How old are your favourite Christmas songs?

29 November 2024, 17:32 | Updated: 29 November 2024, 17:41

Some of the best Chrimbo songs have been around for longer than you think... And others have taken a couple of decades to worm their way into our hearts every festive season. Radio X takes a look at the original release dates for some of the best-known Christmas songs.

1. Coldplay - Christmas Lights: release date 1st December 2010

   Issued as a one-off single in 2010 - with a cover of "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas as the "b-side". Despite its popularity, the song only made it to Number 13 in the UK charts - but it's still been certified Platinum by the BPI. Coldplay's next single would be Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall in June 2011.

   

   Coldplay - Christmas Lights (Official Video)

2. The Darkness - Christmas Time (Don't Let The Bells End): release date 15th December 2003

   Another one of those "How did that happen?" Christmas chart topping moments; the Lowestoft legends were kept from their seasonal triumph by the downbeat cover of Mad World from Michael Andrews and Gary Jules. Does this mean Donnie Darko is a Christmas movie, then?

   

   The Darkness - Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End) (Official Music Video) [HD]

3. East 17 - Stay Another Day: release date 21st November 1994

   Technically only a Christmas song thanks to the tubular bells, plus the snow and quality outerwear worn in the video, this emotional tune is actually about the death of songwriter Tony Mortimer's brother Ollie, who had taken his own life a couple of years earlier. The song was given a festive spin by the record company and it was the Christmas Number 1 in 1994, and is now certified double Platinum by the BPI. In 2019, Mortimer released a version of the song in aid of the mental health charity CALM to link the song back to its original inspiration.

   • Read more: How to get help with mental health
   

   East 17 - Stay Another Day (Official Video)

4. Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas Is You: release date 29th October 1994

   Included on Carey's fourth studio album, Merry Christmas, this festive crowd pleaser made it to Number 2 on initial release; its popularity across the years meant that the single finally topped the Christmas chart in 2020, when the nation was still struggling through lockdown.

   

   Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas Is You (Official Video)

5. The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl - Fairytale Of New York: release date 23rd November 1987

   Written by Shane MacGowan and Jem Finer and featuring Kirsty MacColl on vocals, this Christmas classic took the best part of two years to perfect, but outdid all expectations by making Number 2 in Christmas week 1987; it was held off the top by the Pet Shop Boys and their Elvis Presley cover, Always On My Mind. The song was included on the album If I Should Fall From Grace With God, which arrived in January 1988 and has been certified an astounding 6 times Platinum by the BPI, the song was expected to make Christmas Number 1 in 2023, following the deat of Shane MacGowan on 30th November that year. In fact, it only made Number 4, getting stuck behind reissues of Last Christmas by Wham! and Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas Is You.

   

   The Pogues - Fairytale Of New York (Official Video)

6. Chris Rea - Driving Home For Christmas: release date 10th November 1986

   This is perhaps the most complicated story on this list. Mr Rea's evocative song of the seasonal road to hell was initally released as the b-side to the single Hello Friend, the third single from his On The Beach album in December 1986. However, the song only made it to Number 79 and stalled at Number 67 a year later, when it appeared on the flip of the single Joys Of Christmas. Rea re-recorded the song for his 1988 album of re-workings of old material, New Light Through Old Windows and Driving Home For Christmas was finally awarded a place on an "A" side of a single. Even then, the track stalled just outside the Top 50, but its inclusion on countless Chrimbo compilations earned the tune a new audience with every year: it finally made Number 10 in the last week of 2021. Now that was long journey.

   

   Chris Rea - Driving Home For Christmas (Official Lyric Video)

7. Shakin' Stevens - Merry Christmas Everyone: release date 25th November 1985

   Known to his bank manager as Michael Barratt, the trembling rock 'n' roll superstar hit the festive top spot in 1985 when this single was issued between his hits Lipstick Powder And Paint and Turning Away. Merry Christmas EVeryone been certified three times Platinum in the UK and Shaky remains the biggest-selling singles artist of the 1980s.

   

   Shakin' Stevens - Merry Christmas Everyone (Official 4K Video)

8. Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas: release date 7th December 1984

   The first - and some would say definitive - Band Aid single was released just 12 days after it was recorded. Created to raise money to send aid to Ethopia, which was then in the grip of a terrible famine, the single was the fastest selling in UK chart history, shifting a million copies in a week - a record that remainied until Elton John re-released Candle In The Wind after Princess Diana's death in 1997. It's estimated that Do They Know It's Christmas has sold over 11 million copues worldwide.

   • Read more: Who performed on the different versions of Do They Know It's Christmas by Band Aid?
   

   Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas? (Official Video) [4K]

9. Wham! - Last Christmas: release date 3rd December 1984

   George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley's much-loved tale of a Christmas romance turned sour was famously kept from the Christmas Number 1 in 1984 by Band Aid (see above), and returned to the chart in '85 and '86. The song finally made Number 1 after a number of chart re-entries in 2021, but didn't hit the top until New Year's Day! It wasn't until 2023 that the single made Christmas Number 1, 39 years after its release... and sadly, seven years after the death of George on Christmas Day 2016.

   

   Wham! - Last Christmas (Official Video)

10. Pretenders - 2,000 Miles: release date 18th November 1983

    Chrissie Hynde's hypnotic winter classic only made Number 15 in Christmas week 1983, and that's the highest it's ever got on the UK chart. 2,000 Miles was included on the Pretenders third album, Learning To Crawl, which arrive just after the festive season was over, in January 1984.

    

    Pretenders - 2000 Miles (Official Music Video) [HD Remaster]

11. Bing Crosby & David Bowie - Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy: release date 26th November 1982

    Yes, this culture clash was actually recorded in September 1977, just as Bowie was about to release his masterpiece "Heroes". And yes, Crosby was actually no longer with us by the time the TV show it was recorded for hit the nation's screens, dying on 14th October that year, aged 74. Put together at Elstree Studios for the seasonal special, Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas, the original audio of the duo crooning the carol was junked, meaning record label RCA struggled to get a proper single release out of it. In the end, they issued the TV soundtrack five years later, in November 1982, where it crept up to Number 3.

    

    Bing Crosby, David Bowie - Peace On Earth / Little Drummer Boy

12. Jona Lewie - Stop The Cavalry: release date 21st November 1980

    Lewie's classic anti-war song stalled at Number 3 at Christmas 1980, behind the recently-deceased John Lennon with (Just Like) Starting Over and the family favourite There's No-One Quite Like Grandma by the St Winifred's School Choir, which held the festive top spot. The musician's only other hit is the excellent You'll Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Parties, released earlier the same year.

    

    Jona Lewie - Stop The Cavalry

13. Paul McCartney - Wonderful Christmastime: release date 16th November 1979

    Macca began the 1970s getting a divorce from The Beatles, but he saw out the decade with this eternally popular festive tune. Wonderful Christmastime was a standalone single that fell between the final Wings album Back To The Egg (released in June 1979) and the resumption of his solo career with McCartney II the following May. Even though they don't appear on the song, Wings members Denny Laine, Laurence Juber and Steve Holley appear in the video, as the band was still touring right up until Christmas that year.

    

    Paul McCartney - Wonderful Christmastime

14. Boney M - Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord: release date 24th November 1978

    Christmas 1978 was Disco Xmas, as demonstrated by this funky take on Harry Belafonte's 1956 hit, cunningly segued into producer Frank Farian's composition Oh My Lord. A shrewd move, as the single has sold over 1.8 million copies in the UK and over a million in Farian's native Germany, meaning he was able to enjoy the songwriting royalties until his death in January 2024.

    

    Boney M. - Mary's Boy Child (Official Video)

15. Johnny Mathis : When A Child Is Born: release date 1st October 1976

    Based on the melody of Italian musician Ciro Dammicco's song Soleado, the English version was recorded by the American singer Johnny Mathis in 1976 for his album I Only Have Eyes For You. The single was issued in Britain at the beginning of October that year, whereupon it spent three weeks at Number 1 over the Christmas period and kept Showaddywaddy's Under The Moon Of Love in second place.

    

    Johnny Mathis When A Child Is Born

16. Greg Lake - I Believe In Father Christmas: release date 21st November 1975

    The former King Crimson singer and bassist and one third of Emerson Lake and Palmer had the misfortune of releasing his seasonal classic at the same time as Queen's legendary Bohemian Rhapsody single, so he had to make do with two weeks at Number 2, behind Freddie Mercury's operatic exercise.

    

    Greg Lake - I Believe In Father Christmas (Official 4K Video)

17. Mud - Lonely This Christmas: release date 22nd November 1974

    Carshalton's favourite rock 'n' roll revivalists took their seasonal tune to the festive top spot in 1974, where it battled Bachman Turner Overdrive's You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet and Wombing Merry Christmas for supremacy.

    

    Mud - Lonely This Christmas (Official Video)

18. Slade - Merry Xmas Everybody: release date 7th December 1973

    One of the greatest Christmas singles of all time has been raking in the royalties for writers Noddy Holder and Jim Lea for over half a century now. The single was already certified Silver by the BPI even before it was released and sold half a million copies in its first week. After its initial trip to Christmas Number 1 in 1973, Merry Xmas Everybody has charted in the UK an astonishing further 30 times, and has been certified triple Platinum.

    

    Slade – Merry Xmas Everybody (Official Top Of The Pops Video)

19. Wizzard - I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day: release date 30th November 1973

    The other perennial Christmas song from the year of 1973 incredibly only made Number 4 in the charts on its initial release - which is surprising, because Roy Wood's previous two singles, See My Baby Jive and Angel Fingers (A Teen Ballad), both went to the top. I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day been in the UK charts an impressive 21 times and has been, like Slade's entry, certified triple Platinum.

    

    Wizzard - I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday (Official Music Video) [HD]

20. Elton John - Step Into Christmas: release date 26th November 1973

    Reg's Christmas classic nestled between the release of the singles Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Bennie And The Jets, but only crept to Number 24, but it's been certified triple Platinum after countless reissues and chart re-entries. The original b-side was Ho, Ho, Ho (Who'd Be a Turkey at Christmas). Cheers.

    

    Elton John - Step Into Christmas

21. John Lennon & Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band - Happy Xmas (War Is Over): release date 1st December 1971

    John and Yoko's heartfelt Christmas message was only available in America for the first year of its life, but a late release date meant it barely crept into the Billboard Top 40. The single made an appearance on the Apple label in Britain, where it made Number 4 in 1972; it went to Number 2 in 1980, but that was a very different set of circumstances altogether.

    

    HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER). (Ultimate Mix, 2020) John & Yoko Plastic Ono Band + Harlem Community Choir