All I Want for Christmas...

...is a new, enjoyable, Christmas song to add to my Christmas playlist. Am I right in thinking that there hasn't been a new Christmas song in the "popular" cannon since Mariah's "All I Want for Christmas is You"? That isn't to say that there haven't been a few crackers (Christmas pun!) in the meantime - The Hives & Cyndi Lauper spring to mind - but that isn't something that my parents would play whilst I'm stuffing my face with overcooked turkey and grey sprouts.

Across the Christmas-celebrating world there are few signs of festive cheer a-troubling the charts, with Bruno Mars, Duck Sauce and Black Eyed Peas still dominating most of the key markets. There are a few Christmas themed tracks popping up here and there though. Maria Mena's Home for Christmas - which I wrote about here a few weeks back - is sitting at number two in Norway. It's dull, but it trumps "xxxmas", a novelty effort by New Zealand breakfast present Jay-Jay Feeney:



"Everytime she jingles, my ding-dong tingles" - awful. But even this trumps the novelty effort by Feeney's breakfast co-present, Dom Harvey. "Christmas Rapping" is at number 6:



What is it with novelty songs that forget to be funny?

Speaking of which, Sweden has weighed in with this:



Sean Banan is a Swedish singer and comedian, who has released both comedy and "sincere" records over a number of years. I genuinely don't know where Gott Nytt Jul, currently number two in Sweden, fits in. If there are any Swedish speakers out there, please feel free to let me know...

Also worth a mention is the current number one in Finland - a Christmas song by a power metal band for children (really!). It is Hirmuliskojen Pikkujoululevy by Hevisaurus, and it's amazing.



Sadly that is the paltry extent of the Christmas-themed hits across the globe this year. It seems we're all so happy with Slade and Sinatra that we really don't care about dragging our yuletide listening into this century. Oh well. At least somebody is brave enough to cover Abba:



Well that was disappointing. Astonishingly, that is number two in Spain, and its singer Amaia Montero has sold over 7 million records as solo artist and singer in the band La Oreja de Van Gogh. Crikey.

I'm off to listen to Darlene Love, Hello Saferide and The Waitresses.

Merry Christmas all.