Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols, may employ lyrics about the nativity of Jesus Christ, traditions such as gift-giving and merrymaking, cultural figures such as Santa Claus, or other topics. Many songs simply have a winter or seasonal theme, or have been adopted into the canon for other reasons.
Barret Eugene Hansen, known professionally as Dr. Demento, is an American radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograph records to the present. Hansen created the Demento persona in 1970 while working at Pasadena, California station KPPC-FM. He played "Transfusion" by Nervous Norvus on the radio, and DJ "The Obscene" Steven Clean said that Hansen had to be "demented" to play it, and the name stuck. His weekly show went into syndication in 1974 and was syndicated by the Westwood One Radio Network from 1978 to 1992. Broadcast syndication of the show ended on June 6, 2010, but the show continues to be produced weekly in an online version.
A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and with musical parody, especially when the novel gimmick is another popular song. Novelty songs achieved great popularity during the 1920s and 1930s. They had a resurgence of interest in the 1950s and 1960s. The term arose in Tin Pan Alley to describe one of the major divisions of popular music; the other two divisions were ballads and dance music. Humorous songs, or those containing humorous elements, are not necessarily novelty songs.
Foster Brooks was an American actor and comedian best known for his portrayal of a lovable drunk in nightclub performances and television programs.
A sound-alike is a recording intended to imitate the sound of a popular record, the style of a popular recording artist, or a current musical trend; the term also refers to the artists who perform on such recordings. In the voice-over world, it may also refer to those who recreate the voice and vocal mannerisms of a given celebrity's vocal performance.
Radio Disney Jams was a series of CD compilations of music that was featured on Radio Disney, a children's radio network.
Philip Roman is an American animator and the director of the Peanuts and Garfield animated specials. He is the founder of the animation studios Film Roman and Phil Roman Entertainment.
"Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" is a novelty Christmas song. Written by Randy Brooks, the song was originally performed by Elmo Shropshire in 1979 under the brand of Elmo and Patsy, the double act Shropshire had with his then-wife Patsy Trigg.
"Christmas at Ground Zero" is an original song by "Weird Al" Yankovic, the tenth and final track on his 1986 album, Polka Party! and the final single from the album, released just in time for the 1986 Christmas season. The song is a style parody of Phil Spector-produced Christmas songs.
Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer is a 2000 animated Christmas television special directed by Phil Roman. The special was first released on home video in October, and then aired on The WB network on December 21, 2001. The title and story are based on the 1979 novelty song of the same name.
I Stoled This Record is the second album from country music parodist Cledus T. Judd. His highest-selling album to date, it has been certified gold in the United States, although none of its singles charted. As with his previous album, this one features parodies of several country songs, as well as some original tunes.
Cledus Navidad is a Christmas album released by country music artist Cledus T. Judd. The track "Merry Christmas from the Whole Fam Damily", included here, was previously on his 2000 album Just Another Day in Parodies. Also featured are two cover songs: "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" and "Santa Claus Is Watching You". "Stephon the Alternative Lifestyle Reindeer" was later recorded by Mac McAnally on his 2004 album Semi-True Stories.
Christmastime in the LBC is the seventh Christmas album released by KROQ-FM show Kevin and Bean. The album was released only on audio cassette, and was the very last of the Kevin and Bean Christmas albums to be released on that format. The album is currently out of print and has not been reissued on CD as of February 2021.
Hassan Mead is a Somali-American long-distance runner. He was a cross country and track athlete for the University of Minnesota. An eight-time All-American in his Minnesota career, four in cross country and five in track.
White Trash Christmas is the fifth and final Christmas album by Bob Rivers, released in 2002.
Billboard Greatest Christmas Hits is a set of two Christmas-themed compilation albums released by Rhino Records in 1989, each featuring ten popular Christmas recordings from 1935 to 1983, many of which charted on the Billboard record charts. Both volumes were certified Gold by the RIAA in the U.S., with the second volume being certified Platinum.
Elmo is a male name, derivative of Erasmus, via the old Italian diminutive Ermo.
Billboard magazine only charted Christmas singles and albums along with the other popular non-holiday records until the 1958 holiday season when they published their first section that surveys only Christmas music.
The BillboardChristmas Hits survey ran each holiday season between 1983 until 1989 except for 1986. The singles chart only ran a total 6 of weeks between 1983 and 1985.
