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.
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