Last year, I introduced some of my favourite Christmas songs in Christmas cheer. I don't have a vast collection of Christmas songs and this makes putting together a sequence of Christmas tunes that I also consider to be random gems a particular challenge.

Nevertheless, I think I have managed to find three songs from my collection that fit the bill.

First up is Feed the World by Band Aid. This is the song that got Bob Geldof on the path to becoming Sir Bob by helping the world one hungry person at a time. A lot has changed since 1984, and yet a lot remains the same. What is pleasing to see is that today’s teenagers are just as passionate about solving world hunger and poverty as those of 1984. The dissapointing part is that there is so much left to do.

Since this is the season of giving and the time for resolutions, I hope to give a little more to those who have a lot less.

The song: Feed the world
The players: Band Aid

Where to buy: 

If you follow my selections, you may have noticed that I like jazzy tunes. To me, despite their self destructive lifestyles and various drug addictions, there is something 'fresh and lively' about the music created by the musicians who played in Miles Davis' Kind of Blue. Bill Evans played on this album (except on Freddie Freeloader). From 1964, as fresh as ever, here is Bill Evans telling us that 'Santa Claus is coming to town'.

The song: Santa Claus is coming to town
The player: Bill Evans

Where to buy:   or Amazon

A protest song about the Vietnam War is now a Christmas standard, performed by almost everyone. Recently Jeff Tweedy, Mavis Staples and Sean Lennon sang this song to end the 2012 season of the Colbert Report.

I live in Australia and Christmas is white... sandy beaches. This is John Holt's reggae version to bring out the holiday feeling of sand between your toes.

The song: Happy X'mas (War is over)
The player: John Holt

Where to buy:   or Amazon