We adults here at Georgetown will be scaling it back a bit for our show.
I have a love/hate relationship with Christmas music this time of the year. First, there's the fact it starts the very moment the last fun-sized candy bar hits some kid's pillowcase. Second, the same ol' same ol' gets trotted out every year. Most importantly is the diva requirement that the latest pop princess assault our ears with their wink-wink-nudge-nudge interpretation of "Santa Baby."
So what's good?
Riu Chiu, The Monkees - for every critic out there, Mickey Dolenz' lead backed by a Tork/Nesmith/Jones harmony puts any manufactured claim to rest.
Oh Holy Night, Donna Summer - while I'm a critic of the glory note, all is forgiven in this breathtaking song. I list Donna because I recall her note perfect performance on Solid Gold as a kid, but really, almost any diva rendition will do.
The Happy Elf, Harry Connick Jr. - so this month I was desperately digging up pieces to skate to for the annual Christmas show. Why not use the above songs? Riu Chiu is acapella, and impossible to skate to in a large auditorium. OHN is usually snapped up by May. I dragged up a pile of Christmas CDs to evaluate, and this one jumped right out. I don't know a thing about this song other than it saved me from skating to something dull.
Gabriel's Message, Sting - oh, my first ever skating Christmas show solo! Fitting because I was the angel Gabriel in both the 7th and 8th grade Christmas pageants. It was a favorite from the Very Special Christmas albums.
Christmas in Hollis, Run DMC - "But each and every year we bust Christmas carols!"
We Three Kings - I did a little research, thinking this was going to be something culled from a stone tablet etched in a monastery from the Medieval period. Nope, written by a rector from a church in Pennsylvania in the mid 1800s. This may be next year's selection, if I can rock a middle Eastern look.
St. Stanislaus Church, Christmas evening bell service - temperatures in the low teens, and I took my lovely son out for a walk so we could listen to the bells. Traditionally, the bells started at noon on Christmas Eve, and rang until midnight. One of my favorite memories is playing outside in 1979 and listening to the bells all day.
Sleigh Ride, Spice Girls - it's overplayed for a reason. This version the harmonies are oh so fun. Have considered skating it in a snowmobile suit.
Christmas Can Can, Straight No Chaser - acapella with attitude.
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