Not sure how i missed it before but the Lucy Museum of Musician's who deserve entry to Lucy's Museum is suspiciously devoid of Christmas songs and i do love a Christmas song which is handy because it's the Christmas season, which means Christmas music. Lots and lots of Christmas music, most of which we have all heard a bazillion times before.
Now while "Driving Home For Christmas' by Chris Rea and Mud's 'Lonely This Christmas' are great, and resilient, it does get a bit samey so i am always on the look-out for new Christmas songs or even the old classics overhauled and i have a decent collection and i am putting forward my top 20.
In the time honoured Top of the Pops tradition, the run down from 20 to 13 is:
20 Little Silent Boy - The Boo.
This is the family of Billy Joe Armstrong who decided to make a musical family Christmas card in 2011 and as nothing has been heard from The Boo since i guess it was a one off but it is an amazing 2:02 minutes punking up of some plodding old Christmas songs.
This song gets the full guitar treatment and Mrs Armstrong has a nice, slightly raspy voice and Billy sings the Little Drummer Boy bits between so making a musical EP card is a nice touch but my family shouldn't expect anything like this, they will have to make do with getting Christmas Cards with Robins and Snowmen on them.
19 Let it Snow - Twisted Sister.
Their Twisted Christmas Album features classic Christmas songs performed in metal versions but in a brilliant and imaginative twist they managed to incorporate classic metal tunes into the songs and this one has the riff from Black Sabbath's 'Children of the Grave' while Daniel "Dee" Snider sings about the weather being frightful and the fire being delightful. Dean Martin really missed trick because this version knocks his version into a cocked Christmas hat.
18 Xmas Time of the year - Green Day.
As a Green Day fan from the very start i was as happy as a snowman in a blizzard when this gem turned up in 2015.
It's a run of the mill Green Day mellow type song so if you like the Green Day sound this will be right up your alley, if you don't then don't worry because i have never heard it on the radio so you can just miss this one out.
17 Run Rudolph Run - LA Guns.
I do like a Chuck Berry song at the best of times because they are up mostly up tempo, guitar twanging affairs even if they do not vary very much and this 1958 effort was written by the same guy who wrote 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer'
The song is pure Berry, he even used the exact same tune on 'Little Queenie' a year later but if anything the LA Guns took the Berry Christmas song and made it even moreso.
The LA Guns do have a strange history, named by the guitarist Tracii Guns, they broke up and combined their band with another group called Hollywood Rose named after their lead singer Axel Rose to make Guns N' Roses. Guns fell out with Axel and was replaced by Slash and they went on to become the biggest and best rock band ever while Guns got together a new LA Guns, this time with members of the defunct Mötley Crüe.
16 Whats This? - Danny Elfman
TV Schedulers do have a problem with the animated movie, 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'. Is it a Halloween or Christmas film? There are many great songs in this film courtesy of Danny Elfman but this is my favourite with Jack Skellington arriving in Christmas Town and discovering that 'There are children throwing snowballs here, Instead of throwing heads, They're busy building toys, And absolutely no one's dead' and nothing says the Festive of Good Cheer more than not getting hit by the dismembered head of a neighbour when you are walking down the street.
Jolly, upbeat and with a full orchestra, a real joy.
15 Merry Christmas Everyone - Shakin' Stevens
Mr Stevens began out as an Elvis impersonator and he would turn up on Top of the Pops in the early 80's in double denim and do the shaky leg thing and belt out 50's songs and he would be a question in a pub quiz if it wasn't for this 1985 Christmas classic. Wearing a jumper which even Elton John would describe as too much, it hits every Christmas button with snow, elves, Santa, sleigh rides, snowmen and makes a reappearance every December in the UK Charts Shakin' topping up his pension and making sure he is kept in Denim jackets.
14 Ho Ho Ho - Sia
I have had Sia's brilliant 'Everyday Is Christmas' CD on repeat ever since it surfaced in 2017 and she will put in more appearances in my top 20 list but this one is a great song about the Misfit Toys from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer on the Island getting drunk on Rum and Whisky Bourbon because well, why not.
Being Australian, growing up a Sia Christmas must have involved Christmas Dinner on the beach and singing Carols in 35C heat so kudo's to her for entering into the spirit of a Northern Hemisphere Christmas and not the Australian version and singing about not getting eaten by a crocodile on the way home from the Office Xmas Party.
13 I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday - Wizzard
The British public voted this song second behind 'Fairytale of New York' and i once heard Roy Wood explain how he constructed the song, explaining how he wanted a rock n roll Christmas song which sounded like a Phil Spector hit and how it took months of refining to get the blending of the many instruments on the single and the hours spent making sure the sound was just right.
Obviously he could have just said he used the same tune from 'See My Baby Jive' and changed the lyrics to something more Christmassy but where's the romance in that.
It is a classic and was kept off the top spot by Slade's effort in the 70's but although as tempting as it might be to have Christmas everyday, basing your calendar on glam rockers may not be that wise after all.
Top 12 next.
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