When I was small, my parents had Perry Como's "Perry Como Sings Merry Christmas Music" album. Scratches and all, it would play all during the holidays in our home.

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In the early 70's, my dad had changed over from albums to 8-tracks. We always had music on in the house and in the cars, but my parents didn't buy a lot of tapes or albums. The Christmas 8-track tape that I remember most was "The Little Drummer Boy" by Living Voices. This was the track list:

Medley - Jingle Bells/Sleigh Ride
A Holly Jolly Christmas
Medley - Silver Bells/Little Christmas Tree Waltz
Be A Santa
Medley - Pine Cones and Holly Berries (with It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas)/We Wish You A Merry Christmas
The Little Drummer Boy
Do You Hear What I Hear
I Heard The Bells Of Christmas Day
Blue Christmas
What Are You Doing New Year's Eve

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If you're old enough to remember 8-track tapes, you probably remember that sometimes a song would start on one track then finish on the next track. That clicking sound, signifying the change of tracks, would always annoy me because it would interrupt the song. But the songs of this tape would fill our house throughout the Christmas season. My dad, who always had a great tenor voice, would sing along with the tape as he did things in the house. The memories that created are priceless.

About 8 years ago, I decided to buy the CD version of this tape for my Dad as a Christmas present. When I started looking for it, I didn't realize how much of a collector's item the CD had become. I found the CD on eBay and put in a bid. I told myself I'd go as high as $25 and I stuck to it. I watched the price increase for 3 days, and it ended up selling for $230. I couldn't believe it! However, thanks to yahoo search I was able to find the album from a record store in Canada. They even included a copy of the album on CD. The total cost was something like $35. Dad was so excited to get it that Christmas, and I remember him saying "I've missed this music so much!"

The following year, a couple of days after Thanksgiving, I was sitting at my desk one morning and Dad called me from his car. He was on his way to work and he wanted to let me know that he was listening to his his Living Voices CD that morning. He said, "I can't believe all the memories that this brings back. It makes me think about all those Christmases when you and your sisters were little!"

What was your favorite Christmas album growing up?