Back in '79, most modern-day pop stars hadn't yet recognized the multi-year payoff of a well-placed Christmas tune, but Macca had been cutting holiday tracks since his Beatle days when the band would often cut a holiday single for fan club members.
Whether you like the song or not, royalties from this song alone net the former Beatle over $400,000 in music sales and royalties every year.
Even so, some would argue that the song marks a creative low-point for McCartney, to which I would reply "Oh, that more artists should have such a creative low-point!"
Sure, the synthesizer sounds hokey and the digital delay is a little out-of-time with the tempo of the song, but, to me, that just adds to the charm. These days, a lesser artist or producer would make sure every instrument syncs up to the midi-grid and that the vocal is processed to within an inch of its life, but to do so is to miss the whole point of the composition, much less the holiday season.
In the end, what we have is a song that more and more carolers are adding to their repertoire and if that means that they're dropping one of the more worn-out chestnuts from the set list, that's just fine by us.
Verdict: We LOVE IT!