Christmas In July 2026-Part 18

Welcome to day eighteen! Now that we're old enough to vote, we'll see who gets to stay on the island and who's going to be kicked off. I hope I get to stay. Enough nonsense, let's dive in, shall we?

1. The Highwaymen-Rise Up Shepherd (Standing Room Only!, 1961)

A rerun, but a good one. Always enjoyed this track. Did it show up on the best-of the year I first shared it? No, doesn't look like it did, but it did reappear later on a second-best-of collection. That's better than nothing, I guess.

2. Jester Hairston And His Chorus-Mary's Little Boy Chile (A Profile Of Negro Life In Song, 1965)

The track from our headliner today is by the great Jester Hairston. Christmas music aficionados will know him from the great work he did with Walter Schumann on his second Christmas album.

3. Bob Bradburn-My Toy (AKA My Marvelous Christmas Toy) (Happy Holiday With CHQT Radio's Bob Bradburn And The Jasper Place High School Stage Band)

A great Christmas-adjacent track written by Tom Paxton, though oddly enough Bob Bradburn grabs a writing credit on this album. Not sure how he thought he was going to get away with that. I think the title on the sleeve was different from the title on the label, so quality control must have had the day off when they put this record together.

4. Claude Thornhill And His Orchestra-Skater's Cha Cha (Dance To The Sound Of Claude Thornhill And His Orchestra, 1959)

Someone wanted a Claude Thornhill track that wasn't Snowfall, and this is the best I can do for you. It's a cha-cha based on Skater's Waltz. Lots and lots of people took that track and had a go at making it something else entirely, I guess it was because it was familiar and in the public domain.

5. Dick Whittinghill-Music By Billy Vaughn-The Cradle To The Cross (The Square And Other Great Narrations, 1965)

I love finding these oddball narrations. This one doesn't have as much to do with Christmas as I had hoped, but I couldn't leave it out after I went to all the trouble to find and record it.

6. Charter Wind Ensemble Under The Direction Of Caesar Giovannini And Bill Holcombe-12 Days Of Christmas (Charter Sound Series Volume 5-Concert Band, 1973)

I missed out by not sharing a version of The Twelve Days of Christmas on the twelfth day of the month. I hope day eighteen is close enough for you. I feel like I have another version in the pile somewhere, have I shared that already? Hmmm...

7. Arranger's Publishing Company-Christmas Medley (Marching Band, 1986)

More demo music (much like the previous track if I neglected to point that one out) only this time they couldn't even be bothered to tell you who they hired to play it. Oh well, so it goes.

8. The Arlingtones, Jay Giallombardo-Director-Winter Wonderland (A Chorus For All Seasons)

Yet another track from this month's favorite barbershop chorus.

9. Stuttgart Festival Band-William Harrison, Conductor-We Wish You A Merry Xmas (Have Band Will Travel-Music Minus One Trombone)

I'm not a big fan of substituting Xmas in place of Christmas, but that's the way it was on the record. I know the Greek letter Chi was used as a shorthand for Christ and all, but it still seems wrong. I usually don't care about such things, but this one bothers me a little bit.

10. The Choir Of Leeds Parish Church-Directed By Simon Lindley-Michael Harris, Organ-Hark, The Herald Angels Sing (Favourite Hymns And Christmas Carols, 1984)

Rounding out the top ten today is another track from Leeds in support of their rebuilding project. Hope it worked out for them.

 That's all, there ain't no more (at least for today, try us again tomorrow). 

MEGA