My top 5 Xmas songs of all time. By Lizard McGee.

[Note: Everything below's courtesy of Lizard -- except for the photo, which is from Allan Foster.]

I’m a product of nostalgia.  Well, that’s not exactly true.   I’m a product of many things.  Let’s just say that I’m a sentimental guy and I welcome the future and I’m often in love with the way things were.

I’m also a big fan of troubled love.  When things don’t go exactly right, it can seem all the more poignant.  Orwell had it right in Nineteen Eighty-Four with its illicit love affair.  Where nostalgia and troubled love meet, that’s where you’ll find me.

So I guess it’s no coincidence that my favorite Christmas song ever is a tale of lost love AND it was released in 1984!  (As the B-side to Prince’s “Baby I’m A Star’ 7” single.)  Yeah, I’ve always been a vinyl nerd.  I also love Christmas music.  At our house we fire up the holiday tunes in July and keep it rolling all the way through December…

These are my top 5 Xmas songs of all time.

1. “Another Lonely Christmas” – Prince : 7” single.  This song hits hard.  And it’s sad.

2. “Do They Know It’s Christmas” – Band Aid : 7” single.  Corny, but I love it.  Earwig has been known to cover this song around the holidays.  I love to sing this at the top of my lungs, imitating Boy George, Sting, Bono and all the rest.

3. “Christmas Album” – The Jackson 5 : Bought this cassette at the grocery store a long time ago.  Tons of great Xmas classics.  It’s fantastic.

4. “Rocky Mountain Christmas” – John Denver.  My wife got me hooked on John Denver, we even got to meet him after a show in 1997.  This album sounds like warm (Vegan!) egg nog and stockings hung by the fire place.

5. “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” – Brenda Lee : Brenda Lee was only 13 when she recorded her version of this Johnny Marks (Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Holly Jolly Christmas) penned classic.  I love this recording so much, everything sounds just perfect.

There’s an Earwig version of “Do They Know It’s Christmas” released on the LFM Christmas Krissingle, though you’ll never find it.  But there is an Xmas song on the new Earwig album we’re recording now — it’s called “Next Christmas” and you can find it at the Night Cusser blog or here.

– Lizard