - Bing Crosby

Yules of the Game - North Pole Standards Time

As any one whose glanced over the track lists I've been posting has probably noticed - I have an affinity for the classic pop of yesteryear, these days commonly referred to as standards, and my Perfect Mix is absolutely going to reflect that. Because of this a number of my favorite Christmas albums are going to be entirely unrepresented in the candidates lists merely because they fall into the wrong genre.

There won't be much in the way of choral, classical, pure jazz, new age, celtic, traditional folk, album oriented rock, indie or altrock, blues or country & western. Many of my favorite tracks in these genres will end up on the themed compilations that I'm preparing concurrently with TPM but, despite my love, they won't make the final cut.

Besides my own personal passion for standards I feel they belong at the heart of any purportedly "Perfect" holiday mix because they truly are a vital part of the quintessential Christmas experience. The Perfect Mix is the one you put on when your closest family and friends come over to help trim the tree, it's an eighty minute audio distillation of everything that makes the holiday joyful. It should resonate with the young and the old, the hip and the square. These holiday standards, I believe, accomplish this like no other music can.

Naturally The Perfect Mix isn't always going to be "The" Perfect Mix. For a quiet dinner among friends you might want a nice selection of jazz or contemporary instrumental fare. Old friends from high school stopping by might lead you to break out the Rock and Roll. If the kids have their pals over it's time for Santa, Rudolph, Frosty and the Grinch.

While I was debating the shaky wisdom of starting this whole mix blog thingy I realized that I already had plenty of excellent, essentially "perfect", options for those times when a jazzy mix felt right, or a contemplative selection of New Age was called for. New Wave, Cajun, Blues,Country, Folk, Novelty. I have lots of terrific options on commercial releases that satisfy any jones I may have for different styles of festive tunage.What I hadn't found, despite spending far too much on pre-fab compilations and collecting dozens of mixes made by friends and family over the years, was my Perfect mix of songs.

Okay, that was just way too many words to use to simple explain why even though I love a lot of different styles of Christmas music I'll be concentrating on those songs that either are holiday "standards" or can play nicely with them. Sorry.