C30 C60 C90 – Christmas Playlist/Festive mix tape

Is it just me, or does it not really feel like Christmas this year?

Mind you, the nagging worry that I’m just not getting Yuletide like I used to seems to surface every year now, so maybe it actually feels dead Christmassy but I just don’t want to admit it.

It’s just me isn’t it?!

Anyway, existential crisis to one side, here’s a Christmas playlist to get even the most curmudgeonly into the festive spirit…

Slade – Merry Xmas Everybody

1973 was the year that gave us the 3-day week, VAT and Slade’s Merry Xmas Everybody. And while the 3-day week remained in the mid-1970s, the other 2 have done their utmost to ruin many a Christmas shopping trip ever since – why does it have to be on in every single shop?

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Wham! – Last Christmas

A cautionary tale about not buying a dead expensive Christmas present for someone you’ve not been seeing that long.

I presume George Michael’s wrapping up, sending and giving of his heart was purely metaphorical. Either way, it ended up in a box at the back of the cupboard with an unopened fondue set and a box of dominos.

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Half Man Half Biscuit – All I want for Christmas is a Dukla Prague Away Kit

A song about that mate who always had better stuff than you. It’s not really a festive season song – there’s no mention of Christmas in the lyrics – but it qualifies due to the title and the fact that it’s dead good.

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Jona Lewie – Stop the Cavalry

Imagine. You’ve penned a song that’s not only got Christmas number one 1980 written all over but is also a Trojan horse, containing an anti-war protest message in among the mentions of Christmas and Salvation Army-sounding brass arrangements.

You release it, it’s headed straight for the top – and that month some idiot goes and shoots John Lennon, prompting not one but 2 reissues which push your Christmas number one to number 3.

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The Jackson 5 – I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

A song about infidelity and crushed childhood innocence as the poor kid on the stairs is not only left wondering why on earth his mum has copped for Father Christmas but also has no idea where his dad is (pub, probably).

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Kylie Minogue – Santa Baby

This is what happened moments before the kid in I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus crept down the stairs…

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John Lennon – Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

Not only did John Lennon beat Jona Lewie to the Christmas number one spot in 1980, he also beat him in the Christmas-hit-as-protest-song stakes – releasing this in 1971.

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Shakin’ Stevens – Merry Christmas Everyone

The Welsh Elvis, a man who had it not been for his pointing and gyrating would surely have just been plain, old Stationary Stevens, put back the release of this by a whole year so it didn’t clash with the release of Band Aid’s Do They Know it’s Christmas – presumably because the guilt of keeping a charity record off the number one spot would have been too much to take.

And it worked as Band Aid bagged the 1984 Christmas number one and then Shaky bagged 1985’s festive top spot. Job done.

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Cliff Richard – Little Town

This O Little Town of Bethlehem/Twinkle Twinkle Little Star mash-up gets the nod over all of Cliff’s other Christmas hits purely because it sounds like he’s doing that thing where you try to put words to TV programme theme tunes.

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What would make your Festive playlist? Let us know in the comments or on Facebook or Twitter when you share the article with all your mates…

C30 C60 C90 – Christmas Playlist/Festive mix tape