FESTIVE MUSIC TO YOUR EARS
It’s time to rock around the Christmas tree as MARION MCMULLEN unwraps some music specials of yesteryear
ALL I want for Christmas is a music star... Luckily the holiday season often meant bands and musicians playing Santa and offering fans some extra special Christmas presents to unwrap.
Comedy actress
Dora Bryan even brought out a single in 1963, declaring
All I Want For Christmas Is A
Beatle. The song featured the lyrics, “I told my mum nothing else would do. There are four so she can have one too”.
The Beatles recorded Christmas singles for their fan club members that often included messages from them all. Their first Christmas record in 1963 included the group singing Good King Wenceslas and ending with a burst of Rudolph The Red-nosed Ringo.
Tickets to see the Beatles Christmas concerts were always in big demand. There was a 11,000-strong queue stretching back three quarters of a mile in 1963 as fans tried to get tickets to see the Christmas concert at the Liverpool Empire.
The Fab Four even got into the festive spirit by posing with a snowman during a break from rehearsals at the Astoria Cinema at Finsbury Park, London, ahead of another Christmas show. Guests who joined them in the festive special included Cilla Black and Billy J Kramer.
British rock group The Animals dressed as Santa in 1965 when they met with Ready Steady Go! TV presenter Cathy Mcgowan for the programme’s Christmas special. The show’s line-up also included Donovan and The Who’s Roger Daltrey.
John Lennon and his then fiancée Yoko Ono turned up for the recording of the Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus Show at Wembley in 1968. The special was originally recorded for screening over Christmas to promote the Stones’ album Beggar’s Banquet, but it was not edited and seen until 1996 because the group were not happy with their performance.
The recording saw Mick Jagger dressed as a ringmaster with guests including The Who, Eric Clapton, Jethro Tull and Marianne Faithfull.
It also marked the last live performance of Brian Jones with the Rolling Stones before his sad death.
It was Alfie and Anyone Who Had A Heart singer Cilla Black offering a lorra, lorra laughs in 1965 when she joined Bruce Forsyth to record a sketch for an ITV Christmas show. She also showcased a selection of bad Christmas songs with Frankie Howerd for her own Christmas special in 1983.
Downtown singer Petula Clark joined comedian Jimmy Tarbuck and other celebrities at a Christmas party at the Savoy Hotel in London in 1970 to launch ITV’S festive schedule.
Freddie Garrity, of Freddie and the Dreamers, was offering festive cheer in 1971 with Freddie’s Christmas Cracker at the Sophia Gardens Pavilion in Cardiff. They visited the Love-it Boutique to have a look at the latest fashions ahead of their shows, which featured hits You Were Made For Me and I’m Telling You Now.
Welsh singer Tom Jones was at BBC Television Centre in London in 1971 to discuss plans for his first oneman show – a Christmas special. He even got on to the end of a camera mounted on a 30ft crane which would be used during the show. Slade’s hit Merry Xmas Everybody meant they were
always busy over the holidays with TV shows and live performances. The song beat Wizzard’s I Wish
It Could Be Christmas Everyday to become the Christmas number one in 1973 and remained in the charts for nine weeks. In fact, people were still playing the festive song in February long after the Christmas trees and tinsel had all come down.
Christmas went tartan in 1975 as the Bay City Rollers dressed as
Santa Claus for an ITV festive special recorded in Manchester, while American singing star Johnny Cash headed to Fife in Scotland with his family in 1981 to film Johnny Cash: Christmas In Scotland for American television. Fellow American singer Andy Williams was his guest star.
Chas and Dave were often busy over the holiday season.
They appeared on The Two Ronnies Christmas special on Christmas Day 1981 and the following year had their own Chas and Dave’s Christmas Knees-up on ITV.
They got into the Christmas spirit again in 1986 with an hour-long Christmas special for ITV. They also brought out a Christmas carol album the same year.
However, the Beatles have always had Christmas wrapped up.
Paul Mccartney spent the Christmas of 1983 at the top of the charts with Pipes Of Peace from the album of the same name and John Lennon and Yoko’s 1970s single Happy Xmas (War Is Over) has become a holiday classic.
And there’s always Ringo Starr’s 1999 album I Wanna Be Santa Claus.