Locals pick their songs of the season

By Medicine Hat News on December 22, 2018.

Medicine Hat News

Take Santa Claus or the birth of Christ or time with family out of Christmas and the season just isn’t the same. Something is just a little bit off. Add Christmas music to the list.

Whether it’s an up-tempo tune like “Frosty the Snowman,” the easy listening of “White Christmas” or traditional numbers like “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” they’re an integral part of the season.

Everyone has their favourites. Via email we asked some of the more musically-inclined Hatters their favourite Christmas song.

“All I Want For Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey is the one for singer and actor MacKenzie Porter. One of the stars of “Travelers,” who released her first new music in five years on Nov. 30, Porter wrote “Every Christmas morning as a kid (and still to this day), my mom wakes us up by blasting this song!!!”

David Jeffrey, seen last month in “Newsies” at the Esplanade and a veteran of stages in Medicine Hat, agrees.

“Maybe it’s that epic piano section. Maybe it’s how catchy it is. Maybe it’s just because I heard that song a lot as a kid, and it’s stuck with me ever since. But to me, it’s the ultimate Christmas song,” he wrote. “I’ve spent many December evenings rocking out to that song, no shame.”

Steve Krysak, one-half of CJCY’s Mornings with John and Steve, says his favourite is “Snoopy’s Christmas” by The Royal Guardsman.

“It’s a catchy, uplifting number and there’s something about those Christmas bells that really captures the season for me,” wrote Krysak, who has for years performed in Medicine Hat Musical Theatre’s annual pantomime. “Yelling out ‘Merry Christmas My Friend’ in a German accent is just a bonus.”

Crescent Heights High School drama teacher Jennifer Davies says hearing “Joy to the World” is a welcome sound.

“It is often one of the last songs we sing at mass on Christmas Eve. It’s a song of celebration which seems to be sung much more loudly than all the other songs during mass.”

She wrote that her family watches “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” together each year and one particular scene makes her think of her own father.

“The Dad in the movie sings ‘Joy to the World’ prior to turning on the lights to impress his family who are waiting outside to see the spectacle, she says. During her childhood, her father climbed on the roof to put a beautiful display of Christmas lights “only to slide down the roof like Clark W. Griswold in the movie!!”

For Ryan Holdaway, who gained huge laughs as Tiny Tim in MHMT’s “A Christmas Carol” this year, his hands-down favourite is “Christmas in Killarney.”

“One of the first songs I’ve ever been professionally taught to sing with a handful of some very close friends,” he wrote.

Just before their annual Mahoney and Friends show last week, Ryan Massini and Trent Roset gave their picks. Massini said “O Holy Night” while Roset said “Carol of the Bells,” specifically the version from “Home Alone” by the children’s choir.

Local music teacher and Gas City Shocker bassist Rob Cook went east for “The Mummer’s Song.”

“It’s a song about a Newfoundland tradition and it brings back fond memories from my childhood at Christmas time.”

When it comes to New Year’s Eve “Auld Lang Syne” reigns supreme.

Krysak, Jeffrey, Massini and Roset, Cook and Porter all mentioned the classic.

“I can’t recall the last time I didn’t hear that song on New Year’s Eve. The sheer melody of that song just screams ‘Happy New Year’ to me,” wrote Jeffrey.

For Porter the song makes her think of her Grandpa, while Krysak thinks of wiping the slate clean and getting a fresh start.

Going off the board, Holdaway chose “Funky New Year” by the Eagles and Mahoney’s Roset also mentioned “Mr. Blue Sky” by ELO.

The song Davies needs to hear changes all the time. Her school’s major musical takes place each January and one song from each show always gets the cast excited.

“We are currently working on Disney’s ‘Newsies’ which will be performed at CHHS starting on Jan. 30,” she wrote. “This year’s song which our cast is most enthusiastic to perform is called ‘Once and For All.’ Seeing the energy and passion in their performances makes this my song to ring in the new year!”

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