If you were brought up in the 70’s, 80’s or have good taste in music one thing is for sure, the best Christmas songs are by Rock artists. Rest assured you will not find Band Aid, “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” here.
So here we are going to look at the best of the best, the ones that have to be on any Christmas playlist. The one that have and will stand the test of time. These are new and old songs and in no particular order.
1 – Terrorvison – Our Christmas Song
Let start with a relatively new one, 2019 in fact from Yorkshires finest Terrorvison. This is the first new material for a long time from this band. They have never stopped touring and Tony Wright still does his sole music and gigs.
It’s the perfect British Christmas song. The band had this to say about it “Our Christmas Song is that festive present to the fans and anyone else with a love of the heady days of pop music, when the Christmas no.1 mattered and the main event on Christmas day was settling down to watch Top Of The Pops with the last few segments of your chocolate orange, washed down with a cheeky swig of your gran’s Snowball.”
The Darkness – Christmas Time (Don’t Let the Bells End)
Next a song that took The Darkness from being an up and coming band to a household name. Again they took the traditional British Christmas rock song and gave it a new lease of life. In 2003 they brought us the now classic Christmas Time (Don’t Let the Bells End).
Justin said “In honour of the marvellous support bestowed upon us by the sweet people of the British Isles, we giveth unto thee the gift that keeps on giving.
“It might be a Christmas song but it still rocks in the unique Darkness fashion. Christmas Time (Don’t Let The Bells End) is not an anthem for gluttony, consumerism or bloated, flatulent post-dinner snoozing.
“It is an acknowledgement that ’tis the season which affords us a greater tolerance and brings folk together.”
Queen – Thank God It’s Christmas
Next how a bit of Queen with Thank God It’s Christmas. Released in 1984 a very good year for rock music. Amazingly the song only peaked at number 21 in the charts.
Roger Taylor said “Ironically, Christmas tends to be such a stressful time for so many of us,”. “So many emotions, joyful memories of past Christmas’ as delighted children and responsible adults / parents. It’s just a great relief when it finally happens.”
Brian said “The video goes a little further, by including a subtle reminder that we as humans now need to feel a responsibility for the welfare of ALL creatures on Earth – not just for our own benefit, and that of our grandchildren, but out of respect for the rights of the animals themselves.”
Wizard – Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day
Next what has to be the ultimate Christmas song, especially if you hail from the UK, this song will be played every Christmas. We are talking about I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day by Wizard. You will be hard pressed to find someone that doesn’t like this song, generation have grow up with it.
It didn’t make it to number 1 in the charts because of a little song called Merry Xmas Everybody by Slade. What a year for Christmas songs 1973 was.
Roy Wood said “Unfortunately, our record hit the shops two weeks after Slade’s, which meant they had a head start,”.
“Theirs was a great song and pipped us to the post for 1973 Christmas No 1. But I didn’t cry in my beer because I was pleased just having a hit.
“We’re always asked to play it at concerts – even in summer. But I never get fed up with it because it’s done well for me. But when I wrote the song, I couldn’t have imagined it would still be around today.”
Slade – Merry Xmas Everybody
And so on to the competition Merry Xmas Everybody by Slade. As we said released at the same time as I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every by wizard, its very hard to choose which is the best between these two.
Noddy said that this song is his pension as every year it will make the UK charts.
Jim Lea said “We recorded it in the Record Plant in New York which is on top of a skyscraper. We said we needed an echoey room but in those days nobody went for this big, big sound that they’re all into now. These engineers thought we were mad, they’re going ‘no man, you know the Eagles, a very tight sound, Hotel California and all that pinging out of the speakers at you. I said what about the hallway downstairs and they went ‘we can’t use the hallway, there’s all these businessmen walking through for the other offices’. Anyway we ran lines down to the hallway and there we were in September singing ‘so here it is merry Xmas’ and we were totally unknown over there and people thought we were mad.”
Elton John – Step Into Christmas
So its still 1973 how to compete with Slade’s and Wizards’ songs? Elton John hold my beer. Amazingly Step Into Christmas only reached No. 24 in the UK singles charts. This was the same year as Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.
Elton had this to say about the song “The Christmas single is a real loon about and something we’d like to do a lot more of. We’ve never written a song especially tailored to be a single.”
Paul McCartney – Wonderful Christmastime
It’s 1979 and Paul McCartney reminds us what a proper Christmas song sounds like with Wonderful Christmastime. Again this has become a classic but it only reached number 6 in the UK single charts.
Twisted Sister – O Come, All Ye Faithful
In 2006 American rock legends Twisted Sister didn’t just bring us a Christmas song they brought us a whole album “A Twisted Christmas”. The best track has to be O Come, All Ye Faithful which was the base for one of their biggest hits We’re Not Gonna Take It.
A classic lyric from their version of 12 days of Christmas “twelve silver crosses, eleven black mascaras, ten pairs of platforms, nine tattered t-shirts, eight pentagrams, seven leather jackets, six cans of hairspray, five skull-head rings, four quarts of Jack, three studded belts, two pairs of spandex pants, and a tattoo of Ozzy”
Bruce Springsteen – Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town
1975 Bruce Springsteen covers Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town and it becomes the go to version, its been covered so many times but this has to be the best one. It was realised as single in 1981 to promote the charity album, In Harmony 2. As you would expect if you are lucky enough to catch The Boss in concert around Christmas you will defiantly hear this song.
The Waitresses – Christmas Wrapping
While strictly being classed as New wave the The Waitresses song Christmas Wrapping is a classic and one of the best Christmas Rock Songs. It was released in 1981 as part of compilation album A Christmas Record.
Guitarist Chris Butler said “I am the most unbelievable Scrooge. So here, the irony of ironies, I’m supposed to write a Christmas song.”
“I’m much more humbled by it to the point where I am absolutely gobsmacked every year,” he says. “I get such warm fuzzies from people saying, ‘It’s not Christmas unless I hear this.’”
So that’s it The top ten greatest rock Christmas songs unless you know better.
Christmas Rock Songs at Rock Band T-shirts.
