For the many readers who like to exchange their work clothes, as I am doing right now, for vintage Sixties Rock Hudson-style chunky polyfibre knitwear with snowflake motif, this is a very special time of year. Such cardigans, overwarm in August, are the perfect attire in which to enjoy the charms of the Christmas compilation album.
For some years - quite rightly - the country's trading standards authorities have decreed it compulsory for all compilations to include Slade's 'Merry Xmas Everybody' and (my all-time favourite) 'I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday' by Wizzard. But beyond those monster hits, it's a festive free-for-all. So, picking randomly, That's Christmas might have me giving my heart to Wham! one moment and attempting medieval harmony alongside Steeleye Span the next, while Christmas Cocktails offers Nat King Cole's evergreen 'The Christmas Song' to kids from one to 92, then insists the whole family do the 'Jingle Bells Bossa Nova' with Eddie Dunstedter.
Last year, for the kids, I bought It's a Hi-5 Christmas, which, devoid of the toddler show's TV dance routines, proved a treat to be endured rather than enjoyed. This year it's proved hard to resist a seasonal offering from the P-funk bassmeister Bootsy Collins; but since it's our turn to host relatives, I opted for the Sufjan Stevens box set Songs for Christmas, with its banjo rendition of 'Away in a Manger'.
So pour yourself that extra glass of egg nog and put your slippered feet up on the pouffe while Aled Jones gently massages your temples.
