A new study commissioned by blinkbox has seen the 1980s voted as the best decade for producing Christmas hits.
What's your favourite Christmas tune?
A classic from that year - 'Fairytale of New York' - was also voted the nation's favourite Christmas record, whilst today's endless offerings of X Factor winner's singles and Christmas covers leaves us wanting just something different.
In the battle of the decades, the 1970s garnered a quarter of the votes (25%) whilst the 1990s took one in ten votes (10%). Fourth spot went to the 60s (7%) and the 50s came in fifth place with just 5%.
Modern pop was dealt a blow as Brits suggested that the new millennium has been the least successful in spawning festive tunes, with just 2% voting to support the 2000s and less than 1% opting for the 2010s.
Also discovered was that just over half (53%) of Brits find it acceptable to play festive songs from December 1.
London College of Music and blinkbox Music then teamed up to produce a list of key characteristics found in Christmas pop hits, hoping to pinpoint just what it is that makes us fall in love with the tunes.
Put to the public, the list saw something "easy to sing along" to voted as the most important element, gaining 34% of votes. Next in importance was the inclusion of "festive sounds like sleigh bells or a choir" (22%) and just behind that was "Christmas references in the lyrics" (18%).
The least two important elements were "the person singing it" with 6% and the song's "cheesiness" with 5%.
Senior Lecturer in Music Technology at London College of Music, Sam Sutton explained: "The nation favours feel-good Christmas pop songs with distinctive, festive musical elements. These generate emotional resonance and carry the listener on a wave of feel-good nostalgia. But despite the top 10 being dominated by such upbeat tracks, it's the distinctly edgier offering from The Pogues and Kirsty McColl that most appeals to our sensibilities. Perhaps the rousing squabble between the two appeals to Brits because it's somehow more real and closer to our actual experience of Christmas - a heady and sometimes tense mix of friends, family and booze."
This poll was commissioned to mark the beginning of Christmas on blinkbox Music - a streaming service which has seen over 2.25 million app downloads since its launch almost 18 months ago.
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