FEATURE:
All We Want for Christmas
PHOTO CREDIT: @anniespratt/Unsplash
The Ten Best Christmas Tracks
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AS it is the first of December...
PHOTO CREDIT: @brunus/Unsplash
it seems only right to break the seal from the Christmas song ban and let a few of them through! I realise we will be subjected to several weeks of those old and familiar tracks; there are a selection of fresh and modern Christmas songs that are offering variety. It might take a few more years before they get into the heart the same way as the tested and cherished Christmas song and, whilst it can irritating walking into shops and hearing Christmas music endlessly, there is something warming and pleasant hearing these familiar tracks. A great Christmas track can evoke all the sides and familiar elements of the time and create something that sticks in the head and stands alongside any traditional track. There are plenty of bad and grating Christmas tracks but it is the classics we all love. Here, in my view, are the ten finest Christmas songs that I’m guessing you’ll be hearing...
PHOTO CREDIT: @jakobowens1/Unsplash
QUITE a lot in the next few weeks!
ALL SINGLE COVERS: Getty Images
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Mariah Carey – All I Want for Christmas Is You
Release Date: 1st November, 1994
Label: Columbia
Songwriters: Mariah Carey/Walter Afansieff
Producers: Mariah Carey/Walter Afansieff
Original Highest Chart Position: 9 (U.S.)
Slade – Merry Christmas Everybody
Release Date: 7th December, 1973
Label: Columbia
Songwriters: Noddy Holder/Jim Lea
Producer: Chris Chandler
Original Chart Position: 1 (U.K.)
Wham! – Last Christmas
Release Date: 3rd December, 1984
Labels: Columbia/Epic
Songwriter: George Michael
Producer: George Michael
Original Chart Position: 2 (U.K.)
Bing Crosby - White Christmas
Release Date: 30th July, 1942
Label: Decca
Songwriter: Irving Berlin
Original Chart Position: 1 (U.S.)
Wizzard – I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday
Release Date: December 1973
Labels: Harvest/Warner Bros. Records
Songwriter: Roy Wood
Producer: Roy Wood
Original Chart Position: 4 (U.K.)
Brenda Lee – Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree
Release Date: 1958 (U.S.)/December 1962 (U.K.)
Label: Decca
Songwriter: Johnny Marks
Producer: Owen Bradley
Original Chart Position: 14 (U.S.)
Chris Rea – Driving Home for Christmas
Release Date: 10th December, 1988
Label: Magnet
Songwriter: Chris Rea
Producers: Chris Rea/Stuart Eales
Original Chart Position: 53 (U.K.)
Paul McCartney – Wonderful Christmastime
Release Date: 16th November, 1979
Labels: Parlophone/Columbia
Songwriter: Paul McCartney
Producer: Paul McCartney
Original Chart Position: 6 (U.K.)
The Pogues (ft. Kirsty MacColl) – Fairytale of New York
Release Date: 23rd November, 1987
Label: Pogue Mahone
Songwriters: Jem Finer/Shane MacGowan
Producer: Steve Lillywhite
Original Chart Position: 2 (U.K.)
John & Yoko/The Plastic Ono Band (with The Harlem Community Choir) – Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
Release Date: 1st December, 1971 (U.S.)/24th November, 1972 (U.K.)
Label: Apple
Songwriters: John Lennon/Yoko Ono
Producers: Phil Spector/John Lennon/Yoko Ono
Original Chart Position: 4 (U.K.)