Those who know me will be surprised that I picked this song as the Christmas Song of the Day. My main problem with it is simply that it's not really about Christmas. It's about something that happens at Christmas, but is really unrelated. Like Die Hard. There was also a lawsuit when it was initially released, with charges of plagiarism (from the Barry Manilow song "Can't Smile Without You"). Still, it remains one of the most popular Christmas songs, year in and year out, since it was originally released almost thirty years ago. It's also quickly becoming one of the most covered Christmas songs of all time, with versions by artists as diverse as Taylor Swift, Jimmy Eat World, Florence and the Machine, Carole King and the cast of "GLEE". Here's the original video from 1984, Wham with "Last Christmas"...
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The Everly Brothers gave us a Christmas album in the early 1960's, but today's video is much more recent. Here's Phil Everly, from about a month ago, with a solo take on "Silent Night"! Happy Birthday, Phil! As far as I know, there's no actual video of this song being performed, so here's a fan-made video of the Sounds of Christmas' number one song for 2012 - Otis Redding with "White Christmas"! It's hard to believe now that Elvis caused so much controversy with his Christmas album when it was released over fifty years ago. In fact, Irving Berlin actually tried to have Elvis' album banned from radio airplay, and there is at least one known incident of a disc jockey actually being fired for playing Elvis' "White Christmas". Since many of us are thinking about the King today, here he is from his '68 Comeback special, with a double-dose of Christmas favorites! Not sure why, but Slade has been one of those bands that was huge in the U.K., but just didn't really make it in the U.S. They scored a couple significant hits in the U.S. in the 80's, but most people here don't realize that they had a string of number one hits in the U.K. in the 70's, including the original versions of "Cum On Feel The Noize" and "Mama Weer All Crazee Now". Their song "Merry Xmas Everybody" was number one for nine weeks in 1973! It's always been one of my favorites, and this year it has the distinction of being the last song played on this season of the Sounds of Christmas! Most know Dave Stewart as half of the Eurythmics, though that's really just the tip of the iceberg. He's also produced and co-written songs with Stevie Nicks, Tom Petty, Bono, Sinead O’Connor, Mick Jagger, Katy Perry and Jon Bon Jovi (just to name a few). Christmas music-wise, the Eurythmics' version of "Winter Wonderland" is still one of the most played Christmas songs on the radio. A couple years ago, Dave recorded a Christmas album as a gift for family and friends. He generously allowed me to put his version of "White Christmas" on my label's second compilation. Not sure how long this will be up, but this year, for Christmas, Dave has posted the album for streaming (and he encourages sharing it, too)! So instead of just one song of the day today, click the picture and you can listen to Dave Stewart's entire "Cocktail Christmas"! 
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