The Greatest Christmas Hits
By Scott WestermanIn many markets, at least one station flips to all Christmas music on Thanksgiving. And every streaming service from Spotify to Amazon has deep playlists that feature both classic chestnuts and newer compositions by artists hoping to jump on the annual Christmas income bandwagon.
Christmas Music = Big Bucks
There's no doubt that Christmas music is multi-billion dollar industry. Prezzybox has a royalty calculator that estimates the up-to-the-minute money song writers have taken home.And the stories behind the greatest Christmas hits are often fascinating and serendipitous. The late David Seville (Ross Bagdasarian) created a sensation when he slowed down the tape recorder, recorded his voice and sped the tape up again. Alvin and the Chipmunks Greatest Christmas Hits charted in 1999, 41 years after The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late) became a holiday smash and 27 years after Alvin's creator passed away.
What's on your Christmas List?
What are your favorite Christmas tunes? When my wife was putting together her list on Amazon Prime Unlimited, we got to talking about our all time Christmas faves. Casey Kasem recorded an All Time Christmas Countdown for his American Top 40 program in 1971. It's vastly different than the latest Billboard iteration. How do they compare with your own calculations of the greatest Christmas hits? Let's look at them both.BTW.. The top selling single of all time is still Bing Crosby's "White Christmas".Here's Billboard Magazine's Take:Look and Listen to the entire list1 ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU-Mariah Carey2 IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR-Andy Williams3 JINGLE BELL ROCK-Bobby Helms4 ROCKIN' AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE-Brenda Lee5 A HOLLY JOLLY CHRISTMAS-Burl Ives6 Nat King Cole - THE CHRISTMAS SONG-Nat King Cole7 RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER-Gene Autry8 LAST CHRISTMAS-Wham!9 LET IT SNOW-Dean Martin10 HERE COMES SANTA CLAUS-Gene Autry11 SLEIGH RIDE-The Ronettes12 FELIZ NAVIDAD-Jose Feliciano13 (THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE) HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS-Perry Como14 WHITE CHRISTMAS-Bing Crosby15 IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK LIKE CHRISTMAS-Perry Como16 BLUE CHRISTMAS-Elvis Presley17 IT'S COLD OUTSIDE-Dean Martin Baby18 IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS-Michael Buble19 WONDERFUL CHRISTMASTIME-Paul McCartney20 UNDERNEATH THE CHRISTMAS TREE-Kelly ClarksonAmerican Top 40 All Time Christmas Countdown December 25, 197101. WHITE CHRISTMAS-Bing Crosby02. RUDOLPH THE RED NOSED REINDEER-Gene Autry03. LITTLE DRUMMER BOY-Harry Simeone Chorale04. THE CHRISTMAS SONG-Nat King Cole05. JINGLE BELL ROCK-Bobby Helms06. SILVER BELLS-Margaret Whiting & Jimmy Wakely07. WINTER WONDERLAND-Ray Conniff Orchestra & Chorus08. SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN-Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters09. BLUE CHRISTMAS-Elvis Presley10. THE CHIPMUNK SONG-Chipmunks11. JINGLE BELLS-Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters12. FROSTY THE SNOWMAN-Gene Autry13. SLEIGH RIDE-Leroy Anderson14. HERE COMES SANTA CLAUS-Gene Autry15. I SAW MOMMY KISSING SANTA CLAUS-Jimmy Boyd16. PLEASE COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS-Charles Brown17. ROCKIN' AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE-Brenda Lee18. NUTTIN' FOR CHRISTMAS-Ricky Zahnd19. YOU'RE ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS-Frankie Laine* (Not played on countdown)20. I'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS-Bing Crosby21. ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS MY TWO FRONT TEETH-Spike Jones22. MERRY CHRISTMAS BABY-Charles Brown23. CHRISTMAS IN KILARNEY-Bing Crosby24. HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS-Perry Como25. IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS-Chipmunks26. I YUST GO NUTS AT CHRISTMAS-Yogi Yorgesson27. SANTA BABY-Eartha Kitt28. MARY'S BOY CHILD-Harry Belafonte29. CHRISTMAS DRAGNET-Stan Freberg30. PRETTY PAPER-Roy Orbison31. SNOOPY'S CHRISTMAS-Royal Guardsmen* (Not played on countdown)32. LITTLE SAINT NICK-Beach Boys33. BABY'S FIRST CHRISTMAS-Connie Francis34. SANTO NATALE-David Whitfield35. SANTA & THE SATELLITE-Dickie Goodman36. LITTLE ALTAR BOY-Andy Williams37. THE HAPPY REINDEER-Dancer, Prancer & Nervous38. SANTA CLAUS IS WATCHING YOU-Ray Stevens39. MERRY CHRISTMAS POLKA-Andrews Sisters* (Not played on countdown)40. IF EVERY DAY WAS LIKE CHRISTMAS-Elvis PresleyHere's Bing singing "White Christmas" in the 1954 film of the same name.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QW65Amj0vMThanks for listening! Scott WestermanHost and Producer - Rock and Roll RevisitedAuthor: Motor City Music - Keener 13 and the Soundtrack of Detroit