Thursday Thirteen #201

THE THIRTEEN 

MOST POPULAR 

CHRISTMAS SONGS

Thanks to Wikipedia for this list (and the pretty tree photo, too).

PLEASE READ: This is a repeat of a TT I did last year. Yes, I know that Bing Crosby's recording of "White Christmas" sold a gazillion copies. But individual recordings are not what this list is about. It's how many times a song has been recorded and played. So while Crosby's "White Christmas" was a massive hit, the song itself hasn't been recorded as often or as successfully by other artists as four others on this list.

And now, without further ado ...

1  "The Christmas Song" (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) – Mel Tormé, Robert Wells 

2  "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" – Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin

 

3  "Winter Wonderland" – Felix Bernard, Richard B. Smith

 

4 "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" – J. Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie

 

5  "White Christmas" – Irving Berlin

 

6  "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" – Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne 

7  "Jingle Bell Rock" – Joseph Carleton Beal, James Ross Boothe 

8  "The Little Drummer Boy" – Katherine K. Davis, Henry V. Onorati, Harry Simeone

 

9  "Sleigh Ride" – Leroy Anderson, Mitchell Parish 

10  "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" – Johnny Marks

 

11  "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" – Edward Pola, George Wyle 

12  "I'll Be Home for Christmas" – Walter Kent, Kim Gannon, Buck Ram

13  "Silver Bells" – Jay Livingston, Ray Evans

I'm not surprised to see #12 on the list. I think I have heard "I'll Be Home for Christmas" performed by everyone from Karen Carpenter to Lou Rawls this year. I'm starting to wonder where the singer is that he or she won't be home for Christmas. Prison? The military? Working the holiday shift at a hospital? The backstory on that one changes for me depending on who is doing the singing.

For more about the Thursday 13,

or to play along yourself, click here.

I Want Wednesday

I want my officmate to stop singing. I hate to sound bitchy, but she is making me nuts! She is absent-mindedly singing softly as she works and it's sooooo distracting. Thank God for headphones!

Happy Birthday to Me, Part 6

The final chapter of 2012!

Celebrated my birthday (11/22), Christmas and Kathleen's birthday (12/23) last night. First we toasted with fruity tropical drinks and then had a lovely Cantonese dinner.

I gave her decorative tiles from last year's vacation spots (Key West and Colonial Williamsburg) to add to the collection that rings her dining room wall. She gave me a lovely little bracelet and a vintage Fossil bag. They're both so cute!

Over the past six months I've done some freelance for her and have hoped that I could work with her more formally at her new job. Meaning we had spoken about my jumping ship and joining her at her new company. Last night I learned that's not likely to happen, at least not in the near future. When we first discussed it, she was very optimistic about how successful she could be in growing that business. The reality has not been so rosey. Instead of building her own inhouse staff, she has turned to our friend (and my theater buddy) Barb -- who works at a full-service advertising agency that offers, in addition to the copywriting I can provide, metrics and analysis and production. Kathleen is simply not ready to staff her own crew.

Oh, well. It's Christmastime. I have a job right now, even if it's not a job I loooove. That's all I need to know for the time being.

Holidailies -- Day 11

Yesterday's prompt: If you could spend the holidays anywhere in the world, where would you go?

London. I think it's because of Scrooge and Cratchitt.