The Christmas Number One

ENTRY

2024.12.17

カテゴリー：ブログ

Hello everyone,

“It’s Christmaaas!”, as Noddy Holder, the lead singer of Slade, announces in their hit song “Merry Xmas Everybody”. That song came out in 1973, long before I was born, but it stayed popular every Christmas as I was growing up. In an interview Noddy Holder said that this song is his pension. That’s because of the money he earns every year from it being played all over the world. In the U.K. there was a popular weekly music TV show called “Top of the pops”, which we also watched in Ireland. Every week, they had live performances and a countdown to the number one single of the week. The Christmas episode was always the most popular, because many pop groups and singers would battle to be the number one with their Christmas song. There are many famous Christmas pop songs that have become the theme music for the season. In the 80’s, Wham’s “Last Christmas” became a classic, followed by Mariah Carey’s “All I want for Christmas” in the 90’s, which is probably the most popular Christmas pop song of all. Can you believe Mariah’s song wasn’t even the Christmas number one single that year?! She was beaten by the UK boy-band East 17, with their classic “Stay another day”. There are a few popular Irish Christmas songs too. If you go to a bar in Ireland at Christmas, you will definitely hear “The Fairytale of New York” by the Pogues. Everyone sings along with this song if they know it. Sadly, “Top of the pops” is no longer on TV because of the streaming music market along with on demand TV. The battle for Christmas number one was a big part of pop culture back in the days of pop music singles. What’s going the number one single here in Japan next week?

This is my last blog of the year before our winter break at Hario. Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

Alan

こんにちは、皆さん。

「クリスマース」

Sladeのリードシンガー、ノディ・ホルダーが「Merry Xmas Everybody」というヒット曲でこのように叫んでいます。この曲は1973年に発売され、私が生まれる前のものですが、私が育つ間、毎年クリスマスに人気がありました。ノディ・ホルダーはインタビューで、この曲が彼の年金になると言いました。これは、毎年世界中で再生されることで得られる収入のおかげです。

イギリスには「Top of the pops」という人気の週刊音楽テレビ番組があり、アイルランドでも見ていました。毎週、生演奏と週間シングルチャートのカウントダウンが行われていました。クリスマス特集は特に人気があり、多くのポップグループや歌手がクリスマスソングで1位を競いました。

シーズンのテーマソングとなる有名なクリスマスポップソングはたくさんあります。80年代にはWhamの「Last Christmas」がクラシックとなり、90年代にはマライア・キャリーの「All I Want for Christmas」が登場し、おそらく最も人気のあるクリスマスポップソングとなりました。しかし、マライアの曲はその年のクリスマスの1位シングルではありませんでした。彼女はUKのボーイバンドEast 17の「Stay Another Day」に敗れました