Winter Wonderland Tops Festive Countdown

WINTER WONDERLAND has topped a new list of the most performed holiday songs of the decade.

The 1934 tune written by Felix Bernard and Richard B. Smith was an instant hit for bandleader Guy Lombardo And His Royal Canadians and it has since been recorded by the Andrews Sisters, Doris Day, Perry Como, the Eurythmics and Jewel.

And it seems the tune - the oldest on the top 25 countdown - is an annual favourite for radio programmers at this time of year - it’s the most played track, according to the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.

Also making the top 10: Sleigh Ride, White Christmas and Jingle Bell Rock.

Here’s ASCAP’s most played holiday tunes of the past 10 years:

1. Winter Wonderland - written by Felix Bernard, Richard B. Smith

2. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) - written by Mel Torme, Robert Wells

3. Sleigh Ride - written by Leroy Anderson, Mitchell Parish

4. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - written by Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin

5. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - written by Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie

6. White Christmas - written by Irving Berlin

7. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! - written by Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne

8. Jingle Bell Rock - written by Joseph Carleton Beal, James Ross Boothe

9. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer - written by Johnny Marks

10. Little Drummer Boy - written by Katherine K. Davis, Henry V. Onorati, Harry Simeone.