Well, it's that time of year again, and Christmas music is something you can't escape. Sure, there's probably a lot of songs out there you can't stand (perhaps most of it is rubbish), but most people still have their picks of seasonal tracks that they actually enjoy.

So, if you can, list your 25 favourite Christmas/holiday season song.

Here are mine:

1. John Lennon & Yoko Ono – Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
2. Bing Crosby & David Bowie – Little Drummer Boy/Peace On Earth
3. The Who – Christmas
4. Slade – Merry Xmas Everyone
5. Boney M – Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord
6. Greg Lake – I Believe in Father Christmas
7. Billy Squier – Christmas Is the Time to Say I Love You
8. Jethro Tull – Ring Out, Solstice Bells
9. Band Aid – Do They Know It's Christmas
10. Elvis Presley – Blue Christmas
11. Ray Charles – That Spirit of Christmas
12. Trans-Siberian Orchestra – Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)
13. José Feliciano – Feliz Navidad
14. Vince Guaraldi – Linus and Lucy
15. Bobby Helms – Jingle Bell Rock
16. Stevie Wonder – What Christmas Means to Me
17. George Harrison – Ding Dong, Ding Dong
18. Brenda Lee – Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree
19. Drifters – White Christmas
20. Pogues – Fairytale of New York
21. Paul McCartney – Wonderful Christmastime
22. Elton John – Step Into Christmas
23. Adam Sandler – Chanukah Song
24. Tom Petty – Christmas All Over Again
25. Kinks – Father Christmas

1. Like a Snowflake- Ride
2. Frosty the Snowman- Cocteau Twins
3. Last Christmas- Wham
4. Happy Xmas- John Lennon
5. Silent Night- Sinead O' Connor
6. the Xmas Shoes - Patton Oswald
7. Little Drummer Boy...the famous version by that Orchestra
8. The Holly and the Ivy- Natalie Cole
9. Oye to the World- No Doubt
10. Christmas Time Has Come- Smashing Pumpkins
11. Winter Wonderland- Eurythmics
12. It Must Be Xmas Time- Pretenders
13. What Christmas Means to Me- Hanson
14. Hoolahoop- the Chipmunks
15. Winter Wonderland- Cocteau Twins
16. I Was Born on Christmas Day- Saint Etienne
17. Alan Parson's in a Winter Wonderland
18. Do They Know It's Christmas? Band Aid
19. Come Home For Xmas- Fiona Apple
20. All I Want For Xmas is You- Mariah Carey

I fill my plate with ribs and my glass with cola. Then I retire to the stereo in the living room on low volume:

1. Ride - Like A Snowflake
2. Ronettes - Sleigh Ride
3. Pogues – Fairytale of New York
4. Mariah Carey - All I Want For Xmas Is You
5. Anders F Rönnblom - Inte Snön Som Faller
6. Ronettes - Frosty The Snowman
7. Slade – Merry Xmas Everyone
8. Ronettes - I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
9. The Who - Christmas
0. Darlene Love - Winter Wonderland
1. Fiona Apple - Please Come Home For Christmas
2. Crystals - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

I don't think I can come up with 25, but I'll give you 15.

1. John Lennon - Happy Xmas (War is Over)
2. Bruce Springsteen - Santa Claus is Coming to Town
3. Chuck Berry - Run, Rudolph, Run
4. The Who - Christmas
5. Vince Guaraldi - A Charlie Brown Christmas Theme
6. Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmastime?
7. Various Artists - It's Cold Outside
8. Run DMC - Christmas in Hollis
9. Jose Feliciano - Feliz Navidad
10. Beach Boys - Little Saint Nick
11. Brenda Lee - Jingle Bell Rock
12. The Waitresses - Christmas Wrapping
13. Elmo & Patsy - Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
14. Paul McCartney - Wonderful Christmastime
15. VA - Jingle Bells

I meant Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree instead of Jingle Bell Rock.

In no particular order, some fairly common, others not so much:

1. John Lennon & Yoko Ono – Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
2. Beach Boys - Little Saint Nick
3. José Feliciano – Feliz Navidad
4. Brenda Lee – Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree
5. The Christmas Song- Nat “King” Cole
6. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas – Judy Garland
7. Christmas Song for All Year Round – Randy Stonehill
8. Santa Baby – Eartha Kitt
9. Riu Chiu – The Monkees (traditional folk song from one of the Latin American countries..done acappella..very nice)
10. What are You Doing New Year’s Eve? – Harry Connick Jr.
11. Merry Christmas Darling – The Carpenters
12. Pretty Paper – Willie Nelson (yes, Orbison was first and I love Roy but I like the understated reading Willie gives it..gets the message across without seeming as "preachy" IMHO)
13. Please Come Home for Christmas – The Eagles
14. The Christmas Waltz – Frank Sinatra
15. You’re a mean One, Mr. Grinch – Thurl Ravenscroft (version heard in "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" TV special..)
16. Green Chri$tma$ - Stan Freberg (delightfully cynical number about the "true spirit of Christmas" according to our nation's retailers..true now as it was then)
17. Winter Wonderland – Steve Taylor (pretty obscure..he does it with a Mariachi backing! )
18. Christmas Lullaby – Smokey Robinson and the Miracles (unjustly obscure..truly wonderful Smokey falsetto)
19. Bah, Humbug! – The Mississippi Skinnydippers (obscure country novelty number..have no idea how y'all would find it..I copied it off of a CD that was sent by a radio "service" company. A lot of times smaller market radio stations pay a company to send them a CD every couple weeks with the singles being promoted that month for their particular format and it was on one of those. I know NOTHING about them...)
20. Paul McCartney – Wonderful Christmastime
21. Elvis Presley – Blue Christmas
22. Carol of the Bells – David Foster
23. This Christmas – Donny Hathaway
24. Christmas Time is Here – Vince Guaraldi Trio with Children’s Chorus
25. Bobby Helms – Jingle Bell Rock

HONORABLE MENTION
Bing Crosby & David Bowie – Little Drummer Boy/Peace On Earth
Band Aid – Do They Know It's Christmas
Drifters – White Christmas
Last Christmas- Wham
The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late) - The Chipmunks
Bruce Springsteen - Santa Claus is Coming to Town
Chuck Berry - Run, Rudolph, Run
Elmo & Patsy - Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) – U2
Someday at Christmas – Stevie Wonder
Santa Looked a Lot Like Daddy – Buck Owens and the Buckaroos
It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year – Johnny Mathis
Jingle Bells – Barbra Streisand
‘Zat You Santa Claus? – Louis Armstrong

I forget Christmas at the Zoo by the Flaming Lips. Really ironic song after what happened in San Francisco last xmas.

Found a link to the mariachi-ed up "Winter Wonderland" as done by Steve Taylor:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRP04b7xy30&feature=related

(I'd do it as a video insert but I'm not sure how to code that..)

Man, I haven't heard Steve Taylor's name brought up in a LONG time.

I see Steven Tyler all over the place. Him and his bandmates are total whores.

TAYLOR not Tyler.

Christmas Song for all Year Round link (Randy Stonehill)
http://www.pestalozzi.net/christmas

Link to Stan Freberg's "Green Christmas":

http://www.dogpile.com/clickserver/_iceUrlFlag=1?rawURL=http%3A%2F%2Fterrificmusic.com%2Ffiles%2Fmusic%2Fchristmas%2Fgreen_christmas_stan_freberg.ram&0=&1=0&4=67.63.50.255&5=12.171.224.124&9=2180950b09c9443a8ba9394ee655c901&10=1&11=info.dogpl&13=search&14=372372&15=main-title&17=1&18=1&19=0&20=0&21=1&22=47r6ywb3lPk%3D&23=0&40=YZ4PXyLAFqDHRMUWO6nRPQ%3D%3D&_IceUrl=true

I used to own Liver by Steve Taylor but I don't know what happened to it.

As for Christmas songs, I love the traditionals especially Johnny Mathis, Sinatra and Nat King Cole. 99 percent of the time I don't like modern Christmas tunes unless they are straight forward interpretations. I hate Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Mannheim Steamroller. My two favorite Christmas albums are Frank Sinatra- A Jolly Christmas and Amy Grant- Home For Christmas but I also found a nice Motown collection on vinyl this summer that I've been enjoying.

Christmas songs that make me cringe:

Rocking Around the Christmas Tree
Feliz Navidad
Wonderful Christmastime
Blue Christmas
Jingle Bell Rock
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
Santa Baby
The Friendly Beasts


My Top 10 Christmas songs:

O Holy Night
Silver Bells
Pat a Pan
Little Drummer Boy
Mary's Boy Child
Winter Wonderland
Fum, Fum, Fum
We Three Kings
Christmas Waltz
I'll Be Home For Christmas
Still, Still, Still