Early last month my “40s Junction” channel on Sirius XM was temporarily taken over by “Holiday Traditions.” It seemed a little early to me – I didn’t start listening till after Thanksgiving – but perhaps, I thought, they wanted to make sure they got in all of the great Christmas carols and songs.
A week before Christmas, I now realize they wanted to bombard us with a few select standards: “Jingle Bells,” “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” “Little Drummer Boy,” “Joy to the World.” Even carols I love, like “O Holy Night,” I’m getting a little tired of. I have not heard “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” (a beautiful Advent carol), let alone “In the Bleak Midwinter.”
I don’t know why I expected more. The situation is the same on the pop stations. Gordon Lightfoot, according to Sirius, wrote two songs: “Sundown” and “Carefree Highway” (in my opinion, two of his least interesting). OK, sometimes you hear “If You Could Read My Mind,” but never “Approaching Lavender.” With Simon & Garfunkel, you get a handful – “Sounds of Silence” and of course “Mrs. Robinson” ad infinitum – but never “Old Friends” or “April Come She Will.”
In a country, and a time, that’s all about diversity, we get very little of it on the radio. And don’t get me started on television.
