CHRISTMAS CHEER

December 2023

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​This year's mix opens and closes with songs by Sonny and Cher, whose music and comedy left an indelible mark on the 1960s and '70s. Sandwiched in between you'll find a wide array of festive sounds ranging from Steve Van Zandt's "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)" to Box Car Willie's "I Want a Hee Haw Honey Under my Christmas Tree," along with holiday greetings from Dick Van Dyke, Liz Cheney, Lyndon Johnson and more. And this mix features a record number of song-poems — 10 of them. What exactly are song-poems? Well, if you have to ask, you don't want to know. Song-poems are actually songs with lyrics by usually non-professional writers that have been set to music by commercial companies for a fee. I've used them on many of my previous mixes, but never so many of them! Some might argue that this colors the overall sound of the mix. Good God, how could it not?!

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