I don’t know if you know how much I love Christmas music. I have quite a bit of it. Rob thinks it’s weird that I like Christmas music so much. Today I give you my Top 20 favorite Christmas songs (this year, it tends to move around a bit year by year). Tomorrow, I will give you my top Christmas albums.  Share your favorite Christmas songs in the comments!

1. Do They Know It’s Christmas- Band Aid (not the newer one)
   This is seriously my favorite Christmas song ever. Plus there’s a big celebrity singalong you can be a part of at the end.
2. Mele Kalikimaka- Bing Crosby
   I don’t know if it gets any better than Bing for Christmas…well Band Aid, I suppose, but Bing Crosby’s Christmas album is my go-to album, and this si my favorite track off of it.
3. Sleigh Ride- Leroy Anderson
   You know this one. It’s the instrumental that gets slightly swingy in the second verse. Love it!
4. Last Christmas- Wham!
   I think the worst part about this is when George Michael says that he’s not surprised his lover from last year doesn’t recognize him because it has been a year. A year! I love this song though…
5. White Christmas- The Drifters
   I don’t know how Clyde McPhatter and his bunch found a way to improve on a Christmas classic, but they did. Dare I say, I may even like this one more than the original. Maybe, I mean Bing is the King of Christmas.
6. All I Want for Christmas is You- Mariah Carey
   I’m not normally a Mariah Carey fan, but damn, this is one catchy song. I think its genius lies in the fact that it sounds like something written for the Ronettes or an old Phil Spector-produced girl group. It sounds like a remake. And apparently it hit the Top 10 this year.
7. This Christmas- Donny Hathaway
   I love this song. It’s got a nice easy groove and it’s heartfelt without being schlocky or overdone.
8. Blue Christmas-Elvis Presley
   A classic. Simple and effective.
9. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)-Darlene Love
   Phil Spector back when his crazy was a little more genius than murderous. Not only that, but it was hard to narrow it down to just one Phil Spector-produced song, but this one is so good. Plus, it has a great cover by U2.
10. Merry Christmas Baby- Otis Redding
    Every day deserves an Otis Redding song, and Christmas is no different.
11. The Christmas Song- Nat King Cole
    I have to go with the classic here, although the Mel Torme version is probably equally as classic- and Torme wrote the song.
12. I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day- Wizzard
    This one isn’t that well-known here in the US and my real exposure to it came from living in London. It ends with a choir of kids, which is always a good thing. And it really conveys the joy of Christmas. I DO wish it could be Christmas every day, but we all know that’s unrealistic because then Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas.
13. Carol of the Bells- Traditional
    I just love this one…it has such a sense of urgency.
14. O Come All Ye Faithful- Carol Brady (Florence Henderson)
    I live for watching the episode of The Brady Bunch when Mom Brady gets her voice back after Cindy asks Santa for it. It gets me every time I hear Carol Brady sing.
15. Let It Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!- Dean Martin
    Just a nice, easy swingin’ version. Love Dean Martin on this.
16. Merry Christmas Darlin’- The Carpenters
    I love to sing along to this and pretend that my voice is as velvety as Karen Carpenter’s. It’s not. I never liked this song until I met Rob G. I think it may fall of the list next year, because it’s kind of depressing. I may have to go back to my old favorite depressing Christmas song “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”.
17. Christmas in Hollis- Run DMC
    It’s a cute story about Santa leaving a couple mil for Run. DMC’s mom cooks chicken, collard greens, and rice….not potatoes.
18. Baby, It’s Cold Outside- Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong or Tom Jones and Cerys Matthews
    This song is so fun. I honestly don’t know whose version I like better. I mean, I like the Louis and Ella one, but the Tom Jones and Cerys Matthews one is so campy and fun and over-the-top.
19. I’ll Be Home for Christmas- Frank Sinatra
    I really like this version as it’s an interesting arrangement combining background singers humming “Silent Night”
20. Christmas Wrapping- The Waitresses
    Gal decides to beat stress by celebrating Christmas alone, then runs to the grocery and happens to be behind the guy she’s had her eye on all year, and they end up spending Christmas together. It’s Christmas Magic!