The Greatest Christmas Number 1 Ever

Christmas is fast approaching and I’m sure everybody is as excited about what the Christmas Number 1 will be as I am, which is actually not at all, I couldn’t care less, however, there was a time when it held a much greater importance. The Beatles have the most Christmas Number 1s with four in total. The first three, I Want To Hold Your Hand, I Feel Fine and Day Tripper/We CanWork It Out topped the Official Singles Chart consecutively from 1963–1965. Hello, Goodbye was the fourth in 1967. Spice Girls also had three consecutive Christmas Number 1s: 2 Become 1, Too Much and Goodbye from 1996 to 1998.

Versions of charity single Do They Know It’s Christmas? have topped the charts at Christmas three times, Band Aid in 1984, Band Aid II in 1989, and finally for Band Aid 20 in 2004. The first version of Do They Know It’s Christmas? is the biggest selling Christmas Number 1 of all time, with over 3.8 million copies sold.

The only song to get the Christmas Number 1 twice by the same artist is Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. It first topped the Christmas charts in 1975 and then again 16 years later, following the death of Freddie Mercury. 

All fascinating facts but by far the most interesting Christmas Number one story for me is from 2009. The X Factor winner had, for the previous four years, been pretty much guaranteed the Christmas Number 1, and they were all pretty crap. To refresh your memory, in 2005 the Christmas Number 1 was That’s My Goal by Shane Ward:

Apologies for the overload of bland, it really is awful but winning the X Factor was, at this time, an absolute guarantee of sales and the show itself was almost offering the winner the Christmas Number 1 as part of the prize for winning. 2006 saw Leona Lewis win the show and her single was A Moment Like This. Now there is no doubt that she has a great voice and she does seem to be a lovely person who has managed a decent career as a result of the show. I don’t like the song very much either but the girl can sing:

Still hungry for more? Of course you are, how could you not be? On to 2007 and Leon Jackson with When You Believe, drivel, absolute drivel. Jackson has been dropped by his record label and has done nothing much of any note since his one and only album. Here it is, enjoy:

Still with me? You are? I’m surprised. On to 2008 and Leona Lewis light, or rather Alexandra Burke, who is very much like Lewis, just not as good or as likeable. There is a also terrible ridicule due for taking on Hallelujah and ruining it, Alexandra, do you have any clue whatsoever what you are singing about?:

In 2008 something was happening, a push back against the contrived crap being vomited into our faces by the X Faxtor had begun. A husband and wife team, Jon and Tracey Morter, started a Facebook campaign to get Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up to number one as a nod to the popular internet meme of Rickrolling. While the campaign did gain some traction, managing to get the song back into the charts 21 years after its initial release, eventually peaking at number 73, it ultimately failed and the number one spot, unsurprisingly, went to Alexander Burke, it’s up there if you can bear to listen again.

The couple had another go, this time trying to get Rage Against the Machine’s 1992 hit Killing in the Name to the Christmas Number one spot. It’s a pretty fine choice, an anti-establishment mantra with the theme of not doing what you’re told. It was also pretty sweary, so that would be funny. 

Over a million people ended up liking the Facebook page resulting in the story being widely covered by the media. Lead guitarist of RATM, Tom Morello, was supportive of the campaign from the beginning and the band pledged to donate all the proceeds they made from the sale of the song that Christmas to the homeless charity, Shelter. The band also thanked fans for their support in 2010 by playing a free gig in London.

The song’s lyrics, which contain the word “f*ck” about seventeen times, depending on the version you’re listening to, were deemed unsuitable for radio. This came to a head when the band was invited to play a live version of the song on BBC Radio 5live and they were specifically requested to not say the line “fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me.” Lead singer, Zack de la Rocha, screamed the offending line four times during the song before being pulled off air. 

The Band were signed with a label owned by Sony BMI, which also owned the label X Factor winners signed with, so the same company that was the source of the initial outrage just made more money than they normally would have thanks to the promotion and competition driving up sales. Although that was not really the point of it.

RATM did find themselves, rather surprisingly and probably inappropriately, with the Christmas Number 1. This is what it beat to the Number 1 spot that Christmas, Joe McElderry’s The Climb:

I’d rather listen to a dog throwing up to be honest. 

So, just in case I haven’t made it obvious enough, Rage Against The Machine gets my vote for the best ever Christmas Number 1. I do hope it starts to appear on compilations such as ‘Now That’s What I Call Christmas’:

Here is the full list of all the Christmas Number 1’s since the charts began:

YEAR	TITLE	ARTIST
1952	HERE IN MY HEART	AL MARTINO
1953	ANSWER ME	FRANKIE LAINE
1954	LET’S HAVE ANOTHER PARTY	WINIFRED ATWELL
1955	CHRISTMAS ALPHABET	DICKIE VALENTINE
1956	JUST WALKIN’ IN THE RAIN	JOHNNIE RAY
1957	MARY’S BOY CHILD	HARRY BELAFONTE
1958	IT’S ONLY MAKE BELIEVE	CONWAY TWITTY
1959	WHAT DO YOU WANT TO MAKE THOSE EYES AT ME FOR?	EMILE FORD & THE CHECKMATES
1960	I LOVE YOU	CLIFF RICHARD & THE SHADOWS
1961	MOON RIVER	DANNY WILLIAMS
1962	RETURN TO SENDER	ELVIS PRESLEY
1963	I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND	THE BEATLES
1964	I FEEL FINE	THE BEATLES
1965	DAY TRIPPER/WE CAN WORK IT OUT	THE BEATLES
1966	GREEN, GREEN GRASS OF HOME	TOM JONES
1967	HELLO, GOODBYE	THE BEATLES
1968	LILY THE PINK	THE SCAFFOLD
1969	TWO LITTLE BOYS	ROLF HARRIS
1970	I HEAR YOU KNOCKING	DAVE EDMUNDS
1971	ERNIE (THE FASTEST MILKMAN IN THE WEST)	BENNY HILL
1972	LONG HAIRED LOVER FROM LIVERPOOL	JIMMY OSMOND
1973	MERRY XMAS EVERYBODY	SLADE
1974	LONELY THIS CHRISTMAS	MUD
1975	BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY	QUEEN
1976	WHEN A CHILD IS BORN (SOLEADO)	JOHNNY MATHIS
1977	MULL OF KINTYRE/GIRLS’ SCHOOL	WINGS
1978	MARY’S BOY CHILD – OH MY LORD	BONEY M
1979	ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL (PART 2)	PINK FLOYD
1980	THERE’S NO ONE QUITE LIKE GRANDMA	ST WINIFRED’S SCHOOL CHOIR
1981	DON’T YOU WANT ME	THE HUMAN LEAGUE
1982	SAVE YOUR LOVE	RENÉE AND RENATO
1983	ONLY YOU	THE FLYING PICKETS
1984	DO THEY KNOW IT’S CHRISTMAS?	BAND AID
1985	MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE	SHAKIN’ STEVENS
1986	REET PETITE	JACKIE WILSON
1987	ALWAYS ON MY MIND	PET SHOP BOYS
1988	MISTLETOE AND WINE	CLIFF RICHARD
1989	DO THEY KNOW IT’S CHRISTMAS?	BAND AID II
1990	SAVIOUR’S DAY	CLIFF RICHARD
1991	BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY/THESE ARE THE DAYS OF OUR LIVES	QUEEN
1992	I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU	WHITNEY HOUSTON
1993	MR BLOBBY	MR BLOBBY
1994	STAY ANOTHER DAY	EAST 17
1995	EARTH SONG	MICHAEL JACKSON
1996	2 BECOME 1	SPICE GIRLS
1997	TOO MUCH	SPICE GIRLS
1998	GOODBYE	SPICE GIRLS
1999	I HAVE A DREAM/SEASONS IN THE SUN	WESTLIFE
2000	CAN WE FIX IT?	BOB THE BUILDER
2001	SOMETHIN’ STUPID	ROBBIE WILLIAMS & NICOLE KIDMAN
2002	SOUND OF THE UNDERGROUND	GIRLS ALOUD
2003	MAD WORLD	MICHAEL ANDREWS & GARY JULES
2004	DO THEY KNOW IT’S CHRISTMAS?	BAND AID 20
2005	THAT’S MY GOAL	SHAYNE WARD
2006	A MOMENT LIKE THIS	LEONA LEWIS
2007	WHEN YOU BELIEVE	LEON JACKSON
2008	HALLELUJAH	ALEXANDRA BURKE
2009	KILLING IN THE NAME	RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
2010	WHEN WE COLLIDE	MATT CARDLE
2011	WHEREVER YOU ARE	MILITARY WIVES WITH GARETH MALONE
2012	HE AIN’T HEAVY, HE’S MY BROTHER	THE JUSTICE COLLECTIVE
2013	SKYSCRAPER	SAM BAILEY
2014	SOMETHING I NEED	BEN HAENOW
2015	A BRIDGE OVER YOU	THE LEWISHAM & GREENWICH NHS CHOIR
2016	ROCKABYE	CLEAN BANDIT
2017	PERFECT	ED SHEERAN

Christmas Comes But Once A Year

I received a joint present from my Wife and Son this year, which they bought on Christmas Eve. This is a bonus for me as when they leave it stupidly late I tend to get something better than if they had time to think about it and to buy in advance. So I was asked to stay at home on Christmas Eve as they had to go out and get something, which I dutifully did, counteracting my disappointment and not having to trek amongst the thousands descending upon the shops by playing records and drinking coffee, it was tough but I managed it.

On Christmas morning I was delighted to receive a load of Record Vouchers, always good as I can then buy the records I want and not the records people think I want, which would usually be wrong. I also received a pair of headphones, which I had wanted as the ones I had been using were struggling, the slightest movement and one ear would cut out. These were not just any headphones though, they were exactly the Headphones I would have chosen has I had the opportunity. The Bose Quiet Comfort 35, what a set of headphones these are.

These headphones are outstanding, well, compared to any I’ve owned before they are magical. They are bluetooth and automatically connect with my phone when I switch them on, a nice lady also tells me how much battery life I have left at this point as well. The battery lasts for up to 20 hours and so far, with a lot of listening, I’ve only charged them once, when it was down to 30%. They are super comfortable to wear as they cover the entire ear and are pretty light weight. The noise cancelling aspect is surprising, to me at least, as you can switch them on and immediately hear the difference as the outside world becomes distant, which is rather disconcerting at first but I quickly acclimatised to it. The noise cancellation works by continuously measuring, comparing and reacting to outside noise, then cancels it with the opposite signal.When you press play you are engulfed in the music with little or no outside noise distractions, depending on where you are, they can’t remove everything but it does make a huge difference to the listening experience.

One thing I was glad to see was that they will still work even if the battery has no charge, a lead is provided for this, and the noise cancellation won’t work, but at least you can still use them.

The sound quality is wonderful and I’m hearing things in the music that I’m listening to that I didn’t know was there until now. A top Chef has a palette that can taste things that I can’t and there are producers and suchlike that can hear things that I can’t, but with these headphones I feel I’m getting close. What has also been a surprise is the range, I left my phone in the kitchen and went upstairs at the other side of the house and there was no noticeable difference in the reception. The other massive bonus is that I am no longer catching the lead, like that of my old headphones, on just about everything, door handles chairs, anything and everything seemed to be trying to yank them out of my ears.

There are volume controls on the right ear piece which also double as pause and skip and, though I haven’t tried it yet, you can take calls while wearing these as they have a built in microphone.

I am well aware that I’m gushing praise somewhat but theses things have really enhanced my listening experience and I love them! Yes, they are expensive, that’s for sure, but as I was lucky enough to not have to pay for them (not directly anyway) I can’t worry about that. I don’t know exactly how much this pair were but I would expect them to be somewhere around £290.

Here is a review, I haven’t listened to it but I will, and these are the grey pair (I prefer the black):