Day 1 - Jingle Bells - Glenn Miller & his Orchestra, Ted Beneke, Ernie Caceres and the Modernaires

Regulars here at the Calendar will know I often start Day 1 off with a seasonal opener rather than an outright Christmas record. "It all starts too early" moan some. 

Well, of course, that doesn't apply this year. You've all been baking bread, mixing puddings and testing mince pie recipes since April; the decorations went up in September and the cards were all written by Bonfire Night. In fact, my local Homebase sold out of Christmas Trees just after August Bank Holiday Monday.

So here's Glenn and his men with a seasonal stormer from 1941 - a crisis was  a real crisis in them days! - and if this doesn't get the stragglers up in the loft by mid-afternoon then I'm from Kalamazoo.

Plenty of versions out there but this one has the original His Master's Voice Bluebird label pictured and, please note what it says on the label - 'always use RCA Victor needles'. My guess is that is a reference to your Phonograph player and not a suggestion for next year's mass inoculations but, then again, with Matt Hancock in charge, who can say?