Deep Magic: Christmas Recordings 1902-1924
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This compilation of Christmas recordings spans an era which includes the entirety of WW1 and the influenza pandemic of 1918/1919, but of course you wouldn’t guess it from the contents. The only reminder perhaps is the two different versions of “Silent Night”, which was famously sung by opposing sides in the trenches at Christmas 1914.
A Holiday Between The Wars, Christmas Records 1926-1938
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This compilation of Christmas recordings spans the early years of electronic recording, the explosion of radio, sound films and newsreel, the end of the roaring thirties and the great depression.
A Wartime Christmas 1939-1945
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a mix of original Christmas-related records and radio broadcasts from 1939 to 1945
Baby It’s Cold War Outside – Christmas Records 1946-1954
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The period between the end of the Second World War and the Rock & Roll craze of 1954 may be strangely absent from popular memory on the whole, but when it comes to the Christmas season everything is suddenly reversed. The age of It’s A Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street, of Nat King Cole’s The Christmas Song, The Andrews Sisters’ Winter Wonderland, the hit version of Bing Crosby’s White Christmas, and of course Baby, It’s Cold Outside – these all seem to have been set in amber as the prototypical classic American Christmas experience. But meanwhile, of course, Rhythm & Blues, Western Swing, Mambo and Be-Bop are all at their peak, so don’t expect an entirely mainstream Christmas here.
At The Christmas Party Hop – Christmas Records 1955-1961
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The peak period for famous records, as far as the US is concerned at least, and quite an odd era, there are rock & roll Christmas records of course, but there are a lot of religious records too, recorded in luxurious high-fidelity as presents for audiophiles, and some truly great jazz records which happened to have a festive theme.
Coming soon – Christmas 1962 -1968