It’s Chriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiistmas

In the words of the ultimate Christmas hit by Slade, “It’s Chriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiistmas!” And don’t we know it! Here at the Oakeley Arms, we can’t turn on the radio or put the television on without being bombarded by Christmas tunes. Luckily, we love a good old festive chart topper, but we know plenty of people who can’t stand them, bah humbug….

But, love ’em or hate ’em, you can’t avoid them. As well as the old favourites that blast from every speaker, there’s the fight for the Christmas Number 1 chart top-spot – which isn’t always a festive tune; for the last few years, the number 1 spot has been dominated by X-Factor finalists, just like in the 1960’s it was the Beatles who struck gold year after year. They had Christmas number 1 hits in 1963, 64, 65 and 67!

We’ve trawled the archives and found these old favourite (and some random) Christmas number 1 hits – who remembers them?

• In 1955 Dickie Valentine was top of the Christmas pops with his hit “Christmas Alphabet”…. remember it? No, neither do we!
• But you’ll surely remember Harry Belafonte’s hit “Mary’s Boy Child” from 1957…. it’s still played today, almost 60 years later.
• How about the curiously named Conway Twitty’s number 1 from 1958 – “It’s Only Make Believe”… If he’s talking about Santa then we absolutely beg to differ….
• Fav Welsh crooner Mr Tom Jones made it to the top spot in 1966 with “Green, Green Grass of Home”.
• Everyone knows Slade’s 1973 hit “Merry Xmas Everyone”…. still a favourite at the Christmas disco….
• As is Mud’s hit from a year later in 1974 – “It’ll be Lonely this Christmas”.
• In 1980 it wasn’t just one singer that made it to the top, but a whole choir. Who remembers St Winifred’s School Choir and the bizarre hit “There’s no one quite like Grandma….”
• Of course, 1984 saw the phenomenal success of the Band Aid single “Do They Know it’s Christmas”, a hit that’s been covered many times, and was Number 1 again in 1989 and in 2004.
• Brilliant crooner Sir Cliff hit the top spot in 1988 with his ballad “Mistletoe and Wine”
• And who could forget the 1993 smasher from none other than Mr Blobby….. imaginatively titled “Mr Blobby”
• In the late 1990’s, the Spice Girls had three Christmas number 1’s on the trot. “2 Become 1”, “Too Much”, and “Goodbye” were all festive chart toppers for the girls.
• Last year’s number 1 was charity single “He ain’t Heavy; he’s my Brother” by the Justice Collective (a group of musicians and celebrities including Melanie C, Robbie Williams, Paloma Faith and Paul Heaton). All the proceeds went to various charities associated with the Hillsborough Disaster.

So, who’s in the running for this year’s coveted top spot? Will it be another X-Factor year, or are we in line for something a little different! Whatever it is, we bet it’ll be memorable (at least you won’t be able to get it out of your head once you’ve heard it on the radio for the 700th time….)

Image by Jorymon.com on sxc.hu