I agree with the five on the list except for Rudolph - I prefer the Burl Ives version but there's some decent covers out there.
As for "Do They Know It's Christmas" - it's a good melody but the lyrics are awfully cloying and sanctimonious. Especially the Bono lyric that goes "And tonight thank God it's them, instead of you." That just grates on me every time.
At least Bono made up for it later with "Miss Sarajevo" which in my opinion is the greatest U2 song of all time. Even though it never appeared on a proper U2 album (it was on the "Passengers" album which was a soundtrack for "imaginary movies")
While not intended as a Christmas song, I always considered "Miss Sarajevo" very Christmasy and I only play it around this time of year. Judge for yourself and make sure you wait for the Pavarotti part - he takes the song to a whole different level.
I confessed my deep love of Christmas songs to another Jew I had only just met, and he confessed the same and brought and left on my doorstep a cd of his huge collection. I still have them all on my iTunes. I love them but not going to play them in the car til Chanukah is half over this year.
I love Rudolph. But I have to admit this is my favorite version. I remember my mom had this and all the Fred Waring and The Pennsylvania albums, my brother and I used to ask my mom to play the “Funny Rudolph” song.
And that tradition as lived on long after my mom passed, as my now adult niece’s and nephew’s kids love it and call it “Funny Rudolph”.
I adore that song. You're right, Pavarotti's interlude is what makes it so extraordinary.
Do you have “Oy to the World” in your collection?