Just the latest in an annual series…

All I’m going to do for the music portion here, as before, is just add ten songs (and pray that, over time, I won’t blow the little WordPress audio-player thingie out of the water). For the first time, I’m including a couple of newer songs. But I don’t want this to turn into a “Christmas music never heard before or, maybe, since” post — so will keep things nice and traditional for the most part.

As before, these artists and numbers appear, back-to-back, in the playlist:

1. Peter Robbins et al.: dialogue from A Charlie Brown Christmas
2. Anonymous 4: Hodie Christus Natus Est
3. Waverly Consort: Three Spanish Villancicos – Dadme Albcrecias
4. Perry Como: Home for the Holidays
5. Mannheim Steamroller: Joy to the World
6. George Winston: The Holly and the Ivy
7. Celtic Woman: O Holy Night
8. John Denver and the Muppets: The Twelve Days of Christmas
9. Al Hirt: Nutty Jingle Bells
10. The Roches: Deck the Halls
    — 2009: —
11. Charlotte Church: Mary’s Boy Child
12. Madeleine Peyroux/k.d. lang: River
13. George Winston: Variations on the Kanon
14. Arthur Fiedler & The Boston Pops: The Toy Trumpet
15. Eartha Kitt: Santa Baby
16. Mannheim Steamroller: Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer
17. Celtic Woman: The Wexford Carol
18. The Brian Setzer Orchestra: Jingle Bells
19. Jimmy Boyd: I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
20. Cumberland Gap Reunion: Silent Night
    — 2010: —
21. Sam Phillips: Cold Dark Night (lyrics)
22. Elvis Presley: Blue Christmas
23. Loreena McKennitt: God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen (may be my favorite addition to this year’s list…)
24. The Chipmunks: The Chipmunk Song
25. Frank Sinatra: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
26. London Philharmonic Orchestra: It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
27. Tony Elman: Winter Creek
28. Sara Groves: Toy Packaging (lyrics) (…and this may be my favorite for grins)
29. Harry Belafonte: Mary’s Boy Child
30. Ray Conniff Singers: Ring Christmas Bells

(Note: The playlist goes automatically from start to finish, once you click the little Play button. To fast-forward to the next number, once a song is playing you’ll find a little fast-forward button to the right of its progress meter. And a fast-rewind to the left, for that matter.)

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