2025 Holiday Music - Welcome Ken from the Sounds of Christmas!

Time for our yearly tradition! Please join me in welcoming back Ken from the Sounds of Christmas. He has exciting new holiday music releases to share.

Thanks so much for once again inviting me back to your blog, Michelle!

As usual, I am very excited about this season for the Sounds of Christmas (we started on November 1)!

For the last nineteen Christmas seasons, I’ve played a huge variety of Christmas music, and I’ve worked hard to play thousands of songs, without repeating the same song and the same artist. That way, you won’t hear Mariah and Bing ten times every day, and you won’t hear “Jingle Bell Rock” every hour.

There’s just so much good Christmas music out there, and more and more coming every year. There’s no reason to play Bing’s “White Christmas” every other hour. Don’t get me wrong, I love Bing. But he recorded a lot of great Christmas music, and “White Christmas” isn’t the only song of his that gets played on the Sounds of Christmas!

I do the same kind of thing with Halloween music, spreading out different versions of “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” and others, as well as separating out the songs by the same artists. You won’t hear “Monster Mash” over and over, and I have multiple versions of that in rotation, including versions by the Beach Boys and Vincent Price (not together). 

(Be sure to tune in next Halloween for spooky sounds on the Sounds of Christmas. M)

So, what’s new in Christmas music this season?

Once again, there is a lot of terrific new music this year, much of which is already out! I’m sure I won’t be able to get to it all of it in this blog, and there are always surprise releases that show up as the season gets going!

First, here’s some of what’s already been released…

So far, we’ve gotten new Christmas albums from Natalie Grant, Lady A, Eric Benét, Andrew DeLong, Matthew West, Chris Blue (“The Voice” winner in 2017), Deck The Hallmark, the Down East Boys, Chris Rea, Jake Shimabukuro, Jim Brickman, Darius de Haas, Mickey Guyton, Brandon Heath, Pentatonix, Tommee Profitt and Straight No Chaser.

In addition, Lainey Wilson has released an EP including a holiday version of “Peace, Love and Cowboys”. James Taylor’s Christmas album has been reissued, collecting all the songs from its many different previous editions, and adding two new ones! Michael Bolton’s recent Christmas album has also been re-released with a couple more songs.

Classic Christmas albums from Connie Francis and the Royal Guardsmen (not together) also have special expanded releases that are already out!

And Scott Hoying (of Pentatonix) and his husband Mark Hoying released an album called M.Y.F.A.M.I.L.Y. While it's not a Christmas album, there are two Christmas tracks on it. There have also been a bunch of Christmas singles that have been released, including tracks from Brad Paisley, Daniel Powter, Kate Hudson, Sara Evans, Stella Cole, Dan + Shay and two new singles from Suzanne’s Band!

Plus, Spotify has continued their tradition of exclusive Christmas tracks, including new ones from Fall Out Boy (covering “It Feels Like Christmas” from “The Muppet Christmas Carol”) and Poppy, with a cover of “Last Christmas”.

And there’s plenty for vinyl collectors, too! The records that have already been released include Christmas albums from America, Gloria Gaynor, Kenny Rogers, Celtic Thunder and Jeffrey Osbourne, Plus, Target has some exclusive releases, including red vinyl releases from the Muppets, Mannheim Steamroller and Kelly Clarkson!

So what else is on the way?

Well, next week, look for a new Christmas album from Jimmy Dooley, an EP from the Pretty Reckless (the band fronted by Taylor Momsen, who played Cindy Lou Who in the Jim Carrey version of “The Grinch”) and a new collection of Roberta Flack’s Christmas songs.

In November, we’ll be getting new Christmas releases from Herb Alpert, Celtic Woman, Chanticleer, Brad Paisley, Trisha Yearwood, JJ Heller, Chris Mann, Boney James, Old Crow Medicine Show, Stryper, April Varner and Art Garfunkel Jr.!

There are probably going to be releases from Bryan Adams, Jessie James Decker and the Jonas Brothers, but there’s not a lot of info about any of them, yet.

Also, look for new collections and expanded releases from Melanie, Gabby Barrett and Frank Sinatra!

I’m sure we’ll also get surprised with new Christmas singles, but so far, I only know of a few - new Christmas singles are on the way from Cliff Beach, Dan Ashley and James Robert Webb.

And as far as vinyl goes, there will be record releases from She & Him, Dolly Parton and Trans-Siberian Orchestra. There will also be a special glow-in-the-dark vinyl release of the soundtrack to “Nightmare Before Christmas”, and a candy cane vinyl version of the soundtrack to “Elf” (which is an exclusive at Target).

And, there are always surprises. Usually, these are surprise singles, or even EPs. Every once in a while, there’s a surprise Christmas album, but that’s pretty rare. I’m sure that I’ve missed some, possibly in each of the categories I mentioned. That wasn’t intentional, and my apologies to any artists if I missed yours, and my apologies to fans if I missed one of your favorites (or one you’re excited about).

The Sounds of Christmas shifted back to Christmas music on November 1. I know not everyone is ready for it that early, but we’re here for those who are. And we’ll be here, playing all your favorites alongside songs from many of the releases I mentioned here, whenever you are ready for Christmas music!

Hope you’re able to spend at least some of your holiday season with us!

And may you always believe in Santa Claus!

Ken

https://www.SoundsofChristmas.com

A big thank you to Ken for keeping up this Yuletide tradition with us! I definitely have my eye on the Pentatonix and Straight No Chaser releases. Which ones are you looking forward to?

 
Be sure to tune in to Sounds of Christmas this holiday season...all season long. I have a link to the Sounds of Christmas in the right sidebar so you can listen while you're online. Look for the Sounds of Christmas Christmas tree, click the image and you'll be taken to the site where you can listen. Also, Sounds of Christmas has an app on Google Play so you can listen on the go...and it's free! You can find it in the Play Store here.

Blessed Samhain...Happy Halloween!

Have a fun and safe holiday!

Some poems with Halloween vibes...

Ghost House

Robert Frost

I dwell in a lonely house I know
That vanished many a summer ago,
And left no trace but the cellar walls,
And a cellar in which the daylight falls
And the purple-stemmed wild raspberries grow.

O’er ruined fences the grape-vines shield
The woods come back to the mowing field;
The orchard tree has grown one copse
Of new wood and old where the woodpecker chops;
The footpath down to the well is healed.

I dwell with a strangely aching heart
In that vanished abode there far apart
On that disused and forgotten road
That has no dust-bath now for the toad.
Night comes; the black bats tumble and dart;

The whippoorwill is coming to shout
And hush and cluck and flutter about:
I hear him begin far enough away
Full many a time to say his say
Before he arrives to say it out.

It is under the small, dim, summer star.
I know not who these mute folk are
Who share the unlit place with me—
Those stones out under the low-limbed tree
Doubtless bear names that the mosses mar.

They are tireless folk, but slow and sad—
Though two, close-keeping, are lass and lad,—
With none among them that ever sings,
And yet, in view of how many things,
As sweet companions as might be had.

Dusk in Autumn
Sara Teasdale

The moon is like a scimitar,
A little silver scimitar,
A-drifting down the sky.
And near beside it is a star,
A timid twinkling golden star,
That watches likes an eye.

And thro’ the nursery window-pane
The witches have a fire again,
Just like the ones we make,—
And now I know they’re having tea,
I wish they’d give a cup to me,
With witches’ currant cake,

All dressed up for Halloween

My house all decorated for Halloween. I love doing this every year.

The origins of decorating and sweet treats

Carving Jack-o’-Lanterns

The tradition of carving Jack-o’-Lanterns originated in Ireland using turnips instead of pumpkins. It is allegedly based on a legend about a man named Stingy Jack who repeatedly trapped the Devil and only let him go on the condition that Jack would never go to Hell. But when Jack died, he learned that Heaven did not want his soul either, so he was forced to wander the Earth as a ghost for eternity. The Devil gave Jack a burning lump of coal in a carved-out turnip to light his way. Locals eventually began carving scary faces into their own turnips to frighten away evil spirits.

Image Credit

Black and Orange

The traditional Halloween colors of black and orange also traces back to the Celtic festival of Samhain. For the Celts, black represented the “death” of summer while the orange symbolized the autumn harvest season.

Lighting Candles and Bonfires

For much of the early history of Halloween, towering bonfires were used to light the way for souls seeking the afterlife. These days, lighting candles have generally replaced the large traditional blazes.

Candy Apples

For centuries, people have been coating fruit in syrup as a means of preservation. But during the Roman festival of Pomona, the goddess was often represented by and associated with apples; her name derives from the Latin word for apple “pomum” and the fruit is at the heart of harvest celebrations. It is believed that candy apples were invented accidentally in 1908 by William W. Kolb, a candymaker in Newark, New Jersey. As the story goes, Kolb was experimenting with red cinnamon candy to sell at Christmastime and he dipped apples on sticks into the red glaze and put them in his shop window to showcase his new candy. But instead of selling the candies, he ended up selling the apples to customers who thought they looked good enough to eat. They became fashionable treats for Halloween starting in the early 1900s and they remained popular up until the 1970s.

Image Credit

Candy Corn

A candymaker at the Wunderle Candy Company in Philadelphia is sometimes credited with inventing the tri-colored candy in the 1880s. But candy corn did not become a widespread sensation until the Goelitz Company brought the candy to the masses in 1898. Candy corn was originally called “Chicken Feed” and it sold in boxes with the slogan “Something worth crowing for.” Initially, it was just an autumnal candy because of corn’s association with harvest time. Candy corn later became Halloween-specific when trick-or-treating grew in popularity in the U.S. during the 1950s.

Source: Library of Congress

Finally, I'd like to share this absolutely delicious drink which I found on Instagram. 

Take a cup (I used an 18 oz plastic SOLO type cup). Squirt a good amount of liquid caramel (like caramel ice cream topping) into the bottom of the cup. Add ice, not quite to the top. They added a sprinkle of cinnamon, I preferred to leave it out. Next, pour in ginger ale (I used zero calorie Canada Dry) almost covering the ice. The final touch...fill the rest of the glass with apple cider. I stirred mine. You don't have to. I also tried this with zero calorie Vernors and I liked it even more. 

Here's the link to the reel on Instagram to see how they did it. It is so yummy!
 

Image credit for top image

It's Halloween week! Celebrate by listening to Halloween music

When I was a kid in the 70s, we had this Halloween album called Ghostly Sounds. It wasn't Halloween "music" per se, but the sounds were scary. That, and the front and back covers, scared us to death. You can see how this album artwork could be scary to a child, especially that second image. Incidentally, I still have the album.

Halloween music is not the sought after genre that Christmas music is, but it does have a following, with certain areas of the country embracing it more than others. Places known for scary origins like Salem, Massachusetts is one such place where Halloween music is popular. 

According to Billboard, Halloween music is gaining in popularity and the 25 biggest Halloween songs of all time (on the HOT 100) are:

25: Eagles, Witchy Woman

Hot 100 Peak: No. 9

Peak date: 11/18/72

The Vibe: Spellbinding

24: Blue Oyster Cult, (Don't Fear) the Reaper

Hot 100 Peak: No. 12

Peak date: 11/6/76

The Vibe: Morbidly romantic

23: Golden Earring, Twilight Zone

Hot 100 Peak: No. 10

Peak date: 3/26/83

The Vibe: A dimension of sound

22: Michael Jackson, Thriller

Hot 100 Peak: No. 4

Peak date: 3/3/84

The Vibe: Spooky, funky (and not just the smell).

21: Elvis Presley with the Jordanaires, (You're the) Devil in Disguise

Hot 100 Peak: No. 3

Peak date: 8/10/63

The Vibe: Smitten, rollicking.

20: Olivia Rodrigo, Vampire

Hot 100 Peak: No. 1

Peak date: 7/15/23

The Vibe: Wounded, vitriolic.

19: Bobby Vee, Devil or Angel

Hot 100 Peak: No. 6

Peak date: 10/17/60

The Vibe: Sweet, obsessive.

18: Justin Bieber, Ghost

Hot 100 Peak: No. 5

Peak date: 4/2/22

The Vibe: Inconsolable, incorporeal

17: The Charlie Daniels Band, The Devil Went Down to Georgia

Hot 100 Peak: No. 3

Peak date: 9/15/79

The Vibe: Rollicking, unstoppable.

16: Kodak Black, Super Gremlin

Hot 100 Peak: No. 3

Peak date: 3/19/22

The Vibe: Creepy, taunting.

15: Santana, Black Magic Woman

Hot 100 Peak: No. 4

Peak date: 1/9/71

The Vibe: Witchy, libidinous.

14: Creedence Clearwater Revival, Bad Moon Rising

Hot 100 Peak: No. 2

Peak date: 6/28/69

The Vibe: Rootsy, easy-going.

13: Cliff Richard, Devil Woman

Hot 100 Peak: No. 6

Peak date: 9/25/76

The Vibe: Rockin’, swingin’.

12: Classics IV, Spooky

Hot 100 Peak: No. 3

Peak date: 2/10/68

The Vibe: Sultry, groovy.

11: Imagine Dragons, Demons

Hot 100 Peak: No. 6

Peak date: 12/7/13

The Vibe: Fist-pumping, fist-bumping.

10: INXS, Devil Inside

Hot 100 Peak: No. 2

Peak date: 4/16/88

The Vibe: Seductive, playful.

9: Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, Devil with a Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly

Hot 100 Peak: No. 4

Peak date: 11/26/66

The Vibe: Raucous, devil-may-care.

8: Janet Jackson, Black Cat

Hot 100 Peak: No. 1

Peak date: 10/27/90

The Vibe: Hard-rocking, ferocious.

7: Cher, Dark Lady

Hot 100 Peak: No. 1

Peak date: 3/23/74

The Vibe: Eerie, sly.

6: Rockwell, Somebody's Watching Me

Hot 100 Peak: No. 2

Peak date: 3/24/84

The Vibe: Paranoid, spooky.

5: Bobby Brown, On Our Own (from Ghostbusters II)

Hot 100 Peak: No. 2

Peak date: 8/5/89

The Vibe: Boisterous, fresh.

4: Eminem featuring Rihanna, The Monster

Hot 100 Peak: No. 1

Peak date: 12/21/13

The Vibe: Harrowing, haunted.

3: The Edgar Winter Group, Frankenstein

Hot 100 Peak: No. 1

Peak date: 5/26/73

The Vibe: Head-banging, swaggery.

2: Ray Parker Jr., Ghostbusters

Hot 100 Peak: No. 1

Peak date: 8/11/84

The Vibe: Party-starting, campy.

1: Bobby "Boris" Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers, Monster Mash

Hot 100 Peak: No. 1

Peak date: 10/20/62

The Vibe: Goofy, endearing.

Billboard also has a recent article where you can watch 20 terrifying music videos from a variety of popular music artists. Check it out here.

Visit our music page (linked in the blog menu) to listen to more Halloween music. 

Ken Kessler of The Sounds of Christmas plays Halloween music through October 31. Click here to discover three ways to listen, or click the Sounds of Christmas tree in the sidebar. Speaking of Ken, he is once again sharing new Christmas music out this year. Stay tuned for his annual guest post coming up next week. 

I'll be back with more Halloween fun through the auspicious occasion on Friday. 🎃

Big News! Yuletide Spirit is now The Mystical Lantern

When I started this blog (16 years ago!), first as The Christmas Spirit, then Christmas Spirit, and finally, Yuletide Spirit, I was really fanatical about Christmas...like year-round fanatical. The intention was to celebrate the spirit the whole year round. What I always meant by that was the magic, the kindness, the whimsy, and that is still how I feel about Christmas. A lot has changed in my life since the inception of this blog. A divorce, a move back to my home state (Michigan), my sons flying the nest, and a big change spiritually over the years. I'm also focusing on my writing, working on my first novel. I find myself not having the time to devote to year round posting on a holiday blog, and honestly feeling my interests pulled elsewhere. Also, I've always loved Halloween as much as Christmas, and over the past several years, I've found myself returning to that love. Fall has always been my favorite time of year...spooky season, my birthday in October. Halloween time is just...me.

So, what is the future of this blog? Well, I'm shifting the focus from year-round Christmas to a seasonal theme, encompassing Halloween and Yuletide (I use Christmas and Yuletide interchangeably). September/October will be Halloween/Fall themed, and November/December will be Yuletide themed. We will still have the Yuletide Spirit Readathon from Thanksgiving week through the end of December. 

Take a look around at the changes I've made. The left sidebar is dedicated to Halloween, and the right sidebar is Christmas/Yuletide. I hope you love it as much as I do. If you were an email subscriber through FollowIt, I have migrated you to the Mystical Lantern mailing list. Feel free to unsubscribe if you're no longer interested, though I do hope you will stay and continue on this journey with me.

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

2024 Yuletide Spirit Reading Challenge and Readathon - Wrap-Up

Happy New Year! Sorry I'm late with this post. We had our family Christmas today and it completely slipped my mind.

I hope you enjoyed your holiday reading. Did you complete the BINGO card? The first person to send me screenshot showing completion of the entire BINGO card will win a $5 Amazon eGift card. Email it to me at truebookaddict AT gmail DOT com, or if you post about it on social media (or your blog), leave the link in the comments of this post.

The winner of the charity donation giveaway was Marla, who was first to post a review in our linky (in menu above). Her chosen charity was The Trevor Project.

How did you do on the reading challenge/readathon? Share your wrap up link in the linky below. It's the same linky as the sign-up so just add "wrap-up" when you enter your name, like so "Michelle@truebookaddict-Wrap-up" (you don't have to put a blog name, you can just put your name).

Mister Linky's Magical Widgets -- Easy-Linky widget will appear right here!
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Always in spirit...

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