The Christmas Playlist

Music is an essential part of creating the Christmas atmosphere but we realise that it's sometimes tricky to choose the right tracks to put on at the right time. We thought we'd share our pick of the best Christmas songs! 

There are three main times to prepare for:

EATING

CHILLING

PARTYING

EATING

Over the Christmas dinner you want some subtle music. Keep the volume down and choose something that isn't too fast otherwise you'll end up eating to the beat and demolish your turkey in no time!

Here you're just setting the atmosphere, not singing along, so this is a time to play those lesser known tunes.
Why don't you try these classics? 

- Kings College Choir

- Christmas Carols

CHILLING

Whilst the dinner is cooking, your opening presents or relaxing for a moment with a glass of wine, you want some music that will keep everyone upbeat and encourage a little sing along. Choose some recognisable songs like these:

The Christmas Song - Nat King Cole

Little Drummer Boy - Bing Crosby & David Bowie

White Christmas - Michael Buble

Driving Home For Christmas - Chris Rea

Do They Know It's Christmas - Band Aid (Original Version)

Fairytale of New York - The Pogues

Happy Christmas (War is Over) - John Lennon & Yoko Ono

Let It Snow - Frank Sinatra

Silent Night - Frank Sinatra

Walking In The Air - Aled Jones

I Believe In Father Christmas - Greg Lake

We also feel that the whole of Michael Buble's christmas album will work well for this time! 

PARTYING

For a proper Christmas or New Year party, you can't avoid the classic and cheesy tracks for getting people moving. Mix some old Christmas songs with new chart tracks to please everyone. Try these:

Stayin' Alive - Bee Gees 

Love Shack - B-52

Fireworks - Katy Perry

Prince Charming - Adam and the Ants

Tiger Feet - Mud

One Love - Bob Marley

Can't Get You Out Of My Head - Kylie Minogue

Here Comes the Rain - The Cult

Do You Think I'm Sexy - Rod Stewart

Dancing Queen - Abba

Shaft - Isaac Hayes

Sex Machine - James Brown

Jean Jeanie - David Bowie

Maggie May - Rod Stewart

Doom & Gloom - Rolling Stones

Nine Lives - ACDC

Give it 2 me - Madonna

Gangnam Style - PSY

Thriller - Michael Jackson

Alive - Pearl Jam

Time Warp - Rocky Horror

Into The Groove - Madonna

Superstylin' - Groove Armada

Tainted Love - Soft Cell

Praise You - Fatboy Slim

I'm Still Standing - Elton John

Night Fever - Bee Gees

Devil Gate Drive - Suzi Quatro

A Little Bit - Liberty X

Baby One More Time - Britney Spears

Bang A Gong - T Rex

Bad - Michael Jackson

Purchasing

It can be expensive to buy every track individually, so why not make a playlist on youtube or try Spotify? For £5 you can play anything you want/as long as you want without any adverts interrupting but you do need to be connected to the internet unless you want to pay a bit more. 

The Radio

Sometimes we forget about putting the radio on, but it's got some fantastic shows and on Christmas day there's normally back-to-back music. Why not take a minute to look at the radio listings before the family arrives? An obvious choice but it's not Christmas without a dog-eared copy of the Radio Times hanging around.