Singers Kirsty MacColl and Shane MacGowan with with toy guns and an inflatable Santa, 1987.

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50 songs for 50 years: The best Christmas nostalgia over the last half century

Mariah Carrey, The Pogues, David Bowie and more

Kirsty MacColl and Shane MacGowan in coats with toy guns, beverages in hand and an inflatable Santa.

Singers Kirsty MacColl and Shane MacGowan with toy guns and an inflatable Santa, circa 1987. That year, the pair collaborated on the Pogues’ “Fairytale of New York.” (Tim Roney/Getty Images)

Mariah Carey sings in a darkened church with two other singers and several lighted Christmas trees behind her.

Mariah Carey performs at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York in December 1994. Carey released “All I Want for Christmas Is You” that year. (Kevin.Mazur/INACTIVE/WireImage)

David Bowie sings "The Little Drummer Boy" with Bing Crosby in a home environment.

David Bowie sings “The Little Drummer Boy” with Bing Crosby on CBS’ “Bing Crosby’s Merrie Olde Christmas” in 1977. (CBS Photo Archive/CBS via Getty Images)

Aretha Franklin performs while three people stand behind her.

Aretha Franklin performs at the annual New York Stock Exchange Christmas tree lighting festivities on Wall Street on Dec. 4, 2008. (George Napolitano/FilmMagic)

"This Christmas": How a Chicago postal worker and Donny Hathaway created a holiday classic

A 45 rpm record of Donny Hathaway’s “This Christmas.” (Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)