On the Radio: Season's Repeatings

I was in a conditional mood for some Christmas music on my way home from work the other night--that is, if something cool was on the radio, something I hadn't heard for a while, I'd listen to it. Hey, I understand that repetition and tradition are part of the whole holiday routine. I have about 4 albums in my December rotation every year: The "Charlie Brown Christmas" soundtrack, the Xmas albums from Phil Spector and the Chipmunks (separate ones; I don't think they've worked together yet), and in recent years the Los Straitjackets disc onto which my friend Dann turned me.

That last sentence was awkward. Sometimes you really should just end with a preposition.

Anyway, I like hearing the same songs, but since so many places play the same songs, I don't need to listen to them on the local Christmas station when I have the ability to hear something else. So I don't often listen to 97.1 FM. My wife puts it on all the time this season, and I get my fill there of the same few dozen tunes they deliver.

But the other night, I turned it there on a whim and heard Nat King Cole singing the "Christmas Song," an undeniable classic. Classic, yes, but not exactly a rarity. I hadn't loaded my Xmas CDs yet, so I decided to check out the Baltimore-area soft rocker, 101.9. This LITE-FM station doesn't come in as clearly, but it has a reputation for offering a larger playlist. Maybe I'd get lucky and find something a little more adventurous, I figured.

So I pushed a button or two, tuned in the more adventurous station, and heard...yep, you guessed it, Nat King Cole. And he wasn't singing "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer," either.

I love that song, but come on!