Sleigh bells jingle all the way through this racy little pop number breathlessly anticipating the arrival of Santa, while the drums go ba-boom and the New York girl group trill away like overexcited Carol singers. The reverb-heavy, wall-of-sound production sounds as packed with delights as an overstuffed stocking. Mad production genius Phil Spector really set the standard for seasonal records with his 1963 Christmas Gift For You album. 98. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (1963) - The Crystals Shot through with Wheeler’s coruscating melodies, Christmas Day finds the pair “dreaming of the breakers” amid warming ooo-aah harmonies and power-pop bounce. Firstly, because no one makes them anymore, secondly because both looked brilliant in snug Christmaswear on the album’s cover – but also because the album featured songs like this. Play The Telegraph's Christmas family quizĩ9. Christmas Day (I Wish I Was Surfing) (2011) - Emmy the Great & Tim WheelerĪsh frontman Wheeler and his folk-singer girlfriend Emmy the Great teamed up in 2011 for one of the finest albums of Christmas originals in recent memory.When asked about the inspiration behind the song, the keyboardist said: “Although I don’t really like John Lennon's music, I was thinking of his signature tracks like Imagine. According to Erasure’s Vince Clarke, the track was his response to John Lennon’s Imagine. With lyrics that include the line “I don't believe in your religion/ I only know what I can see”, Bells of Love – from Erasure’s minimalist, determinedly secular 2013 Christmas album Snow Globe – offers an unusual, synth-pop take on a seasonal song.

100 best Christmas songs of all time 100. Bells of Love (Isabelle's of Love) (2013) - Erasure Whether you prefer classic to country, pop to soul or simply want a song to get you feeling festive, The Telegraph have compiled the 100 best songs throughout the decades. Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas is You may have dominated festive sonic fare and the charts since its release in 1994, but her Christmas love song is one of a long line of festive musical offerings. Nay-sayers and Scrooges will say that Christmas music is the scourge of the high street and advertising from November onwards, but few can truly resist the cockle-warming powers of Wham!'s Last Christmas or F airytale of New York.

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