Christmas In July 2026-Part 20

 

Welcome to day the twentieth! We're about 2/3 of the way through the month and that's cause enough for celebration! Hope you had a great weekend and didn't melt in the heat. This music will help you to cool off, I promise.

1. The Polka Kings-Peppermint Polka (A Beautiful Morning With The Polka Kings)

Don't think I've shared this fine polka with you before, though there has been plenty of candy-flavored music shared around these parts in the past.  This one sits proudly alongside all those others that came before it.

2. United States Coast Guard Band-LCDR William Broadwell, Director-March Of The Toys (Heritage Of The March, Volume 20, Herbert-Berg)

I found this record in a pile of others from the same series at a Goodwill earlier this year. I knew somewhere in that strange series of march records had to be a Christmas-related track. And sure enough, I found one by Victor Herbert, of course.

3. Werner Müller And His Orchestra-Sleigh Ride (Werner Müller Plays Leroy Anderson, 1964)

The better track from this Phase 4 treasure. I shared a less-Christmassy track with you earlier, but this is the one you really wanted. It's a rerun from the past, but I thought it worth sharing again.

4. The Concordia College Choir-Victor Hildner, Director-Carol Of The Drum (The Concordia College Choir, 1956)

Another track from these guys, but something with a bit of special interest. This is a version of a song later popularized by Harry Simeone as The Little Drummer Boy, for which he claimed a composing credit. Notice that most of the song existed as arranged by Katherine Davis well before Simeone got his hands on it. An arranger credit would be fine, but he didn't compose anything.

5. The Banjo Barons-Arranged And Conducted By Marty Manning-For You A Lei; An Old Hawaiian Custom; The Hawaiian Christmas Song (Golden Hawaiian Hits, 1963)

A rerun, but a good 'un. Hawaiian songs as played on the banjo. And a Christmas song at that. The early sixties were an odd time.

6. Hope Publishing Company, Somerset Press, Agape-Come Christmas Morning (The Very Best Sacred Choral Music, 1979)

More music to sell arrangements by. I'm getting close to the end of the pile of these things, I hope you're happy.

7. The Choir Of Leeds Parish Church-Directed By Simon Lindley-Michael Harris, Organ-De Virgin Mary Had A Baby Boy (Favourite Hymns And Christmas Carols, 1984)

Another track from these folks trying to raise money to rehab their church. It's still there today, over forty years later, so they must have been successful in their quest.

8. St. Cecilia's Men's Choir, Conducted By C. Irving Guyer-Ave Maria (Glory To God In The Highest, 1965)

Another track from this record I previously shared. Remember, it's the one with the stock cover that was used on another record I shared something from. You don't remember? Oh well, I thought it was slightly memorable but I guess not.

9. Steve Allen-Piano Solos With Rhythm Accompaniment-Can I Wait Up For Santa Claus? (Allen Plays Allen, 1956)

My favorite track of the day, and one of the favorite of the season (it will show up on the best-of collection for this year I promise!). This is an piano instrumental version of a song Steve Allen composed and recorded with Ricky Vera back in 1953. It's not too Christmassy in this version, but if you're familiar with the original recording, it's fun to sing along with.

10. Stuttgart Festival Band-William Harrison, Conductor-Joy To The World (Have Band Will Travel-Music Minus One Trombone)

Another track that you can play your trombone along with. Enjoy! And that's it for the day, an excellent crop of music. Have a go and let me know what you think down in the comments. 

MEGA 

Christmas In July 2026-Part 19

Day nineteen, I was starting to wonder if we'd ever get here. Lots of stuff going on behind the scenes here, not the least of which is my workload. There's not a lot of time to make a post every day. Thank goodness I came into the month with all of this music prerecorded. I've found a new track or two here and there, but the lions share was recorded during a marathon three weeks in June. The challenge now is just to keep making a post a day. I started out with a whole week of posts in the can but I've let that lead wither away to just a day or two and now I'm struggling to keep up. But it's worth doing, I think. Hope you're enjoying the music, there's some good stuff in the pile today.

1. Madison Junior And Senior Choir, David Alan Ayers-Director-The Coventry Carol (The Joy Of Christmas And Greats From America Yesterday, Today And Tomorrow)

One more track from this one. I think we're getting close to the end though. Hang in there.

2. Ray McVay Orchestra-I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing (Nice 'N' Easy, 1972)

A single track from a European double LP of easy listening arrangements. That's to those Coca-Cola commercials from fifty years ago, I can consider this a Christmas song, though I'm sure some people are confused as to why it's here.

3. The Swe-Danes (Svend Asmussen, Alice Babs and Ulrick Neumann)-Hot Toddy (Scandinavian Shuffle, 1960)

I really enjoy this track. I have to look and see who it is every time it plays. It's a rerun, but a good 'un.

4. Jim Timmens And His Swinging Brass-Go Tell It On The Mountain (Hallelujah! Spirituals In Stereo Brass, 1960)

The track from the featured LP shown above. Was really excited to find something new on RCA Victor, likely the biggest and most popular record label of the late fifties and early sixties. They look good, they sound good and they are good in most other ways as well. You can't go wrong.

5. The Robert Shaw Chorale-Robert Shaw, Conductor-Raymond Viola At The Piano-Ave Maria (Sweet And Low/Schubert Songs For Male Chorus, 1954)

I didn't do an A-B test, but I think there may be two versions of this same track in the pile this season. They're from two different records, but I suspect they are the same. I didn't do it on purpose, but I didn't do much to stop it. Sorry.

6. Gooding Amusement's German Organ-Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (Christmas With The Gooding Band Organ, 1984)

Another track from the band organ. I did a little internet research and the best I could find about the current resting place of this machine is a private owner somewhere. Could you imagine having this giant music machine in your garage? I dunno if the rumor is true, but that's gotta be something.

7. Poldi Zeitlin, Pianist-The Doll's Funeral (Tchaikovsky 24 Pieces For The Piano-Masterwork Series For The Young Musician, 1952)

We don't often get funeral music around here, but I took the doll-Christmas connection to it's logical conclusion here.

8. Stanley Black Conducting The London Festival Orchestra AKA The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra-Waltz Of The Flowers (Tchaikovsky-Nutcracker Suite/Serenade For Strings, 1967)

Some more Phase 4 goodness for you.

9. Unknown Artist-We Wish You A Merry Christmas (Mockingbird Flight, 1975)

What, an actual Christmas song? We don't get enough of these around here. Enjoy it when you can.

10. Moe Koffman-Amazing Grace/Ave Maria (The Magic Flute Of Moe Koffman, 1984)

Another track from Moe Koffman that is not Swinging Shepherd Blues. And our second version of Ave Maria today. Sigh.

 That's it, thanks for tuning in. More tomorrow! 

MEGA 

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

Christmas In July 2026-Part 17

G'day, welcome to part seventeen of this month-long celebration of Christmas from vinyl. Well, Christmas from non-Christmas records on vinyl to be more precise. I really enjoy finding these Christmas songs that just show up at random in places where they don't have much reason to be, and I also enjoy sharing them with you. The intent is to introduce you to some stuff you've never heard before and I think I've hit the mark yet again today. Let's see what's in the download. 

1. Marching Chippewa Band-Central Michigan University-I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm (Marching Showcase '74-21 New Marching Band Arrangements, 1974)

A nice new arrangement of a hairy old chestnut. If you like it, I'm sure they'll be happy to sell you the sheet music.

2. Gooding Amusement's German Organ-A Little Boy's Christmas (Christmas With The Gooding Band Organ, 1984)

Another good track a side full of good tracks. I wonder if this band wagon still exists. I need to do some research on that. Huh, the Internet tells me that this company went out of business more than ten years before this record came out. Do I have the wrong date on it or is the Internet wrong again?

3. Red Garter-Sleigh Ride (Santa's Musical Grog)

Another track from a good side of music. I love these records where I can grab a whole pile of tracks for you. Makes my job easier. Takes forever when I can only record one song from each record.

4. Reginald Foort, F.R.C.O.-Nutcracker Suite: Waltz Of The Flowers (Waltz And Ballet, 1956)

More Nutcracker sweet! They really loved their pipe organs back in the middle of last century. I figure they're about due for a comeback, don't 'cha think?

5. The Concordia College Choir-Victor Hildner, Director-Silent Night (The Concordia College Choir, 1956)

Another record where I think I grabbed a whole side of music.

6. Madison Junior And Senior Choir, David Alan Ayers-Director-We Wish You The Merriest (The Joy Of Christmas And Greats From America Yesterday, Today And Tomorrow)

Sheesh, how many of these are in the pile today? Pretty sure I grabbed a full side on this one as well.

7. Petula Clark & Children-My Favourite Things (Ross Taylor's Production Of The Sound Of Music-The Original 1981 London Production, 1981)

Ah, here's one where I only grabbed one track off of a full album, and it was a real shock to find it. I see lots of versions of The Sound Of Music, but when I flipped it over and saw Petula Clark on there I got all excited. Sure enough, she sang the lead here and now I get to share it with you. Now you know why I put the album cover up at the top of this post. No idea why I couldn't be bothered to remove the price tag before I took the photo though. Lazy, I guess.

8. Robert Douglas As Narrator, With The Children's Hour Orchestra And Singers Conducted By Larry H. Laberer-In Winter (All About The Seasons, 1963)

This track has been popping up frequently as I listen to the music to share this season, and I feel like it's more frequent than anything else in the pile. I guess the algorithms are all messed up, or maybe it's just me. Anyhow, I'm sick of it so I'm sharing it just so it can go in the 'shared' pile and I won't hear it anymore.

9. The JM Choral Group-Novices And Postulates Of The Religious Of Jesus And Mary-Mother Marie Laetitia, R.J.M., Director-Patapan (Patterns In Song, 1960)

Another track from these nuns in training. I didn't know that's what they meant by Novices and postulates, but now I do. Someone will probably correct me about that, but I clearly didn't pay enough attention during Sister Act to know my nun-iverse.

10. Gordon Jenkins, His Piano, Orchestra And Chorus-Baby It's Cold Outside (The Great Movie Themes Of The 30's, 40's & 50's, 1964)

The great Gordon Jenkins plays a short version of an Academy Award winning Christmas-adjacent song. It's short because they tried to cram twenty or thirty tracks onto this record, so there's only a small slice of time for each song. Still good though. I feel like I've shared this out before though, but from an LP with a different cover. Maybe this is one of those albums that's been reissued a bunch to try and get you to buy something you already have.

MEGA

Christmas In July 2026-Part 16

Another day, another batch of Christmas music from non-Christmas albums for you. I hope this music is helping you to cool off just a bit, I suspect it's pretty hot no matter where you are in the northern hemisphere. If you're below the equator, then you don't need to worry about the heat for another six months. Enjoy it while it lasts.

1. Archie Fisher & Garnet Rogers-The Long And Lonely Winter (Off The Map, 1986)

Can't tell you much about this one. Just one of those random LPs I picked up for no reason and found a winter-themed song on there. This may turn out to be a track from someone's favorite album, or it may be something that no one has ever heard of before. We'll see.

2. Stanley Black Conducting The London Festival Orchestra AKA The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra-Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy (Tchaikovsky-Nutcracker Suite/Serenade For Strings, 1967)

A nutcracker a day keeps the doctor away!

3. Kermit Leslie And His Orchestra-The Little Toy Shop (A Holiday In Hi-Fi, 1958)

This one is a little interesting. I shared this music with you before, but it was from a 10" record. This time it's from a 12" re-release from a few years later with some extra tracks. It didn't go anywhere the second time around since it was mono in a world that was about to go crazy with stereo. But it's still good music.

4. The Bob Brookmeyer Small Band-Moonlight In Vermont (The Bob Brookmeyer Small Band, 1978)

Nice version from this double album. Once again, no idea who Bob Brookmeyer is or what's up with his small band.

5. The Yoder Families-The Bells (Come Let Us Join Our Cheerful Songs)

This is a track from the LP proudly displayed up top. I think the song is a version of a track popularized by The King Family and rarely performed elsewhere that I know of. The lyrics are based on an Edgar Allen Poe poem!

6. Don Costa-A Hazy Shade Of Winter (Don Costa's Instrumental Versions Of Simon & Garfunkel, 1968)

Is this the closest Don Costa ever came to recording a Christmas song? That can't be. I think he did some work for Don Ho on his Christmas stuff, but I can't think of anything else. Sinatra maybe. Anyhow, enjoy this Christmas-adjacent song from him.

7. Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation-Mary's Little Boy Child (Savor The Flavors For Chorale Ensemble 1977-1978, 1977)

We sent you a free record! Buy our arrangements, please!

8. The Choir Of Leeds Parish Church-Directed By Simon Lindley-Michael Harris, Organ-Silent Night (Favourite Hymns And Christmas Carols, 1984)

Another track from this record raising some much needed funds for this English church.

9. Madison Junior And Senior Choir, David Alan Ayers-Director-Let There Be Peace On Earth (The Joy Of Christmas And Greats From America Yesterday, Today And Tomorrow)

Not strictly a Christmas song, but pretty tied to the spirit of the season.

10. The Crane Wind Ensemble, State University Of New York At Potsdam-Anthony J. Maiello, Director-Winterset (Music For Concert Band, 1985)

Yes, it's just a sheet music demo, but I always like it when they announce the song first. Hope there's something worth having in the pile today. Enjoy!

MEGA

Christmas In July 2026-Part 15

The fifteenth, that's pretty much the halfway mark. I hope you've enjoyed the season so far. I didn't think I'd have this much music, but as I've said earlier, it just started coming out of the woodwork a month or so ago. It's hard to find good cheap records anymore. Used to be I could go out and spend a few bucks and come home with some good stuff pretty much any weekend. Now you go places and not only are the pickings slim, they also seem to want an arm and a leg for the stuff. I bout two records at Goodwill in Tampa a couple weeks ago and paid $6.18 each! I rarely pay that much in real record stores, much less thrift stores. And they had that on all the records, not just the ones that were in good shape or maybe name bands. But it was stuff I wanted and at this point if I haven't stumbled across it, I need to pay up to get it sometimes. One record was mint and the other one had white paint specs all over it that I had to pop off one at a time with my fingernail. But at least I didn't have to pay the shipping on Discogs, that's another pet peeve of mine, but I'll save it for another day. What music have I got in the pile for you today?

1. The Senior Choir Of Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church-Walter H. Schurr, Conducting-Hope (A Song For Christmas Eve) (Woods AKA Music At Woods, 1976)

A good song from an interesting find. I thought the cover was neat, too. And the name of the group reminded me of this Christmas collection I shared a couple years back. Absolutely no relation but I like to point you at good stuff in the archives when I have good reason.

2. Bowmar Orchestral Library-March (Stories In Ballet And Opera)

Another piece of The Nutcracker from this library record. And if I'm linking to old shares that have no connection whatsoever today, here's another lost record.

3. Madison Junior And Senior Choir, David Alan Ayers-Director-And The Glory Of The Lord (The Joy Of Christmas And Greats From America Yesterday, Today And Tomorrow)

A little piece of The Messiah from this school group. I know you've heard a lot from these guys, but they filled up half an LP with this stuff and I'm determined to share it all with you. Better than last year when I shared all of one record because it was the Christmas part of a two-record set. And here's another pointless link.

4. Charlie Manna-Produced And Directed By Michael Ross-Christmas Is Our Business (Manna-Live! More Comedy By Charlie Manna, 1962)

This is a neat little comic bit about the writing and selling of a Christmas song. There are some dated stereotypes here but it rings true to me. I've shared this before but I think it was in mono. This time I unsealed a stereo copy just for you. How about another useless link?

5. The Concordia College Choir-Victor Hildner, Director-Come Rejoicing (The Concordia College Choir, 1956)

Is this the first LP by this renowned college choir? I suspect it is, given that it's self-titled. Last I checked, it wasn't listed at Discogs, or if it was I missed it. Being missing over there at this point is either a sign that something is pretty rare, or no one cares very much about it. You can make up your own mind about which category this record falls into. Link.

6. Gooding Amusement's German Organ-Silver Bells (Christmas With The Gooding Band Organ, 1984)

I mentioned in a comment recently that there used to be a museum here in town that had a lot of those band organs in their collection, but they got rid of them and concentrated on fancy cars at some point before I moved to town. I still occasionally see records that were recorded on those machines and wonder what happened to them. I asked once when I visited the museum (which has since closed and been bulldozed to build a baseball field) but the lady said they got rid of them long ago. Shame. Unrelated link.

7. Bob Bradburn-In The Fields (AKA Natividad) (Happy Holiday With CHQT Radio's Bob Bradburn And The Jasper Place High School Stage Band)

Another track from this Canadian DJ. He claims a writing credit for this song, but I don't think it's actually something he wrote. I've shared other versions of this track before. Maybe it's a traditional thing, but I kind of doubt it. Linky-link.

8. Sammy Cahn-The Christmas Waltz (Words And Music Starring Sammy Cahn, 1975)

We finally get to the track from the highlighted LP at the top of this post. It's actually famed songwriter Sammy Cahn from a stage production where he talked about all the songs he's written in his career. I love finding stuff like this where you get a little bit of history behind some song you've heard all your life. Short but interesting. And another useless link for you.

9. Ann Richards-Orchestra Conducted By Bill Holman-Seasons Reasons (The Many Moods Of Ann Richards, 1960)

A nice little track from former Texas governor Ann Richards here for you. I guess former Louisiana governor Jimmie Davis didn't want to hog all the political glory. And while we're on the subject, how about a US Senator reciting his way through some Christmas classics? Maybe a fake attorney general would be more your speed? Anyhow, I'm just kidding, this is not the same Ann Richards that once led Texas. And she was a Democrat. Times were different back then. This Ann Richards was an acolyte of Stan Kenton, much like June Christy. And I think that's quite enough links for this entry.

10. The Arlingtones, Jay Giallombardo-Director, Soloist: J. Casaletto-Do You Hear What I Hear (A Chorus For All Seasons)

And bringing up the rear is another track from this baa-baa-shop chorus. If I look around a bit, I might actually be able to link to some relevant albums in the archives. 

I think that's enough tomfoolery for today. Please be my guest and download another half hour of Christmas music. 

MEGA