Christmas Pop Songs

So, what is a Christmas song? My definition can be found at the start of the entries I wrote on Christmas Singles of the 1970s and 1980s for h2g2 The 70s entry is here and links to the 80s entry. Happy reading!

You can find every detail you ever wanted about Christmas hits, but for this entry I am simply going to concentrate on five Christmas songs ranging from the instantly familiar to the much more obscure. I hope you will take a listen to the tracks, especially if you don’t know one or two of them. These aren’t necessarily the best five Christmas songs in my extremely wide collection, but they are five songs that I really enjoy for a variety of reasons.

A 70s classic that stands the test of time

To be honest I could have chosen any number of songs from the first heyday of the Christmas record. However, as I have mentioned (on more than one occasion!) I am a die-hard Wombles fan. For that reason, much as I like Slade, Wizzard and Mud, it is to Mike Batt’s furry phenomenon that I look for my first song. It is a song that has as uplifting a chorus as any Christmas classic, a fantastic sax solo and lyrics that are shot through with an air of longing. This is not a hastily thrown together kids song, but a lovingly crafted homage to the season that epitomises Mike Batt’s brilliance.

https://youtu.be/AcQ-2CX4w1Y?si=doqFUVQ_Cug21EAo

A Christmas song full of meaning

The same year as The Wombles reached the Top 5, there was a song that captivated me as a nine year old and continues to capture my heart every year. It is called The Christmas Song, but perhaps is better known by its lyrics, ‘I’m not dreaming of a white Christmas’. Gilbert O’Sullivan had already had two number ones and a number of other Top 10 hits, so when this beautiful record came out, it looked like a certain contender for the Christmas Number 1. Bafflingly, the public decided to consign it to the mid-teens in the Christmas chart and a very undeserved obscurity. If you take a listen you will realise this is a song that has an almost ethereal quality and which speaks to the listener anew, particularly this Christmas.

An all time classic of love and loss from the 80s

My third choice is another beauty from the prolific Mike Batt. I had always thought that A Winter’s Tale was a hit at Christmas rather than a fully fledged Christmas song. However, when I went to the Mike Batt concert at the Bush Hall he mentioned that this massive David Essex hit was always a Christmas song despite never mentioning Christmas. You can’t get a more authoritative statement than that, so it is a Christmas song and earns its place in this list rather than tomorrow’s list. As always, the tune has a melancholy beauty that few other composers can match. The lyrics are achingly beautiful and David Essex’s performance is simply sublime. When I hear it every year its beauty and poignancy affect me anew. It is an amazing track that is 40 years old but sounds as fresh as ever.

A cover version that surpasses the original

In the 1980s, one of my favourite groups were the Welsh rock band The Alarm. They were one of the most unlikely bands to venture into the Christmas market, but for their fantastic greatest hits collection, Standards (a must listen by the way, especially if you don’t know how brilliant they are) they re-recorded Happy Christmas (War is Over) originally released by John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band. Mike Peters made a great job of lead vocals, but what lifted this version way above the original was the Welsh Male Voice Choir to replace the discordant children on Lennon’s version. It gives the whole song a huge touch of class. Take a listen and I pretty much guarantee you that it will become your new favourite version.

A modern favourite with that 70s twist

Cats in Space are one of the best rock bands in the UK at the moment, not that you would know about them unless you are a die hard rock fan. They are a six piece band who bring Queen, ELO, Sweet, Slade and a whole host of other bands together in their songs but they do it in a way that makes their own sound. They have released two Christmas songs, a cover of I Believe in Father Christmas in 2021 and their self penned My Kind of Christmas the year before. My Kind of Christmas is an absolute joy, full of 70s references and the spirit of Christmas in abundance. Listen to it 2 or 3 times and you are bound to be singing along with the chorus!

I hope you enjoy at least a couple of these tracks and that you have a Christmas full of fun and music.