One thing that is never known when a new Christmas record comes out is whether it will stand the test of time. The reality is since Mariah Carey's effort 25 years ago, few if any Christmas songs made since have managed to become regulars on the Christmas lists. I'm aware some modern artists have had a go in recent years, but it's still too early to tell. If you still hear it after a decade though then maybe you have a Christmas anthem.
On to 2009 then, a decade ago. We had Terry Wogan and Aled Jones collaborate on their version of "Silver Bells". I recall their collaboration the year before on "Little Drummer Boy - Peace On Earth", but do not recall this one. It made 27 and has been on YouTube ever since, with 133k views at time of writing, not really the sort of number to suggest it's on many peoples Christmas playlists.
Having been responsible for one of the biggest Christmas hits ever, George Michael had another crack at a Christmas song with "December Song (I Dreamed of Christmas)". It had been available as a free download on his website the year before but this was the first commercial release. It made 14 in the charts, but the physical copies sold out and it's said that it would have charted higher if more copies were available. At 3.4 million views on YouTube it's done better than Terry Wogan and Aled Jones. However, it's still not Christmas playlist territory. The question is though, does anyone have more than one big Christmas record? Sure there are some that have more than one, but who can name the Elton John Christmas record that isn't "Step Into Christmas"? or the Shakin Stevens ones that isn't "Merry Xmas Everyone"?
The final Christmas effort came from an act who had already previously had a Christmas number one, Pet Shop Boys. The record was "It Doesn't Often Snow At Christmas" which was a fan club single in 1997. How did it chart? Well it made the number 40, so they now have the honour of having both a Christmas number one and a Christmas number 40. I don't think I've met anyone who's heard it without me playing it to them, which tells you whether it's stood the test of time. It's a shame as I quite like it. It is also the final Top 40 hit to date for them.
The Christmas number one had been the X Factor winner for 4 years in a row, but this was the year of the anti-X Factor campaign which got Rage Against the Machine to number one with "Killing in the Name". The X Factor winner Joe McElderry had to settle for number two with "The Climb", but made number one the following week.
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