A look back at our Holiday Tunes series from last year. Here are the top five Christmas songs with the most versions that have hit the charts between 1920 and 2000:
5. The Hit: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
The Songwriter: Robert L. May / Johnny Marks
The Version: Gene Autry, #1 in 1949
Number of charted versions: 10 – including Gene Autry, Bing Crosby, Spike Jones, Paul Anka, The Chipmunks
Behind the Tinsel Tune: The story of Rudolph (the names ‘Rollo’ and ‘Reginald’ were also considered – can you imagine!) first appeared in a booklet written by Robert L. May in ‘39 as an assignment for Montgomery Ward.
Juke Box Jury: May’s brother-in-law Johnny Marks (who also wrote ‘Run Rudolph Run’ and ‘Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree’) adapted Rudolph’s story into the song that we all know and cherish. It was recorded in 1949 by Gene Autry and sold more than 2.5 million copies in the first year. By the ’70s, sales reached more than 110 million. Autry’s recording was named by RIAA and NEA as one of its Songs of the Century.
Lasting Legacy: Rudolph made his debut on the small screen with a stop motion animated special on NBC in ‘64. It also spawned an animated movie, comic books, and an endless amount of merchandise. The lyric “All of the other reindeer” is commonly misheard as “Olive, the other reindeer”. And so, a popular book series and tv special was born from this mishearing.
4. The Hit: ‘The Christmas Song’ – commonly subtitled ‘Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire’, 1944
The Songwriters: Mel Tormé and Robert Wells
The Version: Natalie Cole (daughter of Nat King Cole), #22 on the charts in 1991
Number of charted versions: 11 - including Nat King Cole, Les Brown, James Brown, Herb Alpert, Natalie Cole
Behind the Tinsel Tune: It all started on a hot California day, when “The Velvet Fog” aka Mel Tormé was at the home of Robert Wells and saw “a spiral pad on his piano with four lines written in pencil. They started, ‘Chestnuts roasting…Jack Frost nipping…Yuletide carols…Folks dressed up like Eskimos’. What Wells wrote as an attempt to immerse himself in winter, to cool off, Mel saw as great song lyrics. They wrote the song in an astounding 40 minutes! The song was first recorded by the Nat King Cole trio in 1946, but the definitive version is the 1961 stereophonic recording with the orchestra conducted by Ralph Carmichael.
Juke Box Jury: Cole’s recording charted five times between ‘46 and ‘54. The 1946 recording was honoured when it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1974.
Lasting Legacy: ‘The Christmas Song’ has become a perennial Yuletide classic – that smooth opening line “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire…” instantly drums up memories of the season. It has been covered by dozens of artists, from Ella Fitzgerald to Ray Charles to Christina Aguilera.
3. The Hit: Little Drummer Boy
The Songwriter: Katherine K. Davis
The Version: Lou Rawls, peaked at #2 on Billboard’s Christmas singles chart in 1967
Number of charted versions: 13 – including Harry Simeone Chorale, Johnny Mathis, Joan Baez, Lou Rawls, Ru Paul
Behind the Tinsel Tune: ‘Little Drummer Boy’, also known as ‘Carol of the Drum’, tells the tale of a poor boy who makes his way to the manger but has nothing to offer except for his music. The song was written in 1941 by Katherine K. Davis but was reworked in 1958 with Harry Simeone, who arranged it.
Juke Box Jury: Harry Simeone’s recording peaked #13 on the Billboard charts in 1958. It continued to score on the charts from ‘58 to ‘62.
Lasting Legacy: ‘Little Drummer Boy’ has become standard Christmas repertoire – with over 150 versions and worldwide sales of 25 million. Rankin-Bass produced a stop motion animated tv special in ‘68 based on Davis’ tale.
2. The Hit: ‘Jingle Bells’, 1857
The Songwriter: James Lord Pierpont
The Version: Edison Male Quartette
Number of charted versions: 13 – including Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Les Paul, Ramsey Lewis, Singing Dogs.
Behind the Tinsel Tune: Despite the “dashing through the snow” imagery, ‘Jingle Bell’s, or as it was originally titled, ‘One Horse Open Sleigh’, was actually written and sung for Thanksgiving way back in 1857. The song became popular thanks to the American caroling movement that swept the nation in the 1870s and 80s. In 1889, banjoist Will Lyle recorded the sleigh song, the very first Christmas record. No known copies of the record survive but an early recording does exist on Edison brown wax cylinder entitled, ‘Sleigh Ride Party’ by the Edison Male Quartette in 1898.
Juke Box Jury: Became a hit during the Depression. Benny Goodman and His Orchestra recorded an instrumental swing version and it was the biggest Christmas hit of the year. In ‘41, Glen Miller and his Orchestra hit #5 on the charts when he recut it. During WWII, Bing Crosby put his mark on the song with the Andrews Sisters. Les Paul also had a #10 hit with a multi-tracked version on guitar.
Lasting Legacy: ‘Jingle Bells’ has become a Christmas standard, no doubt about it. From being broadcast in outer space in ‘65 (the first song to have that honour!) to an adorable rendition sung by the animals of YouTube – ‘Jingle Bells’ is everywhere!
1. The Hit: ‘White Christmas’, 1941
The Songwriter: Irving Berlin
The Version: The Drifters, #2 on the R&B charts in 1955
Number of charted versions: 18 – including Sinatra, Andy Williams, Otis Redding, Michael Bolton and Bette Midler
Behind The Tinsel Tune: It is no surprise that the biggest selling single of all time worldwide was written by one of the most important Amercian popular songwriters, the one and only Irving Berlin. The song was first featured in Holiday Inn, featuring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire.
Juke Box Jury: The song’s nostalgic lyrics reminisce about home (”where the treetops glisten”) – and peace and goodwill (”may your days be merry and bright”). The dreamy lyrics turned the song into a war time ballad for WWII soldiers, providing hope in a bleak circumstance (”I’m dreaming of a white Christmas just like the ones I used to know”).
Lasting Legacy: The Guinness Book of World Records has determined that ‘White Christmas’ is the best-selling single of all time, all versions selling an estimate 100 million copies (Elton John’s ‘Candle In the Wind’ holds the record for best-selling single since charts began, since ‘White Christmas’ was released before the first pop charts). The Drifters’ version (below) isn’t as well known as Bing’s, but it has gained popularity in the past few years, in part thanks to a very memorable scene in Home Alone.
From his days as a choir boy in Ottawa to becoming one of the biggest teen idols of the 1950s, 
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