The 21st Annual THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO Christmas Show

The holiday season can invite reminiscence, a collective conjuring of the Ghost of Christmas Past. We remember things as we think they were. We rejoice in memories of good times, wince at the lingering ache of sad times. We picture family, friends, lovers, many of them now gone from our own lives. Death. Distance. Discord. Time.

I remember being a kid in the '60s, excited to open the colorful gifts that Santa left under our Christmas tree for me to discover far too early on the morning of December 25th. Games! Toys! Captain Action! Christmas Eves with family, gathered at my Uncle Mike and Aunt Mary's house. FOOD! A 1970 road trip to see my grandparents in Missouri, delayed by car trouble that turned into a struggle half-way across Indiana. Singing carols with other kids at the Italian-American Athletic Club Christmas party. Aging (in theory) out of a personal belief in Father Christmas, and playing Santa's helper (specifically, Santa's Chief Elf Myron) in a phone call to the child of one of Dad's co-workers. 

A little kid becomes a teen, with Doc Savage paperbacks and Beatles records on Christmas morning. A college student. There is another family trip to Missouri, spent recovering from a stomach bug and missing a girl I'd met at school. The college student becomes a college graduate. And suddenly, a young adult, alone one Christmas morning with a stack of old comic books and a bottle of Jack Daniels, knowing solitude won't last, but knowing it has to be that way in the moment, knowing a loved one is dealing with something much worse. Years fly by. Jobs change, addresses change, circles of friends change. Faces that were always there aren't there anymore. We deck the halls, but feel this loss we may be able to define, but can't deny.

So we close our eyes. And we wish.

In the mind's eye, all is as it was. Everyone we ever loved remains with us. I remember the bright and the dark: coming home from an overnight Christmas Eve shift to share a bottle of champagne and a Christmas kiss with my girlfriend, whom I would marry the following year; my chicken pox Christmas, when I was 36; Christmas Eves with my wife and daughter, eating Chinese food and cruising through Lights On The Lake; doing a Christmas radio show while trying to cope with tragedy, playing Gary Frenay's "Christmas Without You" and becoming too choked up to speak, unable to continue; watching the wide eyes of my daughter as she grew up under the bright glow of the season, and delighting again this week in the sight of her and her mother lighting the Chanukah candles together; seeing fewer and fewer places and faces at family gatherings, always aware of the price that time demands of us all.

And still I believe.

I may not believe what you believe. I may not believe what you think I believe. But I believe. I believe in our promise. I believe in our capacity to grow, to be better. I believe in a magic we make together.

I wish you magic. I wish you hope. I wish you love. I wish you the merriest. Somehow. Santa will find you. Light will find you. Believe in light. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

NEXT WEEK: THE COUNTDOWN! Right now: Happy Holidays from Dana & Carl.

TIRnRR # 1005: The 21st Annual THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO Christmas Show, 12/22/19

JOHN & YOKO: Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
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THE BROTHERS STEVE: I Love The Christmastime
CHUCK BERRY: Run Rudolph Run
THE SMITHEREENS: Waking Up On Christmas Morning
THE BEATLES: 1963 Christmas message
MARVIN GAYE: Purple Snowflakes
CHRISTOPHER GREY: I Can't Sleep On Christmas Eve
DAVID CARSWELL & MEGAN BARNES: I Wanna Kiss You This Christmas
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THE ELFETTES: Jingle Joy
ROTARY CONNECTION: Christmas Love
THE MONKEES: House Of Broken Gingerbread
THE BEATLES: 1964 Christmas message
JAMES BROWN: Soulful Christmas
BIBI FARBER WITH THE MICHAEL LYNCH ORCHESTRA: Gonna Ask Santa Claus
THE RONETTES: Sleigh Ride
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THE IDEA: It's About That Time
THE STAPLE SINGERS: Who Took The Merry Out Of Christmas
THE GRIP WEEDS: Christmas, Bring Us
THE BEATLES: 1965 Christmas message
MARTI JONES & DON DIXON: Every Day Will Be Like A Holiday
POP CO-OP: Christmas Eyes
THE PRETENDERS: 2000 Miles
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ADDISON LOVE: Utah Winter
MICHAEL CARPENTER: Wake Me Up When It's Christmas Time
GARY FRENAY: Christmas Without You
THE BEATLES: 1966 Christmas message
SIMON & GARFUNKEL: 7 O'Clock News/Silent Night
ANNY CELSI: Christmas In The Pines
THE KINKS: Father Christmas
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MIKE VIOLA & THE CANDY BUTCHERS: Give Me A Second Chance For Christmas
JAMES BROWN: Merry Christmas, I Love You
FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE: The Man In The Santa Suit
THE BEATLES: 1967 Christmas message
THE WAITRESSES: Christmas Wrapping
MARGO GURYAN: I Don't Intend To Spend Christmas Without You
BOB SEGER & THE LAST HEARD: Sock It To Me Santa
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THE BEATMAS: Mary's Boy Child
THE FREE DESIGN: Close Your Mouth (It's Christmas)
LISA MYCHOLS: Look On
THE BEATLES: 1968 Christmas message
EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER: I Believe In Father Christmas
ELVIS PRESLEY: Santa Claus Is Back In Town
SEA OF BEES: Feliz Navidad
THE BEATLES: 1969 Christmas message
MINDY SMITH: Santa Will Find You
SHARON JONES & THE DAP-KINGS: Ain't No Chimneys In The Projects
THE MONKEES: Riu Chiu
BIG STAR: Jesus Christ
THE SPONGETONES: Dance Of The Sugarplum Fairies