[ShadowDancer]

"What if you're Jewish? I don't hear any Hanukkah music!" a signer named Mary wrote.

Well, there's always the soundtrack to Fiddler on the Roof.

Honestly, if you don't want to hear the Christmas music, just listen to a different station. It's not exactly brain surgery.

[SunStar]

"What if you're Jewish? I don't hear any Hanukkah music!" a signer named Mary wrote.

Oh, I wasn't aware that Hanukkah was a federal holiday.

[camle]

the only christmas song i enjoy is the only one that captures the spirit of christmas in a subtle, yet enjoyable manner - "Grandma got run over by a reindeer"

[Prime Choice]

"There are pop versions of everything and I think they've ruined a lot of the Christmas songs. I switch it off. I prefer the traditional carols."

My thoughts exactly! My favorite Christmas records are the ones my parents own and I grew up listening to over the Christmas holiday. There's just no comparing those renditions to the saccharine stuff that's produced today.

[RosieCotton]

In fact, many radio stations switched from their normal programming to 24-hour Christmas jingles as early as Thanksgiving week.

Yep...day after Thanksgiving all but one of the stations I listen to regularly switched to all cheesy Christmas pop all the time.

I refuse to listen to that...stuff. And I miss my tunes!

[inquest]

This is indicative of a larger phenomenon in the mass media culture. Media outlets more and more do things that appeal to a certain mass audience - or, in the case of obnoxious commercials, attract the attention of a certain mass audience - and in so doing, alienate a relatively smaller number of people (but still very numerous in absolute terms), and that causes tensions like this. It may start to come to a head before too long.

[jwalburg]

I like just about all Christmas songs, though I always bring out my classic albums and play them on one of the last turntables left in the country. Throw in a few Hanukah songs, too. Fine by me. I'll spin some dreidels. But I'll take a month of Christmas songs over eminem anytime.

[uglybiker]

You just need different tunes!!

Yeah Santa's comin' alright. But you might not wanna see him!

[Jim Cane]

I hate that song with the cheesy "whon whon" synth track. I don't know who sings it, but it sounds like Paul McCarthy. It's so nicey nice, and vapid, and gay.

At least Keith Emerson's "Father Christmas" isn't queer.

[Hatteras]

I was in no fewer than 4 or 5 stores at one mall this past weekend that were playing Eartha Kitt's "Santa Baby". It wasn't being piped in by the mall, each store had their own music system. Maybe it was just timing or maybe it's the whole Abercrombie & Fitch, teen shoppers, sex sells mentality gaining momentum, but I couldn't get away from that song.

[Maceman]

"What if you're Jewish? I don't hear any Hanukkah music!" a signer named Mary wrote.

Maybe that's because Hanukkah music SUCKS big time. (Although Adam Sandler's Hanukkah song is pretty funny.

Then there's this little gem from South Park:

It's hard to be a Jew on Christmas
My Friends won't let me join in any games..
And I can't sing Christmas songs
Or decorate a Christmas tree..
Or leave water out for Rudolph
cos there's something wrong with me..
My people don't believe in Jesus Christ's divinity..
I'm a Jew, a Lonely Jew.. on Christmas.

Hanukkah is nice, but why is it,
That Santa passes over my house every year?
And instead of eating Ham
I have to eat Kosher Lekeesh..
Instead of Silent Night
I'm singing hou-hazch-tou-gavish..
And what the f*ck is up
With lighting all these f*cking Candles, tell me please?
I'm a Jew, a Lonely Jew..
I'd be merry, but i'm Hebrew.. on Christmas.

Hey Little Boy, I can't help but hear,

You're feeling left out of Christmas Cheer..
But i've come to see that you shouldn't be sad
'Cos this is the one month that you shoud be glad..

Because it's nice to be a Jew on Christmas
You don't have to deal with the season at all..
You don't have to be on your best behaviour, or give to charity
You don't have to go to grandma's house with your alcoholic family..
And I don't have to sit on some fake Santa's lap
And have him breathe his stinky breath on me!
That's right! You're a Jew, a Stylin' Jew..
It'd a good time, to be Hebrew.. on Christmas.

[martin_fierro]

Some of the worst Christmas albums EVER (IMHO, of course):

• Those by Gladys Knight & the Pips
• ANYTHING by Kenny G.
• Others?

[boxerblues]

White Trash Christmas

[Tamzee]

No such thing as too much Christmas music ;-)

[Lou L]

There have been ample threads on FR describing how the ACLU and their ilk aim to remove Christmas from our culture through legal means, but what if pop culture is also in on the conspiracy?

By introducing Christmas songs, decorations, lights, etc. in many stores and locations since mid-November, it's not difficult to see how many would be so put off come Christmas day.

There used to be a build-up for Christmas, in anticipation of celebrating the birth of Christ. Christmas wasn't a single day on the calendar, it was a festive time beginning in mid-December, lasting through and into the New Year.

Now, it's so much about appearances--who can get their shopping down the fastest, whose house can be decorated with the most gaudy decorations, and which radio or TV station can flood the airwaves with the most "holiday" music. Is it any wonder that come December 26th, people can't wait to take the tree down and toss or store it away?

[Protagoras]

If anything is pleasant, be sure that it will be overdone. It's a sad but true observation on the human condition.

[4mycountry]

I don't think I'm mentally prepared for the holidays. Mom and I went out yesterday and all the shops had Christmas music. I was thinking, "What, already? Wow."

I'm not ready for this. Help me.

[Looking4Truth]

While radio execs say public demand has fueled the merry music marathon,...

Radio execs have no clue. Commercial radio sucks *ss. Same crap over and over and over and over and over......

[VadeRetro]

The tune turnover is fairly recent — only two years ago it was unorthodox for DJs to start spinning all-day holiday music more than a couple days before Christmas. But hundreds of stations are going all-jingle now because it brings in the green and gives them the gift of higher ratings.

It should really be good for the sales of CDs and CD players. Also books and even television.