"Merry Xmas Everybody," Slade (Polydor)

Continuing with the British holiday invasion of the 1970s is this tune from Slade, written by band members Holder-Lea and produced by Chas Chandler, he who discovered Jimi Hendrix. It's a typical example of the band's early 70s string of Top 40 hits, none of which made much headway on the American charts, although Anglophiles in such enclaves as Cleveland and Los Angeles managed to give the band enough of a U.S. reputation to carry them into a minor comeback in the mid-80s. The style is a kind of singsongy guitar-pop that's good for drunken singalongs. UPDATE: Slade's also on record with "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" and "Here's to the New Year."