Last year, friend and (twice) former colleague Ashley recommended a pair of holiday songs to add to the playlist, both worthy additions. She sent over a few suggestions this yer, and I’m happy to share them with you as we approach Christmas day.

My favorite suggestion of the three is a song she sent over via a Spotify discovery, the Wheeler Brothers’ “Home for the Holidays,” which has a delightfully retro video featuring a group of people working in a small, home-y bowling alley.

Additional listening

Because dealing with family can have its own stresses, sometimes you need to lighten the mood.  Ashley’s got that covered too.

Let’s start with a holiday novelty single.  On the other side of the pond, there’s generally a bit of competition to place Christmas songs on the charts.  This, of course, leads to novelty records giving it a go, such as this one from Retrobot, called, appropriately enough, “Christmas Robot.”

Meanwhile, here’s BBC Radio 1’s parody of the god-awful “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke.  Here’s “Mulled Wines.”