Most of the non-singin' artists here mentioned are much loved by me, and have been for a long time. What grates on my ears are the singers with huge voices whose singing is terrible, particularly evident in any mall, drugstore, supermarket in the U.S. at this time of year. Frank, Bing, Johnny M. had the chops and the even the artistic sensibility to do anything they wanted, why they would whore themselves out to do awful Christmas songs is beyond me. I've found that not so many agree with me on this, I guess hearing Bing bleat out "Let it Snow" one more time is essential to the warp and weft of the Christmas season for a lot of folks. However, if once, while walking through the local Safeway, I heard "Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis", that would make my afternoon for sure.
seth