Yes yes there is an obvious answer to the question but the specific phenomenon of all the big Christmas hits (and Andy Williams) getting back into the Top 40 still bears closer examination. For instance, why is Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas” the most successful of these re-entries?
The answer lies in the murky world of the Christmas compilation. As anyone who’s ever bought a Xmo CD knows, the Christmas comp is a frustrating beast because it works like a fantasy football team: you don’t have enough money in your budget to get all the big stars so you pad out the disc with the musical equivalent of Sunderland’s second-choice right-back. (or “A Spaceman Came Travelling” as it’s known in the Christmas trade). So inevitably some songs the festive punter expects to find are lacking – and this is where the new download chart comes in.
A quick test of the theory: let’s look at the best-selling Wobs CD on Amazon. Band Aid, Slade, Wizzard….all there. But – NO MARIAH. Hence the disappointed buyers head for itunes to round off their Christmas collection and here we all are!
SHEL WILL WIN CZ SHE IS STRANGER
I don’t know that it’s anything to do with budget as such; more a case of the artist is not for licensing, which is why you never see the Beatles/Madonna/post-ThrillerJacko/etc. on Now compilations.
As far as the 2007 Xmas No. 1 is concerned I’m secretly willing Some Difference to win out over Rhydian next week since they are potentially the strangest pop group ever (if only Joe Meek were still here to sign up both).
i like to think that it is actually because miss mariah’s song is the only even vaguely listenable ‘xmas’ ‘classic’ in existence
I think you missed the “un” prefix to that “listenable” there Lex…
There is nothing wrong with “A Spaceman Came Travelling”. You’ll be having a go at “I Believe In Father Christmas” next.
At least there is no Bon Jovi ‘Please Come Home For Christmas’ in the chart. They missed a trick by forgetting to make the song actually sound Christmassy.
Remarkable how Band Aid II has been written out of history.
But Michael Ball doing “Driving Home For Christmas”??? Away with you, coarse varlet…the Rea-meister OWNS that song!
whereas michael ball may well be the opposite, it’s on quite a few comps, but i guess some ppl are cherry picking tracks by title, rather than artiste, possibly assuming that there is no other version apart from the rea one.
according to everyhit, NEITHER version had previously charted, can this be right?
oh hold on, i see, i thought ball had charted there…
Astonishingly the Rea original only managed #53 at Xmas ’88.
Re: Marcello post 2. Actually, All You Need Is Love by the Beatles appears on ‘Now That’s What I Call Summer!’. I don’t understand why, though.
Xpost to Marcello (#2) – I can’t wait to find out what song the three totally different acts are having foisted upon them for Xmas number one. Or is this already known and I’ve missed out? Though we (wife and I) are routing for Rhydian as we’re Welsh, I think we both would like Same Difference to win, just to annoy Louis, and because they are just so plain odd. Sorry, I keep hijacking these things and turning them into X Factor.
Christmas Singles? Bah humbug. I always dig out “Hot club of Bethlehem” by Aztec Camera, and that does me fine.
Lex, you apparently have not ever heard Darlene Love’s “Christmas, Baby Please Come Home” or Aly & A.J.’s “Not This Year” (Lex, how is it that you have not heard this song?).
Though I guess that “Not This Year” has yet to become a “classic.” But “Christmas, Baby Please Come Home” is. Darlene sings it every year on Letterman.
All good theories Tom, but missing out key usage of All I Want For Christmas in constant rotation in DFS adverts which may also have something to do with it.
Sugababes “New Year” is an awesome Christmas record needlessly overlooked because its title is a completely different bank holiday.
There tend to be very few New Year-specific pop songs – “Happy New Year” by Abba, which isn’t exactly a knees up, “Ring Out The Old (Ring In The New),” Roy Wood’s forlorn 1985 attempt to repeat the Wizzard formula, “This New Year” by Cliff Richard (I’m sure you all remember it), the aforementioned “New Year” by the Sugababes, I suppose “The Perfect Year” by Dina Carroll at a very long stretch – but I’m sure other FTers can recall more than that.
There is also of course “The Millennium Prayer” by Sir Cliff but we don’t talk about that. Not yet, anyway.
I like ‘Happy New Year’ by Altered Images – an undisguised rewrite of ‘Happy Birthday’ with a brand new spoken word section: “Wishing a happy new year to the readers of Flexipop magazine from Claire and the boys!”
There’s also George Harrison’s “Ding Dong Ding Dong”, which leaves the old comprehensively rung out, the new fully rung in, etc.
How could I have forgotten the worst solo Beatle single ever?
Dina Carroll’s “Perfect Year” is utterly lovely. Marcello’s also overlooked “New Year’s Day” by U2, possibly on purpose!
The best X Factor rumour I’ve heard yet is that Little Britain are going to sign up Rhydian as the other gay in the village.
It probably wasn’t a good idea to release “New Year’s Day” as a single two weeks after New Year’s Day. Still, never mind your Blur vs Oasis; the big battle that week was U2 vs Echo (“The Cutter”). Mac scraped to victory by virtue of his striptease on TOTP.
Certainly no worse than the springtime release of Wizzard’s “Rock’n’Roll Winter (sorry, the word “spring” wouldn’t fit)”.
“Rock ‘N’ Roll Winter (Loony’s Tune)” to be precise (five points from Graham Archive).
Check out a new Christmas song put together by students – is number one in the HMV download charts – http://www.christmasnumberone.org – ‘Smells like Christmas time’ by Anarchy Christmas. ll proceeds going to charities.
Not as good as Malcolm Middleton but substantially better than Leon Jackson.
In the same way that the Melua/Cassidy exercise in necrophilia was only available in Tesco’s, my feeling is that all copies of “When You Believe” should be shipped directly to the charity shops in order to cut out the middleman, since that’s where they’ll all end up in, ooh, four weeks’ time.