Human League "Don't You Want Me"

Many Brits received the gift of music for Christmas back 1981. Human League's "Don't You Want Me" was the top song during the week of Christmas back in 1981. The song made its way to the States in 1982 where it again went to #1 for three weeks.

Kenny G "Winter Wonderland"

Advertisers usually just add the sound of jingling bells to their commercials during the holiday season to give it that Christmas-y feel. In the case of the home improvement store Menards, they swap out their "Save big money at Menards" jingle with a holiday-themed "Warm seasons greetings to you all from Menards". The commercial always puts a smile on my face...unless you hear it in July. This happened once when I produced a morning show. For whatever reason, an old holiday-themed Menards commercial accidentally was scheduled and aired during a particularly warm summer day causing the morning show to go on the air and laugh about it. Our sales and commercial department, however, did not find the humor. Meetings were held. Policies were implemented. More meetings were held to make sure this never happened again. As far as I'm concerned, it was probably the best free press Menards could've ever wanted.

Train "Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)"

"Drops of Jupiter" gets Charlie Sheen arrested. Sounds like a tabloid headline, but no--it actually happened. The unlikely scene unfolded at the Sheen house on Christmas morning in 2009. According to Sheen, he purchased two telescopes for him and his daughter so they could "look at the same point in the universe at the same time as a way of staying connected" and also because they both enjoyed the Train ballad "Drops of Jupiter." This, according to Sheen, enraged his then-wife Brooke Muller who was jealous Sheen and their daughter shared a song, but she and Sheen did not. Sounds like a common fight that plays out at most folks homes on Christmas morning, right? Muller's version was quite different: Sheen was drunk, threatened to have her killed, snapped her designer eyeglasses, and slapped her hands. Sheen later pled guilty and went to rehab following the incident. To no one's surprise, the couple later divorced. Happy Holidays, from the Sheens!

K-Ci & JoJo "All My Life"

Imagine piling the kids into the car and driving down to The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles to see a radio station's Jingle Ball concert...only to see one of the performer's, um, balls. Well, this actually happened in 2000 when Cedric Hailey (K-Ci) revealed himself to the crowd...twice. Children as young as five were part of the crowd that numbered nearly 4,000 people. K-Ci ultimately pleaded no contest and performed community service. "He just got caught up in the moment," said K-Ci's attorney.

Michael Bublé "Home"

Thanks to his popular 2011 album Christmas, Michael Buble finds a home on the radio every November and December when his renditions of "Jingle Bells", "I'll Be Home for Christmas", and "Baby, It's Cold Outside" turn up on radio stations playing Christmas music. The crooner first scored a hit in 2005 when "Home" went to #1 on the Adult Contemporary Chart. Here's hoping you made it home safely and soundly this holiday. Merry Christmas!

Kenny G featuring Earth, Wind & Fire - "The Way You Move"

In the '80s, Kenny G's career was highlighted by smooth jazz instrumentals followed by soft rock ballads and Christmas music in the '90s.  By the 2000's, Kenny moved onto duets.  In 2004, he released At Last...The Duets Album.  Aside from some additional requisite Christmas tunes, the album produced a jazzy version of "The Way You Move" with Earth, Wind & Fire.  The year prior, the song was a hit for OutKast's Big Boi and Sleepy Brown.

Herb Alpert - "My Favorite Things"

Things were much different in 1968 (or were they?).  Beloved trumpeter Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass notched a Top 10 hit on the Adult Contemporary Chart with a rousing rendition of "My Favorite Things".  A year later, Alpert dismantled the Tijuana Brass.

Rod Stewart - "This"

Rod Stewart: musical icon who created dozens of hit songs beginning in 1971......buuuuuut started to phone it in around 1990.  For the better part of the past 25 years, Rod has recycled old Motown hits, dusted off Christmas songs, and rehashed American standards all the while Adult Contemporary radio stations have gobbled them up faster than you can say "It's The Same Old Song".  That's my problem with Rod Stewart and for people paying good money to hear him sing "What A Wonderful World".  While Rod tends to be on the receiving end of quite a few punches on this blog, I do recognize his strengths and applaud his talent.  All this to say that Rod's "phone it in" period between 1990 and 2016 is not void of any decent original material.  In fact, there are quite a few really good songs during that span.  Even though Rod's Spanner in the Works album was a commercial disappointment, it produced such a simple yet beautiful song called "This" in 1995.  It only charted as high as #119, yet should have been promoted much more than duds such as "Leave Virginia Alone".  "This" is nearly extinct on YouTube, but I did unearth one of two copies.  Enjoy.  

Gloria Estefan - "Christmas Through Your Eyes"

Being the newbie at the radio station, I had the dubious task of working on all the holidays.  The first Christmas that I worked was in 1996 when my shift started at the pleasant 4am hour and lasted until 10am.  When I arrived that Christmas morning, the DJ who was on before me told me that we were running two hours early.  That meant that we were already playing music from the 6am when it was still 4am.  Today, you would typically pick up the phone and call your Program Director or Music Director and they would add some more music for you.  Since it was Christmas morning in 1996 and the Music Director was on vacation, I just chose my own music and prayed that the song wasn't in Spanish.  Most Christmas songs are short, so it was a struggle to find two hours worth of music to get us back "on time".  I played many Christmas songs that I had never heard of and probably shouldn't have played (because they were just plain bad ).  With my best efforts, that cold Christmas morning in 1996 saw a Christmas miracle happen on the 15th floor of the John Hancock Building: I managed to get us back "on time".