Question of the Week: What Christmas song drives you up the wall, like nails on a chalkboard?
Local Spins’ Question of the Week (Dec. 3, 2020)
What Christmas song drives you up the wall?
This week’s winner of Local Spins merch: Email subscriber John Mulder, who responded to the Question of the Week and was entered into a drawing for a bandana. Sign up for email updates and the weekly newsletter here: https://localspins.com/subscribe-local-spins-mailing-list/
THE READER RESPONSES:
Jeannine Lemmon â âGrandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.â UGH!
Geoff Fields â âSanta Babyâ is wretched. Sexism: Check. Materialism: Check. Itâs time to chuck that song out of the catalog.
John Mulder â Thatâs an easy call: âLast Christmas I Gave You My Heart.â It grates at my soul more than anything Iâve ever heard. Itâs nonsensical and repetitive. I hate it. And Iâm not sure I can say that about any other song.
Drew Behringer – There is absolutely no way that any Christmas song, âChristmas Past, Present and Future,â is worse than this one by Ashlee Simpson. I dare you to even get through the whole thing without stopping.
Randy Duke Lidgard – Paul McCartney is brilliant. âWonderful Christmastimeâ is not.
Radel Rosin â âGrandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.â So Grim. And also, why?
Kim Masters – The last couple decades just about every artist signed to a major label was required to release a Christmas album. None was more nauseating than Bret Michaels version of âJingle Bells.â
Lown Rich-n Ann – My wife has Christmas music on ALL THE TIME so I hate them all!
Michael Dause â âText Me Merry Christmas.â Too on the nose.
Amber Buist – All of them. Thatâs why I made a less annoying playlist for this year.
Kristen VanArnam – “Wonderful Christmastime”
Chad Michael Wedeven â âGrandma Got Run Over by a Reindeerâ is the worst of the worst. Only two Christmas albums allowed at my house: Charlie Brown and Bing Crosby.
Monique Bova â âFeed the World.â That âthank God itâs them instead of youâ line.
Steve Middendorp â âLittle Drummer Boy.â
Caleb Waldvogel â I second this (âLittle Drummer Boyâ)
Kelly McGee Clark â Oh so much this (âLittle Drummer Boyâ). Ugh!
John Sinkevics â I have several candidates, but âA Holly Jolly Christmasâ by Burl Ives tops my list, followed by âSanta Baby.â
Stephen Aldrich â Paul McCartney, âWonderful Christmastimeâ sends me off the edge.
Paul Wyatt â Stephen Aldrich beat me to it.
Thomas Leonard Saxe â The worst is “I want a hippopotamus for Christmas.” Cringe-inducing.
Josh Giebel â âWonderful Christmastimeâ is maybe the worst song ever recorded.
James R. Murphy Jr. â âWonderful Christmastimeâ tops my list.
Robert Silarski – Think you (finger)nailed it, John…
Hope Pearse Kolker – âLast Christmasâ by Wham.
David Winick – Any Christmas song sung by Dolly Parton.
Cole Hansen – David Winick: Come on! Really? Why you gotta hate on Dolly like that?
David Winick – I greatly admire and respect her as a role model. And as a business woman. But not a fan of her voice.
Matt Kago Fever – âChristmas Time is Hereâ – It sounds like seasonal depression
Deb Vanderlaan â âGrandma Got Run Over by a Reindeerâ
Bruce E. Matthews â Definitely âGrandma Got Run Over by a Reindeerâ
Elle Lively â âLittle Drummer Boy.â Kill. Me.
Jerry Kolb – If I was Mary, Iâd break that drummer kidâs sticks and then put his head through the drum head. SHUT UP.
Mike Phelps â âFeliz Navidad.â
Karen Nuttall Love – “The Christmas shoes” by NewSong
Harry Oman – I am not sure of the title. âThis Christmasâ? Ugh.
Dave Adams â âGrandma Got Run Over by a Reindeerâ
Dansir McCullough – Joe Diffie â âLeroy The Redneck Reindeerâ
Karen Dunnam – “Home for the Holidays.” Where the hell else would I be? “Gee the traffic is terrific,” no it is not. (My parents are long gone and we never had a tradition of traveling for hours to visit anyone)
Daniel P Hudelson – I agree with some of these, but some of you are obviously scrooges.
Brian Kelly Rampenthal – Any Chipmunks Christmas song.
Jackie Sirianni – Jackson 5 â âI Saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus.â
AJ Dunning – +1 for the Macca track (âWonderful Christmastimeâ). The worst.
Daniel P Hudelson â Yeah, âWonderful Christmastimeâ is one of his worst ever.
Emilee Petersmark â âC H R I S T M A S S H O E Sâ I recently rediscovered the song on my buddy Justin Stover’s “Worst Songs to Have Sex To” playlist. It’s still bad. It’s still so, so bad.
Ted Smith – I absolutely love both âHolly Jolly Christmasâ and âSanta Babyâ!
Jonathan Beaver – That Mariah Carey thing is possibly the worst Christmas song I’ve ever heard mostly because it’s so overplayed.
Jennifer Alexander – I like Paul McCartney but *cannot* stand his song âWonderful Christmastimeâ
Barb Steffler – âThe Twelve Days of Christmasâ – Hands down the worst EVER.
Bill Vits â âLittle Drummer Boyâ has no hot licks. Historically inaccurate to boot.
Shahara Quashinaenae â Bill Vits: I hate that one.
Scott Kelly – Bill Vits: Agreed!
Mike Thinnes â âGrandma Got Run Over By A Reindeerâ
Jason Roseboom â Well, I know the best one: “Ding fries are done”
Cole Hansen â In no particular order, these all make me cringe: 1. “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas”; 2. “Santa Baby” (anyone!); 3. “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” (Band Aid); 4. “Hey Santa” (Wilson Phillips); 5. “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” (Jackson 5)
Dave Adams â âAll I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teethâ
Shahara Quashinaenae – âI Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas.â OMMFG
Scott Stefanski – All of the above (except Wham; I like that one!)
Stacy Slikkers Noonan – Pretty much can’t stand holiday music, but I’ll agree that âThe Christmas Shoesâ probably tops the list.
Rachel Watson – I donât know if itâs the worst (though itâs definitely an ear worm) but âThe Happiest Christmas Treeâ clearly has Stockholm Syndrome.
Brian Ferriby – Baby Itâs Cold Outside. A how-to manual on non-consent.
Bryan Heany – When I took my driver’s license final exam at Sears in 1995, they were playing a cassette of Christmas music on loop. All of the songs on that tape constitute my list.
Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk – I think novelty songs need their own category. If they were intended to be tongue-in-cheek, we shouldnât take them seriously anytime. Then thereâs interpretation. If Eartha Kittâs âSanta Babyâ is delicious (spoiler alert: It is), then it canât be a bad song. Just a bad cover by someone else. Similarly, I donât really dislike âBlue Christmas,â per se. I dislike Elvis Presleyâs take on it. Paul McCartneyâs âWonderful Christmastimeâ and Wham!âs âLast Christmasâ ride high on my list. Those songs popping up every 15-16 minutes are enough to stop me from listening to The River or Star 105.7 even on Christmas Eve.
Dave Adams – Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk: What about Porky Pigâs version of Blue Christmas?
Mark DeWitt – Ugh, the Paul McCartney song. Yuck.
Jonathan Beaver – How about Siiiiiimply Haaaaaving A Wonderful Christmas Time.
Steve Grinczel – Dear Ebeneezer: There’s a bad one?
Julie Bernat Swanson â âRockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.â
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Lauren Lukasik â âDominic the Donkeyâ
Zae Turcott Smith – Lauren Lukasik: Noooo!
Ria Faber â âCarol of the Bellsâ.
Greg Chandler â âLast Christmasâ by Wham.
Brien Dews – Anything Chipmunks
Sandra M. Effert â â12 Days of Christmas.â I just realized there are so many birds in that song. Why??
Alicia Marie Scott – Itâs a tie between âLittle Drummer Boyâ & âChristmas Shoes.â
Alex Austin – They’re all terrible, in my opinion. I’m sure you can hear me saying “humbug” already.
Katy Barzedor â âLittle Drummer Boyâ and âO Holy Night.â
Joshua Tree – All of âem.
James R. Murphy Jr. -“Wonderful Christmas Time” is the song that makes me reach for the dial. “Holly Jolly Christmas” always reminds me of stop-action Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. But really, I tend to avoid Christmas music as much as possible, and this year, I don’t foresee the need to even review the songs I usually play at Christmas every year, because I sure won’t be playing them anywhere.
Jeremy Ensley â âChristmas Shoesâ
James R. Murphy Jr. – I just remembered another wretched song I had to learn about 10 years ago “Mary, Did You Know?” Mary did you know, this song is execrable garbage?
Matthew Borr – “I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” and that horrific Paul McCartney song.
Diana VandeWater â âI Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.â Eeek.
Brian Adams â âLast Christmasâ by George Michaels
Sue Harkema Jeurink â âSleigh Rideâ – I swear it’s on repeat at work.
Honest John Kowalko – McCartney must have written a clunker Christmas tune as it’s been mentioned many times over the years. It took me years but I still can’t call it a favorite but I appreciate it a little more each year. I tend to want to accentuate the positive of the of the season not the negative. So I keep my mouth shut about the tunes I don’t like. but I must admit I do like most of the songs of Christmas. It does help that I don’t listen until 1 week before Christmas . A good Local Spins survey may be when do musicians actually start their Christmas music listening in earnest?
Kevin Riley – Paul McCartneyâs âWonderful Christmastimeâ irritates the hell out of me for some reason.
Michele Terpstra – Kevin Riley: Agreed. I love McCartney but it’s so bad.
Dale Wicks – I’ll pile onto the hokey, sentimental schlock that is âChristmas Shoes.â If “Wonderful Christmastime” were only a minute and a half long and I only had to hear it once per year, I’d actually like it, but we all know that neither is the case. Oh, and anything Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
David Marin – “Here Comes Santa Claus (Down Santa Claus Lane)”, by Gene Autry; any Christmas music by the Jackson 5.
Mary Ellen Murphy – Jackson Five âI Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.â It’s loud. Hard to take considering what Mr. Jackson probably would have done to the Mrs. had he caught her. The cast from Glee does a horrible version of Joni Mitchell’s âRiver,â too. Ugh.
Ted Jauw – Jan Terri – “Excuse My Christmas”
Sara Woroniec-Holland – The Barking Dogs – âJingle Bells.â My ears are bleeding.
Michael Packer – I cannot think of one, ONE, Christmas song that I like. I’d like to hibernate during this dreadful season!
Ryan Michael – Thematically, my (non-FB-having) wife would love to cast a vote for John Denver’s “Daddy, Please Don’t get Drunk this Christmas”
Randy Cleves â âLast Christmas,â âDo They Know It’s Christmas,â âAll I Want For Christmas Is Youâ I love Christmas music, but these songs make me want to burn my tree.
John W. Hartel â âGrandma Got Runover by a Reindeerâ
Matthew Farage – I once sang âSanta Baby.â Maybe you’ll appreciate the song knowing that it was sung by someone that also sings Tennessee Ernie Ford.
Michele Terpstra – Worst ever is the âChristmas Shoesâ. It’s beyond bad.
Dan Terpstra – Michele Terpstra: I was just going to second Alicia Marie Scott on that one.
Eileen Briesch â âThe Christmas Shoesâ
Bradley Raffenaud – The shoes one…
Andrew Millard – It is easier for me to select from the very few good Christmas songs that exist, rather than try to eliminate the worst, which are many. But the Pogues sell it best, followed possibly by the Royal Guardsmen. I might add the Kinks in there. Father Christmas.
Donna Mills â âHere Comes Santa Clausâ by Elvis!
Suzanne Nowak â âBaby Itâs Cold Outside.â
Tricia Boot – “Do They Know it’s Christmas” by Band Aid is sooo cringe. âWell, tonight thank God it’s them instead of you; And there won’t be snow in Africa this Christmastime; The greatest gift they’ll get this year is life, oh; Where nothing ever grows, no rain nor rivers flow.â “Wonderful Christmastime” by McCartney is the Schrodinger’s cat of Christmas songs. Deadly dull and impossibly annoying. How does it manage to be both?
Brian J. Bowe â Amen re: âDo They Know Itâs Christmas.â Who knew British people could be so racist in their attitudes about other parts of the world?
Scott Steiner – That damn Paul McCartney song.
Steve Secor – Gotta be dem shoes
Linda Rankin â âGrandma Got Run Over by a Reindeerâ
Rebekah Rhys Kean – Mariah Careyâs âAll I want for Christmas is You.â Also heard this gem at Meijer the other day. Probably the worst of all time. Jim Brickmanâs âChristmas Where you Are.â
Shazzer McBroddle â âLittle Drummer Boy.â
Caitlin M. F. Hornshaw – Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime.”
Larry Zoppa – Just about all after continually hearing t h e s a m e s t u f f over and over.
Chad Stanton – THIS will put it to rest. Ritchie Larry Matthews sings âLittle Drummer Boyâ on The Dick Van Dyke Show.
Sarah Delia Sundt – I absolutely cannot stand “Last Christmas” or “Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time.” They are both so stupidly inane and repetitive, they are truly like nails on a chalkboard for me.
Lin Otherlyn – I agree on “Holly Jolly.” We’ve been SO saturated with that one, I could go at least 10 years without hearing it.
Terri Grannis – Those barking dogs…OMG.
Mary Sue Wilkinson â âGrandma Got Run Over by A Reindeerâ
Tammy Hall – I guess I am the lucky one here because it’s been awhile since I’ve heard it, âLittle Saint Nickâ by the Beach Boys.
Michael Terpstra – I hate to say it, but âBlue Christmas.â
Copyright 2020, Spins on Music LLC