The run up to Christmas is all about shopping, parties and Christmas themed music. In recent years, the musical aspects of Christmas have drifted away from carols and hymns, to which X-Factor contestant will win, and whether or not they get the Christmas Number One Spot.
For top Christmas charts are chosen charity songs, novelty songs and other Christmas theme’s songs, which are considered to participate in one of the prestigious charts in the country. It is especially important for musicians to get Christmas number 1, but why? A great start to the New Year, fame or is it all about the money.
The history of obsession with the Christmas Number One dates back to 1973 and .The UK Singles Chart The songs’ chart positions depend on the total sales during the week from Sunday to Saturday, but there was a build up to Christmas that year thanks to one Christmas themed song. After the release of “Merry Xmas Everybody” by the band Slade in December the song held the number one position in the charts. The Christmas themed tune and the bands sudden fame prompted a race for Number 1 the following year, and every year since.
Ever since, the success of a band in winter has been on its chart performance and whether they get the number one title. The Beatles hold the record for Christmas Number One over the most consecutive years. Out of a career of four Christmas Number Ones, more than any other artist, three were won consecutively. They are also the only act to have achieved holding the number one and number two positions in the Christmas charts; once in 1963 and then again in 1967.
Despite their success, the most popular Christmas Number One Story undoubtedly goes to Bad Aid with “Do They Know Its Christmas?” For three generations, the song has wound its way into the Top 40 after its initial success as Christmas Number One in 1986. It has become the second best-selling single of all time in the United Kingdom’s music history. Perhaps these success stories are the reasons for modern antics over the fight for the number one title.
Recently, reality television contests started to dominate over the Christmas number one, as the winners there are headed to number one a week before Christmas. This tendency began in 2012 when contestants from Popstars: The Rivals released the three best singles on the Christmas chart.
The winners of The X Factor, on the other hand, starting from 2005 and for the next 5 years took the position of Number 1 on five big occasions. Starting from 2007, bookmakers began to bet on who will get to “Christmas Number Two”, bored of the expected X-Factor outcome.
In 2009, the biggest media storm to stop X-Factor finalist Joe McElderry from winning the title commenced. Thanks to a Facebook campaign 1992 Rage Against The Machine song, “Killing in the Name” outsold the X-factor finalists and became the first ever group ever to get Christmas number one based on the download alone. It became the most download sale single in just one week in UK history. In a bid to stop another Simon Cowell Act from winning, the British public ignored the fact that Rage Against the Machine are also signed to the Sony label owned and managed by the music mogul.
Just like previous years, the top singles chart is a source of intrigue and speculation for this year too. The winner will be nostalgic, jingoistic and thoroughly soppy.There is less than a month to learn who will be the Official Christmas Number 1 single for 2013!
