Early morning standouts:
KAFM (Grand Junction, CO)
- Songbird-Eilen Jewell (A lyrically effective metaphor for anyone whose help is essential for your survival; Jewell's voice and a guitar are all that's needed to pull it off.)
- Don't @$&* Around With Love-The Blenders (You don't usually hear profanity in this type of tune. At first, I thought this was a modern vocal group doing a '50s R&B/doo-wop pastiche. Per multiple sources, though, it's actually an alternate version of the band's "Don't Mess Around With Love," recorded in 1953. Both versions contain equally smooth harmony singing.)
- The Man With All The Toys-The Beach Boys (A fun, short tribute to Santa Claus; in my opinion, it holds up better than "Little Saint Nick.")
- Caroling, Caroling-Nat King Cole (Cole's rendition of "The Christmas Song" gets a lot of radio airplay at this time of year. His elegant version of "Caroling, Caroling" deserves its due as well, however, as does his moving rendition of "Away In A Manger.")
- Mary's Boy Child-Celtic Woman (Celtic Woman honors Harry Belafonte's reverential version while picking up the tempo.)
- Let It Snow-Kitty Margolis (Margolis makes the vocals swing, and the piano underpinning gives the tune a glossy sheen I wish other renditions of it had.)
- Franz Schubert: String Quartet No. 14, "Death And The Maiden" (Hagen Quartet) (Convincing portrayals of tenderness, somberness, and ferocity, especially from the violins.)
