Top Five: Holiday Music
From time to time, I’ll be filling you in about songs that I’m listening to and talk about the time-tested party hits that seem to magically bring people onto the dancefloor. However, in an attempt to be a little bit festive, I thought I’d start by sharing my five favorite holiday tunes.
1. “2000 Miles” – The Pretenders
This is one of those songs that lots of people know when they hear it, but they don’t know the title. I’m not sure what it is about this song that pulls me in, but I love it and can’t get through a winter season without listening to it at least a few times. Musically, it’s very simple – a three-chord progression that fades in as if the band had been playing it for a few minutes before you tuned in. When you hear it, you know: it must be Christmastime.
2. “Christmas Wrapping” – The Waitresses
I get a lot of requests for this song, and it’s another one that people know without knowing the actual title or artist. 26 years after it was recorded, it still sounds great. Fortunately, it’s one of the few uptempo Christmas songs that can keep a dancefloor moving. The Waitresses were technically a one-hit wonder, although this song is just as timeless as their actual hit, “I Know What Boys Like”. Some trivia: The Waitresses also recorded the theme from ‘Square Pegs’.
3. “Linus & Lucy” – The Vince Guaraldi Trio
Everybody knows this song – you can’t help but picture the entire Peanuts gang dancing around on a cartoon state as soon as you hear it. True story: one of my clients put this song on their wedding ‘do not play’ list earlier this year because her family requested this song at almost every event they went to, regardless of the season.
4. “Jingle Bells (Robbie Hardkiss Remix) – Duke Ellington
This one comes from a hit-and-miss compilation called “Christmas Remixed”, and most of it miss except for this song. I discovered it a couple years ago while shopping at a Banana Republic and did a bunch of searching to figure out what it was. Now, I play it at just about every holiday party. It’s great!
5. The Christmas Song (Chesnuts Roasting On An Open Fire) – Nat King Cole
Absolutely timeless. Many people are too young to really appreciate Nat King Cole’s voice, but he sang this song with such a distinguished tone and with minimal orchestration. This song’s been covered by dozens of different artists, but it’s Nat’s rendition that’s a true classic.
