Worst Christmas Songs on the Radio

[Bobbert]

We should feel thankful that WNIC doesn't play that hip, modern, alternative Christmas music that is played on the Comcast Music Choice Seasons station.

[stopnswop2]

I would probably prefer it over WNIC's garbage playlist

[Deleted User 8570]

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas... that voice.... dear god...

[stopnswop2]

The damn Grinch song

[stopnswop2]

Christmas Eve In Sarajavo 24/7.

That drives me nuts.

[TVC_DX5678]

Hands down, unanimous verdict, 9 out of 10 Dentists agree, Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You"...all time worst song EVER for Xmas...this debate is over, I win...carry on....

I second that.

[Chris1980]

3rd worst on my list: "Do They Know It's Christmas." There won't be snow in Africa this Christmastime? Thanks for the geography/meteorology lesson, Captain Obvious. And since a large part of the continent was colonized by Europeans who introduced the indigenous peoples to Christianity, I am sure that many, many Africans are aware of Christmas. The worst part of the song is Bono howling "Well tonight, thank God it's them instead of you!"

2nd worst: "Grandma Got Run Over." My own late grandmother loathed this song, as do I.

ALL TIME WORST: "The Christmas Shoes." The Christmas music equivalent of a Lifetime or Hallmark movie - sappy, maudlin, calculated for maximum emotional exploitation and to stimulate the tear ducts (or in my case, the gag reflex). I believe there actually was a Hallmark (or Lifetime) movie made based on the song, IIRC. A Mormon blogger did a pretty funny takedown of this song a number of years ago, which can be read here (the subject of his post is actually a sappy, maudlin Mormon church children's film with similar subject matter, but he gets in some well-deserved jabs at "The Christmas Shoes" too):

https://www.ericdsnider.com/snide/the-r ... orrection/

Dishonorable mentions:
Mariah Carey's version of "O Holy Night" - Too bombastic. The ending of the song should be done softly, but Mariah keeps screaming at full volume right through the end. Celine Dion's version was done much better.
"Last Christmas" - any version. Taylor Swift's is likely the worst since she can't carry a tune in a bucket.
"I Want a Hippopotamus" - I don't mind the girl's voice, but the song itself is wretched.
"Happy Birthday, Jesus" - the Mike Douglas version. I don't think I would mind it so much if I hadn't been forced to listen to it at every family Christmas celebration as a child. '60s MOR at its cheesiest.

Honorable mentions for my favorites:
Anything by Amy Grant, The Carpenters, or Natalie Cole
Anything from the Phil Spector 1963 Christmas album, overplayed as it is
"This Christmas" - any version, but the original by Donny Hathaway is best. Makes me wish more classic soul Christmas music got played on mainstream stations.
"Christmas Through Your Eyes" by Gloria Estefan - sappy yes, but heartfelt, and not oversung.
Barbra Streisand's version of "Jingle Bells" from 1967 - she took a familiar standard and gave it enough of a twist with her arrangement to make it interesting. Wish it got more airplay.

[screen glare]

My Jewish friend who spent many years in radio complains about famous Jewish recording artists doing Christmas albums. So according to my friend those are the worst Christmas songs. Interesting since most commercial music is produced to make a buck. Probably plenty of non Jewish singers also don’t believe all the Christmas lyrics they’re mouthing.

[matt1]

Thanks to Jose Felicano for doing "The Star Spangled Banner" at Comerica Park 50 years later. The song "Feliz Navidad" is the worst song out there 48 years later!! Also "Go Tell It On The Mountain", my late mother hated that song!!!

[Bobbert]

I've been flipping the dial when Whitney Houston Christmas songs come on. Everything after her beautiful first album was way overproduced.

[Musicrewired]

I remember being highly disappointed in first hearing "Wonderful Christmastime", in that this guy was once in The Beatles, and he was capable of so much more.

Over the years, however, I got used to it, and grew to appreciate the simple sentiment his song expressed, albeit in a less-than-stellar arrangement. I think The Monkees did a good cover of it this year, and it doesn't sound time-warped and shrink-wrapped in 1979 like Paul's does.

The worst Christmas song on the radio, beating out worthy candidates "The Christmas Shoes" (the idea is fine, but it's there with "Dear Mr. Jesus" and "Butterfly Kisses" for being overly cloying) and "I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas" (I'd find a way to get Gayla one if she would just STOP singing), would have to be "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer".

It's a novelty song, I get that. I collect Christmas music, so I can appreciate it for that, but like "Santa Got A D.W.I." by Sherwin Linton, also from the 1980's, "Grandma.. " isn't a great song, and doesn't deserve classic status.

I've resigned myself to having to hear it now and then, so the distaste level is kept lower by remembering that some folks like it, so I can tolerate it for the short time it's on. In another hour, if I'm hearing it again, though, I might become a little less seasonally-accepting of it.

[Bobbert]

the one about starving kids in Africa with all the limeys yelling "DO THEY KNOW IT'S CHRISTMAS TOIME AT ALL!"

Every time I hear that song I wonder if it ever snows in Africa.

I guess this is the answer: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/image ... can-desert

[Bobbert]

My Jewish friend who spent many years in radio complains about famous Jewish recording artists doing Christmas albums. So according to my friend those are the worst Christmas songs. Interesting since most commercial music is produced to make a buck. Probably plenty of non Jewish singers also don’t believe all the Christmas lyrics they’re mouthing.

That's interesting, because many of those artists probably see Christmas as more of a cultural thing than a religious thing. But I can see the difficulty of listening to a Jewish singer sing something like "Born is the king of Israel."

One of my very favorite Christmas albums is the Leonard Bernstein album. Of course, it was with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, so that probably made it a little easier for him. And I'm sure he was always interested in giving an original arrangement to beautiful music.