SILLY CHRISTMAS PROMOTION by Dan O'Day A while ago, I spotted this article in The Times Of London: "NOT SLADE AGAIN, BEG SHOPPERS" "Though the crowds may be unbearable and the weather miserable, Christmas shopping is about to be slightly more bearable in one high street chain at least. "Dixon's" — a ubiquitous UK consumer electronics store — has decided to exclude Slade's MERRY CHRISTMAS and Wizzard's I WISH IT COULD BE CHRISTMAS EVERY DAY from its in-store playlist. "A survey of 50 people disclosed the songs to be the most annoying and unpopular of all those played during Advent...with Cliff Richard's saccharine MISTLETOE AND WINE taking third place." SIMPLE IDEA: Launch your own competition to select your audience's Least Wanted Christmas Song. Let listeners vote via telephone, fax or e-mail (via a link from your website, to drive traffic there). Explain that the final judging will be based not solely on the number of votes each nominated title receives but also on the strength of the arguments made on their behalf. Maybe bring in celebrity judges (either nationally famous or just local big names: the mayor, TV news anchor, football coach). Pay it all off by counting down the 5 (or 10) least popular Christmas songs on your program. Perhaps you'll customize the countdown by having each "winning" song destroyed in mid-play by a sound particularly appropriate to your market: Mowed down by gunfire....Eaten by a mad cow....Chopped to bits with axes....Stung to death by killer bees. What's particularly nice about this is if it works for you, you can make it an annual tradition.