Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree – Brenda Lee – 1958

If you whizzed back in a time machine to December of 1987 the radio would be playing the same Christmas tunes then as they are in December of 2017. Slade? Check. Wizzard? Check. They’re all there. Sure, there have been a couple of notable additions since then – modern Christmas numbers that have earned their place on annual playlists – but by and large, the festive soundtrack has not changed a whole lot in the last few generations.

Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree is one of the all-time festive classics that should be on everyone’s list of favourites – a song that is made all the more special by the fact that Brenda Lee was amazingly, only thirteen years old when she recorded it. She has so much character in her voice at such a young age that you would be mistaken for thinking this was the work of a fifty year old.

Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree has been covered a thousand times, but nobody will ever improve upon Brenda Lee’s original. It’s up there with the best seasonal songs you’ll hear this month, and one that – thankfully – will never be forgotten.