Released under the pseudonym “The Three Wise Men”, this was actually XTC at their Beatle-y best. The band had put aside their herky-jerky New Wave beginnings and their misguided attempts at funk and started concentrating on the lessons they’d learned from their forefathers in the 1960s. Aside from some brilliant conventional work, they also produced this perfect little pop gem that revels in all things Christmas.
Yet another song from the Glam Year of 1973, “Merry Xmas Everybody” was Slade’s entry into the Christmas song sweepstakes. It’s interesting (well, to me anyway) to note that the three Glam bands represented on this list all took very different approaches. Wizzard’s song was a kitchen sink production, befitting the guy who formed the Electric Light Orchestra. Elton’s song was a straightforward, and very typical, single. The major difference between “Step Into Christmas” and any other Elton John single was the lyric. Slade was a somewhat different animal. While they wore the costume of Glam rock, they were more of a Jack-the-Lad band, and “Merry Xmas Everybody” is the song for a proper knees-up down at the local pub. It’s irreverent, loud, and tons of fun. The perfect song to go with a pint of wassail and a side of figgy pudding.
There must have been something the Glam Rock guys loved about Christmas. The same year that Wizzard gave us “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday” also saw Elton John, arguably the biggest rock star in the world at the time, step into Christmas music with this song. And just to make sure you know, Elton announces “Welcome to my Christmas song” before inviting you into the music to lose yourself in the holiday spirit. Here the lyrics are all about having a good time and partying with the band. I can’t imagine it took Bernie Taupin more than 20 minutes or so to write the words, but Elton was so hot at the time and so on top of his game that he managed to craft a joyful minor classic around the throwaway words. And in doing so, he created a Christmas rock song that’s now 40 years old and still going strong. To put that in perspective, “Step Into Christmas” is now older than “White Christmas” was when Elton first released this song. How long does a song have to be popular before you call it a standard?
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers added this festive gem to the Very Special Christmas series of charity albums. It’s got all of those Heartbreakers elements: chiming jangle guitars, bar-band punch, and a sense of humor (Petty ends the track by talking about what he wants for Christmas, including a “new Rickenbacker guitar”). But even if you took Christmas out of the equation, this would still be a pretty stomping track.
And so begins my countdown of the Ten Best Christmas Rock Songs. The criteria was simple: no standards covered by rock artists. All ten of these songs are original tunes from the rock era, and carry all of the hallmarks of that genre. I also wanted to avoid those pedantic “remember the poor” lectures, which eliminated a lot of possibilities.
Number ten on the list is from 1973, a banner year for rock Christmas songs. After The Move broke up, frontman and true rock eccentric Roy Wood formed the Electric Light Orchestra, but quickly moved on from that band to create Wizzard. As career moves go, it probably wasn’t a good idea. ELO became one of the biggest bands of the 1970s and Wizzard…well, they didn’t.
But Wizzard did give the world “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday”, a song that is so over-the-top it makes ELO look like Hall & Oates. Choirs of children, honking saxes, and the clear influence of Phil Spector’s Christmas album. Even better is the video, which borders on insane. But there’s also denying that it’s incredibly catchy and a great deal of fun.
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