December 14, 2007 9:36 AM
Worst Christmas song ever? Dogs barking 'Jingle Bells'?
'Tis the season for beloved Christmas songs on the radio, in stores, from your iPod - and for some serious musical swill.
Face it, for every soaring song of the season, there's an artist butchering a Christmas classic hopeful of a quick sale in the supermarket checkout line.
The Washington Post's Paul Farhi reports the most-hated Christmas song is the barking dogs version of Jingle Bells, a worthy choice in a crowded field.
He cites surveys of Christmas music popularity that rank Madonna's rendition of "Santa Baby" and Barbra Streisand's "Jingle Bells" in the top rank of quick-switch-the-station holiday songs.
Not one, but two research companies -- Edison Media Research and Pinnacle Media Worldwide -- independently surveyed listeners to divine their most loved and loathed holiday songs. (Both companies asked review panels -- consisting primarily of women -- to rate hundreds of Christmas-themed tunes, sorting them into such categories as "love," "like," "dislike" and "hate.")There's big money riding on these surveys, which were released last week. Knowing what listeners love and hate, Christmas-wise, is critical to 366 radio stations across the country that play nothing but Christmas music for a few weeks this time of year.
The most beloved songs in both surveys were often standards: Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" (he first recorded it in 1942); Nat King Cole's "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" (1946) and Burl Ives's "A Holly Jolly Christmas" (1965) turned up at the top of each company's lists of favorites.
Three other staples, "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" (Brenda Lee, recorded in 1958), "Jingle Bell Rock" (Bobby Helms, 1957) and John Lennon and Yoko Ono's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" from 1971, scored consistently well in research conducted by California-based Pinnacle.
Among the most-hated Christmas songs, according to Edison's research, are Streisand's "Jingle Bells?" (too "acrobatic," Ross ventures); the Jackson 5's "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" (Ross: "I wonder if it's a vote about Michael Jackson"); Elmo & Patsy's "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer"; and "O Holy Night," as butchered by the cartoon character Eric Cartman (voiced by Trey Parker) from Comedy Central's "South Park."
And the No. 1 most-hated Christmastime recording? That would be "Jingle Bells," as "performed" by the Singing Dogs. This 1955 Danish record (reedited and rereleased in 1970) is just what the name and group say it is: a bunch of dogs woofing out the familiar tune, one bark at a time.
What's your personal dis-favorite Christmas song?
And to put you in a contemplative mood, listen to Montgomery Gentry's version of Christmas From the Family, which strikes closer to home than many of us would care to acknowledge:
">Montgomery Gentry's version of Merry Christmas From the Family
December 16, 2007
7:03 PM
Paul Barker writes:
Holy Huckabee! I'd rather listen to the singing dogs! Does this kind of trash exist in your neighborhood?
December 17, 2007
7:49 AM
just sayin' writes:
I heard some original song by Elton John that was atrocious.
December 18, 2007
6:12 AM
That Alvin and the Chipmunks one was awful writes:
Worst song? That chipmunk thing with Alvin was awful.
December 18, 2007
6:21 AM
". . .and may all your Christmases be white" writes:
The worst Christmas song ever has to be that racist "White Christmas" since it obviously discriminates against people of color.
December 19, 2007
11:35 AM
Stone Cold writes:
In high school, me and two of my friends Belched "Jingle Bells" all the way through.
We called our version "Jingle Belch"
That was, unfortunately, long before the days of YouTube. It coulda been a big hit.
December 19, 2007
11:38 AM
Stone Cold writes:
I should have mentioned - we were just like a Barbershop quartet, only different.
December 1, 2008
4:50 PM
Panda Rosa writes:
All the same, my Christmas just would not be complete without the Jingle Bell Dogs! It's stupid, but it's just honest stupid fun, just a bunch of dogs yelping it up for the holidays.
Wonder how long it took them to train those dogs to do that? :)