In 2011, Phil Vassar recorded his first Christmas album in a single day. The album, Noel, included Merry Christmas Darling, which the Country Christmas channel just played.
Richard Carpenter had attended Cal State Long Beach and sung in the choir led by Frank Pooler, head of the choral department. In 1969, Richard's sister Karen took music lessons from Pooler. In 1970, Richard composed the music for a song Pooler had written. It was Merry Christmas Darling and it became a number-one Christmas hit for the Carpenters in 1970. Billboard did not include Christmas songs on the Hot 100 in 1970. If they had included such songs, Merry Christmas Darling would definitely had topped the chart. Here is Vassar's version:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vYj8U7G80U