Happy Xmas (War Is Over) (1971) - John Lennon & Yoko Ono

"Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" is a Christmas song with lyrics by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, released in 1971 as a single by John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir. The lyrics are set to the traditional English ballad "Skewball". It was the seventh single release by Lennon outside of his work with the Beatles. The song reached number 4 in the UK, where its release was delayed until November 1972, and has periodically reemerged on the UK Singles Chart, most notably after Lennon's death in 1980, at which point it peaked at number 2. Also a protest song against the Vietnam War, "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" has since become a Christmas standard, frequently covered by other artists, appearing on compilation albums of seasonal music, and named in polls as a holiday favourite

Apple Records released "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" and "Listen, the Snow Is Falling" in America on 1 December 1971 (Apple 1842). Issued in 7" single format on transparent green vinyl with a card-stock picture sleeve, the pressing bore two label variations, one of which displayed a sequence of five images that showed Lennon's face transforming into Ono's. This sequence was originally featured on the reverse cover of the exhibition catalogue for Ono's career retrospective This Is Not Here, presented in October 1971 at the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, New York. 

A dispute between music publisher Northern Songs and Lennon over publishing rights delayed the release of "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" in the UK until 24 November 1972 (Apple R 5870).  The initial British run was issued in 7" single format on opaque green vinyl with the picture sleeve and variant label, but it sold out quickly and had to be repressed on standard black vinyl. 

The song's first album appearance was on Shaved Fish, the only compilation of Lennon's solo recordings released during his lifetime. "Happy Xmas" was coupled there with part of a live version of "Give Peace a Chance", performed as the finale of Lennon and Ono's One to One benefit concert on 30 August 1972. Designed by Roy Kohara, the album cover is composed of illustrations by Michael Bryan representing each song on the album; for "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)", the image shows an aeroplane dropping a Christmas ornament instead of a bomb.

Over the years, "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" has been reissued in a number of single formats by Capitol, Geffen and Parlophone/EMI, most often to promote the release of albums collecting both Lennon's and Ono's work. It is also regularly found on compilations of Christmas songs, notably those from the Now That's What I Call Music! series.[citation needed]

A rough mix produced during the first recording session on 28 October 1971 was included on the second disc of the John Lennon Anthology (1998), where it is titled "Happy Xmas

Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1949) - Gene Autry

Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is a song written by Johnny Marks based on the 1939 story Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer published by the Montgomery Ward Company.

n 1939 Marks' brother-in-law, Robert L. May, created the character Rudolph as an assignment for Montgomery Ward, and Marks decided to adapt the story of Rudolph into a song. Marks (1909–1985) was a radio producer who also wrote several other popular Christmas songs.

The song had an added introduction, paraphrasing the poem "A Visit from Saint Nicholas" (public domain by the time the song was written), stating the names of the eight reindeer which went:

"You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen,

Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen,

But do you recall

The most famous reindeer of all?"

The song was sung commercially by crooner Harry Brannon on New York City radio in early November 1949,[citation needed] before Gene Autry's recording hit No. 1 in the U.S. charts the week of Christmas 1949. Autry's version of the song also holds the distinction of being the only chart-topping hit to fall completely off the chart after reaching No. 1. The official date of its No. 1 status was for the week ending January 7, 1950, making it the first No. 1 song of the 1950s. 

The song was also performed on the December 6, 1949, Fibber McGee and Molly radio broadcast by Teeny (Marion Jordan's little girl character) and The Kingsmen vocal group. The lyrics varied greatly from the Autry version.[citation needed]

Autry's recording sold 1.75 million copies its first Christmas season, eventually selling a total of 12.5 million. Cover versions included, sales exceed 150 million copies, second only to Bing Crosby's "White Christmas". 

Current owner of copyrights is Kobalt Music Group

1950: The song was recorded by Bing Crosby on June 22, 1950. His version reached No. 6 on Billboard magazine's Best Selling Children's Records chart and No. 14 on Billboard's pop singles chart that year. 

1950: Spike Jones and his City Slickers released a version of the song that peaked at No. 7 on Billboard magazine's pop singles chart and No. 8 on Billboard's Best Selling Children's Records chart. 

1951: Red Foley and The Little Foleys released a version of the song that peaked at No. 8 on Billboard magazine's Best Selling Children's Records chart.

1953: Billy May recorded a mambo version of the song titled "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Mambo" with vocals by Alvin Stoller.

1957: The Cadillacs released a doo-wop version of the song that peaked at No. 11 on Billboard magazine's Rhythm & Blues Records chart. 

1959: Dean Martin recorded the song for his album, A Winter Romance.

1959: Ray Conniff recorded the song for his album, Christmas with Conniff, which was designed as a presentation for dancing.

1960: Alvin and the Chipmunks recorded a popular cover for their album Around the World with The Chipmunks. They would record the song again for their 1961 album Christmas with The Chipmunks and their 1994 album A Very Merry Chipmunk as a duet with Gene Autry.

1960: Ella Fitzgerald recorded the song for her album, Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas.

1960: The Melodeers released a doo-wop version of the song that peaked at No. 72 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 singles chart. 

1960: Paul Anka released a version of the song that peaked at No. 104 on Billboard magazine's Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart. 

1963: The Crystals recorded the song for the rock 'n' roll holiday album A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records, which was produced by Phil Spector.

1964: Ernest Tubb recorded a country version on his LP Blue Christmas.

1964: Burl Ives recorded the song for the soundtrack of the holiday TV special, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The soundtrack album containing Ives' version reached No. 142 on the Billboard 200 albums sales chart.  He would re-record the song the following year for his holiday album Have a Holly Jolly Christmas.

1965: The Supremes recorded the song for their holiday album, Merry Christmas.

1968: The Temptations released a version of the song that peaked at No. 12 on Billboard magazine's special, year-end, weekly Christmas Singles chart (this same version later got as high as No. 3 on the same chart in December 1971).  Their version of the song was also included on the group's 1970 Christmas album, The Temptations Christmas Card.

1970: The Jackson 5 recorded the song for their holiday album, The Jackson 5 Christmas Album.

1977: Filipino singer Rico J. Puno covered the song for his holiday album, Christmas.

1979: Paul McCartney recorded an instrumental version of the song under the title Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reggae. It was released as the B-side of his first Christmas hit, Wonderful Christmastime.

1982: Merle Haggard recorded the song for his holiday album, Goin' Home for Christmas.

1985: Ray Charles recorded the song for his holiday album The Spirit of Christmas.

1985: Corey Hart performed the song live at a concert held at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada in August 1985. The special collector's edition clear red vinyl 45-rpm single was released in October of that year.

1987: The California Raisins did a rendition of the song (largely based on The Temptations' 1968 version) for Will Vinton's A Claymation Christmas Celebration.

1989: The Simpsons performed the song during the end credits of their series' pilot episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire".

1990: Dolly Parton recorded the song for her holiday album, Home for Christmas.

1995: Mannheim Steamroller produced a techno-like synth-driven arrangement on their album Christmas in the Aire.

1996: Alan Jackson released a version of the song that peaked at No. 56 on Billboard magazine's Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. 

1996: The Wiggles recorded this song for their album, Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas. A year later, they sang it on their video, Wiggly Wiggly Christmas.

1996: Peach Hips, a group consisting of Kotono Mitsuishi, Aya Hisakawa, Rica Fukami, Emi Shinohara and Michie Tomizawa covered this song for a Christmas album coinciding with the fifth season of Sailor Moon.

1997: RuPaul recorded a version of the song with altered lyrics for the album Ho, Ho, Ho.

1998: Babyface recorded the song for his holiday album, Christmas with Babyface.

1998: Randy Travis performed the song during the opening titles of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie.

1999: Jewel recorded the song for her holiday album, Joy: A Holiday Collection.

1999: Ringo Starr recorded the song for his holiday album, I Wanna Be Santa Claus.

2000: Lynyrd Skynyrd recorded the song for their holiday album, Christmas Time Again.

2001: Tony Bennett performed the song at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, ahead of the release of the direct-to-video CGI animated feature, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys.

2002: Jack Johnson recorded the song for a various artists holiday album released by Nettwerk Records and titled Maybe This Christmas (this same version was also released on the 2008 various artists holiday album, This Warm December: Brushfire Holiday Volume 1, which was released on Johnson's record label Brushfire Records).

2002: Kidz Bop Kids covered this song for the album Kidz Bop Christmas (2002). Also featured in The Coolest Kidz Bop Christmas Ever! (2007), and Kidz Bop Christmas (2009, 2011, 2012).

2003: Chicago released a jazz-funk arrangement of the song for their album, What's It Gonna Be, Santa

2004: Destiny's Child included the song on a reissue of their 2001 holiday album, 8 Days of Christmas.

2004: Rugrats characters Susie Carmichael, and Kimi Finster performed a rock version of the song for their 2004 album Rugrats Holiday Classics.

2007: 1910 Fruitgum Company recorded the song for their Christmas album, Bubblegum Christmas.

2007: Deathcore band I Declare War (band) recorded the song for their Bring the Season EP.

2009: Barry Manilow included the song in the re-release of his third Christmas album, In the Swing of Christmas.

2011: Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and Goofy sing their version of the song in the Disney Karaoke Series: Christmas Favorites album.

2012: Rapper DMX performed an a cappella version of the song with his own ad-libs. 

2012: Metalcore band August Burns Red recorded and released the song on their holiday album, August Burns Red Presents: Sleddin' Hill.

2013: Mary J. Blige sang the song on the finale of The X Factor (USA).

2016: Kacey Musgraves recorded a version of the song for her album A Very Kacey Christmas.

Miss Kita Kung Christmas (1978) Susan Fuentes

Ang Disyembre ko 

ay malungkot

‘pagkat miss kita

Anumang pilit kong magsaya

miss kita kung Christmas

Kahit nasaan ako

papaling-paling ng tingin

walang tulad mo

Ang nakapagtataka’y

maraming nakahihigit sa iyo

Hinahanap-hanap pa rin kita

Ewan ko kung bakit ba

ako’y iniwan mong nag-iisa

Miss kita, o giliw

Pasko’y sasapit

‘di ko mapigil ang mangulila

Hirap niyang 

mayroon ka nang iba…

Instrumental

Hinahanap-hanap pa rin kita

Ewan ko kung bakit ba

ako’y iniwan mong nag-iisa

Miss kita, o giliw

Pasko’y sasapit

‘di ko mapigil ang mangulila

Hirap niyang 

mayroon ka nang iba…

Maligayang Pasko (1958) - Sylvia la Torre

Maligayang Pasko (1958)

Sumilang ang tanging

pag-asa ng tao

kaya nagdiriwang 

ang madla sa mundo

sa munting sabsaban 

nagbuhat ang Pasko

nag-aginaldo ang

tatlong haring mago

Nasaan ang aking aginaldo

iyan ngayon ang maririnig nyo

ngunit kung tunay tayong Kristiyano

ang bawat araw ay pasko

Noong Araw ng Pasko

ako ay bata pa

minsan sa ninang ko

ako ay nagpunta

ang aginaldo niya 

sa akin ay barya

upang ihulog ko 

sa aking alkansiya

Maligayang Pasko aking Ninang

pagpalain ka ng Maykapal

ibig ko sana ay araw-araw

mamasko sa inyo Ninang

Instrumental

Noong Araw ng Pasko

ako ay bata pa

minsan sa ninang ko

ako ay nagpunta

ang aginaldo niya 

sa akin ay barya

upang ihulog ko 

sa aking alkansiya

Maligayang Pasko aking Ninang

pagpalain ka ng Maykapal

ibig ko sana ay araw-araw

mamasko sa inyo Ninang

Tinapay at Keso (1991) - Andrew E.

Tinapay at Keso (1991)

Silent Night (1818) Franz Xaver Gruber

Halfway through December 1818, the church organ in St. Nicholas in Oberndorf, 11 miles north of Salzburg in what is now Austria, broke (a popular version of the story claims that mice had eaten out the bellows). The curate, 26-year-old Josef Mohr, realized it couldn't be repaired in time to provide music on Christmas Eve. He told his troubles to his friend, a headmaster and amateur composer named Franz Gruber, while giving him as a present a poem he had written two years earlier. Gruber was so taken by the rhythm of the poem that he set it to music, and on Christmas Eve there was music after all. Mohr played his guitar while the pair sang the song. It was the first public performance of "Stille Nacht" or as we know it "Silent Night."

It is believed that the carol has been translated into over 300 languages around the world, and it is one of the most popular carols of all time.

Bing Crosby's version became his best-seller of the 1930s.

Music licensing company PPL announced in December 2010 that this carol tops the list of Britain's "most recorded Christmas song of all time." Said Mike Dalby, Lead Reporting Analyst at PPL: "Silent Night is a beautiful carol which encapsulates the feeling of Christmas entirely. Everyone from punk band The Dickies right through to Sinead O'Connor has recorded it, which exemplifies just how much it resonates with all different types of artists."

According to PPL, Sinead O'Connor's 1991 recording was the most popular version of the carol in Britain.

When the organ builder finally did show up to repair the St. Nicholas organ, he was given a copy of the "Silent Night" composition and brought it home. From there, traveling folk singers got a hold of it and began incorporating the carol into their repertoire. It didn't make its way to America until 1839.

As the song gained traction throughout Europe, Franz Gruber composed several different orchestral arrangements. He donated all profits from the carol to local charities for children and the elderly, and eventually died penniless.

According to Steve Sullivan's Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings, Crosby, a devout Catholic, refused to record the religious song, arguing it would be "like cashing in on the church or the Bible." Crosby met with Father Richard Ranaghan, a priest trying to raise money for overseas missions, and decided to donate the royalties to the cause. But Ranaghan died in a car accident later that year, so the money went to several charities throughout the US and abroad

"Silent Night" (German: Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht) is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in the small town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. It was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2011.

The song has been recorded by a large number of singers from every music genre. The version sung by Bing Crosby is the third best-selling single of all-time.

The song was first performed on Christmas Eve 1818 at St Nicholas parish church in Oberndorf, a village in the Austrian Empire on the Salzach river in present-day Austria. A young priest, Father Joseph Mohr, had come to Oberndorf the year before. He had already written the lyrics of the song "Stille Nacht" in 1816 at Mariapfarr, the hometown of his father in the Salzburg Lungau region, where Joseph had worked as a co-adjutor.

The melody was composed by Franz Xaver Gruber, schoolmaster and organist in the nearby village of Arnsdorf. Before Christmas Eve, Mohr brought the words to Gruber and asked him to compose a melody and guitar accompaniment for the church service. Both performed the carol during the mass on the night of December 24.

The original manuscript has been lost. However, a manuscript was discovered in 1995 in Mohr's handwriting and dated by researchers at c. 1820. It shows that Mohr wrote the words in 1816 when he was assigned to a pilgrim church in Mariapfarr, Austria, and shows that the music was composed by Gruber in 1818. This is the earliest manuscript that exists and the only one in Mohr's handwriting.

Mary's Boy Child (1956) - Harry Belafonte

Originally, this was a West Indian song written by Jester Hairston, a Julliard-trained songwriter who would later popularize the spiritual "Amen" during the civil rights movement in the United States. The song tells the story of the birth of Jesus. >>

When this reached #1, Harry Belafonte became the first black male to have a #1 in the UK. It was the first ever song to sell 1 million copies in the UK, and the first ever British #1 record to have a playing time of more than four minutes (4:12).

This stayed at #1 in the UK for 7 weeks before becoming the only song to drop from #1 straight out of Top 10 the following week. After Christmas it tumbled from #1 to #12. The song returned to the charts the next 2 years at Christmas, going to #10 in 1958 and #30 in 1959.

During the Christmas season of 1978, Boney M. returned the song to the top of the British charts with the melody "Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord." According to Boney M. member Marcia Barrett in the book 1000 UK #1 Hits by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh, "I always thought of Boney M. as being put together by a spiritual force and we liked doing spiritual songs. When we did Mary's Boy Child, we added a bit spontaneously at the end. As it worked, we left it in." Hence the record was listed as a medley of "Mary's Boy Child" and "Oh My Lord." >>

At the end of 2007, Boney M's medley of this song and "Oh My Lord" was the 10th top selling single of all time in the UK. In addition Boney M's version of "River's Of Babylon" was at that date the fifth top selling single of all time in the UK, making them the only act to have 2 singles in the UK all-time Top 10 best sellers list.