Christmas Archives - Page 4 of 18

More Hot 100 Xmas Hits, 1955-2004

Nuttin’

Here are some more Hot 100 Xmas hits. These ones are far less familiar to me. Some of the songs I know, but by different artists.

Please Come Home For Christmas – The Eagles, #18 in 1978. I prefer the Charles Brown version that came out in 1960 and topped the Christmas charts in 1972.

The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire) – Christina Aguilera, #18 in 1999

Santo Natale (Merry Christmas) – David Whitfield with Stanley Black and his orchestra, #19 in 1955. I am used to unfamiliarity with the newer songs, but I don’t know this one either.

Nuttin for Xmas – Joe Ward, orchestra conducted by Dave Terry, #20 in 1955. What is it about 1955 that allowed three versions of this song to reach the Top 30? And no consistency in the spelling of the title.

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer – The Chipmunks, #20 in 1960

Pre- and post-Twist

Jingle Bell Rock – Bobby Rydell and Chubby Checker, #21 in 1961. This is the period between when The Twist by Chubby Checker was #1 in 1960 and The Twist by Chubby Checker was #1 in 1962 and namechecked some of Checker’s other songs.

(I’m Gettin) Nuttin’ for Christmas – Ricky Zahnd and The Blue Jeaners, with the Tony Mottola Orchestra, #21 in 1955

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town – The 4 Seasons, arranged and conducted by Sid Bass, #23 in 1962. It’s your standard Bob Crewe production for the group. I wrote a whole blog post about naughty and nice in April 2019.

Baby’s First Christmas – Connie Francis, orchestra and chorus conducted by Don Costa, #26 in 1961

If We Make It Through December – Merle Haggard, #28 in 1973, written by the artist. This is a downbeat and not particularly Christmasy track, which may be why I like it. The New York Times reported: “This one might be a Christmas song because it appears on a Christmas album (‘Merle Haggard’s Christmas Present’; please note the cover art), but Merle Haggard only decided to cut that album after the success of this stand-alone single — the biggest pop crossover hit of his entire career. There’s mention of gifts under the tree (or rather, a lack thereof), but the true subject of this melancholy tune is the plight of the down-and-out working man, meaning it is, first and foremost, a Merle Haggard song.”

A bonus from fillyjonk which you of a certain vintage will likely recall: Attention Kmart Shoppers – 8 hours of vintage department store Christmas music (Customusic tapes)

Hot 100 Christmas Songs, 1955-2004

Ross Bagdasarian

These are the top 10 Hot 100 Christmas Songs in the rock and roll era, starting in 1955. While there was a particular Christmas chart from 1963 to 1972 and again from 1983 to 1985, the songs here charted on the pop charts.

Many of these will be quite familiar to you, though I’ll admit to being totally unaware of the NKOTB track, the only one I don’t own in a physical form.

The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late) – The Chipmunks, #1 for four weeks in 1958. My family owned the single. I particularly liked it because I thought l did a passable imitation of the rodents. Ross Bagdasarian also had a #1 hit in 1958 with Witch Doctor as David Seville.

Jingle Bell Rock – Bobby Helms, #6 in 1957. Background vocalists were the Anita Kerr Singers. The electric guitar was by Hank Garland.

Nuttin’ for Christmas – Barry Gordon with the Art Mooney orchestra, #6 in 1955. I never heard this until I heard it on a compilation CD. Fingernails on a blackboard.

This One’s For The Children – New Kids On The Block, #7 in 1989

White Christmas – Bing Crosby, #7 in 1955. This is the 1947 version, which supplanted the 1942 version.

Mary’s Boy Child – Harry Belafonte, #12 in 1956. The remarkable Jester Hairston, who had a fascinating life as a composer and actor, wrote the song.

The Little Drummer Boy – the Harry Simeone Chorale, #13 in 1958. We owned this single growing up, too. There was a 1965 remake of this song, which takes the ending much slower; I prefer the original.

Also Paul Young

Do They Know It’s Christmas? – Band Aid, #13 in 1984. It features members of Kool & the Gang, U2, The Boomtown Rats, Genesis, Ultravox, Bananarama, Culture Club, Heaven 17, Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran, Wham!, Status Quo, The Police, The Style Council and others

Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree – Brenda Lee, #14 in 1960, and #1 in 2023!

Pretty Paper – Roy Orbison, #15 in 1963. I never heard this until I bought Orbison’s Greatest Hits CD collection.

More Early Pop Chart Xmas Hits

Harry Stewart

Here are more early pop chart Xmas hits. There were no specific Billboard holiday charts until 1963.

Winter Wonderland – Johnny Mercer and The Pied Pipers, #4 in 1947. Issued on the 78 flipside of the Mercer hit “A Gal In Calico.” Orchestra conducted by Paul Weston. I think of Mercer more as a songwriter and producer than a performer. He “co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Glenn E. Wallichs.”

I Yust Go Nuts at Christmas – Yogi Yorgesson, #4 in 1949,with The Johnny Duffy Trio, and the B-side of Yingle Bells. It’s a parody of ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas. Who IS this guy? He’s “the creation of Harry Stewart, who delighted audiences in the 1940s and 50s with parody songs” in a Swedish accent. He was born Harry Skarbo, the son of a Norwegian immigrant father and a second-generation Norwegian-American mother.

White Christmas – Frank Sinatra, orchestra and chorus conducted by Axel Stordahl, #5 in 1945. The song is from Holiday Inn, written by Irving Berlin. I’ll have to remember to play a LOT of Frank at Christmastime in 2025 when he would have been 110.

Jingle Bells – Glenn Miller, with vocals by Tex Beneke, Ernie Caceres & The Modernaires, #5 in 1941.

Frosty the Snow Man – Gene Autry and the Cass County Boys, orchestra conducted by Carl Cotner, #7 in 1950. Like many of my generation, I’m more familiar with the Jimmy Durante version from the 1969 animated film.

Not the same

Silent Night – Bing Crosby with Victor Young and his orchestra, #7 in 1935. This is a “markedly different arrangement from his much more familiar Decca re-makes of 1942 and 1947.”

Christmas Island– The Andrews Sisters, Guy Lombardo, and His Royal Canadians, #7 in 1946. I loved the Sisters. I have several seasonal cuts with them and Bing.

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! – Woody Herman, #7 in 1946. Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne wrote it. I got a Herman album from my late FIL’s collection.

Yingle Bells – Yogi Yorgesson, #7 in 1949.

Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer – Spike Jones, #7 in 1950.

Chevy

Chuck Miller recently posted three long-form (four to six-minute) Chevrolet commercials for the holidays from the past three years. It was touching stuff.

Early Pop Chart Hits of Christmas

Does Daddy know who Mommy is kissing?

The early pop chart hits that we consider Christmas songs were in competition with non-seasonal songs. There were no specific Billboard holiday charts until 1963.

Five songs reached #1 between 1934 and 1954, and a few more came close. Most of them you will know. A few you may dislike.

White Christmas – Bing Crosby, #1 for 14 weeks. The first year was in 1942. It spent 56 weeks on the charts, and that’s just in those 21 years, though the ’47 version replaced the ’42 take. “John Scott Trotter’s drummer on the ’42 ‘White Christmas’ was none other than Lindley ‘Spike’ Jones.”

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! – Vaughn Monroe, #1 for 5 weeks. The first year was in 1945. It spent a total of 14 weeks on the charts.

All I Want For Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth) – Spike Jones, #1 for 3 weeks. The first year was in 1948. It spent a total of 9 weeks on the charts. Jones is #10 on the Christmas charts in terms of chart action.

I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus – Jimmy Boyd, #1 for 2 weeks. The first year was in 1952. It spent a total of 5 weeks on the charts. Jimmy Boyd was 13 when he recorded the song. He married Yvonne Craig, later TV’s Batgirl, in 1960, but they were divorced in 1962.

Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer– Gene Autry, #1 for 1 week. The first year was in 1949. It spent a total of 20 weeks on the charts. Autry is considered the #2 most successful Christmas crooner in chart action after Bing.

More hits

Winter Wonderland – Guy Lombardo, #2 for 1 week. The first year was in 1934. It spent a total of 9 weeks on the charts. Lombardo is a fine example of a generational star. I often used to watch him on New Years Eve, while my daughter has never heard of him.

I’ll Be Home For Christmas (If Only In My Dreams) – Bing Crosby, #3 for 2 weeks. The first year was in 1943. It spent a total of 6 weeks on the charts. I find this one of the saddest songs of the season.

The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You) – Nat “King” Cole, #3 for 1 week. The first year was in 1946. It spent a total of 12 weeks on the charts. Nat is #4 on the Christmas charts. Here’s Mark Evanier’s annual story about Mel Torme, who, with Bob Wells, wrote, “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire…”

Santa Baby – Eartha Kitt, #4 for 1 week. The first year was in 1953. It spent a total of 5 weeks on the charts. I heard Madonna’s 1987 version first.

I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus – Spike Jones, #4 for 1 week. The first year was in 1952. It spent a total of 3 weeks on the charts. The second apearance of both the song and artist.

On Christmas Day, in the morning

mostly Isaiah and Matthew

On Christmas Day, in the morning, I decided on three pieces. The third one I always select for this day.

The shepherds farewell from the oratorio L` enfance du Christ by Hector Berlioz, performed by the Chorus of the Royal Opera House. Kelly Sedinger wrote:” Since the events depicted in the oratorio come after the birth of Jesus, maybe this isn’t properly a Christmas selection, but that’s how I tend to view it.” Since Christmastide begins with Christmas on the church calendar, I would agree.

Not incidentally, I love this piece, in no small part, because it has an inverse pedal point. Kelly explained to me what the heck that meant. Other pieces with this feature include Maybe by Alison Krauss and Raindrops by Chopin. The effect practically brings me to tears.

We Three Kings – Patti Smith. Also, after the birth of the child. This rather astringent version of the song is from A Very Special Christmas 3 (1997). As the narrative goes, Herod sent the wise guys to Bethlehem not to honor the child but to find him so he could be eliminated. It’s a none-to-cheerful detail of the narrative.

Finally, Messiah by Georg Frederick Handel, the Christmas section. I’ve sung And The Glory Of The Lord, And He Shall Purify, Glory To God In The Highest, and especially For Unto To Us A Child Is Born often.

The scripture is, in order, Isaiah 40:1-5; Haggai 2:6,7; Malachi 3:1-3; Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23; Isaiah 40:9; Isaiah 60:1-3; Isaiah 9:2; Matthew 3:16; Isaiah 9:6; Isaiah 7:14; Luke 2:8-11, 13, 14; Zechariah 9:9,10; Matthew 21:5; Isaiah 35:5,6; Isaiah 40:11; and Matthew 11:28-30.