One thing that did strike me as funny yesterday, (whilst having a miserable day) was listening to two of your young nurses in their early twenties singing along to all the ‘Classic’ Christmas songs that were playing, despite them being made well before they were even born!  Now, being in my twenties myself (with an additional twenty years experience) I can remember when some of these hits came out first time around….

Was it really 1973 that Slade first assaulted our eardrums with “It’s Chriiiiiiiiiisttttmasssssssss”? (Merry Xmas Everybody). Wizzard also came out with their timeless  ‘So Here It Is Merry Christmas’  the same year. I loved the video to that especially when the kids sang their bit at the end. Elton John and Paul McCartney also had a go with their Christmas attempts and good old Sir Cliff Richard (bless him) trots out a Christmas song every year (Everyone loves a Trier, and I even quite like ‘Mistletoe and Wine’, A-hem, perhaps I should have kept that quiet!)

Johnny Mathis with his version of ‘When A Child is Born’ always brings a tear to my eye, as does Mud’s ‘Lonely This Christmas’ (despite his dodgy Elvis impersonation)! Whereas Boney M’s  ‘Mary’s Boy Child’ will have me jigging about as it is so upbeat and cheery. Jonah Lewie’s ‘Stop the Cavalry’ is great too. Shakin’ Stevens singing ‘Merry Christmas Everyone’ reminds me of my great friend Karen and the Christmas back in 1985 when we were both in the Army, and had landed up on duty over the entire Christmas period. (We did manage to have some fun though)!

The other great Christmas songs of the 70s and 80s have got to be Wham’s ‘Last Christmas'(I have to say, that one does get on my nerves a bit now), and John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s ‘Happy Christmas (War is Over)’ My favourite of them all though has got to be the Pogues and Kirsty McCall with ‘Fairytale of New York’. I just love the story of two drunks, scrapping one minute, lovey-dovey the next.

Of course, Christmas songs were around way before then, and many of those are included on the typical compilation album that gets dragged out by the shops and offices around mid November to get us ‘in the Christmas mood’. Everyone loves Nat King Cole singing ‘The Christmas Song’. It can’t fail to bring a warm and rosy glow to your heart. Good old Bing and his ‘White Christmas’ , so moving. Then we have  the sultry Eartha Kitt with her ‘Santa Baby,’ Ooooh, saucy! I also like ‘Let it Snow’ and ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ for a bit of sentimentality.

The 90’s and 2000’s do not have a lot to offer though in the Christmas song department. The one huge exception of course is the dulcet tones of Mariah Carey belting out ‘All I Want For Christmas is you’. Oh Destiny’s Child did ‘The Eight Days of Christmas’.Personally I love the Darkness and their ‘Christmas Time (Don’t Let The Bell’s End)’ Silly song and great video. (Where the hell do they get those leotards?)!

I also love some of the traditional Christmas carols as well, ‘Silent Night’, ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’ and ‘Once In Royal David’s City’ to name but a few! These are even better when sang by a children’s choir. I remember taking my daughter to the Christingle service at church when she was about 4, and it was so lovely hearing them singing ‘Away In A Manger’.

I know a good many of these songs are re-released every year, or they are on the compilation albums, but for me especially, because the 70s and 80s music is so great (as I may have mentioned before, I live in a music time warp) I am glad that I remember them from the first time around.

What’s your favourite era for Christmas songs or do you prefer the traditional carols?