No new Christmas songs in sight

By Dru Sefton
Newhouse News Service

	FILE PHOTO, 2002 Teams competing at Seattle's annual Great Figgy Pudding Street Corner Caroling Competition are most likely singing songs from the 1940s, the "golden age" of holiday music.
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Quick, name a classic Christmas song written during the past 10 years.

How about the past 20 years?

There aren't any.

The newest melody on the 25 most-performed holiday songs list of 2003, just released by ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers), is "Wonderful Christmastime," written in 1979.

Christmas songs are growing whiskers whiter than Santa's.

Sure, there are plenty of carols, the religious songs of the season; some of those date back centuries. And lots of good secular tunes and novelty songs. There are just no up-and-coming, festive standards of tomorrow.

Experts say that's because music styles have shifted from lyrics-based ballads to upbeat dance music. Composers have a hard time getting big names to record new pieces. And publishers just aren't interested in sentimental holiday songs anymore.

Even the well-known tunes of the "golden age" of holiday music, the 1940s, "probably wouldn't make it with the flavor-of-the-day corporate mentality that exists out there today," said James Richliano, author of "Angels We Have Heard: The Christmas Song Stories," which details the history of many.

Virtually all the secular holiday tunes we hear and sing today were written between 1934 and 1958, said Ron Clancy, author of "American Christmas Classics," a set of three CDs, lyrics and an illustrated book.

A few of those favorites: "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town," 1934. "White Christmas," 1941. "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," 1944. "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" 1945. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," 1949. "Frosty the Snowman," 1950. "Silver Bells," 1951.

"One reason why these songs resonate even today is better songwriting," said Clancy, of North Cape May, N.J. "There was a sentimental swing, just a feel to them."

Many were released during World War II, when millions of today's adults were youngsters, "so they heard them as new songs, and those songs had a lot of influence in our culture," Clancy added.

Also, we don't have a common music culture in America anymore, said N. Lee Orr, coordinator of music history and literature at Georgia State University's school of music in Atlanta.

"We don't have a music that binds us together the way swing or Frank Sinatra did," Orr said.

Now there's rock 'n' roll and hip-hop and rap and country and techno and Latin and funk and folk and gospel and jazz and New Age and international.

But some refuse to believe there's no longer room for nostalgic, singable holiday tunes.

Curtis McKonly, a New York City composer, arranger and musician, continues to write Christmas songs. He's even designed a line of cards inspired by one of his tunes, "Will Santa Come This Year?"

A bit of the lyrics:

"When I see the snow and mistletoe,

"I know the day is near;

"With my heart aglow, how can I know

"Will Santa come this year?"

McKonly wrote the song in 1989. He's still championing it.

"There are writers out here writing good Christmas songs but having a hard time getting to the artists," McKonly said. "In the old days, writers had publishers that got songs to the artists."

And artists back then were interested in recording new Christmas songs. "We had a lot of great performers, like Nat King Cole and Gene Autrey, that would make the songs popular," McKonly said.

Those who study and enjoy Christmas music hold out hope that there are still classics being written. Author Richliano thinks that "It Must Have Been the Mistletoe," recently recorded by Barbra Streisand, is one example. It was composed in 1980.

"It's a beautiful Christmas love song, and one that I think is close to becoming what I would call a postmodern holiday classic hit," said Richliano.

Copyright © 2003 The Seattle Times Company