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Dec 11

Charts – 10 December 2021

Posted on Saturday, December 11, 2021 by Paul in Music

Well, this is… unsurprising.

1. Ed Sheeran & Elton John  – “Merry Christmas”

You don’t often get major artists making an unabashed bid for a Christmas number one, but this is a Christmas single of the old school. It’s okay, I guess?  The hook’s not quite there. I can’t honestly see it becoming an annual return visitor – or at least, it’ll probably do as well as that Coldplay single – but time will tell.

In an intriguing bit of bet-hedging, there’s also going to be a version with Ladbaby, presumably to be listed separately on the chart, which will see him going for his fourth consecutive Christmas novelty number one with his own contribution to this song. Is that going to work? The last three were covers of songs with universal cut-through. This one is new. He’ll probably get there anyway with support from the Sheeran fanbase, though.

Ed Sheeran gets his 12th number one, and the third of this year. For Elton John, it’s his ninth number one, and his second of this year – but the previous one was “Cold Heart”, which was a cut-up. For the number one before that, you have to go back to “Ghetto Gospel” in 2005 – and that’s a sample credit on a 2Pac song, so it doesn’t really count as a regular Elton John song either. Before that is “Are You Ready For Love” from 2003… but that’s a remix of a song from 1977. And before that is “Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word”… but that’s a guest appearance on a Blue song. So for a regular Elton John number 1 where he has a lead credit, you’re actually going back to the Diana single in 1997.

And now, more unsurprising things.

29. Paul McCartney – “Wonderful Christmastime”

It may be McCartney messing about with his new electronic toy, but this shows up every year. It reached number 6 on release in 1980; it’s made the top 40 every year since 2016. Its festive afterlife has never taken it above number 20, though.

31. Leona Lewis – “One More Sleep”

If the formula’s good enough and you nail it, then “shamelessly formulaic” can work. This reached number 3 on release in 2013, and it’s charted every year since 2017. It made the top 10 at Christmas 2018, but hasn’t done so well subsequently.

32. Bobby Helms – “Jingle Bell Rock”

This charted for the first time (ever) in 2019, and reached number 27 last year. Helms did have some other middling hits in the late 1950s; his biggest UK hit remains “Jacqueline”, which scraped the top 20 in 1958.

33. Slade – “Merry Xmas Everybody”

This showed up on Slade’s YouTube channel two days as the official video, and it’s… er… well, if it’s intended to be quite this bleak, it’s quite the artistic choice. Quite why Slade have decided to produce a video for the song in 2021 – let alone this one – is not entirely apparent, but the footage normally used for this song is a Top of the Pops performance licensed from the BBC, so maybe it’s something to do with that.

Despite being viewed as a classic – it was number 1 for 5  weeks in 1973 – “Merry Xmas Everybody” has been a bit of a mid-table performer in the streaming era. It charted between 2006  and 2008, and then again in 2011 and 2012, and again from 2016 onwards, but it’s never made it above the mid teens.

35. John & Yoko and the Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir – “Happy Xmas (War is Over)”

Nothing cheers the soul at Christmas like the singing voice of Yoko Ono. This has charted every year since 2018, with its modern peak being 18. The original release got to number 2 in 1972. The video above is the TV-friendly version from 1992, not the one from 2003 full of war footage.

36. The Ronettes – “Sleigh Ride”

This has made the high 30s in the last two years. It’s a track from the Phil Spector Christmas Album, and so it wasn’t a single when first recorded.

38. SZA – “I Hate U”

Well, somebody’s record label can’t read a calendar. Or they’re releasing it worldwide and don’t much care if it doesn’t make sense in the UK. More likely that. It’s the only new non-Christmas single in this week’s chart, anyway.

39. Olivia Dean – “The Christmas Song”

Another “Amazon Original” exclusive. It’s the first singles chart credit for Olivia Dean, who’s best known as a singer on Rudimental tracks. “The Christmas Song” is the official title of “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire…”, best known for the Nat King Cole version – which has never made the singles chart. Surprisingly, this is the first version of the old standard to chart. It’s a pretty good cover.

Climbers:

  • “Last Christmas” by Wham climbs 4-3.
  • “Merry Christmas Everyone” by Shakin’ Stevens climbs 17-6, equalling its peak of the last two years.
  • “Fairytale of New York” by the Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl climbs 16-7.
  • “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” by Michael Bublé climbs 20-9.
  • “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” by Brenda Lee climbs 22-10, its highest position since 2017.
  • “Do They Know It’s Christmas” by Band Aid climbs 23-14.
  • “Step into Christmas” by Elton John climbs 30-16.
  • “Underneath the Tree” by Kelly Clarkson climbs 29-17, still two places shy of last year’s peak.
  • “Santa Tell Me” by Ariana Grande climbs 31-19.
  • “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” by Andy Williams climbs 38-20, which (again) is its highest position since 2017.
  • “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday” by Wizzard climbs 28-25.
  • “Come On Home for Christmas” by George Ezra climbs 36-26.
  • “Driving Home for Christmas” by Chris Rea climbs 33-27.

More than half of the top 40 is already Christmas records, which means there’s surely not much space for any new ones to make it. If you’re wondering, the top 10 non Christmas songs this week are:

  • 1: Adele – “Easy On Me”
  • 2: Gayle – “ABCDEFU”
  • 3: Arrdee – “Flowers (Say My Name)”
  • 4: D-Block Europe featuring Central Cee – “Overseas”
  • 5: SwitchOTR featuring A1 & J1 – “Coming For You”
  • 6: Ed Sheeran – “Overpass Graffiti”
  • 7: Sam Fender – “Seventeen Going Under”
  • 8: Adele – “I Drink Wine”
  • 9: Acraze featuring Cherish – “Do It TO It”
  • 10: Adele – “Oh My God”

Over on the album chart, “30” by Adele gets a third week at number 1.

4. JLS – “2.0”

The obligatory reunion album, just in time for the Christmas market. JLS released four studio albums and a greatest hits album in their first run, between 2009 and 2013, and they’ve never placed a studio album outside the top 5. (The compilation got to 6.) The single’s surprisingly not bad.

11. The Lottery Winners – “Something to Leave the House For”

The follow-up to last year’s self-titled debut, which got to number 23 – albeit at a much more competitive time of year. Judging  from the single above, they’ve been listening to Blondie.

31. Volbeat – “Servant of the Mind”

Yikes. The last Volbeat album, 2019’s “Rewind Replay Rebound”, made the top 10; the one before that got to 16. Number 31 in a dead week is… not good at all.

32. Polo G – “Hall of Fame 2.0”

This is an expanded version of the “Hall of Fame” album he released earlier in the year, which reached number 3. So better thought of as a re-entry than a true new entry.

Bring on the comments

  1. Joe S. Walker says:

    That Volbeat album seems to be full of decidedly un-Christmassy lyrics.

  2. Voord 99 says:

    Perhaps that video exists to provide a context for the line ”What will your daddy do when he sees your mother kissing Santa Claus?” that isn’t the context that everyone immediately imagines?

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