“Hey! Santa! Pass Us That Bottle, Will You?”
For the last two Christmases I have been delivering public talks about the festive period. In 2023 I returned to the Theatre Royal to give a talk about The House That Jack Built, the first Pantomime performed at the venue in 1865.
From that I was invited to talk at Derby Museum and Art Gallery in December 2024, theming my presentation around lost or forgotten Christmas stories.
In both cases, I managed to crowbar in my enjoyment of Christmas songs that go beyond the normal seasonal listening fayre.
So, here’s a list of my current top 10 of Christmas songs, plus an 11th, as an entry for New Year.
These may change next year, but they are what I am currently enjoying. There is no particular order, but number 1 is definitely number 1.
A fuller playlist can be found here
1. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen – Dennis Hopper Choppers
I genuinely look forward to listening to this each December. An epic take on the old carol that should belong in a Leone inspired yuletide spaghetti western. Can be found on the 2013 Festivus 2 compilation.
2. Home for the Holidays – Emmy the Great and Tim Wheeler
From the 2011 album This Is Christmas, Home for the Holidays should really be up there as one of the great Christmas songs. A song about returning home for Christmas, catching up with mates in the pub and thinking about lost loves. Reminds me of Christmases from the 80s, coming home to Staffordshire from studies in Reading and drinks in The Nag’s Head.
3. Senor Santa Claus – Jim Reeves
I feels as if I grew up with Jim Reeves. He was my Mum’s favourite singer and so of course we had his Christmas album. I’m not going to try and suggest that this song has any major artistic merits, or has some kind of ironic cool, but Christmas is always a time for memories and so this just reminds me of my Mum. Catchy tune though.
4. Christmas Land – Wally Whyton
One of my favourite Christmas albums is Songs for a London Winter, a 2014 compilation curated by Saint Etienne. I could have chosen most of the tracks from the album for this list but have plumped for this one. It’s a sweet and charming song and once again chosen as a nostalgia blast due to Wally Whyton, and more childhood memories.
5. Ain’t No Chimneys in the Projects – Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings
If you’re looking for a good soul and funky Christmas album, then you won’t go wrong with It’s a Holiday Soul Party from 2015. This is the standout track.
Like many I was a bit surprised when Dylan released a holiday album, the 2009 Christmas in the Heart. As the “spokesman for a generation”, he would presumably use this record to rail against the overt commercialism of Christmas and to remember the downtrodden. Nah! Just play the old classic tunes and have a bit of knees-up. The song link takes you to the video for Must Be Santa, which is great fun.
There was that short, strange time in the 90s when easy-listening, lounge-core music was all the rage. It was then that I discovered Esquivel, the Mexican band-leader and composer. His Christmas album Merry Xmas From the Space Age Bachelor Pad is a good launching pad to discover his pioneering stereo arrangements and those ‘zu-zu’ vocals.
8. A Christmas Song – Jethro Tull
Ring Out Solstice Bells from 1976 is probably the most well-known Tull Christmas track. However, I’ve gone for the one that I first heard on the 1972 compilation album Living in the Past. Song link takes you to a live recording from their brilliant 1992 tour.
9. Rise Up Shepherd – Nick Lowe
An updated catchy version of the traditional song. Found on Lowe’s 2013 album Quality Street: A Seasonal Selection For All The Family. Reviewing it on AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote: “Easing into his second decade as a dapper crooner, it's little wonder that Nick Lowe has succumbed to the siren call that seduces every gentleman vocalist: he's gone and made a Christmas album.”
10. We Wanna See Santa Do the Mambo – Big John Greer
Why have Chris Rea moaning about being “top to toe in tailbacks” every year, when you can have this?
11. Tar Barrel in Dale – The Unthanks
Celebrating the burning barrel tradition of Allendale, Northumberland, this song performed by The Unthanks and written by their father George Unthank, is a beautiful way to see the old year out. Can be found on their 2024 album In Winter.
