Favourite Christmas Songs

We all hear these songs every year, you can't avoid them in every shop you go into! Still, I think they have become as much a part of the modern christmas as traditional carols (no matter what you think of what this says about contemporary society). Here are my top ten christmas classics to give you that warm, mince-pies and christmas pudding feeling inside. I don't much like the modern commercial songs like "I wish it could be Christmas every day" or "Rockin' around the Christmas tree" - so be warned, there are few tacky commercial songs in my list! 1) Fairytale of New York by the Pogues and Kirsty McColl. It seems a little ...  Read the complete review

As a teenager I made my own Christmas compilation tape - even at that age I was too stingy to buy the Now Christmas album! It also meant that I could wake up to John & Yoko whispering Merry Christmas on Christmas morning. But I've decided to omit most of the songs on that tape from this top ten, because you know all about them and you're probably sick of 'em! If you're not fed up of hearing Slade's Merry Xmas Everybody you must be quite young. I bought it twenty years ago, and it was a golden oldie then! And as for I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday - oh, no you don't... Just stop and think about it, will you? If ...  Read the complete review

Everyone has their own personal favourite songs for Christmas, be they traditional Carols or more contemporary music. I have trawled back in my long memory to come up with my own favourites list. Some are well known, others are probably more obscure, but all of them are chosen for a variety of reasons. They are in no particular order, just as they come into my head. 1) Mary's Boy Child (Boney M) I loved this song when it was simply a carol sung in church, but I think this version of it has to be my favourite. I remember the year this came out, and thinking then how catchy it was, yet still retaining the essential Christmas spirit. The rhythm and ...  Read the complete review

What a great idea! Get all the alternative movers and shakers together to record a Christmas compilation. This album is an XFM production and they laid down three ground rules for the artists in question. They could cover an existing Christmas song, add a Christmas feel to one of their own songs or clear the decks and write an original Yuletide number. With each record that is sold £4 goes to the Big Issue Charities (surely a reason to buy it regardless of the results). The record is released on the cool all year round label Jeepster. Fortunately most of the artists involved put their heart into the project so much so that there are significantly more great ...  Read the complete review

Waiting in the school playground today,the sound of Once In Royal Davids City echoed all around us.The children were rehearsing their school Christmas play. This carol brought back memories of my childhood school plays,where I was so painfully shy,I would hide behind the other children,desperately wanting to sing all the lovely Christmas carols.Nevertheless it still remains my all time favourite. Christmas carols are happy memories for me now. At this time of year my neighbours have to suffer the yearly rituals of our carol singing in, of all places the bath.... The choir consists of Myself and three young children(as the years go by its getting a ...  Read the complete review