Jingle bells…
As the summer starts to draw to a close and that week spent in a hotel in Looe becomes a distant memory, thoughts inevitably turn to winter. And if our thoughts are turning to winter, then you know Christmas cannot be far behind.
OK, you probably think I’m crazy for writing a blog about Christmas tunes when August isn’t even over, but I saw crackers on sale in my local supermarket the other day, and also the Jacob’s Cream variety, so that was all the excuse I need to start ranting about my favourite subject - or least favourite if you look at another way – X Factor.
The suspense has been taken out of the whole Christmas number one experiences by Simon Cowell and his pop-robots. It was only thanks to a massive and unprecedented Facebook campaign that poor Joe McElderry (who?) missed out on the Christmas top spot, which instead was filled by the very un-festive “Killing in the Name Of” by RATM. By the time the next Christmas rolled around, normal service had been resumed and X-Factor champ Matt Cardle was sitting at the top of the Christmas charts. Confession time; I actually didn’t think his cover of Biffy’s “Many of Horror” was all that bad, though like a lot of acts that come off the SyCo production line, he seems to have disappeared from view for a year, while they mould him into a perfect pop machine behind the closed doors of Cowell’s LA mansion…
I miss the days when the Christmas number one was not only hotly contested, but when novelty acts and festive tunes had a chance of making the Top Ten. These days anything with sleigh bells in or even the briefest reference to chestnuts roasting on an open fire is slammed by critics and the record-buying public alike. Only the cheesiest bands would dare attempt a genuine Xmas tune these days; which probably explains why the most successful in recent years was by The Darkness!
Similar Posts:
Jersey Boys the Musical in London : Jersey Boys is a jukebox…
Fernando’s Kitchen : The Junction, in Cambridge, might sound…
Tonight’s The Kind of Night : Last weekend I was staying in…
Foo Fighters: Wasting Light : The Foo Fighters are one of the…
Comments are closed!