🎄 Holidays! Merry Christmas Darling - 1970 airplay picking up? Which do you prefer?

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Hi everyone! Love the Carpenters (I was born the year Karen died). I love most Christmas music, but hands down the best album ever is Christmas Portrait and the best song is Merry Christmas Darling. Now I first fell in love with the song, oh 10 years ago or so, then I fell in love with the Carpenters and of course discovered and love all their other stuff too (but its no secret that at Christmas you are likely to hear a Carpenters track every couple hours, but for some reason the rest of the year you rarely hear them, even on the oldies stations). It wasnt til several years later I realized the version I always heard on the radio ('78) wasnt the original, and I found on youtube a "rare" clip of the original. At first I thought '78 was way better, but the more I heard it, I love them both. A few years back, I then started to hear the 1970 version on the radio, and now, both Detroit stations that are all Christmas play only the 1970 version! These are Detroits two AC stations, and when Detroits oldies station starts playing christmas songs in December, they too will play the 1970 version (if last couple years are any indication). So now, you can Merry Christmas Darling some 5-10 times a day on Detroit radio, but its always the 1970 version (have to listen to my cd for the '78 version), which seems to be a complete reversal of years past. Im wondering if this is a trend at stations elsewhere or just here in Detroit. Im very glad that Detroit stations didnt fall into the glee trap (they played Glees version of MCD a few times last year, but thats it, heard it not once this year), because this is a Carpenters classic, PERIOD!

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/entertainment/135851928.html#comments
This link from last year shows that through early December, the top 100 airplay for Christmas songs nationwide had several Carpenters tracks
#23 - Merry Christmas Darling
#43 - Home For the Holidays
#66 - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
#75 - Sleigh Ride

Its nice to know that after all these years, the MCD remains an annual holiday hit (Im sure Richard is proud). But this doesnt specify 1970 or 1978, so it all depends on the stations choice. Is it just a thing locally, or have others noticed the 1970 version getting a lot more airplay recently?

So far early in the Christmas season, looking at playlists here, the two stations in Detroit:
WMGC has been playing "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" 8-9 times a day, "Merry Christmas Darling" 2-3 times a day, and various others sprinkled in (mainly "Sleigh Ride" and "Home For The Holidays").

WNIC has been playing "Merry Christmas Darling" 3-5 times a day, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and "Home For The Holidays" 2-3 times a day, and various others sprinkled in (including "Carol of the Bells" and Ive even heard "Christmas Waltz").
 
Chicago's two oldies stations play a lot of Carpenters Christmas tunes each year. Last year, I heard the 1970 version more often than Karen's 1978 remake, though they do play both. And I was very happy to hear "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" nearly as often as "Merry Christmas Darling" last year.
 
I'm actually surprised to read that people are hearing the original single mix more often, and I'm also rather encouraged as I've always preferred it.

Considering that the most commonly available CDs all tend to use the 1978 remix, and that to find the 1970 single mix, you have to go to either of the two box sets or the expensive Japanese Single Box.

However, Music Directors at radio stations rely less and less on actual stock CDs and get more and more of their music "files" from services that provide them with what they want. So if these services are tracking down the "real" versions of songs that have proven their worth, then more and more radio stations will be airing them.

This anecdotal report tells me that the music services companies have bothered to track down the actual charted version of the song, "Merry Christmas Darling". It's even possible that these services have dug out copies of the original single and had their production staff clean up the audio for on-air use rather than buy expensive box sets. But both scenarios are possible. Maybe someday they'll get around to "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" too!

Harry
 
As long as we get to hear Merry Christmas Darling this year, I'll take any version, but prefer 1978. Last year MCD was not played so much in Phoenix, at least not by Carpenters, we had Glee or someone else singing it a lot. Last years big Carpenters hit was Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,
 
I'm actually surprised to read that people are hearing the original single mix more often, and I'm also rather encouraged as I've always preferred it.

Considering that the most commonly available CDs all tend to use the 1978 remix, and that to find the 1970 single mix, you have to go to either of the two box sets or the expensive Japanese Single Box.

However, Music Directors at radio stations rely less and less on actual stock CDs and get more and more of their music "files" from services that provide them with what they want. So if these services are tracking down the "real" versions of songs that have proven their worth, then more and more radio stations will be airing them.

This anecdotal report tells me that the music services companies have bothered to track down the actual charted version of the song, "Merry Christmas Darling". It's even possible that these services have dug out copies of the original single and had their production staff clean up the audio for on-air use rather than buy expensive box sets. But both scenarios are possible. Maybe someday they'll get around to "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" too!

Harry
Interesting thoughts! I wish theyd play both versions, not just 1970, but at least 1970 is getting a lot of airplay this year so far!
 
As long as we get to hear Merry Christmas Darling this year, I'll take any version, but prefer 1978. Last year MCD was not played so much in Phoenix, at least not by Carpenters, we had Glee or someone else singing it a lot. Last years big Carpenters hit was Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,
Last year I heard the Glee version of MCD maybe twice, otherwise all Carpenters. Havent heard the Glee version AT ALL this year, but plenty of Carpenters, and Ive never heard the other cover versions (Boyz II Men, Gloria Estefan, etc) on the radio. Thats because they know the Carpenters version is the CLASSIC! Its a shame they didnt play MCD much in Phoenix last year (nationwide, through a few weeks before Christmas, it ranked as the 23rd most played holiday song of 2011), hopefully they play it more this year. And I too have been hearing HYAMLC a lot lately!

I would estimate that, with as big as Christmas music formats have become in Nov/Dec, the most-played artist has to be the Carpenters.
 
Chicago's two oldies stations play a lot of Carpenters Christmas tunes each year. Last year, I heard the 1970 version more often than Karen's 1978 remake, though they do play both. And I was very happy to hear "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" nearly as often as "Merry Christmas Darling" last year.
That would be awesome to have them play BOTH versions! Good for Chicago radio!
 
Anything Karen sings works well for me, but I do prefer her "LUSH" earlier version of MCD.
As a side note, I'm always amazed and a bit hurt by friend's remarks when they verbalize such a visceral distain for the Carpenter's music. I feel bad that they just don't get it....
Kinda like having someone over for a home cooked meal, in Hawaii and they are annoyed by the tepid fragrant breeze and beautiful surroundings.
 
There's a site called YES.com that tracks what radio stations are playing. The interface is a bit weird, but if you play with it you can get it to tell you things like which US radio stations are playing anything by Carpenters. A current snapshot looks like this:

carpplay.jpg

It lists the station, the artist, the song and the time. It's sorted chronologically so the last entry in blue is the current one, indicating 1:39 PM (local Pacific time).It looks like the usual suspects of "Merry Christmas Darling", "Home For The Holidays", and a few others. As more radio stations convert to all Christmas, you can expect this list to update a lot more frequently.

Unfortunately it doesn't give a clue as to which version was played.

Harry
 
That is beyond cool, Harry. Amazing that info is available. And I've always preferred the 1970 version, as well. Takes me back to being a kid, and hearing it for the first time as the snow was falling down. Great memory.
 
With YES.com, you can pick a certain station and see all that they're playing. It's a great tool for checking out the radio competition.

Harry
 
There both great and warm, but the original has more feeling and emotion behind it (and Karen was younger and had experienced emotional ups and downs in the 8 years so you would think it might be reversed).

But it's proabably due to her deeper, more forceful early-70s voice contrasted with her much lighter, breathy late-70s tone.
 
I prefer the original a bit more. To my ears, it is warmer and more soulful. Karen's re-recorded vocals are technically more perfect, but for me that perfection takes away from the warmth and heartache of her original vocal. Strangely enough, I feel exactly the opposite about the re-recording of "Ticket to Ride" for the Singles album. It is both technically flawless, yet conveys more tenderness and emotion, IMO.
 
I agree...the original 1970 vocal is the one most sentimental for me...However, I do like that there is the 1978 vocal and the rare 1992 remix that uses the 1978 vocal versions to listen to as well.
 
I must say Im very pleased to hear Merry Christmas Darling getting a lot of airplay this year. As is usually the case, several Carpenters tunes are played for the holidays, but the heaviest airplay goes to Merry Christmas Darling (2nd would be Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas). I get 2 Detroit stations and then get sketchy reception on 2 Toledo stations, and I hear MCD a lot on all of them (WMGC in Detroit has been playing MCD an average of 7-8 times a day). Both Detroit stations and 1 Toledo station play the 1970 version, and the other station plays the 1978 version. When I travelled to central MI one day a few weeks ago, I heard the 1978 version twice on their Christmas station in the brief time I was up there (they also used MCD as a promo where they played clips of 3 songs to show their Christmas variety).
 
KEZ 99.9 Phoenix is playing "Home For The Holidays", "Merry Christmas Darling (1970)" and "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" this year.
 
With YES.com, you can pick a certain station and see all that they're playing. It's a great tool for checking out the radio competition.

Also a great tool for music hounds like us: check out the SoundHound app for smartphones. What it does is recognize songs that are playing. While it may not be able to tell a 1970 from a 1978 mix, it can usually identify which song is playing, and with some popular songs, can also provide real-time lyrics. It's great if you are in a store or out in public, or even watching TV, and want to identify a song you're hearing.
 
I prefer the original a bit more. To my ears, it is warmer and more soulful. Karen's re-recorded vocals are technically more perfect, but for me that perfection takes away from the warmth and heartache of her original vocal.

You put it better than I could have. :thumbsup:
 
That SoundHound is great. It's how we identified that Gary MacFarland track.

Harry
 
Heard "Merry Christmas Darling" at Sobeys in Shelburne tonight, where I was working my shift as a cashier.
 
I've heard "Merry Christmas Darling" now a few times on the local Orlando Magic 107.7, WMGF, and it's always the single version. It sounds to me like the main music services have done some research and come up with the true "hit" version instead of the easier album track.

Harry
 
I've heard "Merry Christmas Darling" now a few times on the local Orlando Magic 107.7, WMGF, and it's always the single version. It sounds to me like the main music services have done some research and come up with the true "hit" version instead of the easier album track.

Harry

Lucky! For us up North it seems that no one cared to do any research and flung on what they do each year (78 version). DJ's and most of the public probably don't even realize that there are two different versions -- to them its just Karen singing (whether it be in a husky or lighter tone).
 
I'm more familiar with the later version but have recently swapped it on my MP3 player for the 1970 version. I'd never really bothered with the earlier version until this thread but now find I prefer it - Karen's vocals are warmer.

Interestingly enough BBC Radio 2 have been using Merry Christmas as part of their promotion of their Remembering The Troops programme where messages from family members are read to members of British Armed forces overseas. I think they're using the later version (difficult to tell as it's played quite faintly).
 
Actually there are four versions, but three of them use the 1978 lead.

1970 single version
1978 album version
1992 remix
2004 surround remix

I've never run across a mono copy, but if it existed, that would make five.

Harry
Original is always BEST!
 
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