Top 12 Christmas hymns

It's the holidays, so it must be time for a holiday-themed list, right? Well this year, I'm I thought I would list my Top 12 Christmas hymns. Most of them will be familiar, but I expect there might be one or two most of you won't recognize.

These are the songs I associate most with Christmas. Sure you have to have the Chipmunks singing about Christmas time, and it really isn't Christmas for me until I hear Snoopy facing off against the Red Baron on the radio, but these are the songs that really put me in the mood.

I'd totally forgotten one of our traditions growing up was to call my grandma on my Mom's side and sing Silent Night to her on Christmas Eve, and then we got to open one present.

Another important part of this music is singing it with a group of people. The church I grew up in was a singing church. We had a strong history and present of singing accapella, and that really made these songs special. I was going to write about each song, but that was when I was going to do a set of posts. For this, you just get the video and no explanation. I will mention that I really love songs that have a lot going on, especially in a minor key, hence the top pick. But enough of all the background, let's get to the list.

Number 12-Hark the Herald Angels Sing

Number 11-O Come all Ye Faithful

Number 10-Joy to the World

Number 9- To Us a Child

Number 8-The First Noel

Number 7-It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

Number 6-Silent Night

Number 5-Oh Holy Night

Number 4-What Child is This?

Number 3- We Three Kings

Number 2-Angels We have Heard on High

Number 1-Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel

Top Twelve Christmas Specials (Top 3)

Number 3- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Sure Rudolph is adorable and there are some amazing things going on with the animation here, but there's more to my placement than that. Rudolph is a cute tale and it has one of the most memorable holiday songs out there, but I don't really find myself missing it if I don't happen to catch it. It's still one of the major holiday draws for sure, but it's not the best.

Number 2- Charlie Brown Christmas Special

This is one of the best Christmas specials ever. The story is simple but touching. The characters are familiar and delightful. More importantly, the music is unforgettable. Charlie Brown just can't get into the Christmas spirit. I'm sure most of us have been there at some point in our lives. Thankfully Charlie Brown shows us that it could be worse.

Number 1- How the Grinch Stole Christmas

 Here it is, the number one special of Christmas. Just like the Peanuts special this one has great music and a simple story that delivers. It also has something the Peanuts just can't offer-the voice stylings Boris Karloff and that guy that does the voice of Tony the Tiger. It was a tough choice, but the Grinch wins this one. (Just don't ask me to watch the Jim Carey movie.)

Top 12 Christmas Specials (6-4)

Number 6-Frosty the Snow Man

Yes, this is a classic. Yes, it has a great song that inspired it. Yes, I know you probably won't agree with me on this one, but it's my list. Frosty is a fun little story, but it isn't all that Christmasy to me. Sure Santa comes in and saves the day, but that doesn't really change the fact that it is really a winter-play-time story. There's nothing wrong with that, but it does hurt poor Frosty in my standings.

Number 5- Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol

The myopic, Mr. Magoo, takes on the role of Ebenezer Scrooge in Dicken's immortal Christmas Carol. It's a musical and Magoo does a great job of playing the character of Scrooge. It's pretty close to the original story with the subtraction of Scrooge's nephew. It moves quite quickly, and the musical numbers are cute for the most part. It's a good storyline even though Mr. Magoo isn't a very well known character these days.

Number 4- Disney Christmas Carol

Who better to play Ebenezer Scrooge than Disney's own Scrooge McDuck? The people at Disney did a great job of casting the various characters. It's almost like Scrooge was created to play this part at some point. He's got the nephew and the money grubbing ways. It gets everything from the story and does it in a way that is fresh because it is done with Disney characters in ways that make sense.

Top 12 Christmas Specials- Part II

Number 9-Santa Claus is Comin' to Town

This is the somewhat fictionalized story of how Santa came to be. OK, fine, this one was pulled out of someplace and it doesn't really have anything to do with reality. Some of the story lines are fun to watch, especially the main bad guy that is trying to keep toys out of his town.

Number 8- Jack Frost

Did you ever wonder who Jack Frost actually was and what kind of a story he might have? Well, now you can find out the real story of Jack Frost, the spirit of wintertime that became a man for the sake of love. Well, that's really all there is to say about that one.

Number 7- The Little Drummer Boy

I'm sure you know the song, so the plot of this special won't surprise you too much. It's a very well done adaptation of the song and regardless of your beliefs, you can't help but be touched by a poor small child doing what he can with what he has available.

Top 12 Christmas Specials Part I

Number 12-The Nutcracker

OK, I don't have anything specific with this one. Sure there are tons of interpretations and versions you can watch, but I think that I'm thinking of the ballet performances primarily. Regardless of how you see the story, it's an important part of the holiday. You know you know the songs from the ballet and as soon as you hear them you think of Christmas. It's not an actual special like what the other entries will be, but it is a special part of the holidays.

Number 11- I want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown

I know when you think Christmas and Peanuts, you're thinking about the story where Lucy and Linus' brother Rerun wants Snoopy to be his dog when he wakes up Christmas morning. Yeah, I'm thinking of a much better story too. This isn't terrible, but it doesn't nearly compare to the original Christmas special done with the Peanuts crew.

Number 10- A Year without Santa

 Santa is sick just before Christmas and this puts him in a bad mood about the holiday. Isn't there anyone out there that still believes in Santa? While he's laid up in bed recovering, Mrs. Claus sends a couple of elves to find some Christmas cheer. The elves run into the never ending battle between Heat Miser and Cold Miser. They both have similar songs and it makes sense that they would be at odds. I probably would have put this higher on the list if the Cold Miser song hadn't been a part of Batman and Robin.

Top 12 Christmas Specials-Honorable Mentions

When Christmas time rolls around, there are many things that you can expect-excessive sales pitches for everything in the world, lots of Christmas music, and plenty of Christmas specials. There's going to be something Christmas/holiday related on pretty much every television show you can list even if it's to promote a little-known holiday like Festivus. (for the rest of us.)

Since it is that time of year, I thought it was appropriate to make a fun little list to showcase the best of those Christmas specials. For this list, I'm pretty much going to stick to animated specials rather than television shows. I will make a couple of exceptions, but it won't be for any television show, it will be for a stand alone kind of special.

As often happens with these kinds of lists, I'll start with some honorable mentions.

Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas

This is a special that was put together by Jim Henson and his fellow Muppeteers. It's an interesting take on the popular short Christmas story, The Gift of the Magi. Emmet and his mother are both trying to get by the best that they can. Then they decide to get each other a gift. In a twist, they each use something the other person needs in order to compete in a talent show to get them something better. Unfortunately this also ruins both of their livelihoods. I won't give anything away, but it's a great lesson in giving and receiving.

I don't think this special is shown anymore, which is why it isn't in the list, but it is still a great production and a great story. As with most Muppet productions, the music is phenomenal. (Do do do do do.) Hopefully you'll get a chance to check it out.
That Bing Crosby Special where he sings with David Bowie

I know, this doesn't really fit well with the rest of the list, but I had to include it just for the part where David Bowie shows up and Bing's 'house' and they have a moment where they sing 'The Little Drummer Boy." It is probably the most surreal moment in music. The conversation before the song starts is especially odd. Definitely check out the song if you haven't heard it before.

"A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens (a book review)

Let's consider the life of Ebenezer Scrooge. Here we have a man who has dedicated his entire life to the system of capitalism, to the improvement of the British economy. You might even call him a captain of industry. Sure he has lots of issues keeping down his overhead by keeping heating costs down and reducing the size of his staff.

Poor Ebenezer also has issues with keeping up with the demands of the holidays. Everyone is looking for him to contribute to their charities in a time that charitable giving wasn't tax deductible. He also has family wanting more of his time than he has available. What's a poor rich man supposed to do?

That's probably the spin that would be put on a Christmas Carol if Charles Dickens had been writing his classic Christmas story today. Instead, we get Scrooge portrayed as a greedy selfish man who is only looking out for number one even at the expense of the poor Cratchet family.

Dickens uses a device that seems unoriginal to us, but was very intriguing to the Victorian-era people of England-a visit by a series of ghosts that spoke from the past, present, and future of Scrooge's life. There job is to teach Scrooge the true meaning of Christmas. You already know how the story goes, but it is worth checking out the way Dickens writes the tales. It is a quick read and depending on the copy you use, it will probably be less than 100 pages.  Check this tale out as a part of your Christmas tradition.

Christmas songs I'm already sick of hearing.

I'm not a scrooge, and I don't really hate  Christmas or Christmas music, but there are just some songs that either get overplayed or I just don't want to listen to at Christmas or any time. Here's a listing of some of the songs I'll be glad not to hear after Christmas.

Jingle Bells by Barking Dogs

I haven't even heard this song yet this year, and I've heard it too many times. I think it's an interesting concept, but it get's old after about five seconds. Why do people want to listen to this song? If your dog starts barking, you don't try to teach it to bark with the song. You tell them to shut up and go back to what you were doing. Why do we have a song that teaches dogs to bark whenever they want to?

Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer by Elmo and Patsy Shropshire

I will admit that I loved this song the first couple of years that I knew what I was listening to around Christmas time. It's a funny take on Santa and paints him as the bad guy, but it gets old fast especially when it seems to be everywhere you go. Here's a bigger issue with the song-what's the real story here? Isn't it much more likely that Granddad just made up the story about Grandma getting run over by a reindeer? What really happened to Grandma? Maybe Granddad ran her over because he couldn't see where he was driving or something even worse. How's that for a reason not to like this song?

Last Christmas I Gave You My Heart by Wham!

"Last Christmas I gave you my heart, but the very next day you gave it away. So this year to save me some tears, I'll give it to someone special." That's the song. End it already. Actually there are verses, but after I hear the chorus 5000 times (yes this is hyperbole but not by much) I can't remember ever hearing any of them. This song just doesn't want to end, or stop complaining about how horrible it was that their heart was broken on Christmas. I'm sure people can relate to the song, but it doesn't make it any easier to listen to.

Blue Christmas by Elvis Presley

Don't take this the wrong way. Elvis is great. He is the King of Rock and Roll. I don't want to get into an argument about that, but I can't stand it when this song his the air. I think it has a lot to do with the death of my mother during 2009. It was hard to listen to Presley sing about having a blue Christmas just because some girl dumped him when I was facing that first Christmas without my mother. Elvis just didn't know enough about being blue when the song was done.

Wish you the merriest-Frank Sinatra

A while back I wrote a relatively short post stating that Bing Crosby was the voice of Christmas. (Check it out here: http://lockheed40.blogspot.com/2010/12/bing-crosby-is-voice-of-christmas.html) There's a reason, and this song is it. I've got nothing against Sinatra, but where "Last Christmas" at least has a reason to exist, this song is just a long-winded "Merry Christmas."

Instrumental versions of songs I want to hear someone sing

If you're going to play a Christmas song, then have the words in there. This complaint does not go for songs that don't have words. In that case, don't add words to songs that don't need them. It seems like a small problem, but I want the words to my favorite Christmas songs. If you want it to be instrumental, then play the "Carol of the Bells," or "Sleigh Ride." That will make everyone happy.

I could go on, but I think this will be enough for this year. Feel free to leave a comment on your opinion on the matter.

Top Twelve Christmas Movies (Part III)

Number 12-While You Were Sleeping

Number 11-Babes in Toyland

Number 10-The Santa Clause

Number 9-Die Hard

Number 8-Santa Conquers the Martians

Number 7-Home Alone

Number 6

So with Bill Murray's "Scrooged" I think I'd better do the same thing I did with "Babes in Toyland" on part II of the list. This kind of includes every version of "A Christmas Carol" which is probably the most popular topic for Christmas movies and specials. "A Christmas Carol" has been done by just about everyone, and Ebenezer Scrooge is probably the most acted character in all of Christmas tradition. (with the exception of Mary and Joseph)

I don't need to tell you the plot of "Scrooged." A guy who doesn't get the meaning of Christmas gets visited by four ghosts and learns the error of his ways. What you do need to know is that Bill Murray is hilarious as the Scrooge-type character, and the ghosts are brilliant. The spin that is put on this movie makes it a must-see for the holidays.

Number 5

"It's a Wonderful Life" was once the standard classic Christmas movie. I remember my mom getting so excited that it was finally going to be on the air for its one big showing. These days we don't have that same kind of expectation. One of the TV stations is showing the same movie twice in a row just for the sake of doing it.

This movie does a great job of helping you to think about the positive things in your life. At the time the concept was less well known than it is now. What would the world be like if you'd never been born? We see the story redone all the time. Disney even did a version with Kermit the Frog finding out what the world of the Muppets would have been like if he'd never left the swamp.

Even though it's been done before, it's never been done as well as Jimmy Stewart does it, so check this one out this Christmas.

Number 4

If you read part I of this list, then you already know that the movie "White Christmas" was not the first time this song appeared in a movie. (That would be Holiday Inn.) The popularity of the song led movie studios to make a movie based on the song.

White Christmas is a war-time movie that opens on Christmas Eve on the war front. Bing Crosby plays a soldier who is a fairly popular performer in his civilian life and Danny Kaye plays his buddy. The two are putting on a show for the troops that is also a farewell to their Sergent. After the war Crosby and Kaye form a team and get pretty popular. Close to Christmas the two meet a pair of sisters that are sisters of an old army buddy. They are also performers and the four hit it off. By a strange twist of coincidence, the sisters are going to perform at an inn run by their old Sergent who is having financial troubles. The duo quickly decide to do something to help. I'll leave it at that in case you're a complete slacker and haven't seen this Christmas classic. (If you haven't, what are you waiting for? Go find this movie now!)

Number 3

Some Christmas movies like "White Christmas" take a fairly realistic approach to the story, some movies ask you to stretch your imagination a little. "Elf" asks you to take the plausible and throw it out the window. The only reason this movie works at all is Will Ferrell's ability to make the implausible feel like it could actually happen.

The basic outline of the story is that Buddy is a baby and was accidentally picked up while Santa was delivering packages to the orphanage. Santa and the elves decide to adopt Buddy and they don't bother to tell him that he isn't really an elf even though he grows up to be 6' tall and doesn't have the basic elf skills to be a good elf. His father finally tells Buddy the truth, and Buddy decides to travel to New York City to find his real father, who is on the naughty list.

The story is done very well, and Ferrell manages to give Buddy the right amount of ridiculous without going overboard. When I saw "Elf" in the theater, I couldn't stop laughing the entire movie right from the moment that Bob Newhart shows up on the screen as Buddy's elf father.
 

Number 2

Remember how I was just talking about movies that pushed the boundaries of believability? This is where "Miracle on 34th Street" makes the scene. What if Santa Claus was real? What if he was playing Santa at random stores at different points and times? What if people found out that he was Santa, or at least thought that he was Santa?

These are the questions that this movie tries to answer. The actor that plays Santa is very believable, and you get the best part of the movie when Santa Claus gets put on trial. If you haven't seen this movie, you must have been hiding under a rock for every Christmas of your life.

Get off your duff and find a copy of this movie or find it on TV. You won't regret it.

Number 1

This is the one, the biggest movie when Christmas comes around. The tale of Ralphie as he tries to fight off bullies and convince Santa to get him a Red Rider BB gun so he can get around his mother's declarations that "he'll shoot his eye out." This movie is filled with all sorts of memorable events and moments that make it a great movie in its own rights. "A Christmas Story" also has one major item that pushes it over the top. Remember how I talked about "It's a Wonderful Life" being an event rather than a movie? That's what has happened to "A Christmas Story."

This is the only movie with at 24-hour marathon showing. That's right, you can watch this movie 12 times in a row starting on Christmas Eve and all the way through to Christmas night. No other movie can boast such a epic presentation. (Well, I should throw in a note that "Groundhog's Day" also has a 24-hour marathon in Puxatauny, PA on Groundhog's Day.) Once again, this is a must see movie. The only way you could miss this movie is if you were living on another planet for your entire life.

Anyway, that's the top twelve Christmas movies. Feel free to leave me a comment. If there's time before the big day, I'll try to put together another top twelve list.

Top Twelve Christmas movies (part II)

We've already gotten the preliminaries out of the way in part I so if you haven't seen that yet, check it out. Here's the first half of our list.

Number 12

"While You Were Sleeping" takes full advantage of the Christmas holiday to make Sandra Bullock's character's believable. A lonely single young woman saves the life of a man she's been interested in for years and is mistakenly thought to be his fiance through some miscommunication. Who can blame her for going through with the deception?

While the man she thinks she likes is in a coma, she gets to know his brother and things get really complicated from there. I'm not sure we can say that the movie does more than take advantage of the holiday to play with our emotions, but it isn't obvious about it. It's a fun movie, and if you haven't' seen it already, you should get your act together and check it out.

Number 11

"Babes in Toyland" has had a long history. It started as a popular operetta in 1903 written by Victor Herbert. In 1934, it was made into a movie that started the comedy team of Laurel and Hardy. This was probably their best-known and best-loved movie. In 1961, the Walt Disney company remade the movie. This version starred one of Disney's favorite Mouseketeers, Annette Funicello. 1986 saw yet another release with Drew Barrymore and Keanu Reeves, but not in romantic roles since Drew was playing an 11-year-old at the time.

These are the main three versions, and there have been plenty of others that I have no interest in at all. I also never saw the 1986 version. I recommend that you find one of the older versions (or both) and spend a night checking them out. I think it will be a fine addition to your holidays.

Number 10

"The Santa Clause" is the movie that kept Tim Allen from disappearing into obscurity after his television show, Home Improvement, went off the air. This movie has two sequels, and like most sequels they get a little more ridiculous as they progress, but it is a fun franchise to enjoy during the holidays.

The plot is pretty simple even if it is a little bizarre. Allen's character accidentally kills Santa on Christmas Eve. It turns out that there is a Santa Claus the makes whoever might kill Santa the new bit man of Christmas. Allen spends the next year slowly turning into Santa and fighting the change all the way. If you haven't seen this movie, get off your backside and watch it. Then you can decide what to do about the other movies.

Number 9

"Die Hard" is the ultimate Christmas action movie. This is the movie that made Willis an action star and moved him from TV to the big screen. Follow Bruce Willis as he plays John McCain trying to stop terrorists from killing his wife. Wait, let me back up a little bit.

John McCain is a NYC cop who has flown out to LA to see his estranged wife and kids for Christmas. She is working for a large corporation on the West Coast which just happens to get their building taken hostage on Christmas Eve.

 Look for Die Hard I and II to give you a healthy dose of Christmas action. There are plenty of explosions and Willis just dishes out the snappy banter throughout the entire movie.

Number 8

What are the people of Mars to do when their children discover Earth television and learn about Santa Claus? Well of course the best solution is to kidnap Santa and force him to make toys for all the Martian children. That's the plot for "Santa Conquers the Martians," and the movie is just about as bad as you might expect.

This is one of those "so bad it's good" movies. The kind they use on Mystery Science Theater 3000. (In fact, the team did release their commentary on this,) Special effects are seriously old school and the aliens are definitely just people in cheap costumes and let's not talk about the quality of the acting.Do yourself a favor and check it out even if you only see it once in your life.

Number 7

You know this kind of thing happens every Christmas. Some kid gets left behind in the chaos of trying to get the whole family to the airport. That's no big deal. Of course there has to be the burglars trying to get into the house while the family is away. Wait, when does that ever happen? That's right, it happens in the "Home Alone" movies.

A poor stranded boy stops two experienced thieves the only way he can-lots of goofy traps and pratfalls. Be on the lookout for the scene where Kevin orders a pizza and uses a movie to tell the delivery guy what to do

This franchise would get a much higher rating if the story hadn't been beaten to death. The first movie is truly a classic and deserves to be a part of your Christmas movie routine, and "keep the change, you filthy animal."


Be on the lookout for part III of the list coming out soon, and feel free to leave a comment below to tell me what you think.

Top Twelve Christmas movies (Part I)

When it comes to holidays, Christmas is definitely the one that gets the most attention. Movies, music, and television specials abound during this holiday. I'm going to tackle them all, but let's start with movies. What better way to look at the Christmas season than to look at my Top Twelve Christmas movies.

Honorable Mentions

Serendipity has almost nothing to do with Christmas, but it does start and end at Christmas time. Jonathan and Sara meet while shopping for a pair of gloves. They just happen to be looking for the exact same pair. He's looking to buy them for his girl friend for Christmas and she wants them for herself. They connect but they are both in relationships. When Jonathan pushes Sara for her number, she makes a deal with him. She writes her number in a copy of the book she's reading and he writes his on a five-dollar bill.

Several years later just before his wedding, Jonathan decides he needs to try to find Sara to convince himself that he didn't miss out on something important. Sara meanwhile has just gotten engaged to her musician boyfriend and looks for Jonathan for the same reason. I'll stop there. You should see this for yourself.



Holiday Inn starts with Jim (Crosby) deciding to get out of show business after his partners Ted (Astaire) and Lila are leaving the act to get married. Jim has the crazy idea of buying a farm and living the easy life. After trying the easy life he gets another crazy idea. He decides to that the farm house and turn it into a club that is only open for holidays. He figures he can make enough on the holidays to live the easy life.

While getting things around on Christmas Eve for the opening night on New Year's Eve, Jim meets Linda an aspiring dancer and singer who is hoping to work for at the Inn. There's an immediate connection and he teaches her "White Christmas" one of the songs for the following year.

Things get interesting when Lila leaves Ted for a millionaire and Ted decides Linda is the perfect choice for a new partner. This movie is great for every holiday of the year. 

In "Going My Way," Crosby plays Father O'Malley a young priest who has been sent to help out at a struggling parish. While helping Father Fitzgibbon, the older priest, figure out what the parish needs, he also manages to help out a struggling singer, turns the local ruffians into a choir, and make life in the parish a better place all the way around.

I won't say much more about this movie and its connections to Christmas since that will ruin the ending, but it is a fun movie. Also if you look closely you can spot the boy who played Alfalfa in the "Little Rascals as one of the boys in the choir.

Bing Crosby is the voice of Christmas!

I was listening to the radio today while I was driving home and the guy was talking about Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. He called himself a "Frankie fan" and that's all good and fine, but since it is almost the end of December, I'm more inclined to be thinking about the music of Bing Crosby.

Let's jump in the time machine for a minute and go back to the days when movies were in black and white because there wasn't another option rather than for artistic reasons. Hollywood saw the potential to take the Christmas holiday and turn it into a money-making opportunity. All it would take is a few good movies that would set the standard, and draw audiences into the holiday. Another big part of the old black-and-white movies, was music. The musical movie was an idea that got overused at times, but that was how the era worked. There were plenty of Christmas movies: "A Miracle on 34th Street," "It's a Wonderful Life," and a little movie called "White Christmas."

"White Christmas" wasn't the first Christmas movie, and it wasn't the first time Bing Crosby had sung the title song in a movie. (It was fist sung in "Holiday Inn," starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire.)  Nevertheless, "White Christmas" became one of the main songs of the holiday even in parts of the country that seldom see any snow.  We can look to other popular songs of the holiday, but it is this song and others sung by Bing Crosby that really speak to the holiday.

There are plenty of Christmas songs, and just about everyone tries their voice at them at some point, but Bing Crosby is the man that makes it really happen.  You may disagree, but that's how I feel about it. Feel free to share your opinion below.

Black Friday

I don't know if it's completely safe to say this yet, but it's where I'm going to start anyway: The world managed to get past Black Friday without any deaths this year.  That may seem like a silly way to start an opinion piece about the "Biggest shopping day of the year," but it's valid when you consider just how seriously people take their holiday shopping. There are often stories about fights that break out over a pair of discounted socks or the last Gameboy DSi that's a part of the $10-off sale. There are even stories about people who tripped while making their way into the store and were trampled to death by the crowd that followed them.

So with all the dangers involved with Black Friday, why are so many people rushing out for extremely early openings and lots of deals they probably don't really want? Well, in an attempt to bolster sales figures, stores put on huge sales to draw in customers and keep the American economy from collapsing. Does it work? Most years it does. Customers run out in waves to pick up the latest and greatest (or just cheapest) in everything. Are there great deals to be had out there? Absolutely, but does it really justify all of the insanity?

Here's a crazy thought, how much money could customers save if all of these big Black Friday sales were canceled and prices were lowered to the average sales price? No sales, just lower prices. Would people be more inclined to buy on a regular basis? Would there be less rush to crowd into stores to fight over that big sale? My guess is the answer is yes. Will it ever happen. Probably not.

So that's my thoughts on the topic of Black Friday. You can do with it what you want. If you have any thoughts, feel free to leave a comment. Also feel free to suggest a topic, and I'll try to get to it as soon as possible.