British Christmas Hit Singles and Carols - A Brief History

This book is all about the Christmas recordings that made it in the British Singles Chart, since it began in 1952.  I start with the number 1 hits and move on to the recordings that made it into the charts but did not quite reach that coveted number 1 spot.  If they were in the top 10 they were considered hits, but there were some that did not do well in the charts, at the time, but are now considered Christmas classics, standards and evergreens!  There are the ones with a serious Christmas or religious message, the ‘protest’ songs, charity records and the novelty records that could only really be released around Christmas time!  At the end, I have included some background information about the Christmas carols, some of which date back to the 16th Century, that are an essential musical part of all our Christmases.