The 1970s was the decade of leisure suits, disco, and M*A*S*H*. It was also a decade like any other in that when December rolled around, people were uniformly preoccupied with the holidays, just as they are today.
Here’s our list of our favorite holiday tunes from that storied decade. It’s fun to hear holiday sentiments through the filter of that very groovy and polyester-obsessed era.
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1. ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’ – Slade (1973)
Slade is best known as the 70s glam rock band from England who wrote Quiet Riot’s best songs. Their sound and look are a little passé today, but the holiday single has sold over a million copies to date.
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2. ‘I Believe in Father Christmas’ – Greg Lake (1975)
Greg Lake was in two of the most famous and popular progressive rock bands of all time, King Crimson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. The single peaked at number two on the UK charts, but Lake wasn’t mad because the song holding him back from the top spot was “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which he rightly recognized as unbeatable.
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3. ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’ – John Lennon & Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band (1971)
In the later days of the Beatles, John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono were dedicated peace activists, and this release was part of that campaign. Today, it gets re-released every few years and is a mainstay of holiday radio programming.
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4. ‘Wonderful Christmastime’ – Paul McCartney (1979)
Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime” is more than a popular holiday song. In 2010, Forbes reported that Macca earned approximately $500,000 a year in royalties from this song alone.
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5. ‘Step Into Christmas’ – Elton John (1973)
Elton John is what one might call a “secular artist,” among many other things. However, that doesn’t mean he didn’t have as deft a touch with holiday music as with the regular pop stuff, as demonstrated by this tune.
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6. ‘Father Christmas’ – The Kinks (1977)
“Father Christmas” is not a heartwarming holiday song. Instead, it describes the sad fate of a department store Santa who gets beaten up by a bunch of juvenile delinquent punks. It even features distorted punk rock guitars to suit the crime!
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7. ‘Christmas Rappin” – Kurtis Blow (1979)
Veteran rapper Kurtis Blow didn’t release his debut album until 1980, but before that, he released “Christmas Rappin’,” making it just under the wire as a 1970s release. We don’t know if it’s the first-ever Christmas rap song, but it’s definitely among the first.
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8. ‘Feliz Navidad’ – José Feliciano (1970)
They sure did things differently in the 1970s – this song comes from the album of the same name, which was recorded between August and October of 1970 and released that November. So the next time your favorite artist goes ten years between albums, close your eyes and imagine what once was.
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9. ‘This Christmas’ – Donny Hathaway (1970)
Donny Hathaway co-wrote this song under the name “Donny Pitts.” In 2014, the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) said it was the 30th most-performed holiday song ever.
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10. ‘Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town’ – The Jackson 5 (1970)
“‘Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” has been recorded countless times by countless artists, But even though the song has been recorded by Mariah Carey, the Supremes, and even Old Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra, we’re going to give the “best version” award to the Jackson 5.
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11. ‘Winter Wonderland’ – Johnny Mathis (1971)
Like “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town,” “Winter Wonderland” has been recorded many, many, many times by many, many, many artists. And while that long list of interpreters includes such luminaries as Bing Crosby, Tony Bennett, and Tony Bennett yet again but with Lady Gaga, Mathis’ buttery croon takes the prize.
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12. ‘Please Come Home for Christmas’ – The Eagles (1978)
“Please Come Home for Christmas” was written in 1960 by blues musician Charles Brown. The Eagles recorded their version in 1978, but all the Christmas cheer in the world couldn’t stop them from breaking up after one more album.
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13. ‘Frosty the Snowman’ – The Partridge Family (1971)
In 1971, the television show “The Partridge Family” was less a sitcom and more of a multimedia juggernaut, as they released records that people would buy despite them not being an actual band. One of their quite popular albums, 1971’s “A Partridge Family Christmas Card,” contained this nugget among several others.
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14. ‘Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy’ – David Bowie and Bing Crosby (1977)
This may not be the most fantastic Christmas song ever recorded, but the pairing is undoubtedly the weirdest, and one wonders what the pitch meeting that set this in motion was like. If you didn’t know this pairing was a thing that happened, it’s all over YouTube, so go and enjoy.
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15. ‘A Christmas Song’ – Jethro Tull (1972)
Jethro Tull was always the progressive rock band most likely to turn up at a Renaissance Faire, with their propensity for flutes, lutes, and other 15th-century musical gear. Although recorded in 1968, “A Christmas Song” wasn’t widely released until 1972, when it was released on the “Living in the Past” compilation.
This article was produced and syndicated by MediaFeed.
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