It’s the most wonderful time of the year, at least according to Andy Williams, which means stockings above the fireplace, geese getting fat, goodwill to all… And the annual race for Christmas Number One.
By now it’s certainly a British tradition, and the one time of the year that the singles chart is guaranteed to make the news, but most people would say that the honour of being the nation’s biggest-selling song on December 25th has lost a lot of its lustre. I’d agree. In fact, I’d say that we’ve already covered the heyday of the Christmas Number One in my regular blog… The most recent festive #1 was 1994’s: East 17’s ‘Stay Another Day’, a classic that I’ve just named one of the Very Best. From here on its a slippery slope, past The Spice Girls, endless X-Factor winners, countless charity singles, to the very bottom of the barrel, and the dreaded LadBaby.
Now it’s time for you to decide: what is the greatest Xmas #1? And, perhaps more importantly, what is the worst?? See below two polls, in which you can choose as many or as few songs as you like, for both honours.
Perhaps controversially, I’ve not listed every Xmas #1 since 1952. Until the early seventies, the idea of a ‘Christmas Number One’ wasn’t particularly relevant, so the only pre-1973 hits I’ve included in the vote are specifically Chistmassy, or novelty songs that probably wouldn’t have made #1 at any other time of year (so, sorry, no Beatles…) Even post-1973, I’ve excluded pop songs that just happened to be #1 at Christmas (so no Human League, or Pet Shop Boys). However, there is space at the bottom for you to nominate any Xmas #1 you think I’ve unfairly missed off the list. You may, for example, feel very strongly that ‘Two Little Boys’ deserves the title…
Here’s the poll for the best…
And the worst…
I’ll announce the results on Christmas Eve, so you have until then to cast your votes. Have at it!
The UK Number Ones Blog 
Sorry, Stuart, but…am I being thick? I’d certainly love to vote, but I’m expecting to see links in the bit below and don’t!
Perhaps controversially, I’ve not listed every Xmas #1 since 1952. Until the early seventies, the idea of a ‘Christmas Number One’ wasn’t particularly relevant, so the only pre-1973 hits I’ve included in the vote are specifically Chistmassy, or novelty songs that probably wouldn’t have made #1 at any other time of year (so, sorry, no Beatles…) Even post-1973, I’ve excluded pop songs that just happened to be #1 at Christmas (so no Human League, or Pet Shop Boys). However, there is space at the bottom for you to nominate any Xmas #1 you think I’ve unfairly missed off the list. You may, for example, feel very strongly that ‘Two Little Boys’ deserves the title…
Here’s the poll for the best…
https://number1sblog.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=82e9d86fc33b58e1c609cf3acd7db11e15910ebd8f70ca6dbb24d8b28f3f5ec5&blog_id=57087167&post_id=8586&user_id=0&subs_id=41280200&signature=ec4ba5efe3c572227a05a0371e5892e2&email_name=new-post&user_email=vjohn307@aol.com&encoded_url And the worst…
https://number1sblog.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=82e9d86fc33b58e1c609cf3acd7db11e15910ebd8f70ca6dbb24d8b28f3f5ec5&blog_id=57087167&post_id=8586&user_id=0&subs_id=41280200&signature=ec4ba5efe3c572227a05a0371e5892e2&email_name=new-post&user_email=vjohn307@aol.com&encoded_url I’ll announce the results on Christmas Eve, so you have until then to cast your votes. Have at it!
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Hi John, sorry… Seems to be OK for others. I’ll paste the links here, and you can try again:
Best: https://poll.fm/13052589
Worst: https://poll.fm/13108048
Failing that, you can just let me know your preferences. I’m sure you’ve got all the Xmas #1s committed to memory!
Thanks, all done!
I picked the worse on principle alone…Donny boy. On the best…I’m not sick of it like you guys are…that is Slade. I’ve only heard that song maybe 6-7 times in my life….my favorite of all time…but not a number one is Happy Xmas (War is Over)…I’m still shocked that it didn’t go to number 1 at least on a reissue.
Brenda Lee’s Rockin Around the Christmas Tree went to #1 in America a few weeks ago. I think she is the oldest person at 79, to have a number 1…not being in a band.
I did see that about Brenda Lee! Good for her, and it’s a Christmas tune I’m not sick of…. yet (unlike Wham, and you-know-who…) And I do love Happy Xmas (War Is Over) – I’m not sure I’ll ever get sick of that. It really shows Lennon’s talent – after a decade in the best band ever, he casually throws together (with Yoko’s help, let’s be fair) the best Xmas song ever… (And the less said about Paul’s Christmas ‘classic’ the better…)
Oh Paul’s song is hard to stomach I will admit! I like it ON Christmas day…but that is about it…where I only have to hear it once! He said he wrote it in 10 minutes….welll yea it shows!
Someone said on my Slade post today…that he likes the Lennon Christmas song better than Imagine…I have to agree with that. Look…I’ll defend Lennon’s Imagine…I thought he had the right to write it…I don’t care about the rich stuff…I mean…Mick was singing about Street Fighting Man…but he wasn’t going to do that…but Imagine has lost it’s luster to me…maybe because I’ve heard it too much.
It probably helps that you only hear Happy Xmas for a couple of months a year, whereas Imagine pops up all year round. Plus, Happy Xmas has a little more edge to it, with the ‘and what have you done’, and the ‘if you want it’ lines… He knows that war isn’t going to be over any time soon.
Isn’t that the truth…about all of your points and about wars.
I can see that a lot of people are bored silly by the Slade song, but I still love it. It still glows, it still rocks, and it always conjures up memories of Noddy and Dave trying to outdo each other with that amazing clobber. And I haven’t even mentioned Noddy’s wall to wall grin all over his face – altogether, the whole sound and vision package makes most of the others look almost drab in comparison. Above all, it reminds me of a time when the charts were going through a particularly good period. Well I wish it could be 1973 everyday (sorry, wrong tune I know…)
I was 6 in 1973 but I loved growing up in the 70s…it’s my favorite decade hands down that I remember in music and culture.
The Slade song…I’ve only heard it a handful of times so yes…it’s great to me and it’s pretty much a new one because it’s not played here for some reason.
I posted on it yesterday and it got a great response because like you said…it fits the moment well.
Aww, Don’t You Want Me is my favourite Christmas chart-topper. Curse these rules! But East 17 ain’t bad either.
Haha sorry! Feel free to enter Human League manually at the bottom of the poll! It certainly is one of the best Xmas #1s, but at the same time could easily have been a chart-topper in July.