Hec, I love the sound of your Trad Xmas mix. Could you send it to me?

I'm not a huge fan of LDB, but it doesn't make me want to rip my ears off or anything. I do have a fondness for Silent Night, as I tend to sing the first set of verses in German and it gives it, not a whole new meaning, but just enough of a difference that I have to think about the meaning and it always chokes me up a little despite the fact I don't even follow Christian beliefs.

Otherwise, I like a lot of the more modern pop-style carols: Blue Christmas, Silver and Gold, that kind of stuff. But no one can beat Bing singing White Christmas. I miss the Bing Crosby Christmas specials; I looked forward to those for months.

I like "In the Bleak Midwinter," probably because it so beautifully evokes a (totally inaccurate for the subject matter) winter landscape. "In the bleak midwinter/frosty wind made moan/Earth stood hard as iron/water like a stone/Snow had fallen, snow on snow/Snow on snow/In the bleak midwinter/long ago."

"Bring A Torch, Jeanette, Isabella," "The Holly and the Ivy," "Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming," "People, Look East," "Silent Night," (a capella, non-fussy only) "It's In Every One Of Us" (any version, by anyone -- I even found Freddie Mercury singing it in concert three years before he died, and he's utterly splendid), Vince Guaraldi's reworking of "Little Drummer Boy," the vastly superior "My Little Drum," Guaraldi's "Skating," which sounds so exactly like how ice skating feels it's nigh miraculous, and, not a carol exactly but I still love it, Dido's "Christmas Day."

Any one of these will make me puddle up a bit, but a long solid block of all of them in a row will have me bawling (good cathartic happy tears, not sad ones).

And I LOVE love love Greg Lake's "Father Christmas." It's been known to make me weep.

Was it the Kinks who did "Father Christmas, Give Us Some Money"?

Was it the Kinks who did "Father Christmas, Give Us Some Money"?

Yup. It pairs nicely with the Ramones "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)."

Here's my Swingtime Santa Mix:

Cool Yule - Louis Armstrong & The Commanders
Jingle Bells - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra
What Will Santa Claus Say - Louis Prima
Santa Claus Got Stuck In My Chimney - Ella Fitzgerald
Boogie Woogie Santa Claus - Lionel Hampton & His Orchestra
Winter Weather - Benny Goodman with Peggy Lee
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - Woody Herman
Little Jack Frost Get Lost - Frankie Carle
Button Up Your Overcoat - Dick Haymes
Christmas Night In Harlem - Louis Armstong And His Allstars
The Christmas Song - Les Brown w/Doris Day
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! - Woody Herman
White Christmas - Harry James & His Orchestra
It Happened In Sun Valley - Jo Stafford
Merry Christmas Baby - Lionel Hampton & His Orchestra
Good Morning Blues (I Want To See Santa Claus) - Count Basie & His Orchestra
Five Pound Box Of Money - Pearl Bailey
Brazilian Sleigh Bells - Harry James & His Orchestra
Peanut Brittle Brigade - Duke Ellington
Danse of the Floreadores (Waltz of the Flowers) Duke Ellington
Swingin' For Christmas - Gene Ammons
Winter Wonderland - Ted Weems & His Orchestra
Ring A Merry Bell - June Christy
Baby It's Cold Outside Johnny Mercer And Margaret Whiting
Christmas In New Orleans- Louis Armstrong

The Louis Armstrong songs are the best, but "Little Jack Frost" is rare and a pretty good earworm.

Hec, I love the sound of your Trad Xmas mix. Could you send it to me?

Of course! I still have to bundle it up but I'll get it to you in a bit.

Here's my Swingtime Santa Mix:

I think I have this on tape. It makes me feel so old school.

Hec, could you email or Dropbox me the Swingtime mix? Work folks would like some holiday jazz and swing.