It was the day after Christmas and I thought I’d check out the Billboard hit lists to find out what is happening in the U.S. of A. I remember that last year, I was surprised with the delightful news about the 17-year-old half-Filipino singer and songwriter Olivia Rodrigo and her first hit driver’s license.
Who knows? There might be another one of those talented Fil-Ams starting to make good this year. I was surprised alright. Not by another Olivia but by the incredible Christmas sounds invasion of the current hit charts.
A few pop acts like Adele, Lil Nas X and Ed Sheeran managed to hold on to slots in the week of Dec. 25 tally of the Hot 100. But most of the tunes in the Top 20 and the rest are Holiday recordings with Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas is You at No. 1. And take note that some of them are old recordings dating back to 50 or more years ago.
I see this as proof that a lot of people do get overly sentimental during Christmastime. They feel the need to hark back to happy Christmases in the past and the best way to do that is by listening to the old songs.
Then, thanks to streaming, all those recordings are now available online for everybody to enjoy. No need any more to go to the store and look for A Holly Jolly Christmas by Burl Ives, which is quite likely not on stock. It is out there, ready to be streamed again and again. And take note because all those sounds are in the ether, storage at home is not a problem.
Get a load of this list. I thought I’d put in the year when the recording was released to stress the remarkable ways technology is impacting the music industry:
All I Want for Christmas is You by Mariah Carey, 1994; Rocking Around the Christmas Tree by Brenda Lee, 1958; Easy on Me by Adele; Jingle Bell Rock by Bobby Helms, 1957; A Holly Jolly Christmas by Burl Ives, 1964; Stay by The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber; It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year by Andy Williams, 1963; Heat Wave by Glass Animals; Last Christmas by Wham!, 1984; Industry Baby by Lil Nas X featuring Jack Harlow.
Feliz Navidad by Jose Feliciano, 1970; Shivers by Ed Sheeran; Sleigh Ride by The Ronettes, 1948; Need to Know by Doja Cat; The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) by Nat King Cole, 1961; abcdefu by GAYLE; Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow by Dean Martin, 1959; Underneath the Tree by Kelly Clarkson, 2013; It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas by Perry Como and The Fontane Sisters, 1951; and Super Gremlin by Kodak Black.
It is no different in the Top 200 Albums list. Adele’s 30 leads the pack but the Holiday albums are still omnipresent. Topping all of them is Christmas by Michael Bublé, which means that this is the No. 1-selling Christmas album of the year. Last I heard it had already notched 16 million copies in global sales and four billion in streams.
And the Top 20 selling albums of the week of Dec. 25 are 30 by Adele; Fighting Demons by Juice WLRD; Red (Taylor’s Version) by Taylor Swift; Christmas by Michael Bublé; Sour by Olivia Rodrigo; Dangerous: The Double Album by Morgan Waller; Merry Christmas by Mariah Carey; A Charlie Brown Christmas by the Vince Guaraldi Trio; Certified Lover Boy by Drake; Hall of Fame by Polo G.
The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole; Planet Her by Doja Cat; Equals = by Ed Sheeran; A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector by Various Artists; The Highlights by The Weeknd; Happier Than Ever by Billie Eilish; The Best of Pentatonix Christmas by Pentatonix; The Andy Williams Christmas Album; From the Bayou by YoungBoy Never Broke Again and Birdman; and Christmas Classics by Bing Crosby.
Crosby’s Christmas Classics is a 2006 compilation of his Yuletide hits including White Christmas. Composed by the great Irving Berlin, the song was first recorded by Crosby in 1942 for the soundtrack of the movie Holiday Inn. It won Best Song at the 15th Academy Awards and is considered one of the greatest songs ever written.
The Crosby version is estimated to have already sold over 50 million physical copies. If the many other versions of the song would be included in the count, Frank Sinatra, Michael Bublé and others, then White Christmas has already sold over 100 million copies.