10 most played Christmas songs since 2003

George did well to 'shotgun' the Santa suit...
George did well to 'shotgun' the Santa suit...

Last Christmas by Wham! is the most played festive song of the last five years in the UK according to the good people at the Performing Rights Society (PRS). And they should know, because they take a cut every time someone plays it publicly. Here's the top 10…

1. Last Christmas - Wham!
2. Do They Know It's Christmas? - Band Aid (1984 version, of course)
3. Fairytale Of New York - The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl
4. All I Want For Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey
5. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - Bruce Springsteen
6. Stop The Cavalry - Jona Lewie
7. I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday - Wizzard
8. Merry Xmas Everybody - Slade
9. Lonely This Christmas - Mud
10. White Christmas - Bing Crosby

Nice to see Jona Lewie's Stop The Cavalry charting so highly, which - save the line "wish I was at home for Christmas" - has nothing to do with the festive season. Still, we're sure Jona doesn't really mind.

Tom Porter worked on MusicRadar from its mid-2007 launch date to 2011, covering a range of music and music making topics, across features, gear news, reviews, interviews and more. A regular NAMM-goer back in the day, Tom now resides permanently in Los Angeles, where he's doing rather well at the Internet Movie Database (IMDB).