Ah indeed I was - thanks!

30. Father & Son - Boyzone (1995) 406,000

 

 

The second appearance from Boyzone in the top 50! This cover of the Cat Stevens song peaked at #2 in the UK but despite missing the top spot, it was the thirteenth biggest song of 1995 and the sixth biggest selling boyband single of the 1990s.

 

29. Barbie Girl - Aqua (1997) 416,000

 

 

One of the biggest selling songs in the UK ever, Barbie Girl was a big hit over the Christmas period. First charting in October, Barbie Girl spent four weeks at #1 and an impressive 18 weeks top 40. The song is currently the 18th biggest selling single of all-time (including streams where possible).

 

28. 2 Become 1 - Spice Girls (1996) 429,000

 

 

The Spice Girls pop up with their second song top 50 now, with what was their third single, third consecutive #1, second million seller and first Christmas #1. 2 Become 1 was a smash hit when released in 1996, debuting at #1 and getting general praise from critics. I'm sure Jay would be able to add more detail on this :kink:

 

27. Daddy's Home - Cliff Richard (1981) 433,000

 

http://streamd.hitparade.ch/cdimages/cliff_richard-daddys_home_s_1.jpg

 

A cover of a song by Shep and the Limelites, Daddy's Home was a long-running #2 hit for Cliff Richard 20 years after the original was released. It didn't make the top spot but it did earn itself a gold certification.

 

26. When We Collide - Matt Cardle (2010) 439,000

 

 

Last one for today! *catch-up going well* Matt Cardle won The X Factor in 2010, and is the first of many X Factor winners to appear in the top 50, which I'm sure comes as no surprise to you all. When We Collide, a cover of Biffy Clyro's Many of Horror, debuted at #1 of course and stayed there for four weeks, after Matt beat Rebecca Ferguson, Cher Lloyd and, surprisingly with hindsight, One Direction to the title.

 

32 and 31 are great!

25. Never Had A Dream Come True - S Club 7 (2000) 440,000

 

 

Kicking off today's section with a song I adore :wub: S Club 7 released the charity single for 2000, and the gorgeous ballad Never Had a Dream Come True became their second #1 single (after debut hit Bring It All Back). It shot to #1 and was then included on a re-issue of their second album 7. This is a song that defined my childhood, delighted to see it pop up in this countdown :heart:

 

24. The Climb - Joe McElderry (2009) 450,000

 

 

Another X Factor winning single now! And one that is particularly notable ahead of others. Joe McElderry won the sixth series of the show in 2009, beating Olly Murs to the title, but regardless of who won, they were going to face stiff competition for the Christmas #1, with a Facebook campaign picking up lots of attention to get Rage Against the Machine's Killing in the Name to #1. The Miley Cyrus cover had to settle for #2 ultimately in the close knit battle, but Joe climbed to #1 the following week.

 

23. Believe - Cher (1998) 477,000

 

 

Currently posting unreadable yet hilarious tweets, Cher topped the chart with this iconic song 17 years ago now. It reached #1 not just in the UK, but almost everywhere it charted (its chart positions on Wikipedia are basically a sea of 1s lol). It was the year-end #1 in the UK in 1998 and the decade-end #5, and became the first solo female song to be certified triple platinum here!

 

22. Stan - Eminem (2000) 483,000

 

 

Eminem released Stan in December 2000 as the third single from his third album The Marshall Mathers LP, and it became his second UK #1 following The Real Slim Shady, debuting at the top spot. The song features uncredited vocals from Dido, sampling her song Thank You. It is considered one of Eminem's signature songs, and has sold close to 900k in the UK in total.

 

21. Especially For You - Kylie Minogue & Jason Donovan (1988) 496,000

 

 

We've arrived at the last song under the 500k mark in the countdown, meaning the entire top 20 registered 500k sales in the eligible timeframe! The final song to fall short is a song from Jason Donovan's debut album, a duet with labelmate Kylie Minogue. SmileyKylie will be delighted. The song was Kylie's second #1 out of five singles at the time (the other three peaked at #2) and is now a million seller in the UK, Kylie's second after Can't Get You Out of My Head hit the mark.

 

Top 20 starts tomorrow :D (well today really, it's still Saturday in my mind)

 

Some fantastic songs in this bunch really like them all tbh. Stan really is one of Eminems best efforts, really hoped it would get the Xmas no1 that year. Was always sure Dido did get credited on it though? All the others I like or love too apart from The Climb.

 

I take it the second week of The Climbs sales were counted as selling in Jan 2010 then because I always remember he sold 450k on Xmas week compared to Rages 502k!?

 

EDIT just remembered and re-read it's only up the Xmas weeks chart!

Edited December 20, 20159 yr by Christmaseve201

20. Killing In The Name - Rage Against The Machine (2009) 508,000

 

 

I've put the year above as 2009 as that's obviously the year we're talking about here, but Killing in the Name was originally released in November 1992, originally peaking at #25. As I said above, the song was picked for a campaign to stop The X Factor claiming the Christmas #1 for the fifth year running. It was successful, peaking at #1 on Christmas week in 2009. Subsequent campaigns have tried to prevent The X Factor from getting the Christmas #1 but haven't succeeded like this one did.

 

19. There's No-One Quite Like Grandma - St Winifred's School Choir (1980) 530,000

 

 

The first eligible Christmas #1 for the list, the school choir of Stockport-based primary school St Winifred's claimed the top spot with their song There's No-One Quite Like Grandma in 1980. It was sandwiched between two John Lennon #1s, and was one of the songs that prevented Jona Lewie's Stop the Cavalry from reaching #1.

 

18. Just Like Starting Over - John Lennon (1980) 539,000

 

 

Now the song that St Winifred's School Choir knocked off #1. John Lennon released this song as a single from his album Double Fantasy, and originally peaked at #8, before Lennon's murder propelled it to the #1 spot. In January 1981, Lennon occupied three songs of the UK top 5, a feat that has only been matched recently by Justin Bieber.

 

17. Wherever You Are - Military Wives/ Gareth Malone (2011) 555,000

 

 

Initially created by Gareth Malone on the BBC2 show The Choir: Military Wives, this song was recorded by him and the Military Wives in a bid to make the 2011 Christmas #1 spot. It managed to beat the X Factor winners Little Mix quite comfortably, although they achieved the top spot the week before regardless.

 

There's No-one quite like Grandma is currently no1 on TOTPs 1980 on BBC 4, there is always an argument that John Lennon Merry Xmas(War is Over) was the biggest seller throughout Christmas 1980 and the Christmas no1 that never was....

There's No-one quite like Grandma is currently no1 on TOTPs 1980 on BBC 4, there is always an argument that John Lennon Merry Xmas(War is Over) was the biggest seller throughout Christmas 1980 and the Christmas no1 that never was....

 

Actually the last TotP shown on BBC4 to date has '(Just Like) Starting Over' at Number One - the actual Christmas episode isn't being shown this year because of the presenter.

Whilst the rumour about 'Happy Xmas' has in any case been fairly convincingly debunked, the rumour was always that it had been the top seller in Christmas week itself, ie too late to be the official Christmas Number One - that was the week when there was no official chart until the mid-80s, so St Winifred's stayed at the top by default.

Yeh I'm pretty gutted the Christmas episode isn't on due to yewtree - at least the 1975 episode is being shown!