Bellas! Fellas! I wish you all a very merry Christmas!

It’s Christmas Day, and I hope you’re spending it with family and friends, enjoying great food, good times, and the music we’ve all grown to love over the years.

I understand that naming this list 5 Absolutely Essential Christmas Songs is going to open things up for debate. Obviously this is gonna be a highly subjective list, based on opinion and honestly – it seems to me that ethnicity is a huge factor as well.

In my family, the Jackson Five Christmas Album was a MUST HAVE. In my husband’s opinion, young Michael’s singing might as well be Alvin and the Chipmunks, and no Christmas is complete without Bing Crosby on the mic.

To which I say, to each his own.

These are the 5 Christmas songs I absolutely need to hear on this glorious day.

Silent Night by The Temptations

I have a thing for doo-wop groups, and the feel-good harmonies of this version of White Christmas never fail to warm my heart. And when they go into falsetto, my heart just melts!

The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole

It’s almost weird to think of a time when this WASN’T a holiday staple – wasn’t Nat King Cole’s version of The Christmas Song ALWAYS the definitive version? The whole Nat King Cole Christmas album is a must-have, and for me it was definitely part of the soundtrack of my growing up. Lots of great presents have been opened with this song in the background!
This Christmas by Donny Hathaway

Oh, Donny. There is so much love and warmth in this song. No wonder it’s been loved for so long. No wonder every aspiring R&B crooner tries to emulate the original. This Christmas is so often imitated, but the quality of the original will never be duplicated!

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by the Jackson Five

This song is just EVERYTHING to me. It’s so sweet and sentimental, and then gets so groovy and happy and Christmassy at the end! If there’s any one song that captures all the emotions of Christmas – the warmth, the family vibe, the coziness, the relaxation, the joy and exuberance…it’s this. Love it!

So like I said, it’s a subjective list! These are MY gotta-hear-them-every-year Christmas songs. What are yours?

COMMENTS

vonnie says:

December 25, 2010, 10:32 am

santa clause is coming to town - jackson 5 this christmas - donny hathaway what do the lonely do at christmas - the emotions

israel says:

December 26, 2010, 5:42 pm

Thank you--was getting so tired of my own x mas playlist and I LOVE donny hathaway. Vince Guaraldi's Charlie Brown Christmas is my go to, especially because Ziggy and Nola love to do the Linus and Lucy dance.

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Ashley says:

December 4, 2011, 8:15 pm

I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus-Jackson 5

Oneika says:

December 4, 2011, 8:28 pm

I love Santa Baby by Eartha Kitt. And the Frank Sintra Christmas is great, especially the christamas waltz!!!!

Nicole says:

December 5, 2011, 10:44 am

Drummer boy-Whitney Houston

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