Christmas Hits

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I grew up exposed to multiple religions. My dad’s side of the family were foot-washing Italian Catholics, while my mom’s side were Jews from New York. In college, my mom was reborn as a Christian, and for me as a kid, Easter with Nonno Giuseppe was as big of a deal as going to seder at temple with my Popi Mel. Now on every Christmas morning, my mom and I listen to A Christmas Album by Barbra Streisand, a collection of spectacular renditions of yule-time classics by not just a Jewish woman, but one of the most notable and beloved Jews in show business. Moments like Babs’ broadway pizzaz on “Jingle Bells?” to her church choir-worthy range on “Sleep In Heavenly Peace (Silent Night)” to her impeccable singing in Latin on “Gounod’s Ave Maria,” have made A Christmas Album one of the top 10 Christmas albums of all time, selling over 5.3 million copies. And for my mom and I, the juxtaposition of faiths across each of the album’s splendid 33 minutes is a constant reminder of accepting and respecting every person’s God-given right to believe and worship whatever and however they’d like. Nothing is more fitting over the holidays than that. —Adrian Spinelli Love them, hate them, or just acceptthem as a sort of immutable fact of life, it's officially Christmas song season in 2023. And although there’s been a fair amount of disposable novelty rubbishwritten over the years, the reality is that a lot of Christmas songs are bangers. Selected items are only available for delivery via the Royal Mail 48® service and other items are available for delivery using this service for a charge. A Christmas Gift to You from Phil Spector codified the sound of Christmas: maximal, filled with signifiers of the season (there is nowhere sleigh bells can’t be draped). Darlene Love’s Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) was the standout on a record on which the quality didn’t drop from start to finish. 9. Wizzard I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday

McGriff opens with a squall of organ that doesn’t lead you to believe Christmas is coming anytime soon, then takes Winter Wonderland at such a leisurely pace that it takes a moment to recognise it. (If you like this, try Jimmy Smith’s Christmas ’64 as well.) 29. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings Ain’t No Chimneys in the Projects A gorgeous bauble from the mid-00s wave of Scandinavian music that crossed electropop with the feyest indie. Sally falls in love on a Tuesday before Christmas, “at a gig with a band that we both liked”. But will she end up by herself “or in the perfect kiss”? 41. Solomon Burke Presents for ChristmasIt wasn’t a hit at the time, but took off when it was included on a 1991 reissue of the 1968 Atco compilation Soul Christmas. To which you can only say: why did it take the world so long to notice? It’s a Christmas song that stands up regardless of the season. And according to the publishing body Ascap, it’s now the 30th most performed Christmas song of all time in the US. 6. Tom Waits Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis The Staple Singers are worried: too many wars, too much space exploration means people are “searching for light and can’t seem to find the right star”. Jesus isn’t just another baby boy, they warn. So show some respect. Glorious. 16. The Watersons Sound, Sound Your Instruments of Joy Before she treaded ever so slightly into secular pop fare, Amy Grant was a giant in Christian music—and she’s still seen as such. There’s one branch of Christian music in particular that she does better than just about any pop star—Christmas music. A Christmas Album is unapologetically spiritual and sonically quite bold, full of sweeping orchestral arrangements, weird synthy pathways and twangy, down-home touchy-feelies (It’s impossible not to yearn for home when you hear “Tennessee Christmas,” whether you hail from the South or not) alike. I can’t readily supply another Christmas album that sounds like this one. The horns on jaunty instrumental number “Praise the King” sound like an actual choir of angels, and I’m convinced the spirited “Love Has Come” will thaw even the iciest hearts. If you need an album to play for the Scrooge in your life, you can’t go wrong with Amy Grant’s hearty Christmas masterpiece. —Ellen Johnson Autry, the singing cowboy, had the original recording on three of the most popular Christmas songs of the 20th century: “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Frosty the Snowman” and “Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane).” Autry co-wrote the last song and sang them all with his languid, disarming tenor. Autry released a Christmas single every year during his peak years, and this anthology offers 26 different songs, all of them a pleasure to hear. —Geoffrey Himes

Der Bingle" in two distinctly different moods: from the solemnity of "Silent Night" and "Adeste Fidelis" (sung in Latin and English) to the playfulness ("gonna have a lotta fun") on "Jingle Bells," with the Andrews Sisters providing some smiles with their "Ji-ji-jingle" vocals. They duet on two more, including "Mele Kalikimaka." It also includes a remake of "White Christmas." Of the several Christmas LPs Johnny Mathis has recorded, this one gets the nod. With empathetic arrangements by Percy Faith, it's impossible to say how many babies were born the following September after parents heard Johnny Mathis crooning "The Christmas Song." Smo-o-o-oth ! After its original release on Cadet Records in 1966, Have Yourself a Soulful Little Christmas was out of print for years until a 1992 reissue. With pensive, meditative, precise playing, it's a must-have and features a definitive jazz hit version of "Little Drummer Boy." Yoko Ono’s is the original version and Galaxie 500’s rendition is more celebrated, but Thea Gilmore gets the perfect ratio of iciness to wonder – it sounds like a Christmas tree, if such a thing were possible. The 2009 album Strange Communion is highly recommended. 26. The Temptations Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer

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There are plenty of keepers from the‘40s-‘70s heyday of the Christmas record as an art form, for example, but even more cynical later generations of pop haveproduced plenty of gold. Festive cheer has found its way into pop, hip-hop, R&B, metal, punk, indie… you name it. So as a gift, we've rounded up the very bestChristmas songs going. Ho ho ho. With British arranger/conductor Robert Farnon handling the transatlantic sessions, Tony Bennett's 1968 Christmas album turned into a swinging affair, from the version of "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music (how did this song become associated with Christmas?) to seasonal standards like "White Christmas" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." Bennett's warm style was especially winning on this kind of material, making an inevitable assignment a winning combination of singer and songs. Another favourite male artist, Rod Stewart, takes second place with his Number 2-peaking collection Merry Christmas Baby from 2012 (636k sales). Plus, Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without Sir Cliff, and he's up in third with his 2003 festive collection Cliff At Christmas (409k), which features two of his festive chart-toppers Mistletoe and Wine and Savior's Day. This charming collection of golden classic Christmas favorites stretches from 1935 to 1954. Rhino scores big with the idea of marketing music of such quality for a lesser cost. This record features everybody and everything from the Bing himself to Gene Autry's "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" to "All I Want for Christmas," a comedic, hilarious family favorite. What would Christmas be without "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!," a wintry cry for a snow-white landscape, sung proudly here by Vaughn Monroe? With its goal of making Christmas memorable, this collection of songs -- from the youthful "Here Comes Santa Claus" to "White Christmas," Bing Crosby's dreamy, reflective hit -- should appeal to all ages. At least one can imagine and dream for a white Christmas with the help of Bing, though most of the world really never receives one.

Featuring Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound" in its prime and his early stable of artists, the Ronettes, Crystals, Darlene Love, and Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans, A Christmas Gift for You From Phil Spector stands as inarguably the greatest Christmas record of all time. Spector believed he could produce a record for the holidays that would capture not only the essence of the Christmas spirit, but also be a pop masterpiece that would stand against any work these artists had already done. He succeeded on every level, with all four groups/singers recording some of their most memorable performances. This is the Christmas album by which all later holiday releases had to be judged, and it has inspired a host of imitators. Truthfully, this version is only here because the Fountains of Wayne original – an homage to the Kinks’ Father Christmas – isn’t on Spotify. But what a perfect, sad song: “And he’s a big red cherry / But it’s hard to be merry / When the kids are all laughing / Saying: ‘Hey, it’s Jerry Garcia.’” 38. The Everly Brothers Christmas Eve Can Kill You Roy Wood’s enduring contribution to the season owed a huge debt to Phil Spector – there’s almost certainly a kitchen sink section at work somewhere in the mix – but it transcends imitation by its sheer verve. It was recorded in summer, with the studio air conditioning turned down to make everyone feel wintry. Attention to detail, right there. 8. Slade Merry Xmas Everybody

Elsewhere, there are strong showings for more recent releases including Kylie Minogue's Kylie Christmas (Number 15, 139k sales) and Leona Lewis' Christmas, With Love (Number 18, 122k sales). The Top 20 biggest Christmas albums of the 21st Century POS Who knew the most famous Christmas hit of all could be so emotionally wrought? Where Bing Crosby sounded as if he was fondly pondering his Christmas, Otis sounds like he’s breaking into a sweat trying to will it into existence through sheer force of desire. 13. The Pretenders 2000 Miles Two of the greatest British folk voices combine for a drinking song that, if we’re honest, is unlikely to be ringing out in pubs this Christmas. The asceticism of the British folk tradition can be a useful astringent amid the sleigh bells and tinsel. 34. Tracey Thorn Snow in Sun