Rockin’ Around The Christmas Radio

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Santa Claus is coming to town. And all I want for Christmas is you.

If those sentiments — and the songs that deliver them, in stores, at parties and (especially) on the radio — make you want to strangle every Santa, elf and frosted snowman you see: You have company.

But I’m not part of it.

I am — much to my own amazement — one of the many, many, many Americans who actually likes holiday music.

We do know it’s Christmas. Baby, it’s cold outside. Baby, please come home!

Those thoughts bring joy to my world.

It’s not just me. It’s radio listeners everywhere. They hear what I hear.

And they love it.

But don’t take my word for it. Just ask Jeff Warshaw.

He’s the CEO of Connoisseur Media. From his office overlooking the Post Road in downtown Westport, he oversees 13 stations. They’re a who’s who of Fairfield and New Haven Counties: WEBE 108, WPLR, Star 99.9, WICC.

Jeff Warshaw, in his Connoisseur Studios office. The guitar is signed by Jeff Beck. He is not known for Christmas music. (Photo/ Dan Woog)

Connoisseur also owns 5 New York stations, including Long Island’s WALK 97.5.

Last month — right around Thanksgiving — WEBE and WALK both switched to Christmas music.

From now through December 25 — 24/7 — that’s all they play.

Audiences love it. So do advertisers. (And Warshaw).

Ratings numbers shoot way up. (And profits.)

Feliz Navidad! Let’s go for a sleigh ride. And walk in a winter wonderland.

WEBE 108 is our area’s “feel good” station, Warshaw says. “It’s where people relax.” Christmas music is a natural fit.

But — wham! — it’s not the usual 35+ demograpic that listens this month.

Christmas music brings people back to a special time in their lives. Whether you’re 75, 55, 35 or 15, hearing those songs makes you feel good.

So whether you remember Christmases from long, long ago — or, in the case of a teenager, last Christmas — you like hearing the old familiar carols play.

(Well, not actually carols. With the exception of an outlier or two like “O Holy Night,” you won’t hear actual Christmas music, like from 18th century Europe.)

Year after year, we get the modern version. But — unlike the other 11 months, when each radio station’s playlist is sliced into ever-finer demographic segments — the  Christmas music universe includes everyone from Gene Autry, Bing Crosby, Burl Ives, Johnny Mathis, Brenda Lee and Andy Williams, to Chuck Berry, Elton John, the Beach Boys, the Jackson 5, Mariah Carey, Kelly Clarkson and Taylor Swift.

(With the occasional chipmunks, Red Baron, and grandma-killing reindeer thrown in. Along with — every once in a long while — Adam Sandler.)

Throw together that crew on your radio station on, say, December 26, and you’ll see how quickly your pre-set gets deleted.

Every once in a while too, a new tune is added to the list. Every once in a while, one drops off. That’s why the “Christmas Shoes” song — the one that made everyone despise, unfortunately, a kid without enough money to buy them for his dying mother — has gone to the great pile of melted vinyl in the sky.

I call that a Christmas miracle.

Step into Christmas. Let it snow. And someday at Christmas, there’ll be peace on earth.

Warshaw is proud that his stations are more than just Rudolph, Little St. Nick and 5 golden rings.

WEBE’s special Christmas wish promotion — okay, “Maritime Chevrolet Home for the Holidays” — is a month-long chance for listeners to nominate friends, neighbors and co-workers who need merchandise, cash, and special care.

Over on WPLR, morning hosts Chaz & AJ run a toy drive that, Warshaw says, brings in 6 figures worth of gifts every year.

It’s a chance for the station, and everyone who works there, to do good. For merchants to give back. And for everyone to get in the holiday spirit.

Then of course, it’s back to the music.

Make no mistake: The songs you hear are not randomly generated. There’s a science to the playlist. The audience that tunes in year after year hears a balance between classics and contemporary tunes.

I imagined that the men and women who work at Connoisseur hate being surrounded by all that pumpkin pie and caroling.

I imagined wrong.

“They love it,” Warshaw says. “They get constant emails and calls from listeners, saying thanks for making them feel good.”

After all, we need a little Christmas. There’s no place like home for the holidays. Where we’re rockin’ around the Christmas tree, simply having a wonderful Christmastime. 

(Put another dime in the record machine — and then send a few more bucks to “06880.” Please click here to support our work. Merry Christmas!)