Top 10 Holiday Songs

Posted by Sue Anderson, 19th Aug 2014

Here at sunshine, we can now reveal the ultimate holiday playlist, after Britons voted the songs that most put them in the holiday mood or remind them of a trip abroad. 'Kingston Town' by UB40 and Katy Perry's 'California Gurls' topped the list, with Madonna, Cliff Richard and The Beatles all taking their place among the top 10.

We conducted the poll as part of our ongoing research into the holiday behaviour and preferences of Britons. 2,177 British adults took part in the poll and answered questions about songs they associated with holidays abroad. Everyone in our survey had been abroad on holiday at least once a year for the past three years.



First of all, we asked 'Which songs would make your ultimate holiday playlist?' Our participants were told to take into account any tracks that they would either listen to whilst on holiday, reminded them of a holiday or put them in the holiday mood. We then collated and analysed all the responses to find the ten most commonly listed songs.

The top 10 holiday songs were revealed to be as follows:

1. Kingston Town (by UB40) - 46%

2. California Gurls (by Katy Perry) - 31%

3. Danza Kuduro (by Don Omar ft. Lucenzo) - 29%

4. Get Lucky (by Daft Punk) - 27%

5. Love Generation (by Bob Sinclair) - 25%

6. Here Comes the Sun (by The Beatles) - 22%

7. Dragostea din tei (by O-Zone) - 20%

8. Sweet Disposition (by The Temper Trap) - 16%

9. Holiday (by Madonna) - 14%

10. Summer Holiday (by Cliff Richard) - 13%

According to our calculations, 56% of the respondents claimed to have listened to music during their last holiday abroad by using an MP3 player, smartphone or other personal stereo. Furthermore, 88% admitted that certain songs put them 'in the holiday mood'.

Other songs that narrowly missed out on the top 10 were 'Club Tropicana' by Wham! (9%) and 'Hips Don't Lie' by Shakira (4%).

Chris Clarkson, our MD, said:

"Everyone has a song or two that reminds them of a certain holiday moment, whether it's living it up in a beach bar or a track that was blasting through their headphones whilst they were lying around the pool. We wanted to find out what people deemed to be the ultimate holiday songs and there's certainly an unusual mix in the top 10 list, from Cliff Richard to Daft Punk."
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