Former WTSS (Star 102.5) Buffalo, N.Y., MD/morning man Rob Lucas wrote a well-received Ross on Radio guest article in October, featuring his different approach to programming holiday music. At 1 p.m., Dec. 21, he’ll unveil his own personal holiday-song countdown in a guest appearance on N/T sister WBEN.
Christmas music is linked to our soul, family, and childhood memories even more so than pop music. That’s why giving an opinion on any Christmas song can lead to as passionate a discussion as one based on politics or favorite sports teams. One person’s Christmas song GOAT may be the next person’s most hated. With that in mind, let the debate on my personal list begin.
40. “Christmas Memories” – Frank Sinatra
A very underestimated and underplayed Christmas song. The ultimate “grandparent Christmas song:” “I close my eyes and see shining faces/Of all the children who now have children of their own.”
39. “What Christmas Means to Me” – Stevie Wonder
It has been used in memorable scenes in numerous holiday movies. When most people are asked what their favorite holiday songs are, this one rarely gets mentioned. But it always sounds great when you hear it!
38. “Skating” – Vince Guaraldi Trio
No matter what your age, this less-played representative of the A Charlie Brown Christmas songs gives you a happy vision of Pigpen creating dust on ice!
37. “Merry Christmas, Baby” – Elvis Presley; Chuck Berry
The classic “drunken Bad Santa song.” The Elvis version is nearly six minutes long, the 1958 Chuck Berry version is a little over three, but both seem to go on forever. Both have been used as background music for people down on their luck in many holiday movies.
36. “Merry Christmas Everybody” – Slade; Rockettes
The original 1973 Slade version is a semi-naughty tavern sing-along produced by Chas Chandler
of Jimi Hendrix and Animals fame. The Rockettes makes you feel like you are at Christmas in Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall.
35. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” – Carpenters
The first entry on our list from the Carpenters’ Christmas Portrait, without which your collection is not complete. If possible, try to find the 1984 CD special edition of the album and transfer it to however you play your music digitally. It contains 21 songs, and at least seven of them could have made this list.
34. “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm” – Dean Martin
A standout because it never mentions Christmas, fits from November thru February, and is supported by cool, sexy, smooth brushes on drums. Dean’s Making Spirits Bright is another must-have Christmas album: 14 songs that make up a perfect holiday cocktail-party listen. It’s out of print, so when you find it, buy it!
33. “White Christmas” – Darlene Love
The first of four entries from Phil Spector’s A Christmas Gift for You. The spoken interlude is what makes this version stand out.
32. “Sleigh Ride” – Leroy Anderson; Boston Pops
There are so many instrumentals of “Sleigh Ride,” but these are the two iconic versions that are often hard to tell apart, though each has its own unique feature. The quintessential lyrical versions of “Sleigh Ride” will be popping up as we get closer to the top five.
31. “Run, Rudolph, Run” – Chuck Berry
From 1958, quite possibly the original guitar-rock Christmas song.
30. “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” – Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
I’m wondering if this song is starting to sound tired and not as special as it used to. But it’s quite possibly the greatest rock Christmas song of the ’70s. Live and raw, including wicked great mic feedback just before the sax solo. C.W. Post’s Dome Auditorium, where it was recorded, is no longer there, but the entire concert audio from December 1975, was recently released. “Santa Claus” is part of a six-song encore. “Thunder Road” is actually the concert opener!
29. “Jingle Bells” – Sammy Davis Jr.; Brian Setzer
These two versions take a winter classic in opposite directions. If you want Santa Claus on the Vegas Strip, you want the Sammy Davis Jr. version. And don’t forget to sing along when Sammy yells “Everybody!” If you want a rocking’ big-band Christmas, then Setzer’s Boogie Woogie Christmas album, celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2023, is your choice!
28. “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” – Dean Martin
Another entry from the previously mentioned Making Spirits Bright. Dean sounds particularly inebriated, singing “Rudy, the red beaked reindeer” as only Dean can.
27. “Angels” – Jim Brickman
From Jim’s The Gift album. Amazing instrumental take on “Angels We Have Heard on High.” Soft start, powerful ending. Jim Brickman’s holiday music is the perfect thing for everything from being used in a Hallmark movie to your holiday dinner party.
26. “Sleigh Ride” – Ronettes
Any list of great Christmas songs could include the entire A Christmas Gift for You album. “Sleigh Ride” stands out because of the non-music elements … horses neighing, percussionists simulating the sound of hooves, and the Ronettes’ ring-a-ling-a-ling-a-ding-dong-ding vocals picking up tempo as the sleigh gains speed!
25. “Feliz Navidad” – Jose Feliciano
The word unique can be used with many of these holiday songs, which perfectly describes “Feliz Navidad.” Nothing else sounds like it. Many have attempted updated versions. None have come close to the original.
24. “I Can’t Wait for Christmas” – Mindi Abair
A cool sexy tune to play while you’re having cocktails by the fire. This is one of the songs on this list that may make the reader say, “I’ve never heard that. I need to go look it up!”
23. “Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy” – David Bowie & Bing Crosby
Anyone born from 1955-1968 likely remembers watching this landmark TV special in 1977. It was the ultimate oddball musical pairing. Crosby died just five weeks after the taping. If you find it on YouTube, be forewarned that the 90-second talking lead-up between Bing and David is strange and awkward, as they discuss “getting to know each other.”
22. “Shake Up Christmas” – Train
Not just a holiday one-off, but an actual song on Train’s 2010 Save Me, San Francisco album, timed for holiday release. It was also part of Coca-Cola’s holiday ads that year. Not only can you not go into any retail store without hearing it, it is an important song in the rise of pop artists creating original Christmas music. As David Foster recently told AP, “Writing a new holiday song is brutally hard, since you’re competing with not just current hits but hundreds of years of songs and memories.” Train’s Pat Monahan took that chance and aced it.
21. “Christmas Canon” – Trans-Siberian Orchestra
While TSO is known for Christmas bombast such as “Wizards in Winter,” their take on Johann Pachelbel’s “Canon” simply makes time stop. Majestic. Perfectly produced. The soul of the holiday season
20. “Little Saint Nick” – Beach Boys
This song turns 60 this year! Like their “Good Vibrations”/“Fun, Fun, Fun” pop songs, Beach Boys Christmas songs are almost a genre unto themselves. “Little Saint Nick” was originally released in 1963 as a solo single, and included the following year on the full Beach Boys Christmas Album, from which “Man With All the Toys” was the main single, with “Blue Christmas” as the B-side. But “Little Saint Nick” is the song that truly endures.
19. “Winter Wonderland” – Darlene Love
Another Phil Spector production. Intoxicating.
18. “White Christmas” – Bing Crosby
Originally recorded for the 1942 movie Holiday Inn, but the hit version, the greatest-selling vinyl single of all time, was from 1947 and is slightly different than the original. So how can I have this ranked as low as No. 18? I think it’s starting to sound more ancient than classic. I hope we are all here for its 100th anniversary in 2047.
17. “(Christmas) Baby Please Come Home” – U2
From the first Very Special Christmas CD, the 1987 album that put pop Christmas music back on the map. Recorded at a soundcheck during their 1987 tour, and quite possibly the best rock Christmas song since Springsteen’s “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.” I still say Bono laughs his way through a lyric three-fourths of the way though. I can picture the band saying, “That’s good enough, and we aren’t doing another take of that one; it’s only a Christmas song,” not realizing how important a recording it would be! I hope to get the real story from Bono someday!
16. “Merry Christmas Darling” – Carpenters
Another from Christmas Portrait. The perfect album that fits all the way through New Year’s Day. A “go-to” album for everyone from 15 to 95, and anyone separated from loved ones during the holidays. “Merry Christmas Darling” embodies the human yearning of the season.
15. “Blue Christmas”/“Santa Claus Is Back in Town” – Elvis Presley
They were on the same 45 in 1964. “Blue Christmas,” recorded in 1957 and stashed away until formal release seven years later, is simply one of the best country/pop crossover songs of all time. The Jordanaires give one of the all-time great vocal-support performances. “Santa Claus”
reeks of raw energy of a live-to-tape (or acetate) studio performance, with numerous lyrics that would have been naughty in the late ’50s.
14. “Christmas Tree Farm” – Taylor Swift
Released in 2019, the newest song on our list. While it doesn’t have the bombast of the Spector songs or Kelly Clarkson’s “Underneath the Tree,” it combines remarkable musical and story flow, starting with a Lawrence Welk-like opening based upon the craziness of the holidays, lending to closing of the eyes and seeing images of being a kid growing up on their family Christmas-tree farm, as Taylor did, culminating with a holiday sing-along chorus fit for a Hallmark movie finale. Even though this song is less than five years old, it is already a holiday staple, and benefits from a music video comprised of Swift’s actual childhood home movies.
13. “Little Drummer Boy” – Harry Simeone Chorale
There are many versions of “Little Drummer Boy,” both spiritual and pop, but the Harry Simeone Chorale version carries the most weight. And how can we neglect a song with the lyrics “the ox and lamb kept time”?
12. “Holly Jolly Christmas”/“Rudolph, The Red Nosed Reindeer” – Burl Ives
I have to list these two together, as the best versions of them aren’t from Ives’s Christmas album, but from the soundtrack of the Rankin-Bass Claymation Rudolph that everyone under 70 grew up with. Just as with the songs from A Charlie Brown Christmas, as soon as you hear these songs, you’re reliving childhood memories of Yukon Cornelius and Herbie taking on the Bumble!
11. “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”/“Christmas Time is Here” – Vince Guaraldi Trio
Until you hear these songs and the yelling of “Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown,” Christmas is not complete.
10. “Jingle Bell Rock” – Bobby Helms
There are many versions of “Jingle Bell Rock,” but none that sound like the original from Bobby Helms. The simplest song on the list, and that’s a major part of why it is so revered.
9. “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” – Brenda Lee
If you ask someone to name their top five Christmas songs, this one is almost always on the list. Lee was 13 when she recorded what went on to be her most universally loved song. Throughout her career, fans would ask for it even in the middle of summer.
8. “Underneath the Tree” – Kelly Clarkson
Sounds like it could be the opening scene from a Hallmark movie. A modern, non-traditional holidays song that cut through and fits nicely between classics. Hard to believe that Wrapped in Red is now 10 years old.
7. “Sleigh Ride” – Johnny Mathis
The iconic vocal version. Percy Faith conducted. Mitch Miller produced. Combined with a 23-year-old Mathis, you can’t get a more powerful musical trio. I was lucky enough to interview Mathis about a decade ago. He told great stories about recording his Merry Christmas album in a sweaty New York studio during summer 1958. “I wasn’t a very good musician at the time, and I kept messing up the quick part of ‘we’re gliding along with a song.’” Even 60 years later, Mathis remembered the challenging part. That’s what separates the GOAT from the good.
6. “All I Want for Christmas” – Mariah Carey
In terms of airplay and popularity, quite possibly the most popular Christmas song ever. It has a permanent place in history for bringing back the Phil Spector sound, and challenging other artists to create new holiday songs. But other programmers say “All I Want” is beginning to burn, and I agree. Some are simply fed up with Mariah anointing herself the “Queen of Christmas,” and truthfully, it has been the “holiday song you can’t get away from” for the past five years. Sorry, Lambilies!
5. “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” – Andy Williams
Holiday smiles all around. Uptempo, and everyone loves it. An original that would be a smash if released today!
4. “Silent Night” – Any traditional/spiritual version
The ultimate Christmas hymn. I know of many who can’t hear “Silent Night” without crying. Me too!
3. “The Christmas Song” – Nat King Cole
It almost sounds better post-Christmas day, when much of the craziness of shopping and traveling is over.
2. “(Christmas) Baby Please Come Home” – Darlene Love
Classic and iconic, from the opening bassline to the Wall of Sound buildup to the opening lyrics. Could have easily placed this at No. 1.
1. “Happy Holiday/The Holiday Season” – Andy Williams
The absolute perfect song for a downtown tree-lighting or community gathering. I was lucky enough to interview Andy when he was in for a show; this and “Mary Did You Know” were the two most popular songs in his Christmas show. “Happy Holiday” has tempo, major up-and-down changes in flow, and is easy to sing along with. How can you not put a song containing “whoop-de-do and hickory dock” in at No. 1?
Honorable Mentions and Secret Weapons
“Someday at Christmas” – Steve Wonder
Released in 1966 as the Vietnam War escalated, the lyrics ring just as true today as they did 57 years ago.
“Better Days” – Goo Goo Dolls
Is “Better Days” a true Christmas song? Absolutely! It was first part of a Target Christmas album, then became a single from Johnny and Robby’s Let Love In album. And even though it doesn’t talk about the holidays from a commercial point of view, it does mention the birth of Jesus as no other pop song has, with lyrics like “to the one poor child who saved this world” and “Tonight’s the night the world begins again.” So proud of the Boys from Buffalo for writing this one!
“The Bell That Couldn’t Jingle” – Herb Alpert
The Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass Christmas Album is another holiday must have! A newly remastered version came out in 2005. Put it on and let it roll. Perfect for any happening!
“Soldier’s Silent Night” – Father Ted Berndt
I dare you to listen and not cry. This is not “The Christmas Shoes.” This is real life for millions serving around the world.
“Hallelujah Chorus” – Boston Pops
The bombast of the holiday filled with the majesty of Handel’s “The Messiah.” Glorious. Always have to crank this up!
“That Holiday Feeling” – Michael Civisca & Mary Stahl
It’s rare that you get a local production that sounds as good as anything out of a national studio. Hard to believe Michael’s And Friends album is now 15 years old! Mary and Mike wail! Like “Better Days,” we are so proud that this song is Buffalo-bred!
“Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto” – James Brown
James Brown’s Soulful Christmas album is funny, campy, serious, and cool. You feel like you are in the studio during the recording session.
“The Junky’s Christmas” – William S. Burroughs
This is not for everyone. And it may be for no one. A 21-minute reading by Williams S. Burroughs of his story telling the adventures of Danny, a junky who gets released from prison on Christmas Eve and is looking to score for the holiday. It’s as deranged and depressing as it sounds, but when I listen to it, I can’t turn it off, as it is so descriptive and clever. It took me three listens to really soak it all in. William S. Burroughs and Hunter Thompson. I wonder what their holiday get-togethers were like?
Ho Ho Ho!
This story first appeared on radioinsight.com