Miscellaneous - C-Christmas

  by Andy Cassidy

published: 26 / 11 / 2011

Article

What do Pink Floyd, Cliff Richard, Michael Jackson, Al Martino and Bob the Builder have in common? All of them have had a UK Christmas number one single (Cliff Richard has, in fact, been involved with four Christmas number ones: two solo tracks, one with the Shadows and one with Band Aid 20). It’s a coveted achievement and, with the rise of 'The X Factor' and the like, the battle to be number one on Christmas afternoon has never been fiercer. The list of Christmas number ones makes interesting reading. There are very few lists where Pink Floyd or the Beatles would be found alongside Mr Blobby, for instance. The Christmas number one also gives one a flavour of the zeitgeist. Take 1969, for instance, when Rolf Harris scored a number one with 'Two Little Boys'. If ever a song summed up the disillusionment at the end of the 60s it would be this. Take 1979, when the UK was in the economic doldrums – is it really so surprising that 'Another Brick in the Wall Part' II by Pink Floyd, with the famously rebellious lyric “We don’t need no education” climbed to the top of the charts? Or look at 2009 when the British public finally showed that they had had enough with TV talent shows and took Rage Against the Machine’s Killing in the Name to number one on the back of an internet campaign. This was a blip, however: in 2010 normal service was resumed when 'X Factor' winner Matt Cardle got to the top spot with his cover of Biffy Clyro’s 'Many of Horror' (which was renamed 'When We Collide'). I remember when I used to get excited about the Christmas edition of 'Top of the Pops'. The Flying Pickets, the Human League, Queen and Jackie Wilson all had Christmas number ones when I was growing up. It seems, though, that the teeny-bopper 'X Factor' fans have won for now, and that, this Christmas, I’ll be in the dark again when it comes to who the acts on 'Top of the Pops' are (take the sobering statistic that, of the past six Festive chart-toppers, five have been from TV talent shows). One strange thing I noticed on the list of number ones is the relative lack of festive singles. We all know the songs - McCartney’s 'Wonderful Christmastime', Lennon’s 'Happy Xmas (War is Over)', Wizzard’s 'I Wish It Could be Christmas Every Day', Wham’s 'Last Christmas' – yet none of them reached the top of the chart (in fairness to Wham, 'Last Christmas 'was competing against Band Aid’s 'Do They Know It’s Christmas?' which sold in its millions). Moving away from the Christmas single, many artists have opted for an album of festive songs. Brian Wilson, Sufjan Stevens and the Beach Boys have all released spanking Christmas albums, and ,while Dylan’s 2009 effort 'Christmas in the Heart' was pretty atrocious, I’ll happily applaud the sentiment if not the execution. Then, of course, there is the ultimate Christmas album, 'Phil Spector’s A Christmas Gift for You'. This is an album that I would happily play all year round if it wasn’t for the curious looks it would generate from anyone who overheard. Released in 1963, the thirteen track album includes perennial Christmas favourites like 'Silent Night', 'Winter Wonderland' and 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer' all given the “wall of sound” treatment by a young Spector who was at the height of his powers. The Ronettes, Darlene Love, the Crystals and Bob B Soxx and the Blue Jeans all do Spector proud, and the album stands up as well today as it did fifty years ago – if in doubt, listen to the Ronettes astonishing take on tI Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claust: it’s incredible. The cynic in me says that Christmas is just commercialism and false sentimentality, but as I get older I grow to enjoy it more and more each year. I find that I look forward to hanging up the decorations, eating chocolate for breakfast and unwrapping parcels to the sound of festive songs blasting out from the stereo. One last thing. In 2005, a friend and I went to see Brian Wilson in concert. Midway through the gig, Wilson announced that he’d like to perform a track from his new album, and so, backed with his terrific band, Wilson launched into 'Little Saint Nick'. His new album was 'What I Really Want for Christmas'. The song, previously recorded by the Beach Boys, sounded great with Brian and his band performing it. It did, however, seem a little out of place in July… Every year, though, I listen to the album and when 'Little Saint Nick' comes up I always have a little smirk to myself. In the words of Slade, Merry Christmas Everyone!!!