The 10 best Christmas songs of the last 40 years

Sure, Elvis's "Blue Christmas" and Burl Ives's "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas" are old-school classics, but we've all heard them a million times. So spruce up this year's holiday playlist with Download's picks for the best holiday tunes from the '70s, '80s, and '90s.

It'll be more of a blue than a holly jolly Christmas if you're stuck suffering through the same ol' holiday classics that your parents have been playing on the ol' gramophone for as long as you can remember. So spice up your next holiday get-together with Download's top 10 list of our all-time favorite holiday hits from the last 40 years. 

Some of our picks such as "Frosty the Snowman" and "We Three Kings" are perennial classics that have been reinvented in interesting ways by some of our favorite artists and others such as "Christmas Wrapping" and "Christmas in Hollis" push the boundaries of traditional Christmas music to create something truly awe-inspiring -- and we hope you enjoy them all at your next holiday event.
1. The Waitresses, "Christmas Wrapping" (iTunes, Amazon)
2. Cocteau Twins, "Frosty the Snowman" (iTunes, Amazon)
3. Wham!, "Last Christmas" (iTunes, Amazon)
4. Paul McCartney, "Wonderful Christmastime" (iTunes, Amazon)
5. TLC, "Sleigh Ride" (iTunes, Amazon)
6. Ramones, "Merry Christmas (I don't want to fight tonight)" (iTunes, Amazon)
7. RUN-DMC, "Christmas in Hollis" (iTunes, Amazon)
8. Carpenters, "Merry Christmas Darling" (iTunes, Amazon)
9. Patti Smith, "We Three Kings" (iTunes, Amazon)
10. Smashing Pumpkins, "Christmastime" (iTunes, Amazon)