Weird Christmas Music Headlines: Atheist Radio Boot, Friar Music, Secret Playlist


Each year, millions of Americans look forward to Christmas music season, but it is not always everything it is cracked up to be.

Normally, Christmas music headlines center around articles like the one on Pitchfork that lists the 50 best holiday songs. IB Times is also promoting 10 free places online that have free Christmas music playlists.

However, if someone is not a fan of Christmas music, the bad news is that holiday music is starting 24/7 as an annual tradition at many radio stations around America, according to Chron.

In fact, AZ Central wrote on November 14 that their local radio station in Arizona would begin their non-stop Christmas music format as early as November 15.

The 24-hour Christmas music theme has also become a grinch in some instances. For example, Washington Post reports that an atheist radio show got booted in favor of a Christmas music takeover in Madison, Wisconsin.

Annie Laurie Gaylor, a co-host of the atheist radio show “Freethought,” stated the following about the temporary cancellation of her show for Christmas music.

“We had been replaced without notice with 24-hour, wall-to-wall Christmas music playing.”

Although Christmas music on the radio around-the-clock is considered “wildly popular” by the radio station owners that booted the atheist radio show, there are some that want to ban Christmas music from being played too early.

For example, on November 23, The Whig published an opinion piece that suggested the date for 24-hour Christmas music in stores should be no earlier than December 24.

In some areas of America, Christmas music starts being played on the radio and in stores as early as November 15. [Image by Andrew F. Kazmierski/Shutterstock]

On the other hand, FOX 43 conducted their own poll in the York, Pennsylvania community, and out of 500 votes, almost 60-percent said they preferred 24/7 Christmas music played as early as Thanksgiving.

For anyone that needs to have the most Christmas music playing around them at all times, it appears that Cleveland is the place to go. According to a Nielsen Ratings reports, in 2015 Cleveland ranked top for playing the most Christmas music city-wide.

Some of the top-selling Christmas music of all-times is created by pop musicians. [Image by Paramount Pictures]

In addition to playing the most Christmas music, some are looking for weird ways to play it. For instance, Southwest Times Record in Fort Smith, Arkansas reported on an annual event that features Christmas music played by “four grand pianos, 19 pianists, and more than 50 choir voices.”

Catholic friars are also getting into the Christmas music spirit, and Catholic News Agency reports that this has resulted in a new Christmas music album was released the friars of the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C.

In fact, the friars have made three Christmas music records over the years, and the proceeds go to fund scholarships for priests attending seminary. Their latest album is called Good Christian Men, Rejoice!, and they made a video about the recording of the music.

Other weird headlines about Christmas music poke fun at the history of funny music videos that might have been forgotten. Topping the list created by People are Run DMC, Justin Bieber, TLC, NSYNC, WHAM!, and Bon Jovi.

Regardless, some of these same bizarre Christmas music videos are also some of the top-selling holiday tunes of all times. While Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas” tops the list, according to Billboard, Justin Bieber’s “Mistletoe” is number four and WHAM!’s “Last Christmas” is number 10.

The big news in the U.K. is that there will be a “secret” Christmas playlist presented by DJ David Attenborough on the BBC. According to Telegraph, Attenborough has been traveling the world and making “secret” recordings of music since 1954.

Nevertheless, there are no indications that this will be Christmas music, but, instead, it will be a unique presentation of music that is revealed on Christmas Day. About the presentation that Attenborough will play on Radio 3 on December 25, 2016, a few clues include the following.

“Works [Attenborough] will play on Christmas Day include songs from Borneo longhouses, drumming in Sierra Leone, gamelan music in Java, Aboriginal didgeridoo players, palace music from Tonga and the singing of young men carrying the film crew’s bags in New Guinea.”

[Feature Image by Adam Berry/Getty Images]

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