Favorite Things Friday.

I haven't done one of these kind of posts in awhile, but as I drove home from work today I was listening to one of my favorite artists and decided I should blog about him.

I really love the music of Jason Mraz. I first enjoyed his cd "Waiting for My Rocket to Come" a couple years back and since then have bought everything he has recorded. He did a cover of Seals & Crofts' "Summer Breeze" which appeared on the "Everwood" sountrack. There is a winsome Don McLean-esque sound to his voice at times. On other occasions he recalls a sort of belty showtune voice. No wonder... he has a big musical theatre background and is, by the way, a big Sondheim fan.

Which explains why lyrics are very important to him. He often sings about words, in a variety of contexts, and has been known to say that it's extremely important that his lyrics be heard and understood. More on him here. He's also really cute... like the skinny nerd who was part of your group in high school and always made you laugh.

If I were a dancer, I'd love to do a solo routine to "Make It Mine," the first track on his latest cd, "We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things."

Here is a video of the acoustic version of "Make It Mine." It's much better with the big ol' brass section, but this is nice, too.





I lerve it!

Christmas Songs.

I am a member of ASCAP, something I am extremely proud of. As yet, I have not had a hit song off of which I can make a bundle, but perhaps someday. Anyway, I receive the monthly newletter from ASCAP, and there was an interesting article about Christmas songs I thought I should share.

ASCAP'S TWELVE SONGS OF CHRISTMAS KEEP SLEIGH BELLS JINGLING Radio Stations Playing More Chipmunks' Holiday Music to Coincide with Big Screen Debut

New York, NY, December 13, 2007: Twelve days left to Christmas may conjure for some people an image of a partridge in a pear tree. For the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), however, today marks the release of the top 12 most played holiday songs of 2007, tracked by radio airplay monitoring service Mediaguide from over 2,600 radio stations nationwide. And, just in time for the blockbuster movie release, ASCAP has also tracked the very special holiday anthem attributed to chipmunks: "The Chipmunk Song: Christmas Don't Be Late." The top 12 most-played holiday songs in the ASCAP repertoire so far this holiday season are:

1. "Sleigh Ride" (Leroy Anderson, Mitchell Parish) - played 133,264 times
2. "Winter Wonderland" (Felix Bernard, Richard B. Smith) - played 126,638 times
3. "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" (Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin) - played 99,687 times
4. "Jingle Bell Rock" (Joseph Carleton Beal, James Roth Boothe) – played 96,162 times
5. "White Christmas" (Irving Berlin) – played 90,434 times
6. "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" (Edward Pola, George Wyle) - played 90,030 times
7. "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" (Johnny Marks) - played 82,308 times
8. "A Holly Jolly Christmas" (Johnny Marks) - played 69,436 times
9. "Silver Bells" (Ray Evans, Jay Livingston) - played 68,665 times
10. "Frosty the Snowman" (Steve Nelson, Walter E. Rollins) - played 68,252 times
11. "I'll Be Home for Christmas" ( Walter Kent, Kim Gannon, Buck Ram) - played 63,959 times
12. "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" (Mel Tormé, Robert Wells) - played 59,390 times

Note: The above list represents an aggregation of all different artist versions of each cited holiday song.

I posted earlier about Christmas songs I hate, and only one of my most hated appears here. Number 8. The Burl Ives version that is not from "Rudolph." Blecch. My most favorite Christmas song? Number 3. Any version, but especially Judy Garland's. (Yeah, I'm so gay.)

I Love Christmas, But....

Okay, I'm all about the holidays. Really. Love the decorating, the merriment, the good cheer, the ho ho ho, and all that.

But I'm more than a little concerned that WLIT 93.9 (the Lite here in Chicago, currently called the Christmas Lite or the Holiday Lite) started playing Christmas music around November 1. I'm concerned because I'm already getting tired of the stuff. Granted, I get out my Christmas CD's pretty early-- I have so many that I need to start playing them now so I can get to them all-- but it seems that WLIT has a limited amount of music. I have tuned in a couple of times and, regardless of the day or time, I have heard a lot of the same songs.

This reminded me to blog about my least favorite holiday songs. WLIT, if any of you are reading this, please stop playing these! In no particular order:

1. The Christmas Shoes : treacly, country crap

2. Holly Jolly Christmas : it's a folk-rockabilly version, with Burl Ives singing the song that was much more tolerable in the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer tv special. This version grates.

3. Feliz Navidad : with all due respect to Mr. Feliciano, how about a verse or two with some actual lyrics? The repitition and manic loudness of this song make it unbearable.

4. I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas : whether it's a hippo or your two front teeth that you want, no one cares, child. Shut up.

5. Wonderful Christmas Time : Sir Paul McCartney, you owe the world a big apology for this one.