#13 - Top 25 Christmas Songs (According To Me!)

We are officially halfway through the POP CULTURE ADDICT'S ADVENT CALENDAR!  You know how I can tell?  Because it's December 13th, it's the thirteenth day, and the thirteenth song is up next!

That's an awful lot of thirteens, huh?

Fear not though.  At least today isn't Friday.  And even if it was, I am definitely not superstitious about the number thirteen. 

Besides, I have a feeling that today is going to be a good day at least music wise.  After all, today's selection is from one of my favourite Christmas albums growing up.

If you read my post yesterday, you know that the album that I am referring to is the 1987 Christmas compilation "A Very Special Christmas".  It was a collection of holiday tunes as sung by the biggest rock and pop stars at that time.  The list of people who took part in that compilation include Sting, John Cougar Mellencamp, Eurythmics, Madonna, Alison Moyet, Bob Seger, and U2 amongst others.  Some songs were quite good and well put together while others weren't quite as well done.  But I appreciate the effort behind the compilation, and it is currently the nineteenth best selling Christmas album of all time.

Of course, it has also spawned several sequels.  I know of at least two (one in 1992 and one in 1997), as well as a special live album.

Anyway, since I like that album so much, I thought that I would select my favourite cut from that disc and make it my thirteenth favourite Christmas song.  But which one would that be?

Yeah, I had to go with the opening song that kicks the whole album off.  "Santa Claus is Coming To Town" by the Pointer Sisters. 

Now the irony of me selecting this track as my thirteenth song on this list is that it's a song that in my opinion is quite bland.  It's not exactly my must sing Christmas carol.  Truth be told, I wouldn't care if I ever sang it again.

So for me to include it on this list must mean that the group that did it was so good that I can not only overlook it, but I can safely state that it would be the ONLY version of the song that I would find acceptable.

Yes.  I like the Pointer Sisters' version even more than Bruce Springsteen's.  So sue me.

I mean, I do like Bruce's version, but something about it made it seem more melancholic than it should have been.  Or, maybe the way that Bruce sang it made it seem like Santa was watching you and if you did something bad he'd cut off your ears.  Tone can be everything in music.

But with the Pointer Sisters' version, it's all in fun and the spirit of being jolly and carefree.  You can tell that they were having a lot of fun singing the vocals.  They made this listener feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and the arrangement of the tune made me want Santa to come to town even quicker!

And to be honest, I've always been a huge fan of the Pointer Sisters from when I was a little kid.  One of the first memories I have from early childhood was the video for the song "I'm So Excited" when they flipped the table over in the middle of the club.  And since then, I have liked every song they released.  The vocal harmonization that the group had was extraordinary and a lot of their tunes defined my formative years from "Jump (For My Love)" to "Neutron Dance".

Seriously, just listen to it.  Doesn't it just get you in the spirit and make you want to dance around in your candy cane socks and red and green boxer shorts?

Oh, wait...I can't do that?  Ahem...my bad...erm...do tune in for song #12 on the countdown.  It features a couple of Christmas colours that AREN'T red or green!