15. Little Drummer Boy

Another classic to be honoured with an animated short film by the same name is Little Drummer Boy. The song first came to prominence with the Harry Simeone Chorale in 1958, but the real recording to be treasured is 1977's David Bowie and Bing Crosby’s Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy. Watch this clip from Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas TV special to see and hear why.

Written by: Katherine K. Davis, Henry Onorati, Harry Simeone

14. Jingle Bell Rock by Bobby Helms

Credit where credit’s due for Bobby Helms’s 1957 original rockabilly version of Jingle Bell Rock. It’s great. But anyone who’s seen Mean Girls will know that the only way to enjoy the song fully is to have Lindsay Lohan and three scantily clad Santa’s helpers dancing along to it. See? OK, maybe not. Listen to Arcade Fire’s take instead.

Written by: Joe Beal and Jim Boothe

13. Driving Home For Christmas by Chris Rea

On its first release in 1988, Driving Home For Christmas barely dented the UK chart at number 53, only to slightly better itself 19 years later in 2007 with a re-entry at 33. Despite this, no Christmas compilation worth its weight in salt grit should be without Chris Rea’s classic, which cunningly turns something as monotonous as “driving home” through “top-to-toe tail-lights” into a magical quest to “see those faces”. Ahhhh, bless.

Written by: Chris Rea

12. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

First uttered by Judy Garland in 1944’s romantic tear-jerker Meet Me In St. Louis, before being modified, re-recorded and brought to prominence by Frank Sinatra in 1947. And then again and again by a few hundred more would-be crooners including Mel Torme, whose version soundtracks everybody’s favourite Macaulay Culkin movie - scratch that, everybody’s favourite Christmas movie - Home Alone.

Written by: Hugh Martin, Ralph Blane

11. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)

Apparently the ‘most-performed Christmas song of all time’ was written on a blistering hot summer day in an effort to “stay cool by thinking cool”. First released in 1946 by The King Cole Trio and covered by just about everyone from Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra to Christina Aguilera and ‘N Sync. Most-performed indeed.

Written by: Mel Tormé, Bob Wells