Area newspaper takes on WLIT about Christmas music

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: Give her the hippopotamus, already : BY ROB EARNSHAW : NW Indiana Times Correspondent | Sunday, December 07, 2008 : : I don't have a problem with The Holiday Lite playing Christmas music a week or two after baseball season. : It's Chicagoland tradition for radio station WLIT-FM, 93.9, to blanket the Chicago area 24/7 with an endless snow shower of holiday music for more than a month every year. : But I do have a problem with the fact it seems to be the same Christmas music over and over and over. And over. I mean, Christmas music dates back as far as the 13th century. : "Silent Night" was composed in 1818. : Since then, there have been a lot of Christmas songs, and a lot of versions, created for our listening pleasure. : So why, then, am I hearing Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" every hour on the hour? That song got old after the second or third viewing of "Home Alone." : Seriously, where's the variety? : Along with the aforementioned Brenda Lee tune, here's my unofficial list of what I believe are holiday songs just played way too much on The Lite (there are a lot more, I just don't have the space): : "All I Want For Christmas," Mariah Carey; "Jingle Bell Rock," Daryl Hall & John Oates; "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town," Bruce Springsteen; "Happy Xmas (War is Over)," John Lennon; "O Holy Night," Josh Groban; "Do They Know It's Christmas," Band Aid. : Listening to these over and over is like choking on garland. I'm probably in the minority here. I mean, Carey's song is Number 1 on the iTunes holiday chart. And a WLIT spokeswoman said the station's holiday music is a combination of listener input and audience research. : "The more popular versions of songs are played more often," she said. : But look, does The Lite believe Groban is really the only singer ever to record "O Holy Night?" : So, here's a list of Christmas music The Lite should play, but doesn't: : "Dig That Crazy Santa Claus," Ralph Marterie & His Orchestra; "The Most Wonderful Day of The Year," from "Rudolph The Red-nosed Reindeer"; "What Child Is This?" Sarah McLachlan; "Ave Maria," Aaron Neville; "All Alone On Christmas," Darlene Love; "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas," either Judy Garland or Ella Fitzgerald; and "Come On Santa," the Raveonettes. : Okay, a few songs The Lite plays they can keep: "Same Old Lang Syne," Dan Fogelberg; and "Christmas Time is Here" (the six-minute instrumental version), the Vince Guaraldi Trio. : But some songs absolutely must go: : The Beach Boys version of "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" (why it incorporates bad circus music I'll never know); and Faith Hill's "A Baby Changes Everything" (Hill's apparent take on Mary and Joseph includes the line, "The man she loves she's never touched"). : In all fairness, I haven't heard the Faith Hill number much anymore, so maybe The Lite wised up on that one. : Two other stations are playing continous Christmas music, too. WCKG-FM, 105.9, seems to be plugged in to the same satellite as The Lite, playing the exact songlist. At least Northwest Indiana's own WZVN-FM, 107.1, has a better variety than both Chicago stations. : Laura Caldwell, a Chicago author and lawyer, says her favorite Christmas songs include "Please Come Home for Christmas" by Southside Johnny Lynn and "Baby, It's Cold Outside" by Leon Redbone (this version by Redbone and actress Zooey Deschanel from "Elf" is a sexy and sultry alternative to Lite's oft-played one by Dean Martin and Martina McBride). : Jason Kladiva, a host on Valparaiso's WVLP-FM, 98.3, enjoys "All You Need Is Elves," Bob Rivers; "Santa Claus is Watching You," Ray Stevens; and "Deck the Halls," Hampton the Hampster. : I don't think I've heard any of those on The Lite, and you can bet I probably won't. : What holiday song are you sick of on The Lite? Which one should Chicago radio station WLIT-FM, 93.9, give a chance? : Readers, please submit to The Times your top choices for which holiday song or songs have to go, already, and which should be given a shot at air time. We may publish some of them in a future story and also submit the suggestions to the station as part of "audience research." : Who knows? Maybe next year, you'll hear Aretha Franklin singing "O Christmas Tree" instead Gayla Peevey's 1953 recording of "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas," sung when she was 10. : Send e-mail submissions to: NWIfeatures@gmail.com, and put "holiday songs" in the subject line. Send postal-mail submissions to Holiday Songs, c/o The Features Department, The Times of Northwest Indiana, 601 45th Ave., Munster, IN 46321. Deadline is Friday, Dec. 12.

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