MANDATORY DANCE SONG

It was the kind of panicked look that says, "This woman is zany. And she is related to me."

Rewind to Thanksgiving 2005.  We had just moved to Buffalo, and all of Husband's family had journeyed from Tucson, Arizona to visit for the holiday. 

Christmas tunes begin playing 24/7 in our house on Tune Friday (our version of Black Friday.)  Late Friday afternoon, I am in the kitchen preparing dinner. Mariah Carey's All I want for Christmas is You begins blasting on the Bose. I drop the broccoli I am peeling and shriek "MDS!" My kids come running into the kitchen and begin spinning around, spontaneously revealing all their best dance moves. In-laws, nieces and nephews stand back, somewhat shocked and uncertain what to do during this latest display of our family's loud, nutty behavior. 

Don't judge them. They are not Italian.  Or nuts. 

My adorable niece inches across the tile floor and whispers to me, "What's MDS?"

"Mandatory Dance Song," I explain. "Someone screams MDS, and everyone in the house better be in the kitchen, dancing. Pronto!"

Remember the scene in Love Actually when Hugh Grant stands in front of his window and, limb by limb, begins to move to the Pointer Sisters' Jump?  (If you have never seen it, watch it on You Tube, and laugh out loud.) That's what happened in our kitchen. The spirit moved from my kids to my nieces to my in-laws, and our kitchen became a dance party!

Music is in my top five favorite things about life.  Yet I am not a fan of the latest All-Christmas-Music-All-the-Time radio fad that begins the day after Halloween.

It makes me feel sorry for Thanksgiving.

But bring on Tune Friday and I am quite happily dragging my crate of Christmas CDs out of the attic. The songs in that box embody so many Christmas memories, that I hear one song after another, and am transported back in time to  moments of pure happiness.

Today, I share my list of MCS: Mandatory Christmas Songs. Rather than a top ten, I have included twenty songs: Christmas has been hundreds of years in the making, after all. Some are spiritual, others are sentimental. The rest are Mandatory Dance Songs. 

I hope you'll find a song you've never heard, listen to it from start to finish, and have a moment of pure happiness. And I hope you'll shriek "MDS!" dozens of times this week and weekend.

I won't think you're nuts.  I'll wish I was related to you!

SACRED

1.      This Christmastide, Jesse Norman

2.      Noel: Christmas Eve 1913, John Denver and the Muppets

3.      Mary’s Boy Child, Tom Jones

4.      Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella, Mannheim Steamroller

5.      Silent Night, John Denver and the Muppets

6.      The Little Drummer Boy/ Peace on Earth, David Bowie and Bing Crosby

7.      O Holy Night, Josh Groban

8.      Wasn’t That a Mighty Day, Kathleen Battle

MANDATORY DANCE SONGS

9.      All I Want for Christmas is You, Mariah Carey

10.  Go Tell it on the Mountain/ Mary had a Baby, Vanessa Williams

11.  Sleigh Ride, The Ronettes

12.  Baby, Please Come Home, Darlene Love

13.  Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Bruce Springsteen

14.  White Christmas, Michael Buble and Shania Twain

SENTIMENTAL

15.      It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Andy Williams

16.      Here Comes Santa Claus, Elvis Presley

17.      I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm, Dean Martin

18.      The Christmas Waltz, Nancy Wilson

19.      Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Perry Como

20.      Christmas Stays the Same, Linda Eder

QUING Hereby Decrees:  It's Christmas week!  Skip the Stress.  Sing!