Thought some of you ‘older’ Icers (like me) would appreciate this…



THE ALL-TIME CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN (1940-1973), AMERICAN TOP 40 WITH CASEY KASEM (BILLBOARD), AIRED DEC 22, 1973

"American Top 40 with Casey Kasem" produced two Top 40 Christmas countdown shows in the 70s, in 1971 and 1973. I haven't heard the 1971 show, but I did hear the 1973 one, and it was pretty good I must say.

Found a recording of the 1973 show on YouTube, but only with Casey's talk and song intros / outros, not the full songs, 38 minutes long (though I'm sure the full show is out there in internet land somewhere). Billed as “The All-Time Christmas Countdown”, Casey described the ranking methodology as:

“The AT40 staff, led by our chief statistician Ben Marichal, used 33 years’ worth of Billboard record charts to figure out a ranking of the 40 biggest Christmas songs of all-time. Our rankings for the all-time Christmas countdown are based on the AT40 staff’s interpretation of 33 years’ worth of surveys published by Billboard magazine, including record sales, airplay, jukebox play, sheet music sales, and continued popularity over the years. In our opinion, a fair ranking of the hit songs of Christmas.”

Casey mostly played one version of each song, sometimes the biggest charted version, sometimes not. Sometimes he played excerpts of multiple versions of the same song.

I take this all to mean that this is a ranking of Christmas songs, not Christmas records. I.e., they combined all charted appearances together of a given Christmas song, by one or more artists, into a single listing on this all-time Christmas chart.

Here’s the YouTube excerpts of the 1973 show, 38 minutes long:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4zJYinFZmo

Here's a listing of those songs as counted down:

CASEY KASEM’S AMERICAN TOP 40 ALL-TIME CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - 12/22/73

40: The Happy Reindeer - Dancer, Prancer, and Nervous (1959)
39: Marshmallow World - Bing Crosby (1950), montage played with Darlene Love's version
38: Santa Claus Is Watching You - Ray Stevens (1962)
37: Santa And The Satellite (Parts 1 And 2) - Buchanan and Goodman (1957)
36: Little Altar Boy - Vic Dana (1961)
35: Merry Christmas Polka - Andrews Sisters (1950)
34: Baby's First Christmas - Connie Francis (1961)
33: Little Saint Nick - Beach Boys (1963)
32: Merry Christmas Darling - Carpenters (1970)
31: Snoopy's Christmas - Royal Guardsmen (1967)

30: Pretty Paper - Roy Orbison (1963)
29: Santa Baby - Eartha Kitt (1953)
28: Mary's Boy Child - Harry Belafonte (1956)
27: I Yust Go Nuts At Christmas - Yogi Yorgesson with The Johnny Duffy Trio (1949)
26: It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas - Perry Como and The Fontaine Sisters (1951)
25: Home For The Holidays - Perry Como (1954)
24: Christmas In Kilarney - Dennis Day (1950)
23: Lonesome Christmas (Part 1) - Lowell Fulsom (1950)
22: All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth - Spike Jones and His City Slickers (1948)
21: Merry Christmas Baby - Charles Brown (1947)

20: I'll Be Home For Christmas - Bing Crosby (1943), played Beach Boys and Elvis Presley versions
19: You're All I Want For Christmas - Frankie Lane (1948)
18: Nuttin' For Christmas - Barry Gordon with The Art Mooney Orchestra (1955), also played a montage of The Fontaine Sisters, and Ricky Zahnd & The Blue Jeaners
17: I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus - Jimmy Boyd (1952)
16: Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee (1958 first released/1960 first charted)
15: Here Comes Santa Claus (Down Santa Claus Lane) - Gene Autry (1947), also played a 1963 version by Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans
14: Sleigh Ride - Leroy Anderson (1948)
13: Please Come Home For Christmas - Charles Brown (1960)
12: Frosty The Snow Man - Gene Autry (1950), played versions by The Beach Boys and The Ronettes
11: The Chipmunk Song - David Seville and The Chipmunks (1958)

10: Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters (1947), played a montage of versions by Burl Ives, Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters, The Four Seasons, The Jackson Five, and The Crystals
9: Jingle Bells - Glenn Miller Orchestra (1941), played a montage of versions by Glenn Miller, Roger Williams, The Don Charles Singing Dogs, and Ray Conniff's Orchestra and Chorus
8: Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley (1957 released as LP cut/1964 released as hit single)
7: Winter Wonderland - Perry Como (1946), played a montage of versions by The Andrews Sisters, Perry Como, Ray Conniff, Tony Bennett, and Darlene Love
6: Silver Bells - played versions by Diana Ross and The Supremes, Ray Conniff's Orchestra and Chorus
5: Jingle Bell Rock - Bobby Helms (1957)
4: The Christmas Song - Nat King Cole (1946), also played excerpts of versions by Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, Jose Feliciano, and The Jackson Five
3: The Little Drummer Boy - Harry Simeone Chorale (1958)
2: Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer - Gene Autry (1949), also played a version by The Jackson Five
1: White Christmas - Bing Crosby (1942)

Extra: Silent Night - Bing Crosby (1935)

Thanks for sharing. Many timeless classics on this list. There have been some good ones produced since then, of course.

Interestingly, the top 10 would probably not change even today. I think Burl Ives Holly Jolly Christmas should be on there though. Surprising it's not.

Just to show that Billboard's Hot 100 ain't what it used to be, mostly thanks to streaming, this week's chart includes:

#9 "All I Want For Christmas Is You" Mariah Carey
#34 "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" Brenda Lee
#35 "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" Andy Williams
#41 "Holly Jolly Christmas" Burl Ives
#44 "Last Christmas" Wham