Time was we'd have had a good handle on the coming Christmas music schedule by now. But that was before the Internet became, well, The Internet. In the days of snail mail catalogs, labels needed to send retailers their promotional materials on the year's coming Christmas albums in late May to give those retailers sufficient time to evaluate what records and how many of them they wanted to stock for the holidays. After checking on the remaining Christmas inventory in the back room, the retailers would devise their Christmas plans and get those orders in by mid-July. Now that catalogs are virtual and everything is relatively instantaneous, labels can hold off a lot longer before committing to Christmas records and retailers....come to think of it, most retailers these days exist only on-line themselves.
Anyway, every year, the first official listings come later and later--usually Christian (and Mormon) and Classical Music first, with other genres being rolled out gradually after that.
So, not counting the Mormon Tabernacle Choir release, our first official notable Christmas listing on Amazon is from Bubblegum icon Tommy Roe. As a Bubblegum child who grew up on Roe, the Archies and Ohio Express, I can't help but be drawn in by the nostalgia factor. Roe's six song Christmas EP, "It's Now Christmas Day", bears an expected release date of September 1. It's currently only listed in digital form, so that's how we've shown it on "The List". Subject to change, of course.
Anyway, every year, the first official listings come later and later--usually Christian (and Mormon) and Classical Music first, with other genres being rolled out gradually after that.
So, not counting the Mormon Tabernacle Choir release, our first official notable Christmas listing on Amazon is from Bubblegum icon Tommy Roe. As a Bubblegum child who grew up on Roe, the Archies and Ohio Express, I can't help but be drawn in by the nostalgia factor. Roe's six song Christmas EP, "It's Now Christmas Day", bears an expected release date of September 1. It's currently only listed in digital form, so that's how we've shown it on "The List". Subject to change, of course.
If "It's Now Christmas Day" sounds like a familiar title, it is. It's a Christmas reworking of one of Tommy's minor (but very popular these days) hits, "It's Now Winter's Day". Not that that song needed a Christmas make-over; it's pleasingly seasonal as it is.
The collection also includes "If I Could Spend Christmas With You", a song Tommy released as a holiday single in 2012, though it dates back to at least 1993 when it was included on the I-Spirit CD, "Rock & Roll Christmas" (currently, Essential Media holds the rights to that collection).
Of the 3 Christmas standards (from the :30 samples), I like the sound and arrangement on "White Christmas" the best. And the set closes with a reverent and beautiful"Son of God King of Kings", a song he released as a YouTube video this past December.
Roe did not include "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer", released in 2004 on the DMI CD "Rockin' Christmas Party, Vol. 1", nor his collaboration with Brian Hyland and Johnny Tillotson for the out-of-print "Rudolph: The Movie" soundtrack.
Now 73, Tommy Roe still sounds pretty darn good on most of these :30 samples--and particularly on that closing number (listen below). Fellow Bubblegum children will want to check out the "It's Now Christmas Day" EP in any case. Oldies, Pop, Country and Traditional fans should eat it up, as well. The rest of you may find it a refreshing pallet cleanser after listening to the latest Punk and Metal collections or whatever your genre of choice may be.
The collection also includes "If I Could Spend Christmas With You", a song Tommy released as a holiday single in 2012, though it dates back to at least 1993 when it was included on the I-Spirit CD, "Rock & Roll Christmas" (currently, Essential Media holds the rights to that collection).
Of the 3 Christmas standards (from the :30 samples), I like the sound and arrangement on "White Christmas" the best. And the set closes with a reverent and beautiful"Son of God King of Kings", a song he released as a YouTube video this past December.
Roe did not include "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer", released in 2004 on the DMI CD "Rockin' Christmas Party, Vol. 1", nor his collaboration with Brian Hyland and Johnny Tillotson for the out-of-print "Rudolph: The Movie" soundtrack.
Now 73, Tommy Roe still sounds pretty darn good on most of these :30 samples--and particularly on that closing number (listen below). Fellow Bubblegum children will want to check out the "It's Now Christmas Day" EP in any case. Oldies, Pop, Country and Traditional fans should eat it up, as well. The rest of you may find it a refreshing pallet cleanser after listening to the latest Punk and Metal collections or whatever your genre of choice may be.
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