Christmas CDs On The Market
By Diana Sanders

Christmas carols are a tradition during the holiday season. For generations, these songs have fostered the holiday spirit and entertained the world. With the countless classics such as “Jingle Bells” and “Silent Night,” listeners bring in the holidays with the joy of music.

No holiday hit has impacted the world quite like Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas.” The song, first released in 1941, has been in the Top-30 Christmas charts 17 times, and has frequently climbed to number one. “White Christmas” is known as the best selling Christmas single of all time and has sold approximately 40 million copies.

Although many traditional holiday songs have been around for generations, many artists remake these classics over and over again, which in the mind of the listener, renews and refreshes the tunes. Holiday CDs are very popular on the market. Each year in November, various artists release new albums. This year, new releases include “The Christmas Collection” by Il Divo, “Christmas Songs” by Diana Krall and the Clayton- Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, “Cheetah-Licious Christmas” by the Cheetah Girls, as well as others.

Even with new releases topping the Billboard charts, some older Christmas CDs have kept their spot. One such is “Merry Christmas” by Mariah Carey. Released in 1994, this Christmas compilation is still number four in best-selling categories 11 years later. In the digital world, Billboard has ranked Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas” from the CD as the number one Hot Digital Song.

Available Holiday CDs

1. The Christmas Collection, by Il Divo

2. Christmas Songs by Diana Krall and the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra

3. Christmas Eve and Other Stories by the Trans Siberian Orchestra

4. Merry Christmas, by Mariah Carey

5. The Muppet Christmas Carol (special edition) by The Muppets

6. Now That’s What I Call Christmas! By various artists

7. Holidays by Brave Combo

8. It’s Christmas: Live From the Vatican by various artists

9. It’s Christmas Time by Elvis Presley

10. These Are Special Times by Celine Dion

11. This is Christmas by Luther Vandross

Songs from these CDs as well as others can also be heard continuously on the local radio station 106.7 Lite FM, which annually devotes its airtime to holiday classics from the end of Thanksgiving through the holiday season. After all, the holidays would not be the same without the music that’s special to this time of year.