Disclaimer: this post was written in December 2023, and scheduled for future posting. Its contents may no longer be accurate or appropriate.
Those that have been reading this for a long time will remember that I used to make musical Advent calendars for the blog. Well, they were a lot of hard work in terms of coding, so I don't do them anymore.
Instead, to save you from overdosing on Mariah, Wizzard, Slade and the rest, here's a list of the less commonly heard festive songs that filled those old calendars, plus a few extras that I've posted in the years since, all with clickable links...
- Kate Bush - Home For Christmas
- The Futureheads - Christmas Was Better In The 80s
- Aidan Moffatt - Plastic Mistletoe
- Bob Dylan - Must Be Santa
- REM - Christmas Griping
- James Brown - Soulful Christmas
- The Who - Christmas
- Eels - Everything's Gonna Be Cool This Christmas
- The Wedding Present featuring Simone White - Holly Jolly Hollywood
- Peter Murphy and Tom Waits - Christmas Sucks
- Shonen Knife - Space Christmas
- Tori Amos - A Silent Night With You
- James Dean Bradfield - Last Christmas
- Joni Mitchell - River
- Family Guy - Christmastime Is Killing Us
- Billy Bragg - We're Following The Wrong Star
- The Three Wise Men (aka XTC) - Thanks For Christmas
- The Fab Four - Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
- KT Tunstall - 2,000 Miles
- The Flaming Lips - Christmas At The Zoo
- Half Man Half Biscuit - Its Clichéd To Be Cynical at Christmas
- Tracey Thorn - Joy
- Tim Minchin - White Wine In The Sun
- Sinead O'Connor - Silent Night
- Summer Camp - Christmas Wrapping
- Julian Casablancas - I Wish It Was Christmas Today
- Low - Just Like Christmas
- Lucky Soul - Lonely This Christmas
- The Fall - Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
- The Walkmen - Holiday Road
- Glasvegas - A Snowflake Fell (And It Felt Like a Kiss)
- Hurts - All I Want for Christmas Is New Year's Day
- Galaxie 500 - Listen, The Snow is Falling
- The xx - Last Christmas
- The Ramones - Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna Fight Tonight)
- She & Him - Baby, It's Cold Outside
- The Polyphonic Spree - Happy Xmas (War is Over)
- Emmy the Great and Tim Wheeler - Zombie Christmas
- The Killers - Don't Shoot Me Santa
- The Pretenders - 2,000 Miles
- Eels - Christmas Is Going To The Dogs
- Slow Club - Christmas TV
- Tom Waits - Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis
- Sufjan Stevens - Did I Make You Cry On Christmas Day? (Well, You Deserved It)
- Casiotone for the Painfully Alone- Cold White Christmas
- The Wedding Present - Step Into Christmas
- Radiohead - Winter Wonderland
- REM - Ghost Reindeer In the Sky
- They Might Be Giants - Santa's Beard
- Timbuk 3 - All I Want For Christmas
- No Doubt - Oi To The World
- Sparks - Thank God It's Not Christmas
- Wedding Present - No Christmas
- The Fall - (We Wish You) A Protein Christmas
- Scritti Politti - Snow in Sun
- Tracey Thorn - Tinsel And Lights
- Margo Guryan - I Don't Intend To Spend Christmas Without You
- Half Man Half Biscuit - All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit
- Laura Marling – Goodbye England (Covered In Snow)
- Of Montreal – Christmas Isn't Safe For Animals
- The Kinks - Father Christmas
- Badly Drawn Boy - Donna and Blitzen
- Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers - Christmas All Over Again
- Beck - Little Drum Machine Boy
- Elastica - Gloria
- Wild Billy Childish And The Musicians Of The British Empire - Christmas 1979
- Ryan Adams – Hey Parker, It's Christmas
- Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! – In This Home On Ice
- Best Coast and Wavves – Got Something For You
- Yorke and Björk - Merry Christmas
- Squeeze - Christmas Day
- AFI - Prelude 12/21
- Du Blonde - It's Christmas And I'm Crying
- The Wedding Present - The Loneliest Time Of The Year
- The Housemartins - I Smell Winter
- Such Small Hands and Terry de Castro - Because It's Christmas
76 songs! More than enough to get you through even the dullest works do...
Great stuff. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteHo ho ho!
DeleteNot a post, but a great public service. Thanks, Martin. I’ve got a lot of Christmas songs in my collection, but plenty on this list that I’ve not heard before.
ReplyDeleteEspecially thanks for the last one on the list, and yesterday’s post, which introduced me to Such Small Hands and the discovery of this wonderful Christmas freebie on Melanie’s Bandcamp page.
Am a very big fan of SSH/Melanie, so this is good to hear.
DeleteAn excellent selection!
ReplyDeleteSomething for everyone!
DeleteBrilliant Martin, thanks. Thankfully no works do for me to endure but this'll do nicely for a festive playlist - and loads there I haven't heard before too.
ReplyDeleteAn early Christmas present for you :)
DeletePS That Squeeze 'Christmas Day' single is not great, though, is it?! Did I ever tell you about the time.... https://sundriedsparrows.blogspot.com/2014/12/uncool-for-cats.html
DeleteNo, it's a pretty long way from their finest hour. But excuse me, I'm just off to watch the video on YouTube...very closely ;)
Delete