Christmas tunes are a way for undisclosed Britney Spears fans to listen to their guilty pleasure music with reason. No one can deny liking Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You”, but you might want to keep enjoying the “Glitter” soundtrack to yourselves. Get it? Christmas music allows you to press play on those cheesy tunes in public.

The latest artist to embrace the holiday spirit is the legendary songwriter and musician Richard Marx. Since his string of top five hits in the late 1980s and early 1990s, he has written and recorded hit after hit with artists like Josh Groban, N’Sync, Lifehouse and more, winning a Grammy in 2004 for Luther Vandross’ “Dance With My Father”. His most recent collaboration with Keith Urban led to a number one hit on the Billboard Country charts, “Long Hot Summer”.

Marx is back with the release of “The Christmas EP”, which is a five song set of holiday classics like “O Holy Night”, “Silent Night”, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” and “Alleluia”, plus a new tune, “Christmas Spirit“. The novel track can already be heard in Hallmark’s 2011 Holiday promo spots. “The Christmas EP” will lead up to the February 7th wide release of “Stories To Tell”, which is his new deluxe album featuring acoustic versions and original recording of his greatest hits. The upcoming album also includes a live DVD, recorded at the legendary Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London.

So thank Richard Marx for allowing you to listen to blissful music proudly and head on over to his official site and to Amazon’s Disc on Demand program to purchase “The Christmas EP”.

By Lonnie Nemiroff