Each year, Philly plays host to what are now two long-standing holiday traditions: DJ Robert Drake’s 12-hour Christmas Eve broadcast on WXPN, and DJ Jon Solomon’s marathon 24-hour Christmas Day show on WPRB. This year will be Drake’s 13th annual broadcast, and Solomon’s 19th. Both shows are a testament to human endurance ‚Äî to staying awake and on the radio, as well as to both Drake and Solomon’s abiding love for holiday music, a lonely (but often lovely) part of the musical spectrum. We caught up with both of these fine gentlemen and had them interview each other about the rules of holiday tunes, why they keep on keepin’ on, and most importantly, how jumping jacks keep the energy up when doing a marathon broadcast.

Robert and Jon take it away after the jump.

Philebrity: We bring you two here today, in the name of all that is right and holy, to have you answer to the city and yourselves, finally and forever more: What is it about Christmas music that holds apparently endless fascination for an indie-rock Jew and an old-school punk rocker? Or, more succinctly put: What’s up with the jingle bells, hipsters?

DJRobertDrake: Well, as the true king of holiday music, you should go first :)
Jon Solomon: Right, but being called “indie rock” may very well have relegated me to the category of second-class citizen…
DJRobertDrake: never as bad as ‘old-school punk rocker’
DJRobertDrake: lol
Jon Solomon: I am happy to trade.
Jon Solomon: How long have you been doing this show on WXPN?
DJRobertDrake: I started back in 1993, so this will be 13 years for me. But I’ve been listening to you even before that …
DJRobertDrake: is it true that you fell into the shift, because you could work Christmas?
Jon Solomon: Pretty much. Pre-Internet, open slots on WPRB’s schedule were first-come first-serve on a sign-up sheet in the station’s lobby. I grabbed Xmas eve when I saw it was free and decided to stay on for as long as I could. I believe that ended up being 10-13 hours (I wish I knew an exact figure) and the next year I decided to do all 24. With the students off-campus there were large chunks of time that needed to be filled by community members and as a new DJ I was pretty excited about the chance.
Jon Solomon: How did your show begin?
DJRobertDrake: Same thing - a body was needed one Christmas Eve and I stepped up and admitted that I had this bizarre obsession with collecting holiday and seasonal songs
DJRobertDrake: they always say the first step is admittance :)
Jon Solomon: My interest in holiday music came later. The first show was a mixture of holiday material and loooooooooong soooooooooooongs.
DJRobertDrake: HAHA - long songs rock - especially when you’re doing a 12/24 hour show!
Jon Solomon: Yes, there are a few 10-20 minute recordings I really like that are holiday-related which really help me get through the night.
Jon Solomon: As I did the show for a few years and the material shifted to all-holiday jams, I eventually had a “library” built up where I could pick and choose what I wanted to play instead of having to play it all.
DJRobertDrake: so - you didn‚Äôt have an interest prior to starting the show in the music you spin … did you find holiday music weird (like most people tend to do)?
Jon Solomon: Good question. I don’t think so, because the best songs that fit this format are songs I like as songs first.
Jon Solomon: There’s certainly a whole lot of awful/strange and awful strange stuff out there, which has a different appeal to me.
Jon Solomon: For example, do you know Laffy?
DJRobertDrake: YES! Now that is WEIRD. What really fascinates me is just how every musician experiences this nirvana in their career when they feel the need to record a seasonal track. It’s obvious that for many, its not about the season - but about the reason: money
Jon Solomon: That’s been great. The discovery of “wait, [X] has a Christmas song?!”
Jon Solomon: Groups I never thought would like the early New Order Christmas flexi or lots of Sympathy for the Record Industry punk/garage bands.
DJRobertDrake: You have to wonder what was going through their minds
Jon Solomon: In some cases it works really well, other times it sounds like a painful misstep.
DJRobertDrake: esp. some of the punk bands … it’s like “I hate America, my life, corporate swill - but MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!”
Jon Solomon: True. There’s certainly a good bit of that.
DJRobertDrake: I always smile when they do seasonal songs
Jon Solomon: For whatever reason I’ve been sent a shocking amount of German hard rock Christmas songs by listeners this year.
DJRobertDrake: ah, the gift that keeps on giving
Jon Solomon: They all do pretty much the same version of Silent Night.
DJRobertDrake: how ironic
DJRobertDrake: so - I’ve a question for you
DJRobertDrake: what’s with the lack of quality fun unique Hanukah songs??
Jon Solomon: I’ve got a few good Hanukah songs, but I find a lot of the ones I get, especially of a more recent vintage are a bit too “look at me!” jokey for my tastes.
Jon Solomon: There’s a twee Hanukah compilation but it is very much a twee Hanukah compilation.
DJRobertDrake: have you heard of Kenny Ellis ?
Jon Solomon: I don’t know if I have. I see an Elton Ellis on the Trojan Christmas Box…
DJRobertDrake: he’s a Cantor
DJRobertDrake: http://www.kennyellis.com/
Jon Solomon: I’m on his web site now.
DJRobertDrake: he truly swings
DJRobertDrake: I am in love with his Hanukah CD, esp. ” Swinging Dreidel”
Jon Solomon: I think the problem with a lot of Hanukah songs is that
Jon Solomon: They’re either quality, fun OR unique. Rarely two or three out of three.
Jon Solomon: When I did an interview with New Jersey Jewish News about my show a few weeks ago I played the writer some Hanukah songs off my laptop and the ones I had were all pretty dark.
DJRobertDrake: see - I think they need to follow the X rule of songwriting ….
Jon Solomon: Educate me!
DJRobertDrake: the X rule (as in Xmas) is as follows
DJRobertDrake: make up crap and include a winter reference and bells and you got a holiday song
DJRobertDrake: for example: most Hanukah songs are simply covered again and again. But in Christmas - once they took the Jesus part out of it - all bets were off! You could sing about an elf, a tree, a balloon… anything you wanted to sing about
Jon Solomon: That’s true. There aren’t a lot of great Hanukah “originals.”
DJRobertDrake: as long as it had a winter reference and some bell sound
DJRobertDrake: I listen to some of the holiday songs out there
DJRobertDrake: and they are SOO far away from a normal song that i give them props for being creative
DJRobertDrake: but for some reason, people feel a bit more sacred towards Hannakuh songs … like, better not fuck with these tracks!
Jon Solomon: As an aside, I kid you not, there’s a fire brigade going around my neighborhood with truck sirens blazing and Santa Claus on the back of one of trucks. Happening right now.
Jon Solomon: Here are a couple Hanukah originals I enjoy: Tom Lehrer’s Hanukah In Santa Monica.
DJRobertDrake: Tom is a genius!
DJRobertDrake: as is Allen Sherman
Jon Solomon: Allen Sherman’s records were a big part of my formative listening, checking out albums from the public library.
Jon Solomon: Alan Sherman’s “Twelve Gifts of Christmas” stands up pretty well.
DJRobertDrake: yes, mine too - pretty fitting that he’s still with me, as producer of Kids Corner
Jon Solomon: Do you have a particular holiday song you find makes for the best reworking/covering?
DJRobertDrake: hmmm - good question
DJRobertDrake: I really enjoy renditions of ‚ÄúBaby It’s Cold Outside‚Äù
DJRobertDrake: not quite sure why - but every duo does it differently
Jon Solomon: I have found recently that a lot of the most interesting recordings I have are different takes on The 12 Days of Christmas. Perhaps because there are so many lines to tinker with.
DJRobertDrake: true – ‘cept that song can get really annoying quickly
Jon Solomon: Right, but if done well…
DJRobertDrake: agreed
Jon Solomon: Any least favorites?
DJRobertDrake: I never liked The Little Drummer Boy – even the atrocious Bowie/Crosby version didn’t tickle this new wave heart … but then I heard a rendition done by El Vez and I finally figured out what was needed in that song: rock anthem and scantily-clad back up singers!
Jon Solomon: Even though it is fairly recent, comparatively, I have found that I can no longer deal with “Last Christmas.”
Jon Solomon: Underrated: A Marshmallow World.
DJRobertDrake: I do love that song
DJRobertDrake: let me ask you something
DJRobertDrake: how is the experience of doing the show - 24 hours etc
Jon Solomon: Some years it is harder than others.
Jon Solomon: I found drinking less coffee and more tea made things easier in 2005. Hopefully I haven’t jinxed this year’s show.
Jon Solomon: Do you run into stamina issues with your marathon?
DJRobertDrake: well, my marathon is half as long as yours - but I must say I did the tea thing last year too and it really made a difference
DJRobertDrake: who knew?!
Jon Solomon: My wife, apparently.
DJRobertDrake: LOL
Jon Solomon: She pushed the tea and eating more square meals over the course of the show.
DJRobertDrake: are you alone at WPRB for the entire shift?
Jon Solomon: My family will come by and some friends/DJs from the past and present will visit. I think people know that I like support in the studio but they don’t want to be too much of a distraction.
Jon Solomon: My other trick last year: Jumping jacks.
Jon Solomon: Kept my energy up a little higher.
DJRobertDrake: ok - I think I’ll pass on that one ;-)
DJRobertDrake: for me it was a bit weird last year – it was the first time for me as a 12-hour show, and I was downstairs in the XPN studios, which are in a bunker without windows below the Walnut St Bridge – and no one was around – the building was not only closed but locked and alarmed. There were a few moments when that got to me … but thankfully the show keeps me busy!
Jon Solomon: Sometimes I run into a student who hasn’t left for the holidays when I am heading down the bathroom and we invariably startle one another.
DJRobertDrake: the coolest part are the listeners
Jon Solomon: Indeed. The listeners are the single-best part of doing the show for me.
Jon Solomon: Hearing from the same people every year, getting updates on the last twelve months, tracking down requests, people who have listened to the show for years and now listen with their children. It is remarkable.
DJRobertDrake: I totally agree - I get calls from around the country and they call every year - really makes the show worthwhile for me
DJRobertDrake: did you ever think you’d be doing this for (almost) two decades?
Jon Solomon: When I lived in Chicago and would come home to New Jersey to do the show each winter, probably not.
Jon Solomon: Now, it just makes sense.
Jon Solomon: It is definitely weird to realize that there are some people who listen to the show who were not born the first time I did it.
Jon Solomon: What’s the first thing you do when you get off the air? Do you have any sort of routine?
DJRobertDrake: sadly, my off air routine is pretty bland
DJRobertDrake: by the time I get done I’m pretty wiped out
DJRobertDrake: the weirdest thing is that I travel home through Center City at Midnight on Christmas Eve … it‚Äôs never as quiet as it is then
DJRobertDrake: maybe I should travel from XPN in a Santa suit this year
DJRobertDrake: lol
Jon Solomon: That’s the sort of thing I do feel like I miss out on, but there’s really nowhere else that feels like where I should be on Christmas.
DJRobertDrake: yea - the funny thing is that I still get people who feel sorry for me that i have to work on Xmas eve - but little do they know that I’d have it no other way
Jon Solomon: Do you have the problem of having too much material to play and not enough time to play it? That has been my biggest surprise.
DJRobertDrake: Yes - I have three mail bins of CDs that I lug down to the studio … and I have a system now where the stuff I really want to make sure to spin is in a certain bin … once I spin it, I sit it out - so the bin should be empty when I’m done the shift (keyword: should!)
Jon Solomon: This is the first year I used the iTunes star rating system so I can remember the “five star songs” I shouldn’t overlook.
Jon Solomon: The only problem is there’s now 22:05 of music in there and that’s before the Cds/Lps/45s!
DJRobertDrake: smart idea … what is really funny here is that
DJRobertDrake: here we are - two holiday music junkies and we’re complaining of having TOO much good music to play and yet - society in general thinks that holiday music sucks since all they hear are the same 200 songs. That‚Äôs the biggest frustration
Jon Solomon: 200? That many?
DJRobertDrake: LOL
DJRobertDrake: I was being kind.
Jon Solomon: Very kind.
DJRobertDrake: If I never hear Elmo & Pasty again, I’ll be a happy man.
Jon Solomon: The “I don’t like Christmas music but I love your show!” compliment is one I really appreciate.
DJRobertDrake: Exactly - I hear from many people who listen and sometimes don’t even realize it IS a Christmas show
DJRobertDrake: has the web stream helped your show?
Jon Solomon: Yeah. Listeners who now live outside of the area can tune in again and I’ve found fans all over the globe that catch the show. Last year I heard from listeners in five continents. Need to get Africa and Antarctica to represent this year around.
Jon Solomon: There’s also a whole network of Christmas music fans/collectors I’ve discovered on-line who listen/contribute.
DJRobertDrake: here‚Äôs the best part about the web stream of XPN - my family, which is scattered all across the country, can listen … and even though I am in a studio below a bridge, it makes me feel like I’m with them for the holiday … and that is probably one of the highlights of the experience
Jon Solomon: That is excellent.
Jon Solomon: Are you familiar with falalalala.com?
DJRobertDrake: yes - a great site!
Jon Solomon: I am amazed with some of the stuff that turns up there.
DJRobertDrake: what’s the backstory of that site - do u know who runs it?
Jon Solomon: And how happy people are to share music there without asking for anything in return.
Jon Solomon: The guy who set it up is named The King Of Jing-a-ling. He’s called my show the past two years, usually in the wee hours when I’m getting a little tuckered out.
DJRobertDrake: how cool!
Jon Solomon: There was an article about him in Billboard, possibly?
DJRobertDrake: I’ll Google him later and find it
Jon Solomon: Nice guy.
DJRobertDrake: well, speaking of nice guys - so are you … I really do admire what you do - quite frankly, I don’t know if I could go more than 12 hours … I like the fact that I start at 11am on Dec 24 and people can carry through the day, the night and the following day with the two of us
DJRobertDrake: its a neat package :)
Jon Solomon: Yeah. I don’t sense there are a lot of other people out there doing what we do, let alone two in an overlapping area! There was a guy near Atlantic City who had a marathon show on the radio that I think might now be Internet-only.
DJRobertDrake: Well, I for one will be listening in once I get done my shift - you’d think I’d have my full of holiday music after 12 hours, but no!
DJRobertDrake: hahaha
Jon Solomon: I appreciate it. Hopefully I can tune in to WXPN while I’m doing my final prep before I head down to WPRB.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 22nd, 2006 at 12:11 pm.