Well, friends, it’s Christmas Eve, for those of us who celebrate such things. It’s a day for jingle bells and sugar plums, for Christmas cookies and heavily spiked egg nog. (Or, in the case of certain families to which I belong, copious amounts of wine, whiskey, and oplatki.)

This seems like a good time to wrap up programming for the day and get down to some serious celebrating. But of course I wouldn’t leave you without a parting question. So tell me: What’s your favorite holiday album?

For me, it’s no contest: Nat King Cole’s The Christmas Song. (Which, apparently, was originally called The Magic of Christmas.) Though it’s recently been re-released with bonus tracks (sigh), for me it will always be about the vinyl. Track 1 — “The Christmas Song” — I hear it and I instantly see thick snow falling, late at night, lit only by warm Christmas lights. Even if it’s 70 degrees, sunny, and the middle of summer.

Like I said, no contest. But a very close runner-up is A Charlie Brown Christmas. Funny, now that I think of it, The Christmas Song is very Christmas Eve to me, while Charlie Brown is very much Christmas Day. I wonder why. Perhaps it’s the faint air of sadness to the Charlie Brown album. Like all the presents have been opened and it’s a whole year until next Christmas.

And how about you? Do you have a special album that you absolutely have to hear during your chosen winter holiday? I’d love to hear what it is.