It's Beginning to Sound a Lot Like Christmas Quiz

Answer: Holiday Inn

Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" was recorded by Bing Crosby for the film "Holiday Inn" in 1942. The song was awarded the Oscar for Best Original Song and went to number one in the Billboard Charts in 1942. It also topped the charts again in 1945 and 1946 to become the only song to top the charts on three separate occasions.

It has made a total of 20 different chart appearances since. Having sold somewhere between fifty and one hundred million copies it is still the biggest selling single of all time.

The track we hear now is not the original 1942 recording because it became damaged with overuse and had to be re-recorded in 1947. In 1954 the song featured again in the film musical "White Christmas" which was the highest grossing film of that year. Numerous artists have recorded their own versions of the song which has been voted the number one Christmas song and ranked number two behind "Over the Rainbow" in a list of songs of the 20th Century.

Answer: Silent Night

Supposedly, a melody composed by Franz Gruber with guitar accompaniment was set to words written by Father Joseph Mohr on Christmas Eve 1818 - two years after they had been written. It was first performed at Nikolaus-Kirche, Oberndorf, Austria that Christmas because the organ had broken down.

The carol has been translated into 44 languages and was sung at the Christmas truce of 1914 simultaneously by French, German and English troops because it was one that they all knew. It has been recorded by more than 300 artists.

Answer: Mel Torme

Yes, famous crooner and film star Mel Torme was once married to Thora Hird's daughter Janette Scott. He wrote one of the most popular and most recorded Christmas songs of all with Bob Wells. It was written on a steaming hot day in August in about 40 minutes, after Torme had read some phrases Wells had jotted on a notepad to remind himself of cooler weather, trying to ward off the heat.

It was 1946 when Nat King Cole recorded it and made it a massive hit. He recorded it, in all, four times over a period of years.

The original Nat Cole recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 1974. Mel Torme didn't record the song until 1954.

Answer: Silver Bells

The recording reached number 27 and was issued in aid of the "BBC Children in Need" charity which Sir Terry has fronted for 30 years. The song was composed by Livingston and Evans for Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell to sing in the film "Lemon Drop Kid" in 1951.

The first recorded version by Bing Crosby (not again!) and Carol Richards was popular at Christmas 1950. The song is unusual in that it is about Christmas in the city, unlike most Christmas songs. It has been recorded by numerous other performers from Doris Day through to Bob Dylan.

Answer: Walking in the Air

Although Aled had the hit in 1985 he wasn't the singer of the song in the cartoon feature of "The Snowman" - this was Peter Auty. "The Snowman" cartoon is based on Raymond Briggs' book of the same name. The cartoon was first shown on TV in 1982 and has been a perennial Christmas favourite ever since. Howard Blake wrote the music and the lyrics.

There are regular stage productions during the festive season in the West End, London. In the cartoon David Bowie does the introduction from an attic with a coloured scarf as a prop.

The British Film Institute voted the cartoon feature into the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes.

Answer: Old silk hat

"Frosty the Snowman" reached number seven in the US charts in 1950 and has since been recorded by numerous artists including Johnny Mathis, Nat King Cole and the Ronettes. There has been a book based upon it, a cartoon short telling the story and a TV feature which had sequels, called "Frosty's Winter Wonderland" and "Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July", produced in the late 1970s.

Answer: Rudolph

"Rudolph" was Gene Autry's Christmas hit the year before "Frosty" in 1949. It is the only number one to disappear completely from the chart the week after it was on top, as it did the week after Christmas in 1949 from the US charts. Nevertheless it sold 2.5 million copies that year and an estimated 25 million overall since. Until the 1980s it was the second highest record seller of all time.

There have been countless recordings of the song and a book, cartoon short and TV special are just some of the spin-offs from it in other media.

Answer: Prague

The story in the carol is based on the legend of St. Wenceslaus, King of Bohemia (907-935). He goes out in terrible snow to give arms to a poor peasant. His page finds it difficult to follow until he is told to step in the Saint's footprints, which are emanating heat.

The tune is from a 13th Century carol but the words were added by John Mason Neale in 1853. Wenceslas was made a Saint immediately upon his death. The carol was, and still is, widely sung and recorded.

Answer: Toys

"T" is for the Toys beneath the tree so tall" is the line. "Christmas Alphabet" was number one for three weeks at Christmas in 1955 and spent seven weeks in the UK charts altogether. It was preceded and succeeded at Number one by "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley and the Comets - the first big rock n roll hit in the UK. "Christmas Alphabet" was the first song to reach number one in the UK charts that was particularly created for Christmas. For a few weeks it held back the onrushing wave of rock n roll, too. Dickie Valentine sang with the Ted Heath band before having a successful solo career which included another number one with "Finger of Suspicion" in 1954.

He won the Male Vocalist category in the NME poll consecutively between 1953 - 1957.

Answer: Boney M

"Mary's Boy Child" has been covered many times since Harry Belafonte's original recording. With its religious content it has also come to be used as a carol. It is the only Christmas number one that has been top of the UK charts by two completely unrelated artists. Belafonte was thought of as the "King of Calypso" and had massive hits with "Banana Boat Song" and "Island in the Sun" as well as acting success and an influential voice as a political campaigner for human rights. Boney M were a group created in Germany, although the members were mainly of Caribbean extraction.

They were successful in the Disco era of the late 70s, having another number one with "Rivers of Babylon".

Answer: Gustav Holst

Christine Rossetti was the sister of Pre-Raphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti. She was asked to write a Christmas poem by "Scribner's Monthly" for their 1872 edition. Holst, of course, is best known for "The Planets Suite" which he wrote later than this, between 1914 and 1916.

The Darke version is favoured by choirs and can be heard annually on the Christmas Eve broadcast of "Nine Lessons and Carols" by King's College Choir. The Holst setting has been recorded by many recording artists.

Answer: I Wish it Could be Christmas Every Day

Noddy Holder has said that he regards "Merry Christmas Everybody" as his pension fund! It was Slade's last of six number ones but by far the biggest. It remained top of the charts well into January and finally dropped out in February 1974. It sold more than a million on first release and has been in the charts again in the 1980s, the 1990s and finally in 2006.

It is still played constantly during the festive season and has been covered by many other artists. In 2007 it was voted the UK's favourite Christmas song. "I Wish it Could be Christmas Every Day" by Wizzard reached number four in the UK charts but might well have gone to the top in another year without such stiff competition.

After it was used in an Argos TV advert of 2007 it has charted through downloads in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

Answer: Mud

Les Gray sang this song in the style of an Elvis Presley ballad - he almost sounded more like Elvis than Elvis! It was number one for four weeks in December 1974 to January 1975. Mud had two other chart-toppers in the UK with "Tiger Feet" in January 1974 and a revival of the Buddy Holly song "Oh Boy" in 1975. Like Showaddywaddy they were very much a rock revival band and very successful in the 70s.

Answer: Prokofiev

This song was Greg Lake's only solo hit and it reached number two in 1975. He was part of Emerson, Lake and Palmer. It was very much about regretting the commercialisation of Christmas. Sadly it didn't stop it, as it is even worse now! A "Troika" is Russian for a three horse sled, which the piece from "Lieutenant Kije" puts across well.

It is often used as an orchestral Christmas instrumental in its own right.

Answer: Paul McCartney

This is a track that is replayed year after year during the festive season and which has been covered by a lot of other artists on various Christmas albums. It can also be heard playing in the 1998 animated feature "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer: the Movie" during Santa's take-off on Christmas Day.

Answer: Viet Nam

John and Yoko were, of course, John Lennon and Yoko Ono. The song reached number three in the Billboard charts in 1971 but for production reasons wasn't issued in the UK until 1972, where it rose to number two. It reached the same position in the UK in 1980 as it was reissued after John Lennon's death in November 1980.

It has become a Christmas standard and a regular constituent of Christmas albums.

Answer: Herod

This carol dates from the 16th century and was originally part of a Mystery play that was based on the gospel of St Matthew. It is often sung "a capella" and tells the awful story of a mother's lament for her doomed child after Herod had ordered the Massacre of the Innocents to try to ensure that Jesus did not survive. It is a carol which is still widely sung at Christmas.

Answer: Jereboam

The Kings are often referred to as Wise Men, Magi or possibly Astronomers and their gifts to Jesus are an integral part of the Christmas Story - gold, frankincense and myrrh, of course, arriving at Epiphany. They are not actually named in the Bible but these are the names they have been given historically.

The carol was written in the mid 19th century by John Henry Hopkins Jr - an Episcopal priest. It is still widely sung and recorded and very much part of the sounds of Christmas.

Answer: Blackbird

The word "Colly" means black and probably comes from the same root as the word "Collier", e.g. black like coal. Although first published in 1780 in England there is textual evidence to suggest the song was originally French in origin. The twelve days of Christmas are traditionally those days between Christmas and Epiphany on January sixth.

The list of people who have recorded the song, or parodies of it, is almost endless - from Bing Crosby, through Allan Sherman to The Muppets and the Simpsons. There are variations in different areas which lead to disputes whenever it is sung at a Christmas gathering. Since 1984 the gifts have been priced and used as a spoof Christmas guide to inflation.

Answer: Perry Como

"Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse" must be some of the best known opening lines of any poem. It is thought that the poem gave us our modern idea of Saint Nicholas' appearance, his mode of travel and day he visits, also that he leaves toys for children and the names of his reindeer.

The poem has been massively used in media of all sorts since its publication and is as popular as ever. Perry Como's first ambition was to be the best barber in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania but he always had musical talent and went on to become one of the best known entertainers of the 20th century with an iconic TV show.

Some of his many awards are five Emmys between 1955-59 and three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

He was described as "the man who invented casual".

Answer: Beverley Sisters

The original version by Jimmy Boyd topped the Billboard charts in 1952 and was then a hit in the UK for the Beverleys in 1953. It was written to advertise the Christmas card of the department store Neiman Marcus. The song was banned by the Roman Catholic Church in Boston for, oddly, mixing kissing with Christmas, a season that is supposed to be all about love of our fellow man/woman.

The ban was lifted after 13 year old Boyd had a meeting to explain the song to the Archdiocese. The Beverley Sisters were enormously popular in the 1950s and had another Christmas hit in 1959 with "Little Donkey".

Answer: Tommy Steele

Another novelty song with a children's chorus and a call and response between the singer and the choir. Tommy Steele has appeared in films, starred on Broadway and the West End in musicals, written books and is a sculptor of note. His sculpture of the Beatle's "Eleanor Rigby" stands near the Cavern in Liverpool.

He had many chart hits during the late 50s and early 60s with and without the Steelemen and he still tours at Christmas as Scrooge in the Bricusse/Newley created musical based on Dickens' "A Christmas Carol".

Answer: Currier and Ives

Leroy Anderson composed "Sleigh Ride" in 1948 and it was recorded by the Boston Pops Orchestra in 1949. In 1950 Anderson recorded his own version which is still the definitive one despite the number of different recordings that have been made since. Singers who have recorded "Sleigh Ride" with the Mitchell Parish lyrics are a "Who's Who?" of popular singers - from Bing Crosby, through Johnny Mathis to KT Tunstall and Hayley Westenra.

It is regularly in the top ten of most performed songs during the Christmas season. Currier and Ives were a company who produced lithographic prints between 1834 and 1907.

Many of these were to do with snow or Christmas scenes like "Central Park Winter" of 1862 which showed skaters in Central Park.

Answer: Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town

This song was first sung in 1934 and became an instant Christmas hit and a standard. Nearly everyone who has recorded a Christmas album has sung this song - the list almost stretches to infinity (no hyperbole intended) - even Lynyrd Skynyrd recorded it! It was included on the classic Phil Spector Christmas album of the early 60s and a one hour TV special was made based on the song in 1970 with Fred Astaire narrating the story of Santa Claus.

Answer: Figgy pudding

"We Wish You a Merry Christmas" is a traditional carol from the 16th century that has its roots in the west of England. The poorer carollers would go to wealthy houses to sing for food and drink during the Festive season. The figgy pudding is thought to be very like the modern Christmas pudding.

The song is often used to close Christmas concerts in the same way as I am using it to close this quiz!