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Comments so far

Olli, Led Zep Too, London
Andrzej is quite right to question.Slade NEVER used any iconic Christmas sounds e.g. sleigh bells etc the only Christmasssy thing about the song is the lyric. The rest is just cheesy glam rock.I'd still like to hear a credible Christmas song but it is probably a contradiction in my terms.Christmas used to be a celebration of the winter solstice.Green boughs were brought into the hut to remind people of the longed for coming of spring. It was a time for feasting and drinking, and of survival until the snows cleared, etc.Then Christianity came along and usurped the traditions and forced religion into it.Religion and commercialism is ruining Christmas.Its got nothing to do with presents or Jesus its all about making it through to spring by having a bloody good time.

Andrzej, Cardiff
Did Slade ever use a sleigh bell?

Wayne, Guildford
of course there are 'credible' christmas songs, just look at previous efforts by mr blobby, east 17 to name a few from the long long list of critically acclaimed and popular artists. umm... hah, a joke. as cj said, nothing will top fairytale of new york

Christian Taunton
'Christmas wrapping by the waitresses' a superb song if you listen to the lyrics..whilst the melody is so fantasitc that you instantly forget it until next christmas

Neil, Dover
STAFRÆNN HÁKON – Glussajól EP (includes their stunning versions of "Do They Know It's Christmas?" and "Last Christmas"). LOW – Christmas (features the beautiful "If You Were Born Today (Song For Little Baby Jesus)").

AB, Lindsay, Ontario, Canada
Ultimately, it is the listeners who decide what is credible or not. One of the most credible songs I've heard from a "recent band" was "Father Christmas" by the Kinks. It is always in the back of my mind when the charities come about. Whatever rings true in the ear of the individual is credible. Mel Torme's "Christmas Song" is one of the most blatantly commercial songs ever released ... and is still one of the most popular. If we get bombarded with crap on the radio, it's because most of us like it that way. I always manage to get the Kinks and Kirsty MacColl on at home though....

Geoff @ Rishworth
Mel Torme's Christmas Song is a great piece of music-melodically,harmonically and lyrically.As for modern songs they don't cut the mustard.

Jay, Stourbridge
I can't beleive that no-one has mentioned Holly Golightly's Christmas Tree on fire. Fantastic christmas song, and credible I would say.

Nigel from Norwich
Yes! May I suggest Kristi Hersh's cover of Big Star's song, "Jesus Christ"? It's on her Ep, "The Holy Single"

Andy,Suffolk
Black Snow by Ten Benson

Shandy Pop/Agony Aunt - NORTHAMPTON
I just love White Christmas by Bing, it just reminds me of when i was young and living in the North East, we even had snow on Christmas Day 1970! And then it's got to be Slade and Noddy Holder bringing in the lovely Christmas Spirit with shouts of "it's Christmas!!!" Lovely, i just love it all! Merry Christmas to everyone!!!

Pete - Lancaster
I've always thought the that Armagideon Time by the Clash is a great Christmas record. It mentions Christmas and has sleigh bells!

Jane Boston
long blondes - chritmas is cancelled and the waitresses christmas wrapping do it for me

Jan Bielefeld
DiDn't read the story, but Jethro Tull's A Christmas Song isn't that bad either. It would segue well out of Aimme Mann's God Rest... bit late, I know..

buffalo paisley
there's loads of great christmas songs - low's 'just like christmas', big star's 'jesus christ', the pogue's 'fairytale of new york', edwin hawkins singers 'o happy day'... och i'm just a sucker for all thigs festive.

Marc, Northampton
'I Want An Alien for Christmas' by Fountains of Wayne is a very, very cute Christmas song

Jon Brighton
I don't think that "indie" Shelter Cd missed the point at all - infact totally got it. Christmas is about giving & they have done that with Credible Artists - AMAZING

Neil, Dover
Low - "If You Were Born Today (Song For Little Baby Jesus)" -- best Christmas song ever. Debate ends.

Dave, Scunthorpe
Christmas tunes should be cheesy and cheerful, who cares about credibility! I do agree with everyone else that the radio stations and shops shouldnt play the same songs to death every year from October onwards.

Colbert
The Long Blondes put out a great Christmas song last year "Christmas is Cancelled". It's on their myspace page. Check it out. Half Man Half Biscuit had a funny title for a mediocre christmas song "It's Cliche' to be Cynical on Christmas". You can write a good song about anything. But when you write a song about a subject as popular as Christmas, you have to find a new direction.

Wheelz.Safe European Home
Note to my prior comment,We Three Kings,Reverand Horton Heat,Xmas combo LP of note,well me mum likes it.x

marc, cambridge
there is only one credible xmas song and that is The Greedies -a Merry Jingle.what can be better than half Thin Lizzy and the Pistols.And Steve Jones had a bit of a perm.how about playing it?

joel damian, Newcastle upon tyne
"where do jam jars go at xmas time" by misty's big adventure is cush.the video is both appalingly cute , yet gratifyingly silly.

Micky Read, Birmingham
Am I the only person who remembers The Greedies "A merry Jingle" circa 1979. Half the SEx Pistols and half of Thin Lizzy. Best Xmas tune ever.

Chris Notts
In addition to the Waitresess- Christmas Wrapping (I think it was them, anyway). Can anyone not like the great Phill Spector Christmas records!

chris oxon
christmas ties in with the current chart ethic. songs that are sold purely for the novelty value of the here and now. they're like world cup songs. all christmas tracks have an inherent novelty by their very nature. they can rarely be credible without seemign po-faced (the boy george and antony & johnson's cover on the help album are a prime example). there are only ever a couple of exceptions - pogues & kirsty mcColl's fairytale of NY is an example of a credible Christmas song (although maggots and arseholes aren't traditionally christmas) and possibly Destiny's child's 12 days of christmas too??

Jean Lummes, South Croydon, Surrey
I think Sean P is right in one way. Radio stations do play the same songs over again, usually the ones they like or think we'll like. Change the tune. Play something different. I'm sure that if Darkness hadn't been popular 'Christmas time (dont let the bells end) wouldn't have been played and a great Christmasy song and video would have been missed. I also think it is a generation thing but only marginal. You only have to go to a mixed age club as i do with friends of all ages and find that Slade and the like are still being played along with White Christmas (just examples) and yet old and young sing along and enjoy themselves. Thats what its all about. I don't thik there is a definitive Christmas Song; as we've seen over the years its not necessarily the one that reaches number 1 that gets played by the public year after year at parties (most of the number one hits disappear without trace straight after Christmas). Radio stations should listen to what the people are saying and not what the publicity department think should be played.

Stu Beattie, Byfleet Surrey
Dont let the bells end, The Darkness..Only seems like the other Christmas that it came out...and everyone was raving about it..still sounds ace..The coolest single is St Ettienne with Mr Tim Burrgess from the Charlatans, I was Born On Christmas Day---Play it sometime! xs

Spir-An, Nottingham
I can think of two 'credible' Xmas songs: Weird Al Yankovic - The Night Santa Went Crazy South Park - Merry F***ing Christmas Sean P., London - "Problem is that British radio insists on playing the same twenty Xmas songs over and over and over again." Not only them but also my local bloody Tesco's. The only tolerable one is "Santa Baby".

Wheelz,Safe European Home
Family Cat if you must,Jesus Christ Was Born Today,just for the instrumental sing along karaoke b side.Just a clean wholesome ,frightfully silly christmas song,There all forgot the wk after anyway,only to be resurrected the following year,everything marketable today,ad man heaven,Shelter goes mainstream,cant see the arguement,plenty of homeless out there,x

santa claus, lapland
4 words for you - fairytale of new york! not excatly "indie" but credible in every sense of the word! :-D

Nic, London
What about The waitresses 'Merry Christmas' it's a classic

sandra pearson - kettering
I just hate all the christmas tunes, i wish someone would come up with a summer tune that would rocket to the top on christmas day.

Rob, Tamworth
Any band releasing songs about Christmas becomes deviod of any credibility whatsoever in my book. The only song that gets played a lot at this time of year is "Fairy Tale of New York", and that's not really about Christmas, it just references it. A lot. And I'm going to be the 1st to say it in this debate.... Baaa Humbug!! There you go!

Dawn, Tyne and Wear
Christmas music should be as diverse as the great big wide world of talent/no-talent that we live in. Let's not limit it, but celebrate it! In the future, people will vote with their ears anyway and not be fed what drivel they don't want to hear. (I just wish someone would play/create music to reflect other cultures/celebrations). Phew! That was serious!

Tim, Preston
Taste and decency should not even enter an artist's head - Christmas is meant to be fun, fun, fun! Give me Macca's Wonderful Christmastime over anything 'cool' anyday!

Adam, Nottingham
Sufjan Stevens just released 5 EPs worth of them

Peter, Dublin.
What about Pugwash ? They have a song called "Tinsel & Marzipan" which has guests like the Divine Comedy and XTC on it. It's a cracking Christmas song !

Jeff Seattle
I think there are, but I think they all stopped in the mid- to late-70s (am I dating myself?). Jona Lewie, the Waitresses, the Pretenders ("Have Yourself . . .") and John McCutcheon (sp.) pretty much closed the doors on pop Christmas music. I'm sure there are a lot of Gen X and Gen Y folk that are already feeling great nostalgia for crappy tunes from Brandi, Boyz to Men and too many other marginal artists to name. So, it's probably a generational thing, and we all, perhaps, lover our guard to song we might not find so tolerable in August. I spent about a decade trying to bring together what I thought were the best of classic pop Christmas music, going back to the mid-50s. The Internet(s) and download sites have made this a much eaiser project and much less costly since I didn't have to buy albums filled mostly with dreck for one nugget of holiday cheer.

cj, liverpool
don't even try - nothing will ever be better than Pogues & Kirsty MacColl's fairytale of New York

Sean P., London
There have been wonderful Xmas songs in the fields of Ska, Beat, Folk, Funk and Soul. Problem is that British radio insists on playing the same twenty Xmas songs over and over and over again.