As I write this, it is the afternoon of Christmas Day, one that we have had to endure, many of us with loved ones not being able to join in, and if so, remotely. But once again, after one request to do my annual holiday song countdown for the eleventh year in a row, I bit the bullet and posted my (and others) favorite Christmas songs.
As with the past few years, I had posted a handful of songs that landed between #41 and #100, then counted down the top 40, hitting number one early on Christmas Eve. But unlike past years, the reception was rather lukewarm about this, understandably so, given the current world crisis with COVID-19.
My Christmas/Holiday Top 100 I had compiled for the first time in 1999, then updated it ten years later. Then in 2010 I started posting the songs here on Facebook. Below is my current listing. Keep in mind that this list was compiled around Thanksgiving, thus it does not include any actions/reactions or new holiday songs that were added to my blog playlist after that date. Taking into consideration were friends' reactions to the songs and whether they were posted or not. Sadly, one of my good friends who posted a lot of those songs, Paul Hibbitt, passed away in January, and his posts were very much missed by me and other close friends.
Seventeen new songs were added to my SNS 100 playlist the last several weeks, but since they were after the advent of the new list, only one of them---"Holiday Dreaming" by Molly Burch, made the countdown, just making it in at #97. Other songs, such as the Bryan Hansen Band featuring Kim Boyko's awesome remake of the still-#1 "Christmas Wrapping", with pandemic-related lyrics, weren't available commercially, but it, if anything else, helped to justify the top-ranked Waitresses classic.
The list this year was rather stagnant, with the only other new song on the list was a 49-year old song, "River" by Joni Mitchell, from her 1971 album Blue. It joins the cover by Sarah McLachlan on the list. Two other songs return to the countdown this year: James Taylor's "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" inches back on the list from 101 to 99, and Coldplay's "Christmas Lights", a 2010 song that appeared on the Adult Contemporary chart this season. That song originally peaked at #74 during the 2014 holiday season.
As for friends reaction to the songs. It was pretty much a non-event. While last year some of the songs elicited strong negative reactions (most notably Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime" and Ray Conniff's "The Twelve Days of Christmas", there weren't any real reactions this year. Well, except for Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You, with the popular meme regarding cars making bad noises, with the mechanic finding the problem: There's a Mariah Carey CD in the player. I had to laugh at that one. As for the "critics" of last year's aforementioned songs, they as well as several others didn't participate this year, and will most likely lead to canceling the countdown for next year.
Having said that, only three songs got as little as two likes: U2's "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home", Katy Perry's "Cozy Little Christmas" (which was an improvement over the one like she got last year) and Darlene Love's "Winter Wonderland'.
No song broke the 30-like barrier, but the Carpenters' "Merry Christmas Darling" came close, leading all songs with 29. Right behind was Joni Mitchell's "River" with 28. Others in the twenty-like club include Bobby Helms' 'Jingle Bell Rock"; Stevie Nicks' "Silent Night"; Perry Como's "Home For the Holidays"; Andy Williams' "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year"; The Royal Guardsmen's "Snoopy's Christmas", and Bing Crosby & David Bowie's "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy".
Here is this year's Holiday Top 100:
Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves Holiday 100 Playlist
|
This Week |
Last
Week |
ARTIST-Title |
Year
Released |
|
1 |
1 |
NUMBER ONE:  Album: A Christmas Record (14 Years at #1) |
1981 |
|
2 |
4 |
1963 |
|
|
3 |
2 |
Bing
Crosby & David Bowie - Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy |
1977 |
|
4 |
3 |
1942 |
|
|
5 |
5 |
1967 |
|
|
6 |
6 |
1959 |
|
|
7 |
7 |
1960 |
|
|
8 |
9 |
1950 |
|
|
9 |
8 |
1963 |
|
|
10 |
11 |
1987 |
|
|
11 |
14 |
1994 |
|
|
12 |
12 |
1953 |
|
|
13 |
13 |
1973 |
|
|
14 |
26 |
TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE SEASON:  (Single Only) |
2018 |
|
15 |
15 |
1992 |
|
|
16 |
10 |
1975 |
|
|
17 |
18 |
1996 |
|
|
18 |
17 |
2013 |
|
|
19 |
22 |
1970 |
|
|
20 |
27 |
1980 |
|
|
21 |
16 |
1971 |
|
|
22 |
23 |
1989 |
|
|
23 |
19 |
1954 |
|
|
24 |
25 |
Vince
Vance & the Valients - All I Want for Christmas Is You |
1989 |
|
25 |
21 |
1979 |
|
|
26 |
24 |
1970 |
|
|
27 |
29 |
2013 |
|
|
28 |
20 |
1962 |
|
|
29 |
30 |
Gwen
Stefani f Blake Shelton - You Make It Feel Like Christmas |
2017 |
|
30 |
28 |
1963 |
|
|
31 |
40 |
1958 |
|
|
32 |
41 |
2013 |
|
|
33 |
31 |
2004 |
|
|
34 |
32 |
1970 |
|
|
35 |
35 |
1963 |
|
|
36 |
86 |
MOVER OF THE SEASON:  Album: Everyday is Christmas |
2018 |
|
37 |
34 |
1973 |
|
|
38 |
43 |
1984 |
|
|
39 |
42 |
1987 |
|
|
40 |
48 |
1987 |
|
|
41 |
36 |
1965 |
|
|
42 |
33 |
1992 |
|
|
43 |
37 |
2004 |
|
|
44 |
62 |
1996 |
|
|
45 |
45 |
1963 |
|
|
46 |
50 |
1998 |
|
|
47 |
39 |
1963 |
|
|
48 |
55 |
2015 |
|
|
49 |
61 |
1984 |
|
|
50 |
46 |
1953 |
|
|
51 |
63 |
2008 |
|
|
52 |
44 |
1951 |
|
|
53 |
49 |
1987 |
|
|
54 |
52 |
1992 |
|
|
55 |
59 |
1993 |
|
|
56 |
38 |
1963 |
|
|
57 |
75 |
2011 |
|
|
58 |
47 |
1983 |
|
|
59 |
60 |
1983 |
|
|
60 |
54 |
1960 |
|
|
61 |
51 |
1957 |
|
|
62 |
53 |
1984 |
|
|
63 |
78 |
2003 |
|
|
64 |
58 |
1963 |
|
|
65 |
65 |
1984 |
|
|
66 |
66 |
1949 |
|
|
67 |
73 |
2006 |
|
|
68 |
57 |
2004 |
|
|
69 |
67 |
2012 |
|
|
70 |
70 |
1957 |
|
|
71 |
77 |
1963 |
|
|
72 |
64 |
1987 |
|
|
73 |
71 |
1963 |
|
|
74 |
76 |
1978 |
|
|
75 |
68 |
1987 |
|
|
76 |
72 |
2010 |
|
|
77 |
81 |
1959 |
|
|
78 |
56 |
1965 |
|
|
79 |
74 |
1966 |
|
|
80 |
79 |
1975 |
|
|
81 |
82 |
1977 |
|
|
82 |
97 |
2017 |
|
|
83 |
69 |
1957 |
|
|
84 |
83 |
1979 |
|
|
85 |
90 |
2013 |
|
|
86 |
94 |
2000 |
|
|
87 |
84 |
1957 |
|
|
88 |
93 |
1981 |
|
|
89 |
80 |
1963 |
|
|
90 |
89 |
1992 |
|
|
91 |
98 |
2012 |
|
|
92 |
114 |
2010 |
|
|
93 |
85 |
1954 |
|
|
94 |
88 |
1965 |
|
|
95 |
95 |
2009 |
|
|
96 |
99 |
1958 |
|
|
97 |
---- |
TOP DEBUT:  Album: The Molly Burch Christmas Album |
2019 |
|
98 |
96 |
1965 |
|
|
99 |
101 |
2001 |
|
|
100 |
117 |
1971 |
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