The 27th annual edition of 24 Nonstop Hours on the 24th Day of December! All day, all night December 24th!
Robert Drake here – excited to once again host The Night Before on XPN!
Reach Robert on the
Jingle Line
at 215-573-WXPN
It was 27 years ago when WXPN came to me, with those puppy-dog eyes, hoping that I'd fill in on December 24. Seems no one was available, and in those days before digital, you needed a body to oversee any programming. So, I agreed - as long as they gave me complete freedom to spin an aural web of sounds of the season - direct from my collection of holiday tunes.
What they didn't know was that I had already developed a fascination for Christmas songs. Not the burnt cookies anyone can hear up and down the dial in December. My collection was chock-full of unique nuggets - some not given the light of day for decades.
So, they agreed to give me three hours and I delivered. The three hours went to four - which went to six and then to twelve, to celebrate twelve years of tradition! The following year management asked what I planned to do to top my 12-hour marathon. I said, how 'bout 24 hours?! After checking my pulse and temperature - just to be sure I wasn't babbling under some illness - they agreed. Ever since, I've been on the air for 24-nonstop hours every Christmas Eve.
And now I am doing it all again!
Within my 24 hour radio takeover on December 24, I will air some special programming that have become traditions within the tradition! Every Christmas Eve morning at 10am, I replay some highlights from the amazing Home For The Holidays concert, hosted by Helen Leicht. Recorded earlier this month in front of a live audience at World Cafe Live, Helen gathered an amazing round of regional artists to perform classic sounds of the season and I will air some of those performances throughout the hour.
At noon it's my annual broadcast of STRIKING TWELVE - a wonderful and creative retelling of "The Little Match Girl", a short story by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen and performed here by GroveLily! If you want to own this performance, visit this link: groovelily.bandcamp.com
Later in the evening at 7pm, I broadcast It's A Wonderful Life - the 1947 Lux Radio Theatre broadcast with Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed ... a perfect way to showcase the magic of radio on this most magical of nights!
The Night Before on XPN made possible with support from XPN Members and from ...
BE SOCIAL!!
Make sure to hashtag your posts, pics & tweets... #XPNNightBefore
To better explain The Night Before on XPN with Robert Drake, check out this 'timeless classic' about my annual aural tradition, written and performed by Philly's own Bah & The Humbugs to celebrate my (then) 20th anniversary of The Night Before The Night Before
A CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR YOU
XPN hosts Eric Schuman and Robert Drake took a deep dive into the seminal 1963 holiday release from Phil Spector - track by track. Sure, you might know the songs, but chances are you don't know the backstory! This is required listening for any fan of Christmas music!
#XPNNightBefore Instagram Photo Gallery
RockLinkster - @DJRobertDrake Nice "Desk Set" clip. #xpnnightbefore - 02:56AM Dec 25
Crabsncorn - @djrobertdrake is bringing it down the chimney strong! #XPNnightbefore - 02:53AM Dec 25
JoeMustKnow - #xpnnightbefore Santa Lost A Ho is the best thing I've heard all day - 02:05AM Dec 25JoeMustKnow - It's A Wonderful Life has become my favorite Christmas tradition thanks to #xpnnightbefore & @DJRobertDrake - 01:36AM Dec 25
marysineclark - Hey @DJRobertDrake thanks for sharing your family stories and your collection #XPNNightBefore thank you #XPN - 11:21PM Dec 24Crabsncorn - @djrobertdrake After you played the 12 Gifts of Christmas you said that anyone under 10 years old wouldn't understand the gifts. Then my 30 year old son said he doesn't know what most of those gifts are and asked me what a transistor radio is. Lol! #xpnnightbefore - 11:16PM Dec 24
kwkleiner1 - #xpnnightbefore Robert- you need to light the third bulb@on the menorah- please - 11:00PM Dec 24
ShelleyRessler - Sequestering myself to wrap gifts, with eggnog and @wxpnfm #xpnnightbefore - 09:19PM Dec 24
MEK215 - Deliberately hitting red lights so I don't miss a note of Merry Christmas from the Family. Thanks, @DJRobertDrake ! #xpnnightbefore - 08:19PM Dec 24
philly_carl - Kudos to @DJRobertDrake for playing the Vince Guaraldi Trio while reading the Christmas greetings! #SoundtrackOfChristmas #xpnnightbefore (hope we hear more) - 07:01PM Dec 24JoeMustKnow - @DJRobertDrake is making the day wonderful, just like he does every December 24th. #xpnnightbefore - 04:13PM Dec 24
alicetweetshere - Streaming #XPNnightbefore off the coast of Cuba...thanks to @DJRobertDrake !! pic.twi... - 03:20PM Dec 24
wxpnfan - Back at work & tuned in all day on the xpn app! @DJRobertDrake #xpnnightbefore - 01:33PM Dec 24
asudell - Listening to #XPNnightbefore with @DJRobertDrake it's now officially Christmas. - 01:05PM Dec 24
PatWitts - Thank you to @DJRobertDrake and #xpnnightbefore for helping me keep my sanity while grocery shopping and gift wrapping this morning - 01:03PM Dec 24
MaryannMcMitch - Good morning Robert! From mine to yours.. happy Holidays. Looking forward to the Zepplin Mashup! #XPNNightBefore pic.twi... - 12:50PM Dec 24
jpbutler - Merry Christmas @DJRobertDrake — #xpnnightbefore is one of our favorite holiday traditions way up here in Concord, Massachusetts! - 11:16AM Dec 24
TwinsRun - Happy Holidays! #XPNNightBefore pic.twi... - 10:37AM Dec 24
drowan11 - Good morning @DJRobertDrake time for coffee and #XPNNightBefore thanks for all you do - 09:36AM Dec 24
happilyhopped - #xpnnightbefore let the festivities begin! - 05:02AM Dec 24
