Mrs. C says: What an integral part of the festive season this has become – the race for Christmas number one. It is a quintessentially British tradition and, to this day, carries with it enormous prestige. Sales of singles are especially high in the two weeks before Christmas. Who will take the coveted top spot has for decades been the subject of debate, conjecture and wagers.
Ed Elf: What? People actually bet money on it?
Mrs. C: Some people will have a flutter on most anything, dear, even whether or not it will be a white Christmas.
Ed Elf: That’s a pretty safe bet in the North Pole, I can tell ya.
Mrs. C: Just as well there are no bookmakers there, then. Here’s some interesting history on the songs that made it to the top. And if this piques your interest, take a look elsewhere in this Music and Movies section for those songs that just missed out, chart-topping albums and a few absolute stinkers – all put together by our busy elves at How to Christmas.
Glory, Glory Number One
The British Christmas institution of the number one single began in 1952 with Al Martino’s “Here in My Heart” taking top spot. For the first British chart, Percy Dickens, of the New Musical Express, compiled a list of 52 stores willing to report sales figures.
The charts and how record sales were determined changed through the years and Christmas number one would eventually become the target of quirky performers whose novelty songs attracted interest at the not-so-cool Yule, when at any other time of the year would likely have been scorned.
Reality television would later take a stranglehold on the number one berth, starting with “Popstars: The Rivals” in 2002, followed by the X Factor and even “The Choir” in 2011. A new trend may have been set in 2015 as pop superstar Justin Bieber, the first artist to have three singles simultaneously occupy the top three chart positions in the UK, put his weight behind a charity song – asking his own fans to buy that single and make it Christmas No.1 instead of his own track “Love Yourself”. It worked. Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir’s “Bridge Over You” took top spot. In 2018, a novelty single by YouTuber LadBaby (an ode to sausage rolls) took top spot while also raising money for a good cause, in this case for a food bank charity. He tried his luck again in 2019 and once more came out tops with a sausage roll parody of an eighties Joan Jett hit “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll”, then completed the hat-trick in 2020 and added a record-breaking fourth Christmas No.1 in a row in 2021 in collaboration with Sir Elton John and Ed Sheeran, again raising funds for The Trussell Trust.
1952 – Al Martino
1953 – Frankie Laine
1954 – Winifred Atwell
1955 – Dickie Valentine
1956 – Johnnie Ray
1957 – Harry Belafonte
1958 – Conway Twitty
1959 – Emile Ford & The Checkmates
1960 – Cliff Richard & The Shadows
1961 – Danny Williams
1962 – Elvis Presley
1963 – The Beatles
1964 – The Beatles
1965 – The Beatles
1966 – Tom Jones
1967 – The Beatles
1968 – The Scaffold
1969 – Rolf Harris
1970 – Dave Edmunds
1971 – Benny Hill
1972 – Jimmy Osmond
1973 – Slade
1974 – Mud
1975 – Queen
1976 – Johnny Mathis
1977 – Wings
1978 – Boney M
1979 – Pink Floyd
1980 – St Winifred’s School Choir
1981 – The Human League
1982 – Renee & Ronato
1983 – The Flying Picketts
1984 – Band Aid
1985 – Shakin’ Stevens
1986 – Jackie Wilson
1987 – Pet Shop Boys
1988 – Cliff Richard
1989 – Band Aid II
1990 – Cliff Richard
1991 – Queen
1992 – Whitney Houston
1993 – Mr. Blobby
1994 – East 17
1995 – Michael Jackson
1996 – Spice Girls
1997 – Spice Girls
1998 – Spice Girls
1999 – Westlife
2000 – Bob the Builder
2001 – Robbie Williams & Nicole Kidman
2002 – Girls Aloud
2003 – Michael Andrews & Gary Jules
2004 – Band Aid 20
2005 – Shayne Ward
2006 – Leona Lewis
2007 – Leon Jackson
2008 – Alexandra Burke
2009 – Rage Against The Machine
2010 – Matt Cardle
2011 – Military Wives with Gareth Malone
2012 – The Justice Collective
2013 – Sam Bailey
2014 – Ben Haenow
2015 – Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Choir
2016 – Clean Bandit
2017 – Ed Sheeran
2018 – LadBaby
2019 – LadBaby
2020 – LadBaby
2021 – LadBaby with Sir Elton John & Ed Sheeran
“Here in My Heart”
“Answer Me”
“Let’s Have Another Party”
“Christmas Alphabet”
“Just Walkin’ in the Rain”
“Mary’s Boy Child”
“It’s Only Make Believe”
“What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?”
“I Love You”
“Moon River”
“Return to Sender”
“I Want to Hold Your Hand”
“I Feel Fine”
“Day Tripper”/”We Can Work it Out”
“Green Green Grass of Home”
“Hello, Goodbye”
“Lily the Pink”
“Two Little Boys”
“I Hear You Knocking”
“Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West)”
“Long Haired Lover from Liverpool”
“Merry Xmas Everybody”
“Lonely This Christmas”
“Bohemian Rhapsody”
“When A Child is Born (Soleado)”
“Mull of Kintyre”/“Girls’ School”
“Mary’s Boy Child”/“Oh My Lord”
“Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)”
“There’s No One Quite Like Grandma”
“Don’t You Want Me”
“Save Your Love”
“Only You”
“Do They Know It’s Christmas?”
“Merry Christmas Everyone”
“Reet Petite”
“Always on My Mind”
“Mistletoe and Wine”
“Do They Know It’s Christmas?”
“Saviour’s Day”
“Bohemian Rhapsody”/”These Are The Days of Our Lives”
“I Will Always Love You”
“Mr Blobby”
“Stay Another Day”
“Earth Song”
“2 Become 1”
“Too Much”
“Goodbye”
“I Have a Dream”/”Seasons in the Sun”
“Can We Fix It?”
“Somethin’ Stupid”
“Sound of the Underground”
“Mad World”
“Do They Know It’s Christmas?”
“That’s My Goal”
“A Moment Like This”
“When You Believe”
“Hallelujah”
“Killing in the Name”
“When We Collide”
“Wherever You Are”
“He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother”
“Skyscraper”
“Something I Need”
“Bridge Over You”
“Rockabye”
“Perfect”
“We Built This City”
“I Love Sausage Rolls”
“Don’t Stop Me Eatin'”
“Sausage Rolls for Everyone”
Pop megastars never to have a UK Christmas No.1 single include: Madonna, ABBA, The Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, The Who, Bruce Springsteen, Sting, U2, Prince, The Beach Boys, Take That and Lady Gaga.
Did you know…it is incorrectly believed by many that Jackie Wilson, who reached Christmas No.1 in 1986 with “Reet Petite”, was mistaken for Scottish darts player Jocky Wilson in one of the great TV bloopers of all-time? Dexy’s Midnight Runners were performing their cover of Van Morrison’s “Jackie Wilson Said” – a tribute to the soul singer – on Top of the Pops. When Kevin Rowland sang: “I’m in Heaven When You Smile”, a picture of the darts player appeared on the big screen behind him. A television howler? No, it was Rowland’s idea all along – as he told the Guardian newspaper in a 2002 interview.
And did you know…Paul Young’s opening lyrics in Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” were originally meant for David Bowie? Young revealed as much in a documentary. Bowie was unable to make the recording session but later made a contribution to the B-side. Boy George flew over on Concorde to add his lines late in the day. Culture Club were on a US tour at the time.
What’s more, did you know…Slade are reported to make £500,000 in royalties each year from their 1973 No.1 hit “Merry Xmas Everybody”?