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.
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