# Will there ever be any new Christmas music? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 2, 2015, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262 "2015-12-02T23:08:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/21 "2015-12-03T03:01:34Z")
Billy Idol - [Yellin’ at the Christmas Tree.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ9CqscaMxM) OK, not exactly new, it’s about ten years old, but it’s fairly recent. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/22 "2015-12-03T03:04:19Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > [The Killers have been releasing an original Christmas song every year for a good decade now](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Killers#Annual_Christmas_singles), so there’s that. They played “Joel, Joel, the Lump of Coal” on Jimmy Fallon last night. That was pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/23 "2015-12-03T03:13:36Z")
It’s a conservative genre but not completely immune to new offerings. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/24 "2015-12-03T03:15:14Z")
_Mary Did you Know_ was written about 20 years ago. Well after my childhood. Probably the most successful of the new Christmas songs. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/25 "2015-12-03T04:16:04Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Spud** : > > It [Wonderful Christmas Time] gets regular play on any station that is going to play Christmas Tunes and seems to be well accepted by all ages, plus it is a pretty good tune. Gah! Are you _trying_ to make me claw my eardrums out? Not only is that the easiest song ever to get stuck in one’s head, but it’s also the most obnoxiously annoying tune. If I’m going to have something stuck in my head, it should at least be something _good_. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/26 "2015-12-03T10:25:31Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > Three songs first recorded in 2012 written by someone you love- _ME!!!_ Your good friend **bienville**!!! > 🙂 > > They’re not in “heavy rotation” yet. Let’s see what we can do to change that! > > YouTube links: > [ul] > [li][Family Thanksgiving, Family Christmas](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHfxsNfGAw4)[/li][li][That Early Winter Sundown](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUZmtEt1Tfk)[/li][li][Spending The Holidays With People I Love](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIE9W7zSbqs)[/li][/ul] > > Enjoy!!! Thanks **bienville** , I like those! ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/27 "2015-12-03T12:18:40Z")
> [@Spud](#): > > I would have to nominate Paul McCartney’s Wonderful Christmas Time. > > It gets regular play on any station that is going to play Christmas Tunes and seems to be well accepted by all ages, plus it is a pretty good tune. > > Ok, it is about 8 years old, but in the world of Christmas songs it is practically a newborn. That song is one of the most annoying and badly written pieces of shit ever recorded in any genre. In my humble opinion of course. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/28 "2015-12-03T12:29:58Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > That song is one of the most annoying and badly written pieces of shit ever recorded in any genre. > > In my humble opinion of course. It was written by Paul at a point where he was 1. playing around with a new synth he’d just bought, and 2. stoned out of his gourd for several days in a row. That explains a lot about that song. Plenty of novelty songs around every year. Some not-very-recent ones include [Proper Crimbo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqBF7TiyATo), [Once Upon a Christmas Song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kmPz5IbU90), and [The Way-Too-Early Christmas Song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kB-dMFjkh5A). All quality entries in their own unique way. The non-novelty songs putter on as well. Being a maudlin sort, I remain a fan of the Eagles’ “Please Come Home For Christmas” which is bloody depressing but catchy. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/29 "2015-12-03T12:43:42Z")
Kelly Clarkson’s “Underneath The Tree” gets a decent amount of airplay. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/30 "2015-12-03T13:41:31Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > _Mary Did you Know_ was written about 20 years ago. Well after my childhood. > > Probably the most successful of the new Christmas songs. I love that song. But my personal #1 favorite Christmas song is from the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. It’s called “Christmas Eve Sarajevo,” and it’s from 1996. You’d probably recognize it if you heard it, even if you don’t know its name. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/31 "2015-12-03T14:29:04Z")
[This time of year](http://youtube.com/watch?v=LzXAMfxe2iw) is my favorite christmas song the was written about 2003. It both rocks and is sentimental hopefully it will become a classic. ---
**Author:** ![Reno\_Nevada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Reno\_Nevada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reno_Nevada)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/32 "2015-12-03T14:41:51Z")
\*Fairytale of New York \*was released in 1987 and is bona fide. OK, yes, that is almost 30 years ago, but it is at least post Baby Boomer childhood. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/33 "2015-12-03T14:47:14Z")
[Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxVo5mjK4eg) - Tom Waits Neko Case’s cover [was great](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgTPo4zRI2Q) ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/34 "2015-12-03T15:12:14Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > I love that song. But my personal #1 favorite Christmas song is from the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. It’s called “Christmas Eve Sarajevo,” and it’s from 1996. You’d probably recognize it if you heard it, even if you don’t know its name. My second favorite Christmas song ever, but…it’s a mashup of “God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen” and “Carol of the Bells,” not an original work. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/35 "2015-12-03T15:24:44Z")
A few years ago, i read an article in the Chicago Tribune about the phenomenon of “all holiday music” programming on local radio stations. The writer had interviewed the program director at the Chicago station which has traditionally been the market’s leader in the format (IIRC, they did it first, and switch to the format earliest in the year). The program director indicated that their research showed that there was a very small list of holiday songs (only about 40 or so) which most of their listeners really wanted to hear, and that most of those recordings were 30 to 70 years old. He indicated that his challenge was playing those songs as frequently as he could, while still mixing in other songs (both old and new) in order to (a) see if newer songs might be able to crack that list, and (b) so that the list of “favorites” doesn’t get played to death. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/36 "2015-12-03T15:25:35Z")
If the 80s is considered new then that decade gave us both Bob Geldoff’s Band Aid Christmas song and the Waitresses’ _Christmas Rapping_ which are staples on the “all Christmas music” radio channel. ---
**Author:** ![Abner\_Ravenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Abner\_Ravenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abner_Ravenwood)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/37 "2015-12-03T15:29:10Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > If the 80s is considered new then that decade gave us both Bob Geldoff’s Band Aid Christmas song and the Waitresses’ _Christmas Rapping_ which are staples on the “all Christmas music” radio channel. There’s also Christmas in Hollis by Run-DMC ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/38 "2015-12-03T15:35:24Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > He indicated that his challenge was playing those songs as frequently as he could, while still mixing in other songs (both old and new) in order to (a) see if newer songs might be able to crack that list, and (b) so that the list of “favorites” doesn’t get played to death. I’d believe it. Yesterday’s drive, I heard no fewer than 6 versions of “Carol of the Bells”. Which happens to be a favorite song of mine, but I was getting a little sick of it, and it’s only the first day I was tuned in! ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/39 "2015-12-03T15:35:29Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > It was released in 1980. The Christmas songs by the Kinks and the Waitresses came out right about that same time. A small spike of new additions to the canon. There’s also Sandler’s Hanukkah Song, which I think dates to the mid-90s. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/40 "2015-12-03T15:36:54Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > _Mary Did you Know_ was written about 20 years ago. Well after my childhood. > > Probably the most successful of the new Christmas songs. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it. Actually, I just checked out some versions on YouTube and I’ve heard it but I wouldn’t say I hear it very often at all. Lots of covers, though so it does seem popular. IMHO “All I Want For Christmas Is You” (1994) by Mariah Carey and “Last Christmas” (1985) by George Michael are the two biggest popular Christmas songs since “Wonderful Christmas.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262.md?page=3)