What’s on your holiday playlist?

It’s the season for holiday tunes and like many themes we write about, some songs have fascinating backstories.   

Starting with Jingle Bells, this classic was first performed for a Thanksgiving service in the 1850s at a church in Savannah, Ga. Folks loved it so much, they sang it again at Christmas time.
More recently, Jingle Bells holds the Guiness Book of Records for being the first song played in space.  

Mel Torme’s The Christmas Song, commonly known as Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire, was written during a 1944 heatwave. Irving Berlin’s White Christmas was penned for an unproduced Broadway musical that was later used in the movie musical, Holiday Inn which earned him an Oscar for Best Original Song. Thurl Ravenscroft, the voice of Tony the Tiger also sang You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch in the 1966 TV movie, How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Are you getting “that sentimental feeling?” Maybe it’s because you’re celebrating with Brenda Lee’s fans that her Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree recorded in 1958 topped the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time. We’re also happy to see that It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year by Andy Williams came in at number ten.

On that nostalgic note, we extend our season’s greetings:

“Good tidings we bring to you and your kin.

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.”