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There's more to this Christmas playlist than Mariah and Bing

DJ Robert Drake has hosted WXPN's Christmas special, "The Night Before," for more than 30 years.
Paige Walter
/
WXPN
DJ Robert Drake has hosted WXPN's Christmas special, "The Night Before," for more than 30 years.

Today on World Cafe, we want to introduce you to someone who knows more about Christmas and holiday music than almost anyone in the biz. For the last 32 years, DJ Robert Drake has been hosting an annual marathon celebration every Christmas Eve on WXPN in Philadelphia, where we make World Cafe.

It's called The Night Before, and for 24 nonstop hours, Drake spins from his collection of holiday tunes. If you're tuning in, don't expect "All I Want For Christmas Is You" and "Last Christmas" on repeat. Drake's collection is full of unique nuggets, some of which haven't seen the light of day for decades.

Drake has gifted us a Christmas present in the form of a playlist to give us a look at what happens on The Night Before. This mix includes brand-new music from gospel legend CeCe Winans and her new Christmas record, Joyful, Joyful: A Christmas Album. There's also tracks with unique perspectives; Alicia Witt's "Weird Time of Year" is sung from the POV of Witt's dog. Ilene Weiss' "Tree," one of Drake's favorite holiday songs, is sung from the perspective of a Christmas Tree right after the holidays.

We've also thrown in one of Ben Folds' songs from his new Christmas album, Sleigher. You can check out our session with Folds here.

Oh, and happy holidays from the World Cafe team!

Copyright 2024 XPN

Miguel Perez
Miguel Perez is a radio producer for NPR's World Cafe, based out of WXPN in Philadelphia. Before that, he covered arts, music and culture for KERA in Dallas. He reported on everything from the rise of NFTs in the music industry to the enduring significance of gay and lesbian bars to the LGBTQ community in North Texas.
Stephen Kallao
[Copyright 2024 XPN]