And the bells were ringing out for Christmas Day!

Today is Christmas Eve, and in the All You Need Is The Beatles universe, that means one thing – that it’s time for the annual AYNITB Christmas post!

Longtime readers might recall that last year, I wrote of how I wished for a “cold and calm” Christmas, a slight contrast to what I’m used to. I must have been ‘nice’ over the past twelve months, then, because said wish has been well and truly granted! I’ve spent the past couple of weeks on holiday, travelling around the UK – an incredible experience that I’ll detail in a proper post once I’m home – and consequently, I’m feeling more Christmassy right now than I have since I was a little kid! The temperatures have been pleasingly chilly, and the malls have, surprisingly, been decidedly less hectic than those back home (a pleasant surprise indeed!). It’s also been simultaneously both weird and fascinating to see that all the decidedly Northern-Hemishere-orientated Christmas iconography (the ugly jumpers, the ice-skating, the genuine possibilty of snow) that seem like nothing more than urban myths to me are actually real – I even saw some squirrels and robins while wandering around Hyde Park one frosty morning! – and that the traditions that, as much as we love them, we have inexplicably inherited from this side of the world (the large amounts of hot food, the fur-lined Santa costumes, the use of Wintry plants as decorations) feel a little more appropriate in the context of the cooler climes… My UK Christmas has even been an improvement on Australia from a musical perspective, with most of the shopping complexes I’ve visited seemingly opting for playlists of the Slade/Pogues/John Lennon route, as opposed to the “Kenny G Plays The Hits of Christmas” one of back home! It’s just like the movies!

And so, to celebrate my newfound investment in The Christmas Spirit – and AYNITB tradition – here are a few of the Christmas tracks I’ve been enjoying most this year. Be sure to let me know what yours have been this year, too!

‘Little Drummer Boy/Peace On Earth’ – David Bowie/Bing Crosby

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=n9kfdEyV3RQ
‘Jesus Christ’ – Big Star
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KIO3KvvgCqA
‘Merry Christmas Everyone’ – Slade

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0A8KT365wlA
‘Fairytale of New York’ – the Pogues and Kristy McColl

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=j9jbdgZidu8
‘I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day’ – Wizzard

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=r89CjMZDQpQ
‘Christmas Bop’ – T.Rex

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IOpNUK1EHYA
‘Merry Christmas (I Don’t Wanna Fight Tonight)’ – Ramones

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tN2NNwZ1op8
‘Father Christmas’ – Kinks

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ni04_SF-HRQ
‘White Christmas’ – Iggy Pop

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox66JIqDdbM
‘Winter Wonderland’ – Cocteau Twins

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0UQMZ3DddgM
‘Christmas Wrapping’ – The Waitresses

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2SzjDOk_u9I
‘Just Like Christmas’ – Low

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IippcraBPKA
‘(It’s Gonna Be) A Punk Rock Christmas’ – The Ravers

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ec0TMObz2zM
‘Frosty The Snowman’ – The Ronettes

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=76sh1BWCQSc
‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’ – John + Yoko, the Plastic Ono Band and the Harlem Community Choir

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=z8Vfp48laS8
And for the 26th: ‘Boxing Day Blues Revisited’ – Courtney Barnett

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1Bvs-lM4F7E
And so, wishing you all a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year! Thank you for reading, ‘liking’ and especially for leaving your comments (always a joy to read!) on here over the course of this past year – here’s to a new year of blogging in 2017!

And so, to sign off on another year, here’s Bowie giving a Christmas message while impersonating Elvis on This Is Radio Clash in 2013. Merry Christmas!!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=o5TC_HYaVMk