Hello Chip,

I have recently traveled to Mesa, Arizona to attend my youngest daughter's wedding this weekend and while driving around in my rent a car I thought I was listening to a top 40 radio station on the FM dial that had been playing a variety of current top 40 hits, when suddenly it seemed to flip to an all Christmas format for several uninterrupted hours. I mean everything from Bing Crosby's White Christmas to Perry Como's There's No Place Like Home For The Holidays and Burl Ives among so many others.

My middle age daughter was in the car with my gal and I and her mouth just about dropped to the floor. I have been referred to as Mr. Christmas around my loved ones on more than one occasion due to my love of Christmas music and the season in general, but this switch to all Christmas music in the middle of the Mesa, Arizona dessert with temperatures hovering near 100 was a fantastic and splendid surprise to say the least. My daughter remarked, "Dad I have never heard Christmas music played this time of year on the radio, leave it to you to bring Christmas music with your arrival in town. I don't know how you did it, but you managed to do it somehow!"

I mean this was not a satellite radio station, but a regular top 40 pop station. We drove around for nearly two hours as we went to eat at a restaurant and visited the local Barnes & Noble book store and each time the very vintage Christmas music remained on the radio station air waves until we came back to the car for the last time. We heard no explanation other than some talk of a "Christmas promotion" or something that seemed taped ahead of time.

Now there was one time a year or two ago I heard a country radio station play one Christmas song in July as a sort of joke because of the hot weather or something, but it was one song only and they quickly returned to playing the hit singles of the time, and I believe the song was Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer. It was definitely a one off so to speak.

Chip, I know you know my family has been involved in the ownership and management of several television and radio stations over the years, but I have never heard of or witnessed such a splendid and dedicated effort towards the continuous playing of Christmas music by a major market radio station this early in the year.

My question for you Chip as the greatest authority in the world on the popular Christmas music from the Golden Age and beyond is the following; Have you ever heard of such a planned and continuous display of Christmas music this early in the year or do you think someone "fell Asleep at the controls" so to speak and this was some sort of pre-taped mistake where an engineer hit the wrong switch or playlist by mistake? Either way, it just wetted my appetite for your impending announcement of the Real Gone Music Christmas releases for this year that I am sure is not too many months or even weeks away from being released on this great forum.

Best regards.

Steve