Neil B

18. THE SNOWMEN - "HOKEY COKEY" http://i6.ebayimg.com/06/i/001/05/7b/fb4b_1.JPG Entered chart w/e 12/12/81 Reached No.18 w/e 26/12/81 Weeks on chart : 8 UK studio group assembled by Martin Kershaw, and nothing whatsoever to do with Ian Dury & The Blockheads! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bO26ShAOn-s

Other festive No.19s : Father Abraham & The Smurfs - "Christmas In Smurfland" (1978) Santa Claus & The Christmas Trees - "Singalong-a-Santa" (1982)

19. SHAKIN' STEVENS - "THE BEST CHRISTMAS OF THEM ALL" http://homepage1.nifty.com/ChristmasBox/image913.jpg Entered chart w/e 15/12/90 Reached No.19 w/e/ 29/12/90 Weeks on chart : 4 Not the best Shaky Xmas song of them all, but I thought I'd better include it as it looks like he's going to miss out on the No.1 and No.2 in this countdown Here's the TOTP appearance : http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=RgqH6UHZpuM

Other festive No.20s : The Goodies - "Make A Daft Noise For Christmas" (1975) Daniel O'Donnell - "A Christmas Kiss" (1999)

20. DORA BRYAN - "ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS A BEATLE" http://es.geocities.com/beatles_novelties_and_covers/tf427a.jpg Entered chart w/e 5/12/63 Reached No.20 w/e 26/12/63 Weeks on chart : 6 Born Dora Broadbent, 7/2/26 in Southport. Her film debut was in "Once Upon A Dream" in 1947, and she is still a regular on TV, having appeared in "Casualty", "Absolutely Fabulous" and "Dinner Ladies". Awful record of course :D http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWC3hvGtBBc

Other festive No.21s : Whigfield - "Last Christmas" (1995) Fat Les - "Naughty Christmas (Goblin In The Office)" (1998)

21. QUEEN - "THANK GOD IT'S CHRISTMAS" http://www.raw-tcsd.com/Queen.Hol.2004347.jpg Entered chart w/e 8/12/84 Reached No.21 w/e 15/12/84 Weeks on chart : 6 I've never been a Queen fan though I admit they have had their moments. However, this was not one of them! Maybe if they'd released a Christmas single in the mid to late '70s (no, I'm not counting "Bohemian Rhapsody"!) it would have been a big hit, but this was just forgettable. They didn't even make a video for it!

22. THE WOMBLES WITH ROY WOOD - "I WISH IT COULD BE A WOMBLING MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERY DAY" http://i5.ebayimg.com/01/i/001/20/08/7275_1.JPG Entered chart/reached No.22 w/e 30/12/00 Weeks on chart : 3 Sorry, I know this is from the year 2000, but the two songs it mixes together are definitely 'retro' :D I didn't think this combination worked at all, but obviously some people did! A TOTP appearance was recorded but only shown on TOTP2: Safe to say that at least one of these songs will be back later in the series. The only other festive No.22 I can find is "Santa Claus Is On The Dole" by Spitting Image.

Neither had I :D Don't wish to hear it again either!

23. DAVE KING - "CHRISTMAS & YOU" http://www.45-rpm.org.uk/dird/dfe6385.jpg Entered chart w/e 22/12/56 Reached No.23 w/e 29/12/56 Weeks on chart : 2 Dave King was born on 23/6/29 in Twickenham. His earliest recordings were produced by George Martin. He was also a comedian and an actor, appearing in Coronation Street as Clifford Duckworth, brother of Jack, in 1995. He died 17/4/02 following a short illness. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-W4W_lx1B4

No, what's that? I know there was a '60s TV show called that though.

Yeah I like most of what I've heard by them. "You're Gonna Miss Me" is a '60s psych classic!

Didn't get to No.25 though :)

Yeah, it's strange. Most people say it was played a lot at the time and Elton had just had a successful year so can't understand why it only made 24. Hopefully more people will contribute to these threads once the songs start to get more familiar :D

24. ELTON JOHN - "STEP INTO CHRISTMAS" http://991.com/newGallery/Elton-John-Step-Into-Christm-133144.jpg Entered chart w/e 8/12/73 Reached No.24 w/e 5/1/74 Weeks on chart : 7 We saw the Wedding Present's version yesterday, but here's the far superior original, the B-side of which was called "Ho! Ho! Ho! (Who'd Be A Turkey At Christmas?)"! Surprised this wasn't a bigger hit, but I suppose it did have the mighty Slade and Wizzard to compete with.

Thanks. Shame no-one's uploaded the TOTP appearance though.

It's not particularly memorable I have to admit. The B-side is better :) Other festive No.25s : Brenda Lee - "Christmas Will Be Just Another Lonely Day" (1964) Carpenters - "Merry Christmas Darling" (1990) There are a couple more but they're post-year 2000 so I won't mention them here :D

Thanks Rob. It's just that as I'm not really a regular I wasn't sure if I'd be welcome :)

25. THE WEDDING PRESENT - "NO CHRISTMAS" http://991.com/newGallery/Wedding-Present-No-Christmas---12-11822.jpg Entered chart/reached No.25 w/e 19/12/92 Weeks on chart : 1 This was the last of their monthly singles in 1992, all of which made the Top 30. As the title might suggest, "No Christmas" wasn't a particularly festive number, though the B-side was their rendition of Elton John's "Step Into Christmas", so maybe it should have been a double A-side. No Christmas Step Into Christmas

No, "We Will Rock You" was always the B-side though I'm sure most people think it was an A-side now.

26. FRANK KELLY - "CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN" http://www.peterfkitz.com/images/christmas_countdown.jpg Entered chart w/e 24/12/83 Reached No.26 w/e 7/1/84 Weeks on chart : 5 (including a re-entry the following year) Irish actor, born Francis O'Kelly in 1938. He has played a wide variety of roles over the years, but is probably best known for playing Father Jack Hackett in the TV comedy series "Father Ted" from 1995 to 1998. The single, his own unique take on "The 12 Days Of Christmas", had originally reached No.8 in the Irish singles chart in 1982. He even performed it on TOTP on, erm, 5/1/84! LISTEN

Ah well, I'll start posting them in a bit anyway. If anyone objects I won't post anymore :)

Hi everyone, I posted a series on my forum Popscene this time last year, and was just wondering if it was OK if I posted it here this year. Every day, I'll be counting down all the best Christmas songs that reached each position in the chart, from 26 to number one. The reason I've decided to start at 26 (rather than 25) is because that was the highest position reached by the single which this festive feature is named after. Hope you don't mind. Cheers :)

Great band (both the Pale Fountains and Shack). "Thank You" received a lot of airplay in late 1982 so it always reminds me of Christmas :)

I remember my dad buying Dire Straits' "So Far Away" single in April 1985. The B-side was a song called "Walk Of Life" which of course became an ever bigger hit when released as a single in its own right 9 months later!