If you are wondering why Kate Bush’s ‘December Could Be Magic Again’ is missing (either in standard, or rare ‘bongo version’ form) it’s because, as SDE understands it, the licensing request was refused. The CD of this compilation was released a year after the original album in 1986 - it is also very collectable. Claims Gazza: “(last year) was a really hard Christmas for so many because of the scenario we all found ourselves in. There’s even space for what I believe is a new-to-CD rarity in the 12-inch version of Band Aid’s ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’, although the compilers also include the standard version AS WELL, so there can be no complaining. million chart sales, and four of its tracks rank among the Top 40 most-streamed Christmas songs, led by It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas, with 126 million plays.

Now That’s What I Call Christmas – SuperDeluxeEdition Now That’s What I Call Christmas – SuperDeluxeEdition

A welcome addition to the Christmas canon this year comes from Norah Jones and her I Dream Of Christmas, of which she says the inspiration came from “listening to James Brown’s Funky Christmas and Elvis’s Christmas Album on Sundays during lockdown for a sense of comfort. It’s a bit of a surprise after 30 years into a pop career that Gary has only just got around to making a Christmas album. It’s hard to understand why Kate wouldn’t want her Christmas song on a Christmas compilation, but there you go.Nat King Cole’s Christmas legacy is secure already with his The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on An Open Fire), a song he first recorded in 1946 and which was massively successful in the pre-chart era. In and around those 70s/80s classics are old timers like Sinatra, Crosby, Martin, Williams, King Cole and ‘newbies’ such as Kelly Clarkson, Leona Lewis, Ed Sheeran, George Ezra and Alexandra Burke. An interesting curio as in the fact that Nat King Cole died in 1965, this new release sees him teaming up digitally with a handful of “collaborators” such as Gloria Estefan, John Legend, Kristin Chenoweth, Johnny Mathis and Calum Scott to duet on such classics as O Holy Night, A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square and Deck the Halls/Joy to the World.

Now! The Christmas Album (2000, CD) - Discogs Now! The Christmas Album (2000, CD) - Discogs

Various rerecordings have been a part of festivities ever since, and it’s been covered by numerous turns such as Frank Sinatra, Luther Vandross, Shawn Mendes and Ne-Yo, although Nat’s version has only charted as high as Number 51 as recently as 2020. No such messing around with Kelly Clarkson, as When Christmas Comes Around marks her second foray into the festive pop market following 2013’s Wrapped In Red.Seeing as the Official Singles Chart now becomes flooded with yule-themed bops of all vintages each Christmas, this year’s will be the most contemporary, most streamed and chart-busting album imaginable, as the combined figures of streams and sales for the likes of Wham! It’s very jazzy and jolly and jingly compared to his recent releases, and features guests such as Adam Lambert, Lainey Wilson and Evan Rachel Wood, and features his takes on the novelty I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas, Joni Mitchell’s River and the perennial Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas among others.

Now! Christmas (2002, CD) - Discogs Now! Christmas (2002, CD) - Discogs

Jamie Cullum’s festive offering The Pianoman At Christmas narrowly missed the Top 10 last year, and so he’s probably hoping to improve upon that this year with the release of a new expanded affair now subtitled The Complete Edition. It’s also not the first time digital trickery has been utilised with the star, as his daughter Natalie Cole has “duetted” with him on two collections – 1991’s Unforgettable and 2009’s Still Unforgettable. Leona Lewis’ 2013 evergreen One More Sleep is among the UK's most streamed Christmas songs, with just over 90 million streams so far, and counting.The Pogues, Chris Rea, Band Aid, Wizzard, Shakin’ Stevens, Chris Rea, Saint Etienne, Slade, Justin Bieber and more are truly eye-watering. It’s as gently jazzy, cosy and warming as you’d imagine from Norah, who has three Official Album Chart Number 1s to her name. While this is a very eclectic collection of Christmas tunes, the sound quality is absolutely horrible. He’s unleashed his first solo Christmas album, having been involved with three Glee Christmas releases in 2010, 2011 and 2012, and it comes with the very hohoho title of A Very Darren Crissmas.

NOW Christmas Album Reviews - AllMusic Various Artists - NOW Christmas Album Reviews - AllMusic

At first I thought maybe it was bad transfers of older material, but I have the original CD's of some of the 80's and 90's tracks and there is simply no comparison. While over in the UK, punters haven’t been too fussed about Wrapped In Red as a whole – preferring the single Underneath The Tree, which reached an Official Singles Chart high of Number 15 last year and clocking 84 million streams to date. A new version of the compilation, with a new track list and artwork inspired by the original, was released on 26 November 2016 on vinyl only. When Christmas Comes Around has a lot going for it, with a brace of originals such as Christmas Isn’t Canceled (Just You); duets with Ariana Grande on Santa, Can’t You Hear Me and with Chris Stapleton on Glow, Kelly has also reworked Wham!The new material sees him team up with jazz turns Lady Blackbird, Kansas Smitty’s and The Vernon Spring for further adventures in a winter wonderland with covers of Amazing Grace, Sleigh Ride and God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen for a very cool yule. Shakin’ Stevens, Greg Lake, The Beach Boys, Jona Lewie, Chris De Burgh, Mike Oldfield, David Essex, The Pogues ft. The new edition of Everyday Is Christmas adds two more new songs – Pin Drop and Santa Visits Everyone – as well as a 'Slowed Down and Snowed In' remix of Snowman. The album has since been superseded by subsequent two-disc and later three-disc releases in the 2000s. By comparison, UK acts had stuck primarily to Christmas singles, with only a few such as Cliff Richard or Elaine Paige going down the full-length route.