PPL Reveal the Most Played Christmas Songs of the Decade
Music licensing company, PPL, has revealed the most played Christmas songs of the past decade. The list has been compiled based on tracks played in shops, radio airplay, television, international performance and live music to establish the most popular festive-themed singles. Mariah Carey’s 'All I Want For Christmas Is You', released in 1994 has taken the top spot with 'Last Christmas' by Wham at number two.
The 80s have proved to be the most successfully festive decade, with eight of the top twenty tracks coming from that period. The oldest recording; White Christmas by Bing Crosby from 1942 is at number nine, and the original Band Aid’s famous ‘Do They Know Its Christmas?’ also features in the top ten.
"At Christmas we embrace tradition and music is a very powerful and engaging way to enforce that feeling" said Jonathan Morrish, spokesperson for PPL. "Christmas without Christmas music would be unimaginable!!"
The word ‘Christmas’ appears eleven times in the twenty titles with its shortened version
‘Xmas’ appearing twice. The complete list is as follows:
1 ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU - MARIAH CAREY
2 LAST CHRISTMAS - WHAM
3 FAIRYTALE OF NEW YORK - THE POGUES
4 MERRY XMAS EVERYBODY - SLADE
5 I WISH IT COULD BE CHRISTMAS EVERYDAY - WIZZARD
6 DO THEY KNOW IT'S CHRISTMAS? - BAND AID
7 DRIVING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS - CHRIS REA
8 STOP THE CAVALRY - JONA LEWIE
9 WHITE CHRISTMAS - BING CROSBY
10 LET IT SNOW! LET IT SNOW! LET IT SNOW! - DEAN MARTIN
11 I BELIEVE IN FATHER CHRISTMAS - GREG LAKE
12 WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS TIME - PAUL MCCARTNEY
13 MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE - SHAKIN' STEVENS
14 STEP INTO CHRISTMAS - ELTON JOHN
15 THE POWER OF LOVE - FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD
16 HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER) - JOHN AND YOKO
17 ROCKIN' AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE - BRENDA LEE
18 WINTER WONDERLAND - DARLENE LOVE
19 STAY ANOTHER DAY - EAST 17
20 2000 MILES - THE PRETENDERS