Ever wondered why "Caravan Of Love" by the Housemartins is played every Christmas time despite having nothing to do with Christmas? Well the reason is because it was a Christmas number 2. Not that every Christmas number 2 gets played every Christmas, in fact this is the only Christmas number 2 which isn't a Christmas song I can think of that we do hear every Christmas. One advantage it has over other Christmas number 2s for its longevity is that it was number 1 the week before Christmas.
So what was Christmas number 1 in 1986? It was a rerelease of "Reet Petite" by Jackie Wilson, which was also tend to hear every Christmas. It does raise the question though, why rerelease a song that's around 30 years old that has nothing to do with Christmas at Christmas? Well it turns out that the clay animation video had been made on a BBC show called "Arena" which prompted the rerelease.
Still, it is quite unusual for a Christmas number 1 and number 2 which aren't Christmas songs to continue being played every Christmas some 30 years later. If you look at the Christmas number ones of 1956 and 1966, they don't tend to be played at Christmas anymore.
However if you look at the Christmas charts of 1986, it starts to make sense. Basically there was a lack of Christmas records in the charts that year. In fact there was just one. That was "Santa Claus Is On The Doll" by Spitting Image. Having made number one with "The Chicken Song" earlier on in the year, they didn't quite hit the same heights with this Christmas effort which reached number 22 and has since been long forgotten by many.
Sunday, 18 December 2016
Fatboy Slim @ The O2
So I began the year going to Fatboy Slims smile high club without actually seeing Fatboy Slim. I end the year going to see the man himself at the O2.
To give you the best idea of how the gig was, at the time of writing you can still watch the set here
If you read my review on the Four Tops and Temptations gig at the O2 a couple of months back, you will see me saying how the price of beer at the O2 has gone up, and the quality has gone down, therefore the best thing to do when going to the O2 is to drink as much beer as you need beforehand. That is exactly what I did. On arrival at the O2 I was greeted by a huge queue waiting to get through the airport style security. Despite stepping off the tube some 30 minutes prior to Fatboy Slim being due on stage, the set had just began when I finally got in.
He was playing "Eat Sleep Rave Repeat" as I entered the arena, a tune that is very much one to hear out loud rather than at home. Instead of being on the usual stage, he was in the middle of the arena with the crowd surrounding him, which worked as despite being near the back I could properly see him.
Being stood not far from the bar I discovered that a pint of beer there has now gone up to £6 and if you want Stella it's a whopping £6.50.
A lot of his famous tune were played in some way or another, some of them just being the vocal sample being mixed with other tunes. The about 30 minutes in the sound went for around 5 minutes and the boos started ringing out, not that you can blame Fatboy Slim for that.
As with all Fatboy Slim sets I've ever seen, there was the inevitable sing a long to "Star 69" which is always good fun.
As always, he ended the set with "Praise You". I read a review from his Glasgow set who put that he mixed this tune up with "Crazy In Love" by Beyoncé. But those who know a thing or two about music will know it was actually "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" by the Chi-Lites.
To give you the best idea of how the gig was, at the time of writing you can still watch the set here
If you read my review on the Four Tops and Temptations gig at the O2 a couple of months back, you will see me saying how the price of beer at the O2 has gone up, and the quality has gone down, therefore the best thing to do when going to the O2 is to drink as much beer as you need beforehand. That is exactly what I did. On arrival at the O2 I was greeted by a huge queue waiting to get through the airport style security. Despite stepping off the tube some 30 minutes prior to Fatboy Slim being due on stage, the set had just began when I finally got in.
He was playing "Eat Sleep Rave Repeat" as I entered the arena, a tune that is very much one to hear out loud rather than at home. Instead of being on the usual stage, he was in the middle of the arena with the crowd surrounding him, which worked as despite being near the back I could properly see him.
Being stood not far from the bar I discovered that a pint of beer there has now gone up to £6 and if you want Stella it's a whopping £6.50.
A lot of his famous tune were played in some way or another, some of them just being the vocal sample being mixed with other tunes. The about 30 minutes in the sound went for around 5 minutes and the boos started ringing out, not that you can blame Fatboy Slim for that.
As with all Fatboy Slim sets I've ever seen, there was the inevitable sing a long to "Star 69" which is always good fun.
As always, he ended the set with "Praise You". I read a review from his Glasgow set who put that he mixed this tune up with "Crazy In Love" by Beyoncé. But those who know a thing or two about music will know it was actually "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" by the Chi-Lites.
Friday, 16 December 2016
The Christmas Charts - 1976
Going back to 1976, we have a Christmas number one which is actually a Christmas record. It was "When A Child Is Born" by Johnny Mathis. Released in November, this would gradually climb the charts before finally getting to number one Christmas week.
The next highest charting Christmas record was "Bionic Santa" by Chris Hill. This was basically short clips of a number of records at the time incorporated into a story about a bionic Santa being created. Chris Hill was a DJ who had done a similar thing the year before with "Renta Santa". Both records reached number 10 and spent 7 weeks in the charts, and that was the chart career of Chris Hill.
The other Christmas record that year was "Ring Out Solstice Bells" by Jethro Tull. This was their first hit for 5 years and would be their final new top 40 hit. Their career was far from over though, being more successful with their albums than their singles.
A surprisingly low number of Christmas hits given it was the 70s. However, to give you an idea of what was going on at the time, the week before Christmas a new entry to the top 40 was "Anarchy In The UK" by the Sex Pistols. Like with a lot of other music that came before punk, Christmas records were no longer in, at least until two of the Sex Pistols members would collaborate with Thin Lizzy 3 years later.
The next highest charting Christmas record was "Bionic Santa" by Chris Hill. This was basically short clips of a number of records at the time incorporated into a story about a bionic Santa being created. Chris Hill was a DJ who had done a similar thing the year before with "Renta Santa". Both records reached number 10 and spent 7 weeks in the charts, and that was the chart career of Chris Hill.
The other Christmas record that year was "Ring Out Solstice Bells" by Jethro Tull. This was their first hit for 5 years and would be their final new top 40 hit. Their career was far from over though, being more successful with their albums than their singles.
A surprisingly low number of Christmas hits given it was the 70s. However, to give you an idea of what was going on at the time, the week before Christmas a new entry to the top 40 was "Anarchy In The UK" by the Sex Pistols. Like with a lot of other music that came before punk, Christmas records were no longer in, at least until two of the Sex Pistols members would collaborate with Thin Lizzy 3 years later.
Wednesday, 14 December 2016
The Christmas Charts - 1966
One of the many criticisms the X Factor gets for the songs they take to Christmas number one is that they are quite depressing and that just isn't the spirit of Christmas.
This is nothing new though, 50 years ago we had a song about somebody on death row at Christmas number one. That song being "The Green Green Grass Of Home" by Tom Jones. After hitting the ground running which his debut reaching number one just under 2 years prior to this, Tom Jones failed to reach the top 10 with his following 6 singles, but he succeeded once again with this number one. Although he wouldn't score another number one, it gave his chart career a boost for the rest of the decade with only 1 further single in the 60s failing to reach the top 10. One thing Tom Jones is often credited for with this song is preventing the Beatles continuing their run of Christmas number ones having had them the previous 3 years and also the following year. A slight detail that gets missed out with this though is that the Beatles didn't even attempt to get a Christmas number one this year with their most recent single being released in August.
In terms of Christmas songs, we had just the one in the charts this year. This was "If Everyday Was Like Christmas" by Elvis Presley. When people think of Christmas songs by Elvis, most think of "Blue Christmas" whilst some incorrectly think of "Lonely This Christmas" which was actually by Mud. However in chart terms this was actually the more successful single reaching number 9 whereas "Blue Christmas" reached number 11. It wasn't his highest charting Christmas single though, that was back in 1957 with "Santa Bring My Baby Back To Me" reaching number 7. He did have a fourth UK Christmas hit with "It Won't Seem Like Christmas (Without You)" which posthumously reach number 13 in 1979. If you want to look beyond the top 40, he had a fifth Christmas single in 1980 with "Santa Claus Is Back In Town" which reached number 41 in 1980.
This is nothing new though, 50 years ago we had a song about somebody on death row at Christmas number one. That song being "The Green Green Grass Of Home" by Tom Jones. After hitting the ground running which his debut reaching number one just under 2 years prior to this, Tom Jones failed to reach the top 10 with his following 6 singles, but he succeeded once again with this number one. Although he wouldn't score another number one, it gave his chart career a boost for the rest of the decade with only 1 further single in the 60s failing to reach the top 10. One thing Tom Jones is often credited for with this song is preventing the Beatles continuing their run of Christmas number ones having had them the previous 3 years and also the following year. A slight detail that gets missed out with this though is that the Beatles didn't even attempt to get a Christmas number one this year with their most recent single being released in August.
In terms of Christmas songs, we had just the one in the charts this year. This was "If Everyday Was Like Christmas" by Elvis Presley. When people think of Christmas songs by Elvis, most think of "Blue Christmas" whilst some incorrectly think of "Lonely This Christmas" which was actually by Mud. However in chart terms this was actually the more successful single reaching number 9 whereas "Blue Christmas" reached number 11. It wasn't his highest charting Christmas single though, that was back in 1957 with "Santa Bring My Baby Back To Me" reaching number 7. He did have a fourth UK Christmas hit with "It Won't Seem Like Christmas (Without You)" which posthumously reach number 13 in 1979. If you want to look beyond the top 40, he had a fifth Christmas single in 1980 with "Santa Claus Is Back In Town" which reached number 41 in 1980.
Monday, 12 December 2016
The Christmas Charts - 1956
As Christmas is just around the corner, I thought I would take a look at the charts each decade ago to see what they looked like at Christmas time. I begin with 1956 and will jump a decade each post up to 2016.
The Christmas number one of 1956 was "Just Walkin In The Rain" by Johnnie Ray. Although not a Christmas song, one could argue that its more relevant to Christmas than songs about snowmen etc given its more likely to rain at Christmas than snow. Johnnie Ray wouldn't have had Christmas number one in mind when he released it though given it was released in early October and had been at number one since mid November.
In terms of actual Christmas songs, there were two of them in Christmas week.
First up was "Christmas Island" by Dickie Valentine. Having already had a fairly successful chart career, Dickie Valentine reached the peak the previous year with the first Christmas number one which was actually about Christmas, "Christmas Alphabet". This was actually his first hit since that previous Christmas and whilst not as successful, it still reached a respectable number 8. He would wait another year until his next hit which was yet another Christmas song, "Snowbound For Christmas" . This didn't do so well, peaking at number 28 and spending just one week on the charts.
The other Christmas record was "Christmas and You" by Dave King. This only peaked at number 23 and would be the lowest charting of his four singles.
It's probably fair to say both records haven't stood the test of time and had probably already been forgotten by 1957, fortunately we now have the internet to revive them.
The Christmas number one of 1956 was "Just Walkin In The Rain" by Johnnie Ray. Although not a Christmas song, one could argue that its more relevant to Christmas than songs about snowmen etc given its more likely to rain at Christmas than snow. Johnnie Ray wouldn't have had Christmas number one in mind when he released it though given it was released in early October and had been at number one since mid November.
In terms of actual Christmas songs, there were two of them in Christmas week.
First up was "Christmas Island" by Dickie Valentine. Having already had a fairly successful chart career, Dickie Valentine reached the peak the previous year with the first Christmas number one which was actually about Christmas, "Christmas Alphabet". This was actually his first hit since that previous Christmas and whilst not as successful, it still reached a respectable number 8. He would wait another year until his next hit which was yet another Christmas song, "Snowbound For Christmas" . This didn't do so well, peaking at number 28 and spending just one week on the charts.
The other Christmas record was "Christmas and You" by Dave King. This only peaked at number 23 and would be the lowest charting of his four singles.
It's probably fair to say both records haven't stood the test of time and had probably already been forgotten by 1957, fortunately we now have the internet to revive them.
Sunday, 11 December 2016
Pete Tong @ The O2
A number of rock music fans have always criticised dance music because its made on the computer instead of using real instruments, therefore it isn't proper music. My view has always been that as long as it sounds good, I don't really care how its made. Last week though, Pete Tong brought along an orchestra to the O2 to play many well known dance tunes from years gone by using actual instruments.
Having done the same thing at the proms last year, I had already seen footage of this to get an idea of what to expect. The set did not differ too much, but its all about hearing it out loud.
The set began with "Right Here Right Now" by Fatboy Slim, as soon as the beat kicked in I was out of my seat dancing and never sat down the rest of the night.
At times, you wouldn't know there was an orchestra there without looking at the stage, that show just how good they managed to replicate the tracks on their instruments.
Whilst they did get the instruments pretty much bang on, there was something they didn't do so well, the vocals. Obviously they can't get the original singers of every track played to come and perform, but they did highlight which vocalists would be present.
First up was Ella Eyre who came on to sing "Good Life" by Inner City. With a lot of dance music, the vocals are a bit of an after thought, but this was a track that originally had genuinely good vocals on it. To be honest, I had no idea who Ella Eyre was, but she did an absolutely dreadful job of singing "Good Life".
A bit later we did actually have the original vocalist for a track there on stage. Unfortunately that was Ella Eyre who sang a Rudimental track, can't say I'm a fan of Rudimental either, but was a good time to take a toilet break.
The set was rounded off with "Café Del Mar" with images of Ibiza being projected on the screen which seemed the perfect way to round off the set.
Then came the inevitable encore where Candi Staton came on to sing "You've Got The Love". At 76, her voice isn't what it was but was still a big improvement on the dreadful Ella Eyre.
Then the absolute final track was a Rudimental one, this time featuring vocalist John Newman who sounded like he was trying to be Mark Morrison. Not a great way to finish, but awful vocalists and Rudimental tracks aside it was an excellent night.
Having done the same thing at the proms last year, I had already seen footage of this to get an idea of what to expect. The set did not differ too much, but its all about hearing it out loud.
The set began with "Right Here Right Now" by Fatboy Slim, as soon as the beat kicked in I was out of my seat dancing and never sat down the rest of the night.
At times, you wouldn't know there was an orchestra there without looking at the stage, that show just how good they managed to replicate the tracks on their instruments.
Whilst they did get the instruments pretty much bang on, there was something they didn't do so well, the vocals. Obviously they can't get the original singers of every track played to come and perform, but they did highlight which vocalists would be present.
First up was Ella Eyre who came on to sing "Good Life" by Inner City. With a lot of dance music, the vocals are a bit of an after thought, but this was a track that originally had genuinely good vocals on it. To be honest, I had no idea who Ella Eyre was, but she did an absolutely dreadful job of singing "Good Life".
A bit later we did actually have the original vocalist for a track there on stage. Unfortunately that was Ella Eyre who sang a Rudimental track, can't say I'm a fan of Rudimental either, but was a good time to take a toilet break.
The set was rounded off with "Café Del Mar" with images of Ibiza being projected on the screen which seemed the perfect way to round off the set.
Then came the inevitable encore where Candi Staton came on to sing "You've Got The Love". At 76, her voice isn't what it was but was still a big improvement on the dreadful Ella Eyre.
Then the absolute final track was a Rudimental one, this time featuring vocalist John Newman who sounded like he was trying to be Mark Morrison. Not a great way to finish, but awful vocalists and Rudimental tracks aside it was an excellent night.
Sunday, 4 December 2016
Record of the Year 1965: Barry McGuire - Eve of Destruction
We are getting to the stage where there are many candidates for the record of the year each year, but for me "Eve of Destruction" slightly edges the rest of the candidates.
I can't say I know a great deal about Barry McGuire, I always got the impression from his singing voice that he was Irish, but he is actually American.
As many people point out in the YouTube comments, a lot of what is being said in this song is still relevant today some 50 years later. But it isn't just the lyrical content, it is also the delivery of the song which makes it stand out to me.
This would be his only top 40 hit in the UK, or anywhere else in the world according to his Wikipedia page. He did however do many albums and would later go on to do contemporary Christian music.
As far as one hit wonders go, this is up there amongst the best.
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