Jersey music memories (WHTG edition)

Matt Pinfield's appearance last night on Portlandia brought back memories of the old WHTG, 106.3, perhaps the greatest alternative music radio station of all time.

Man, did I love 106.3 back in the early 1990s, when I lived in central New Jersey. It was the only station on my radio dial for years. They aired what would probably be referred to as "free-form" alternative rock -- whatever the DJs felt like playing, they played. You never knew what was coming next, and all of it was good. My musical tastes still skew back to what I heard in those glory days.

Pinfield was just one of the DJs at WHTG (this was before he moved to MTV, of course). I'm sure if I dug around I could find and remember many of the other DJ names, but I loved 'em all, even the ones that sounded like amateurs, which many of them were. Heck, I almost got a chance to spin there. I applied for a job in 1991 and the managers said yes, but the salary was so low it would have been like paying them for the right to work there.

Alas, WHTG is no more. They changed ownership and formats around the same time I moved further north, out of their broadcast range, playing more hits and less alternative music. Their format has shifted a few more times since then, and now they are apparently known as "Thunder 106" and play only country music. What a loss.

Portlandia always starts with their theme song "The Dream of the Nineties is Alive in Portland." For me, that dream includes the music I heard on WHTG. Maybe I'll hear it again one day.

My 5 favorite Christmas albums

Have you ever noticed how a lot of Christmas music -- if not most of it -- totally sucks?

Admit it, out of the five thousand, one hundred and twenty thee Christmas albums recorded every year, maybe six will make the cut to be worthy of immortality. And even then, only half the songs are any good.

But knowing this doesn't stop me from listening to non-stop Xmas music at this time of year. It's fun, it gets me into the spirit, and it just makes the whole house feel Christmasy.

So in the spirit of the season, here are my top five Christmas albums, full of songs that give me that good old Yuletide spirit:

















This is the newest -- and least awesome -- album on my list, but hey, it's 99 pretty darn good classical music Christmas songs, and Amazon sells it for just $1.99. What's not to love?
















Yule Be Struttin gets some playtime throughout the year. There are some fantastic jazzy compositions on this disk, and I never tire of it. Plus that's one sexy cover photo.
















John Denver and the Muppets... ah, this takes me back to my childhood every time I listen to it. How sad that we've lost both Mr. Denver and Mr. Henson. Bittersweet but beautiful.

















More than just a slice of childhood, more than just good Christmas music, most of this is just plain old good music, period. I dance like Shermy every time I listen to it.
















My all-time favorite. Ray Charles is at his absolute best here. His vocals are perfection and the arrangements are genius. Every song is a gem, and some are worth keeping on the rotation long after the season is complete.

So do any of these make your cut? What are your favorites? Feel free to share!