15 Alternative Christmas Songs That Will Still Make You Feel Festive
10. Last Christmas - James Dean Bradfield
A bit of a curveball this one. Back in 1996, the terminally irritating Chris Evans was fronting his perversely entertaining TFI Friday show. Just before Christmas that year, he had Manic Street Preachers vocalist James Dean Bradfield drop by one winters eve to deliver a stunning acoustic rendition of this Wham! classic.
Stripped of all its saccharine polish and syrupy production, the song took on a new life when just accompanied by warm guitar and plaintive voice. The less is more aesthetic worked handsomely here and it remains a wonderfully obscure Christmas alternative to George Michaels 80s schmaltz. The song would ultimately end up being an occasional feature of Bradfields sporadic solo outings from here on in. Which is nice.