December 17, 201410 yr I'd rather see a charity single get to number one over X Factor which is why I'm gutted that The Peace Collective track isn't doing better :( The last three XF winner's singles have been charity singles as well I believe (James Arthur's certainly was at least, as a replacement for the Finalists charity single that was discontinued in 2011).
December 17, 201410 yr Author I'm also fed up of people saying there aren't any good Christmas singles released anymore - there are you just have to look and be patient and see them become classics. Most original Xmas hits became hits in the chart because they were released at a time when the artist in question was at the peak of their popularity see Slade in 1973, Boney M in 1978 & Mud in 1974. There are exceptions though if songs that became classics even without high chart positions eg. Chris Rea - Driving home for Christmas peaked in 2007 at No33 after peaking at 53 in 1989. Here is a list of post 2000 releases I consider classics/future classics - Artist Song Chart Peak Year The Darkness Christmas Time 2 2003 The Waterbabies Under the Tree 27 2005 The Killers A Great Big Sled N/A 2005 The Killers Boots 51 2010 Michael Buble Have yourself a merry little Christmas n/a 2010 (the album as a whole) Gary Jules/Michael Andrews Mad World 1 2003 Coldplay Christmas Lights 13 2011 Gabrielle Aplin The Power of Love 1 2012 George Michael December Song(I Dreamed of Christmas) 14 2010 Band Aid 20 Do they know it's Christmas 1 2004 Gabrielle Cilmi Warm this Winter 22 2006 Julian Casablancas I wish it was Christmas today n/a 2009 Leona Lewis One More Sleep 3 2013 Kelly Clarkson Underneath the Tree 27 2013 The Feeling Feels like Christmas 2008 Bob Dylan Must be Santa 41 2010 The Wombats Is this Christmas? 48 2008 Geraldine McQueen Once Upon a Christmas Song 5 2007 Tom Odell Real Love 7 2014 Lily Allen Somewhere only we Know 1 2013 Kate Winslet What If 6 2001 Bo Selecta Proper Crimbo 4 2003 Edited December 17, 201410 yr by steve201
December 17, 201410 yr Several of those aren't Christmas songs ('Mad World', 'Real Love', 'Somewhere Only We Know', 'What If', I want to say 'The Power Of Love' but am aware the original is considered a Christmas song for some reason...) and several others get pretty much no airplay now so calling them 'classics' is pushing it rather a lot. The only ones on that list I would say have had any longevity are The Darkness, Michael Bublé (various tracks from his 'Christmas' album seem to do well year after year, though the main one is 'It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas' so I'm not sure why you listed 'Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas' instead... :P), Coldplay, Leona Lewis, Kelly Clarkson and maybe Gabriella Cilmi.
December 17, 201410 yr I'm also fed up of people saying there aren't any good Christmas singles released anymore - there are you just have to look and be patient and see them become classics. Most original Xmas hits became hits in the chart because they were released at a time when the artist in question was at the peak of their popularity see Slade in 1973, Boney M in 1978 & Mud in 1974. There are exceptions though if songs that became classics even without high chart positions eg. Chris Rea - Driving home for Christmas peaked in 2007 at No33 after peaking at 53 in 1989. Here is a list of post 2000 releases I consider classics/future classics - Artist Song Chart Peak Year The Darkness Christmas Time 2 2003 The Waterbabies Under the Tree 27 2005 The Killers A Great Big Sled N/A 2005 The Killers Boots 51 2010 Michael Buble Have yourself a merry little Christmas n/a 2010 (the album as a whole) Gary Jules/Michael Andrews Mad World 1 2003 Coldplay Christmas Lights 13 2011 Gabrielle Aplin The Power of Love 1 2012 George Michael December Song(I Dreamed of Christmas) 14 2010 Band Aid 20 Do they know it's Christmas 1 2004 Gabrielle Cilmi Warm this Winter 22 2006 Leona Lewis One More Sleep 3 2013 Kelly Clarkson Underneath the Tree 27 2013 The Feeling Feels like Christmas 2008 Bob Dylan Must be Santa 41 2010 The Wombats Is this Christmas? 48 2008 Geraldine McQueen Once Upon a Christmas Song 5 2007 Tom Odell Real Love 7 2014 Lily Allen Somewhere only we Know 1 2013 Mate Winslet What If 6 2001 Bo Selecta Proper Crimbo 4 2003 Where is Hot Pantz 'Give U One (4 Christmas)' :kink:
December 17, 201410 yr Author Several of those aren't Christmas songs ('Mad World', 'Real Love', 'Somewhere Only We Know', 'What If', I want to say 'The Power Of Love' but am aware the original is considered a Christmas song for some reason...) and several others get pretty much no airplay now so calling them 'classics' is pushing it rather a lot. The only ones on that list I would say have had any longevity are The Darkness, Michael Bublé (various tracks from his 'Christmas' album seem to do well year after year, though the main one is 'It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas' so I'm not sure why you listed 'Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas' instead... :P), Coldplay, Leona Lewis, Kelly Clarkson and maybe Gabriella Cilmi. On the contrary I consider them Christmas classics like the post says :P I for one have heard both Julian Casablancas & The Wombats on radio 1 this week. Edited December 17, 201410 yr by steve201
December 18, 201410 yr Here is a list of post 2000 releases I consider classics/future classics - Artist Song Chart Peak Year The Darkness Christmas Time 2 2003 The Waterbabies Under the Tree 27 2005 The Killers A Great Big Sled N/A 2005 The Killers Boots 51 2010 Michael Buble Have yourself a merry little Christmas n/a 2010 (the album as a whole) Gary Jules/Michael Andrews Mad World 1 2003 Coldplay Christmas Lights 13 2011 Gabrielle Aplin The Power of Love 1 2012 George Michael December Song(I Dreamed of Christmas) 14 2010 Band Aid 20 Do they know it's Christmas 1 2004 Gabrielle Cilmi Warm this Winter 22 2006 Julian Casablancas I wish it was Christmas today n/a 2009 Leona Lewis One More Sleep 3 2013 Kelly Clarkson Underneath the Tree 27 2013 The Feeling Feels like Christmas 2008 Bob Dylan Must be Santa 41 2010 The Wombats Is this Christmas? 48 2008 Geraldine McQueen Once Upon a Christmas Song 5 2007 Tom Odell Real Love 7 2014 Lily Allen Somewhere only we Know 1 2013 Kate Winslet What If 6 2001 Bo Selecta Proper Crimbo 4 2003 Not even one of them is a classic / future classic. The TV channels are playing them because they're (relatively) recent, but they don't have the charm to become perennial...those I've heard! I think the last "Christmas" (and that's only in terms of the sleigh bells and video) song that will stick around for ever is East 17's Stay Another Day. Pretty remarkable that it's still being played regularly 20 years on, but it is.
December 18, 201410 yr I mentioned this the other day but it's highly unlikely a 'rock' campaign - or any campaign regardless of genre - will ever do what Rage Against the Machine did in 2009 again. I mean, I could very well be proved wrong there in the future, but the climate's different now with streaming included in the mix. A lot of those download only campaigns were accessible for the time because once you've downloaded the song, that's it, and it's instant. I know the ratio of sales from streaming is only tiny compared to other formats atm but for one sale to count, a song has to be streamed 100 times. And I can't see who'd have the time or patience to have say, some novelty record by an aging rocker on loop for three hours at a time just for it to count towards the chart. As I said though, I could very well be proved wrong but I just don't see it happening. As far as X Factor goes, winners getting Christmas #1 will only carry on for as long as the public want the show. And judging on Ben Haenow's sales this week I'd say they're still interested. I personally would like to see someone like Olly Murs release a Christmas single or album next year. He's just done a free Christmas EP on Google Play that's been really popular and if he did his own original wintery themed single on a full scale Christmas album I could see it being as big as Michael Buble's Christmas album.
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