My Third Annual Christmastime Fun

This year watching the ramp-up to the UK Christmas single from afar has been quite interesting, as quite a number of folks seem to be hard at work attempting to rescue the spot from "The Winner of X-Factor." This seems to have caused a few ringers to appear.

I was thinking that the trend seems to be songs by people who are now dead, but looking closer we see that it is in fact duets by people of whom one are now dead.

Eva Cassidy & Katie Melua - "What A Wonderful World"

Pogues Ft Kirsty MacColl - "Fairytale of New York"

John & Yoko / Plastic Ono Band - "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)"

and perhaps by the time I post this:

Mark Ronson Ft Amy Winehouse - "Valerie"

I'm sorry. That was mean.

So here we go.

40) John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band - "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" About twenty years ago, I would have thought I would be sick of this song by now. Of course, I would have also thought that it would completed the trajectory that it was on at the time and become totally irrelevant. Dammit.

39) Foals - "Balloons" As with previous years, I haven't heard many of these songs, so some of them I just have to take a shot at. At New Year's Eve parties, balloons are frequently dropped on party goers at midnight.

38) Rihanna Ft Jay-Z - "Umbrella" If you don't want balloons landing on your head, you can open an umbrella.

36) Chris Rea - "Driving Home For Christmas" For years, I thought that Chris Rea and Tommy Roe were the same person. I just now find that they are not. On the plus side, both of them are still alive! On the minus side, I now have "Sweet Pea" stuck in my head. Dammit.

27) Band Aid - "Do They Know It's Christmas" I'd take odds that this is the original one, and not one of the follow ups. For the obsessive: The Wikipedia entry on Band Aid has a handy chart of exactly who sings which line in all three versions.

23) Shakin' Stevens - "Merry Christmas Everyone" Here's some goofy trivia. "Do They Know It's Christmas" was the Christmas Number One in 1984 and this song was the Christmas Number One in 1985. And here they are on the same chart two decades later. Perhaps next year "There's No-one Quite Like Grandma" by St Winifred's School Choir will be back on the charts. I would love to see that. Particularly as I won't be able to hear it.

22) Slade - "Merry Xmas Everybody" This was on the charts last year, and I didn't realize that it was a reissue. But Slade is still together, so that's nice to see. Merry Xmas, Slade!

21) Andy Williams - "It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year" He's still alive too! That's amazing! Good for him!

20) Shaun The Sheep - "Life's A Treat" Please, someone tell me this is a cartoon character. [Update: Yes. It is a cartoon character. [Update: No. It is not a cartoon character, it is a claymation character.]]

16) Wizzard - "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" Wizzard broke up in the seventies. This is the fourth Christmas that this track has had a shot for the number one. Not yet.

14) Wham! - "Last Christmas" This is the fourth Christmas release without a number one for this track as well. That's just silly.

11) Mark Ronson Ft Amy Winehouse - "Valerie" I don't think that this is a Christmas song per se, I'm just hoping that this is a cover of the Monkees song.

8) Pogues Ft Kirsty Maccoll - "Fairytale Of New York" Cards on the table. I want this to get it this time. I would have before, but know that I know that this getting number one this year will bring more media attention to the fact that it took the BBC twenty years to realize that this song contained the word "faggot" will just make it all the more sweet.

4) Mariah Carey - "All I Want For Christmas Is You" I've erased about nine different comments about this. Snarking on this is like kicking a puppy.

1) Eva Cassidy & Katie Melua - "What A Wonderful World" Sometimes I have this weird dread that some day they're going to discover that the form of cancer that Cassidy died from can be caused by recording too many demo tapes. I think they may have finally run out of demo tapes as this is one of those things where they dub a new singer onto an old tape, thus creating a duet. Perhaps some day someone will take one of those tracks and add another person in, creating a trio. In centuries to come there will be videos of huge choirs of celebrities across time singing standards of the 1940's to 1960's. What a wonderful world that will be.