I must have missed that thread and now I feel a little stupid. Glad you are a fan of the Bing Bowie too. 
I’ve merged the two threads.
Frankie Goes to Hollywood-The Power of Love
T-Rex-Christmas Bop
Greg Lake-I Believe in Father Christmas
Immanuel-Put Christ in Christmas
Oh, and another for the Crosby/Bowie duet. What a combo!
Silent Night sung by Stevie Nicks (or by a chorus made up of kindergarten kids…bring on the hankies)
Happy Christmas (War is Over)- John Lennon
If we’re talking specific renditions, a few years ago in the grocery store I heard an absolutely amazing “The Holly and the Ivy”. It was a female vocalist, but beyond that, I’ven’t a clue who she was.
I thought it was a song about being stuck in California after breaking up with Graham Nash, but it mentions Christmas so a local station decided it’s a Christmas song. Good song. Just not festive.
bing crosby’s ‘white christmas’
nat king cole’s ‘three ships’
karen carpenter’s ‘merry christmas darling’
other than that, i prefer choir renditions
When it comes to Christmas tunes, I like 'em old school. Gimme traditional choral arrangements. No pop stars, no extra embellishments, no 40’s and 50’s crooners (as much as I love Bing Crosby’s voice).
I love this version of We Three Kings. It’s slow and plodding, which isn’t everyone’s cuppa, but I think it fits here. The bass melody at around the 3:20 mark made me gasp aloud, it was so beautiful.
Mediaeval Baebes’ version of Gaudete is quite good.
Coventry Carol is always very pretty. I think I’m noticing a theme, here.
Carol of the Bells. But it can ONLY be in this key. Don’t ask why, but for some reason I can’t stand to listen to it in any other key.
O Holy Night. This one I’m actually more forgiving with in terms of pop singers, in that I think it sounds best as a solo piece anyway. I’m quite partial to Josh Groban’s rendition, here.
And I actually do like Do You Hear What I Hear? which sort of contradicts my old-school requirement a bit, but it’s quite pretty.
I really dislike pop arrangements of traditional Christmas music. I have recordings of the Robert Shaw Chorale singing carols a capella and they are simply some of my favorite things in the world.
Every year I try to listen to the live broadcast of the Christmas Eve services at the Chapel of King’s College, Cambridge. I really like The Truth From Above, a Herefordshire folk carol in a beautifully harmonized arrangement by Ralph Vaughan Williams. I think they do use it every year, so I’d heard it a number of times. But it seems just recently I began to fully appreciate it and really love it, and last year it became the latest addition to my favorites.
On the popular side, I also really prefer arrangements of old songs that stay close to the style of the era they were written in, e.g., Silver Bells performed by Donny and Marie. And to those who don’t like that or the Osmonds, Merry Christmas just the same.
I absolutely love All I Want For Christmas is You but I also have a deep affection for Drummer Boy and even Feliz Navidad.
Trans_siberian Orchestra’s Chirstmas Eve/Sarajevo.
Awesome music with bonus kittens!
I have an Xmas Pandora station and the seeds are: Little Drummer Boy by Bing Crosby/David Bowie, White Christmas by Bing Crosby, River by James Taylor, Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer, Adeste Fideles by Nat King Cole, Merry Christmas From the Family by Robert Earl Keen, Mary’s Boy Child by Boney M, and Santa Will Find You by Mindy Smith. Thumbed up tracks are North Pole Man by Over the Rhine, It’s Christmas by Victoria Vox, Ding Dong Merrily by An. Hamilton, and Baby It’s Cold Outside by Leon Redbone and Zooey Deschanel.
Then there’s always the Jingle Bells Santa Club Mix.
I really like Linda Eder’s version of The Bells of St. Paul’s.
“I’ll Be Home for Christmas” With so many family members in the military, this became our national anthem.
Judy Garland’s “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”
And all the others.
I love Christmas music.
Went to the link…just, wow.
Bert Jansch’s version of In The Bleak Midwinter is superlative.
[QUOTE=Levolor the Blind;14486228[Merry Christmas from the Family]
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P37xPiRz1sg)
[/QUOTE]
Don’t forget the sequel Happy Holidays Ya’ll
I want a hippopotamus for christmas has a lot of childhood nostalgia behind it. (The town mascot where I used to live is a hippo.)
Somebody mentioned the Irish Rover’s xmas album ‘It Was a Night Like This’. Here’s one of the songs off the album I’ve always loved http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfbZQ0-NL0Y