0:00:06 > 0:00:11# C is for the candy trimmed around the Christmas tree
0:00:11 > 0:00:16# H is for the happiness with all the family... #
0:00:16 > 0:00:21Every December since the charts began, exactly 60 years ago,
0:00:21 > 0:00:26one song has claimed the greatest prize in pop the number one of
0:00:26 > 0:00:29number ones the Christmas number one.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34Ask anyone what's the most prestigious chart position, they'll say...
0:00:34 > 0:00:36Christmas number one.
0:00:37 > 0:00:39Over the years, this hallowed chart position
0:00:39 > 0:00:42has been held by a whole selection box of hits,
0:00:42 > 0:00:45from every conceivable style of pop.
0:00:45 > 0:00:49- From the glittering... - # It's Christmas! #
0:00:49 > 0:00:52- ..to the godly. - # Christmas time... #
0:00:52 > 0:00:56From the spotty to the snowy.
0:00:56 > 0:01:00# Merry Christmas everyone. #
0:01:00 > 0:01:05- And the cheesy...- # Save your love My darling save your love. #
0:01:05 > 0:01:07..to the charitable...
0:01:07 > 0:01:11# Feed the world. #
0:01:11 > 0:01:15# I wish it could be Christmas every day. #
0:01:15 > 0:01:19In recent years, this uniquely British tradition has been
0:01:19 > 0:01:23monopolised by TV talent shows, but a backlash is well under way,
0:01:23 > 0:01:27and the great race for the Christmas number one is back.
0:01:27 > 0:01:29So pour yourself another sherry,
0:01:29 > 0:01:34and get comfy as we bring you The Christmas Number One Story.
0:01:48 > 0:01:51Can you imagine Christmas without a soundtrack?
0:01:57 > 0:01:59No! Of course you can't.
0:01:59 > 0:02:01The carols, the choirs
0:02:01 > 0:02:04and a little bit of Bing is what the season's all about.
0:02:06 > 0:02:14# I'm dreaming of a white Christmas. #
0:02:14 > 0:02:16But back when the charts first began,
0:02:16 > 0:02:20the idea of a Christmas number one hadn't yet caught on.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23All the singers of those days were all of a certain age.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25They weren't youngsters.
0:02:25 > 0:02:27Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby,
0:02:27 > 0:02:30those are the people I associate more with Christmas.
0:02:30 > 0:02:35You still got people hanging over from the '40s, from the war,
0:02:35 > 0:02:39that were still household names.
0:02:39 > 0:02:45# Here in my heart
0:02:45 > 0:02:53# I'm alone and so lonely. #
0:02:53 > 0:02:58The very first Christmas number one, in 1952 when the charts came out,
0:02:58 > 0:03:01was Al Martino and Here In My Heart,
0:03:01 > 0:03:05which was a lovely song, but it was nothing about Christmas.
0:03:05 > 0:03:07We'd have to wait until 1955
0:03:07 > 0:03:11for our first Christmas-themed song to top the UK chart.
0:03:11 > 0:03:16# M is for the mistletoe where everyone is kissed. #
0:03:16 > 0:03:19And even Londoner Dickie Valentine's Christmas Alphabet
0:03:19 > 0:03:22had a distinctly American accent.
0:03:22 > 0:03:27# S is for old Santa who makes every kid his pet
0:03:27 > 0:03:29# Be good and he'll bring you everything
0:03:29 > 0:03:32# In your Christmas alphabet. #
0:03:32 > 0:03:37Dickie Valentine's Christmas Alphabet personifies what
0:03:37 > 0:03:41British music was like in '55, '56.
0:03:41 > 0:03:46It was all pseudo-American. It was the Coca-Cola version of Christmas.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50It was absolutely covered in treacle.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53I always wanted to go out in the sleighbells.
0:03:53 > 0:03:55I never had sleighbells, but I want them
0:03:55 > 0:03:57and chestnuts roasting by an open fire -
0:03:57 > 0:04:01we never had an open fire!
0:04:01 > 0:04:06I get nostalgic even now for a Christmas I never had.
0:04:06 > 0:04:13# Alphabet. #
0:04:14 > 0:04:22# Long time ago in Bethlehem So the holy Bible says. #
0:04:22 > 0:04:25The most enduring Christmas number one of the decade
0:04:25 > 0:04:30came in 1957 from an actual American, Harry Belafonte.
0:04:30 > 0:04:38# Hark now hear the angels sing
0:04:38 > 0:04:40# A new king born today. #
0:04:40 > 0:04:42It's perfect.
0:04:42 > 0:04:44It's one of those songs that is perfect.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48There's not a dull note in it, there's not a duff chord change.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51It's a very simple, beautiful carol.
0:04:51 > 0:04:55The lyrics are sensational. You know the story of Jesus.
0:04:55 > 0:05:01How many songs can you write better than the Christmas songs?
0:05:01 > 0:05:07Carols put into reach sometimes quite complicated theological ideas.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11It tells you something quite significant
0:05:11 > 0:05:12about what you're there for.
0:05:13 > 0:05:21# For ever more because of Christmas day. #
0:05:23 > 0:05:24Ah!
0:05:24 > 0:05:28Mary's Boy Child was a shining star on top of the festive charts,
0:05:28 > 0:05:31and the future looked bright for the traditional,
0:05:31 > 0:05:35God-fearing Christmas song and its new friend, the hit parade.
0:05:35 > 0:05:41But just around the corner was a new force that would call time on the cosy old Christmas.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46# Oh, yeah, I... #
0:05:46 > 0:05:48Four remarkable young men from Liverpool -
0:05:48 > 0:05:52Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and John Lennon.
0:05:52 > 0:05:55When I started on Radio Caroline in 1964,
0:05:55 > 0:05:57Christmas records didn't really have a look-in.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00It was The Beatles. They dominated everything.
0:06:00 > 0:06:06# I wanna hold you hand I wanna hold you hand. #
0:06:06 > 0:06:08The Beatles in the '60s were, of course, huge.
0:06:08 > 0:06:12Everybody knows that. They had a massive influence on my life.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16Oh, great. Been nothing like it before.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19They were bound to be number one, sort of every other month.
0:06:19 > 0:06:21It just happened that Christmas got in the way.
0:06:21 > 0:06:29# And please say to me you'll let me hold your hand
0:06:29 > 0:06:32# Let me hold your hand. #
0:06:32 > 0:06:36When it came to Christmas, they didn't write Christmas number ones.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39They didn't have to, they just wrote another song, and off it went.
0:06:39 > 0:06:40I Want To Hold Your Hand.
0:06:40 > 0:06:44Not I Want To Hold Your Holly or I Want To Hold Your Christmas Pudding,
0:06:44 > 0:06:47I Want To Hold Your Hand.
0:06:47 > 0:06:48The Beatles remain the most
0:06:48 > 0:06:52successful act in the entire history of the Christmas number one.
0:06:52 > 0:06:58They held the top spot from '63 to '65 and again in '67 as Beatlemania
0:06:58 > 0:07:02invaded every corner of British culture, including Christmas itself.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05# Gary crimble to you
0:07:05 > 0:07:08# Gary crimble to you
0:07:08 > 0:07:10# Gary crimble dear Rudolph
0:07:10 > 0:07:12# Gary crimble to you. #
0:07:13 > 0:07:17But of course The Fab Four's reign couldn't last for ever, and in 1968
0:07:17 > 0:07:20when they had fled east in search of enlightenment,
0:07:20 > 0:07:23there were plenty of hot new groups in Liverpool
0:07:23 > 0:07:25itching to take their place at the top.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29"My cousin Eva had terrible hay fever.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32"Uncle Eric, schizophrenic. Swung from tree to tree.
0:07:32 > 0:07:36"Gave him medicinal compound Now he's a Conservative MP." That didn't go in.
0:07:36 > 0:07:38# We'll drink a drink a drink
0:07:38 > 0:07:40# To Lily the pink the pink the pink
0:07:40 > 0:07:44# The saviour of the human race. #
0:07:44 > 0:07:46The Scaffold were a beat poetry and comedy group
0:07:46 > 0:07:49who'd grown up in the same Merseyside streets as The Beatles.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53In fact, making up the trio with John Gorman and Roger McGough
0:07:53 > 0:07:56was Paul McCartney's brother, Mike.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00Lily The Pink was a song I remember we used to sing at university,
0:08:00 > 0:08:06at Hull University, in the cricket team on the coach coming back, we'd sing Lily The Pink.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09# We'll drink a drink a drink
0:08:09 > 0:08:12# To Lily the pink the pink the pink. #
0:08:12 > 0:08:15It was always in the background of the human consciousness, I think,
0:08:15 > 0:08:17and so we released it and gave it new life.
0:08:17 > 0:08:21# Lily the pink, she turned to drink She... #
0:08:21 > 0:08:24In this case, new life meant matching white suits
0:08:24 > 0:08:27and a Pythonesque un-synchronised dance routine.
0:08:27 > 0:08:31When you see them on Top Of The Pops, they were hilarious.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34A bit barmy, British eccentricity.
0:08:34 > 0:08:39When we first did Top Of The Pops, it was quite surreal to be on there.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45We were on with people like Cream and Traffic and Free,
0:08:45 > 0:08:47and all these real good bands.
0:08:49 > 0:08:54Outside of the music scene, it was very serious times.
0:08:54 > 0:08:58CND had been going on. I was writing poems about the end of the world.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01Lily The Pink became a sort of release for people.
0:09:01 > 0:09:05It is comedy. Let's take time off for being too serious.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09# Whoo! #
0:09:09 > 0:09:12For the first time - and it wouldn't be the last -
0:09:12 > 0:09:16the Christmas number one flew in the face of what was cool and credible.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19And indeed what was going on in the real world,
0:09:19 > 0:09:22and the novelty Christmas number one was born.
0:09:22 > 0:09:29# In every case. #
0:09:29 > 0:09:31Suddenly, people said, "Hey, this is fun!
0:09:31 > 0:09:34"This is Christmassy, this is what we should be doing."
0:09:34 > 0:09:37From then on, people seemed to think we've got to have either
0:09:37 > 0:09:40something a bit Christmassy or something a bit wacky.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47Wacky eccentricity didn't have to be home-grown, either.
0:09:47 > 0:09:51At the peak of the swinging '60s, Rolf Harris entered the charts
0:09:51 > 0:09:54with a mysterious little ditty he'd picked up in the outback.
0:09:57 > 0:10:01I was sung the song in Australia by a fella called Ted Egan.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04He was working for Aboriginal Welfare at the time,
0:10:04 > 0:10:08and he said, "Here's a song, my mum sang it to me when I was four."
0:10:08 > 0:10:11He sat at the table and beat time on the tabletop with his fingers,
0:10:11 > 0:10:13and he sang.
0:10:13 > 0:10:17# Two little boys had two little toys
0:10:17 > 0:10:20# Each had a wooden horse. #
0:10:21 > 0:10:26I remember thinking, "What am I going to say when he finishes?
0:10:26 > 0:10:28"Cos it's so awful!"
0:10:28 > 0:10:30Then he got to the bit...
0:10:30 > 0:10:36# Did you think I would leave you dying
0:10:36 > 0:10:39# When there's room on my horse for two?
0:10:41 > 0:10:46# Climb up here, Joe We'll soon be flying
0:10:46 > 0:10:50# I can go just as fast with two. #
0:10:51 > 0:10:56And all the hair stood up on my arms, and my neck. It's done it now!
0:10:56 > 0:11:01# Did you think I would leave you dying? #
0:11:01 > 0:11:05Rolf took the song from the Aussie campfire to the top of the pops
0:11:05 > 0:11:09and clinched the Christmas number one in 1969.
0:11:09 > 0:11:13It was the most amazing time of my life, going on Saturday night
0:11:13 > 0:11:18to sing it on Top Of The Pops, and who's this weird guy with the beard
0:11:18 > 0:11:20singing this ancient song?!
0:11:20 > 0:11:25# Long years passed War came so fast
0:11:25 > 0:11:27# Bravely, they marched away. #
0:11:27 > 0:11:31The underlying message of redemption in Two Little Boys struck a chord
0:11:31 > 0:11:35deep inside the record-buying public that Christmas.
0:11:35 > 0:11:39I still can't listen to Two Little Boys without weeping.
0:11:39 > 0:11:41"Did you think I would leave you dying?"
0:11:41 > 0:11:46It's not only the Christmas message, it's the entire message of Christian salvation.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49Whoa, gosh. Powerful. Powerful song.
0:11:49 > 0:11:53# When we were two little boys. #
0:12:06 > 0:12:09Two Little Boys was a timely reminder of the true
0:12:09 > 0:12:13meaning of Christmas, but with the arrival of the '70s, the future
0:12:13 > 0:12:16of the festive number one looked uncertain.
0:12:16 > 0:12:20Christmas songs were long gone, The Beatles were finished
0:12:20 > 0:12:24and the big names in rock had given up on releasing singles altogether.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26Music was lost at this point.
0:12:26 > 0:12:30I think we really were in no-man's land.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34Big bands like Led Zeppelin and all those big guys that were coming up,
0:12:34 > 0:12:40it was uncool for those progressive rock bands to have singles.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45It seemed as if, in keeping with fuel shortages and power cuts,
0:12:45 > 0:12:50in the early '70s, the lights had gone out on the Christmas number one.
0:13:11 > 0:13:15But on the flipside of life, like a glowing beacon in the gloom,
0:13:15 > 0:13:21glam rock coveted the Christmas number one as the glittering prize we now know it to be.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24# You'd better watch out if you've got long black hair
0:13:24 > 0:13:25# He'll come from behind
0:13:25 > 0:13:27# You'll go out of your mind
0:13:27 > 0:13:31# You better not go You never know what you'll find. #
0:13:31 > 0:13:34Christmas is very glam rock.
0:13:34 > 0:13:39You put on glitter and jump around, and there's nice tunes to sing.
0:13:39 > 0:13:43It's practically The Sweet. It's the nearest the church gets to The Sweet.
0:13:43 > 0:13:48You've got The Sweet, Slade, Suzi Quatro, Mud.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50They all over-dressed.
0:13:50 > 0:13:55If one had three-inch platforms, the next act had 12-inch platforms.
0:13:55 > 0:13:57How loud can you get? Turn it up, 20.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03The Christmas Top Of The Pops
0:14:03 > 0:14:06was the perfect arena for this gladiatorial glitter-off.
0:14:06 > 0:14:12Christmas Top Of The Pops, believe me, was incredibly powerful.
0:14:12 > 0:14:16You could go on the Christmas Top Of The Pops edition
0:14:16 > 0:14:20and be in front of 20 million people,
0:14:20 > 0:14:23who would watch it after the Queen's Speech.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28# When the snowman brings the snow
0:14:28 > 0:14:32# Well, he just might like to know
0:14:32 > 0:14:37# He's put a great big smile on somebody's face. #
0:14:38 > 0:14:43With the stakes set high, 1973 would see two heavyweight contenders
0:14:43 > 0:14:47of Midlands glam duke it out in the first great battle
0:14:47 > 0:14:48for the Christmas number one.
0:14:48 > 0:14:52Nobody was doing Christmas records at that time.
0:14:52 > 0:14:57I thought it might be nice to write a rock and roll one for a change.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00We came up with Merry Christmas, Everybody.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03We recorded I Wish It Could Be Christmas in August,
0:15:03 > 0:15:05in bright sunshine.
0:15:05 > 0:15:09We recorded it in New York in the middle of a blazing hot summer.
0:15:10 > 0:15:14We put a load of baubles and trimmings and a tree up,
0:15:14 > 0:15:18and it really worked.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21The record company freaked.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24They said, "This is going to be a monster."
0:15:31 > 0:15:33So Slade and Wizzard, unbeknownst to each other,
0:15:33 > 0:15:37stealthily recorded songs pre-tooled for Christmas.
0:15:37 > 0:15:39But there could only be one winner.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44We wish you a merry Christmas.
0:15:44 > 0:15:45We leave you with the sound of...
0:15:45 > 0:15:49- The number one sound. Slade!- Slade. Merry Christmas, Everybody!
0:15:51 > 0:15:58# Are you hanging up a stocking on your wall?
0:16:00 > 0:16:06# It's the time that every Santa has a ball
0:16:07 > 0:16:11# Does he ride a red-nosed reindeer?
0:16:11 > 0:16:14# Does a ton-up on his sleigh? #
0:16:14 > 0:16:18Merry Christmas Everybody went on to sell over a millions copies
0:16:18 > 0:16:21and stayed at number one for nine weeks.
0:16:21 > 0:16:25# So here it is Merry Christmas
0:16:25 > 0:16:29# Everybody's having fun. #
0:16:29 > 0:16:33Reg Presley from The Troggs, he always says a record like that,
0:16:33 > 0:16:35a stand-out record that goes on for ever,
0:16:35 > 0:16:37has got that bit of fairy dust.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40And I think that has got a bit of fairy dust.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44It was great for parties. It got everyone singing, and people still sing it now.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47The glamour, the glitz, the costumes, it was like escapism.
0:16:47 > 0:16:48And just great fun.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51It defines Christmas. It's defined every Christmas party I've been to.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54Suddenly, everything sparkles, everything's enjoyable,
0:16:54 > 0:16:58and then you wake up with a foul hangover and that ringing in your ears.
0:16:58 > 0:17:06# It's only just begun. #
0:17:06 > 0:17:09The monumental success of Merry Christmas Everybody
0:17:09 > 0:17:13confirmed the Christmas number one as the jewel in the crown of glam.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16And the following year, Surrey's answer to Slade
0:17:16 > 0:17:19took the prize with a hit fit for a king.
0:17:19 > 0:17:27# It'll be lonely this Christmas without you to hold. #
0:17:27 > 0:17:28Certainly in my year,
0:17:28 > 0:17:32in Mud when we had our Christmas number one,
0:17:32 > 0:17:36it was a thing you planned for,
0:17:36 > 0:17:42because Christmas number one was a big deal.
0:17:42 > 0:17:48# Each time I remember the day you went away. #
0:17:48 > 0:17:52Mud's plan was simple. They'd combine the explicit Christmas
0:17:52 > 0:17:56lyrics employed by Slade with the sound of the crooners of old.
0:17:56 > 0:18:00# I just break down as I look around
0:18:00 > 0:18:07# And the only things I see are emptiness and loneliness
0:18:07 > 0:18:11# And an unlit Christmas tree. #
0:18:11 > 0:18:16You had Mud with Lonely This Christmas which many believed was an Elvis song.
0:18:16 > 0:18:20Lonely was a Mud record, not Elvis.
0:18:20 > 0:18:25Never covered it. He knew we'd done it, cos Mike told him,
0:18:25 > 0:18:28and Elvis said, "Carry on, it's great."
0:18:28 > 0:18:30And to complete the effect, Mud took what they'd
0:18:30 > 0:18:33learnt from their Black Country brethren about putting
0:18:33 > 0:18:35on a festive show, and went one better.
0:18:35 > 0:18:43# It'll be lonely this Christmas Lonely and cold. #
0:18:43 > 0:18:45When it got to Christmas, it went wild.
0:18:46 > 0:18:53Les said, "We're going to get a puppet" then someone said, "Snow, ladders."
0:18:53 > 0:18:57Then the cameras pan up and there's our crew chucking snow down,
0:18:57 > 0:18:59and it's complete lunacy, really.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04The glam era put Christmas on a pedestal
0:19:04 > 0:19:07and enjoyed every minute of it.
0:19:10 > 0:19:16But just down the road from the Top Of The Pops studio, White Christmas soon became White Riot,
0:19:16 > 0:19:19and in 1976 there was anarchy in the UK.
0:19:21 > 0:19:26Perhaps what the nation needed was a spiritual reminder that we are all born equal,
0:19:26 > 0:19:28regardless of colour or creed.
0:19:28 > 0:19:35# A ray of hope flickers in the sky
0:19:36 > 0:19:44# A tiny star lights up way up high
0:19:46 > 0:19:51# All across the land dawns a brand new morn
0:19:51 > 0:19:59# This comes to pass when a child is born. #
0:19:59 > 0:20:03In 1976, Johnny Mathis brought a universal message
0:20:03 > 0:20:07of the joy of life, and he was determined to communicate it
0:20:07 > 0:20:09by any means necessary.
0:20:09 > 0:20:15It was my first opportunity to use the spoken word in a song.
0:20:15 > 0:20:22I was hesitant because it could sound a little too preachy.
0:20:22 > 0:20:27And all of this happens because the world is waiting.
0:20:27 > 0:20:28Waiting for one child.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33Black, white, yellow. No-one knows.
0:20:33 > 0:20:38So Johnny sings, he speaks and then of course, this.
0:20:38 > 0:20:44# Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah. #
0:20:44 > 0:20:47As I remember, I went through a lot of them.
0:20:47 > 0:20:52HE HUMS THE TUNE
0:20:52 > 0:20:57# Ah ha ha ha ah ha ha ha ha. # Nah. Too harsh.
0:20:57 > 0:21:03And then, you end up somewhere inbetween and we ended up with...
0:21:03 > 0:21:06# Oh oh oh oh. #
0:21:06 > 0:21:09# Ah ah ah ah ah
0:21:11 > 0:21:19# Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah
0:21:19 > 0:21:25# Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah
0:21:25 > 0:21:32# Ah ah ah ah Ah ah ah ah ah. #
0:21:32 > 0:21:35If you're going to have it schmaltzy, let's have it real schmaltzy.
0:21:35 > 0:21:40And that will do me. I'm a sucker. Here I am, where do I deliver my money?
0:21:40 > 0:21:45# This comes to pass when a child is born. #
0:21:45 > 0:21:47To a middle Britain under attack from the filth
0:21:47 > 0:21:50and fury of punk, Johnny Mathis was a soothing reminder
0:21:50 > 0:21:53of the Christmas of their more innocent youth.
0:21:56 > 0:22:02It was so old-school, and so alien at that moment in time.
0:22:02 > 0:22:08All of a sudden, you were back there with Nat King Cole and whoever else was making Christmas records.
0:22:08 > 0:22:12You quite easily reverted back to being that kid
0:22:12 > 0:22:16on the outskirts of Glasgow, hearing those songs on the radio.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20A Child Is Born. I remember that. That was my mum's favourite.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25Superb voice, beautifully delivered. Lovely sentiment.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29It's a bit more back to the real meaning of Christmas, the roots.
0:22:29 > 0:22:35# Ah ah ah ah Ah ah ah ah ah. #
0:22:37 > 0:22:41# Mary's boy child Jesus Christ
0:22:41 > 0:22:45# Was born on Christmas Day... #
0:22:45 > 0:22:49Johnny Mathis wasn't the only one harking back to the good old days.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53In 1978, Harry Belafonte's seminal Mary's Boy Child was given
0:22:53 > 0:22:57a funky refresh by Boney M.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08# Long time ago in Bethlehem
0:23:08 > 0:23:11# So the holy Bible say... #
0:23:11 > 0:23:14And if you were wondering why the long fur coats,
0:23:14 > 0:23:18it might have something to do with shooting the video in winter,
0:23:18 > 0:23:20in the heart of Communist Russia.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23It was the government that invited us.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26Going back then, no European group
0:23:26 > 0:23:28or any group from this Western world
0:23:28 > 0:23:31was allowed to go to Russia.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34And we thought, "Hmmm, we use it to our advantage?"
0:23:34 > 0:23:36Performing for the cameras in the cold, hard light
0:23:36 > 0:23:40of a Moscow morning called for special measures.
0:23:40 > 0:23:42It wasn't called the Cold War for nothing.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46I've never felt coldness like that in my entire life.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49I think I even started to cry at one point.
0:23:49 > 0:23:52They had this big coach for us, and they kept it warm all the time
0:23:52 > 0:23:54so, every three minutes or so -
0:23:54 > 0:23:57you couldn't stay longer than five minutes out there -
0:23:57 > 0:24:00they had to rush us back into this coach and rub our feet in vodka
0:24:00 > 0:24:04and our hands, and give us vodka to drink as well!
0:24:04 > 0:24:05Keep us warm!
0:24:07 > 0:24:11And then, the same day, we had a concert.
0:24:11 > 0:24:17# For a moment the world was aglow All the bells rang out
0:24:17 > 0:24:18# There were tears of joy... #
0:24:18 > 0:24:22Having been specially invited behind the Iron Curtain, Boney M
0:24:22 > 0:24:26were expected to perform for the top brass at the Politburo.
0:24:26 > 0:24:30The audience were all sitting there and they were all just legless.
0:24:30 > 0:24:34In the end, we had to tell them the truth.
0:24:34 > 0:24:38We said, listen, we were filming today in Red Square
0:24:38 > 0:24:41and you guys gave us vodka! And they roared in laughter.
0:24:41 > 0:24:47# O my Lord, when in the crib they found him, O my Lord... #
0:24:47 > 0:24:51MUSIC: "Don't You Want Me?" by The Human League.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55Back in the capitalist West, the '80s had arrived
0:24:55 > 0:24:57to a sparse, new electronic sound.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04# You were working as a waitress in a cocktail bar
0:25:04 > 0:25:07# When I met you... #
0:25:08 > 0:25:11The Human League topped the Christmas charts in 1981,
0:25:11 > 0:25:16signalling a cool, sophisticated new era in British pop music.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19# Don't, don't you want me? #
0:25:19 > 0:25:20TAPE SPOOLS BACK RAPIDLY
0:25:20 > 0:25:25# Save your Love, my darling Save your love... #
0:25:25 > 0:25:30Oh, well, the Christmas number one never was about being cool, was it?
0:25:30 > 0:25:33# The moon and stars above...
0:25:33 > 0:25:39# A serenade I long to sing you, the reddest rose I'll always bring you
0:25:39 > 0:25:44# Save your love for Roma and for me... #
0:25:44 > 0:25:46Edgy synth pop may have been all the rage,
0:25:46 > 0:25:50but what most people really wanted in the midwinter of '82
0:25:50 > 0:25:53was the warm glow and romance of the Mediterranean.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55I think it was released on the basis
0:25:55 > 0:25:59that people had just come back from their summer holidays.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02A lot of people had a romance while they were on holiday,
0:26:02 > 0:26:06and the record could rekindle some of the feelings they had
0:26:06 > 0:26:09while they were away and remind them of it.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12Save Your Love is a kind of insight
0:26:12 > 0:26:17into what Britain was like at that moment in time.
0:26:17 > 0:26:18As a sort of twice-a-year treat,
0:26:18 > 0:26:21your dad might take your mum to a trattoria
0:26:21 > 0:26:25and they might drink a couple of glasses of Chianti
0:26:25 > 0:26:28from those funny kind of baskety bottles too many.
0:26:28 > 0:26:32# A serenade I long to sing you... #
0:26:32 > 0:26:35The suburban escapism was echoed in the soft-focus video
0:26:35 > 0:26:38for Save Your Love, which featured
0:26:38 > 0:26:41a model in place of the young session singer, Hilary Lester.
0:26:41 > 0:26:46# Even though it's been so very long... #
0:26:46 > 0:26:48It's not me in the video.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51I was quite young at the time and, being a pop singer,
0:26:51 > 0:26:53it wasn't particularly my type of thing.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56Nobody could have bee more surprised than I,
0:26:56 > 0:26:59when the record was such a massive hit.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02Perhaps the blockbuster appeal of the song was down to
0:27:02 > 0:27:07the seductive serenade of Sutton Coldfield's finest Italian tenor,
0:27:07 > 0:27:09Renato Pagliari.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12Renato, please, we can't let you go from our Christmas party
0:27:12 > 0:27:16without singing just a little bit, here, for all of us, Save Your Love.
0:27:20 > 0:27:27# Save your love, my darling Save your love... #
0:27:27 > 0:27:31Renato was probably a bit of a dish to a lot of people.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34It is preposterous, to see him now in his tightly fitting jumper
0:27:34 > 0:27:37and his moustache.
0:27:37 > 0:27:41I think schmaltzy would be a good word. Too many people use "cheesy".
0:27:41 > 0:27:46But, I think schmaltzy is probably exactly what it was.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49However, romance always sells.
0:27:49 > 0:27:54# With summer nights with moon and stars above... #
0:27:54 > 0:27:56The Shirley Valentine effect mobilised
0:27:56 > 0:27:58an army of middle-aged record buyers.
0:27:58 > 0:28:03And Renee and Renato stumbled upon a secret to Christmas chart success.
0:28:03 > 0:28:05# And for me... #
0:28:05 > 0:28:07The secret is to get that person that,
0:28:07 > 0:28:10the other 51 weeks of the year, never buys a record.
0:28:10 > 0:28:15But, the week before Christmas goes out and purchases.
0:28:15 > 0:28:17It's the unusual purchase.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19The record industry cottoned onto this.
0:28:19 > 0:28:23They could see a huge spike in sales when it came to Christmas.
0:28:23 > 0:28:27You could make something that was dedicated to conjuring up
0:28:27 > 0:28:30all those feelings and images of Christmas.
0:28:30 > 0:28:32There was an awful lot of money to be earned.
0:28:32 > 0:28:36# Wouldn't it be good to be in your shoes? #
0:28:36 > 0:28:40The race for the Christmas number one, like most things in life,
0:28:40 > 0:28:42became super-charged in the '80s.
0:28:42 > 0:28:47And the yuppie lifestyle was played out in this apres ski fantasy
0:28:47 > 0:28:51with a video by quintessential '80s playboys, Wham!
0:28:51 > 0:28:54MUSIC: "Last Christmas" by Wham!
0:28:54 > 0:28:58# Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
0:28:58 > 0:29:03# But the very next day You gave it away
0:29:03 > 0:29:07# This year, to save me from tears
0:29:07 > 0:29:12# I'll give it to someone special... #
0:29:12 > 0:29:15Last Christmas by Wham! Absolute classic. Love it.
0:29:15 > 0:29:18They basically went on a skiing holiday and filmed it.
0:29:18 > 0:29:21It's the best Christmas video ever.
0:29:21 > 0:29:24Great selection of Christmas jumpers.
0:29:24 > 0:29:27Just would love to be in that video.
0:29:27 > 0:29:30# Last Christmas I gave you my heart
0:29:30 > 0:29:33# But the very next day You gave it away... #
0:29:33 > 0:29:35It's hard to believe this,
0:29:35 > 0:29:38one of the nation's favourite Christmas songs,
0:29:38 > 0:29:40didn't top the charts.
0:29:40 > 0:29:44Wham's Last Christmas not a Christmas number one? Tragedy!
0:29:45 > 0:29:48In fact, it's the highest selling single ever
0:29:48 > 0:29:51to NOT make it to number one.
0:29:51 > 0:29:53But, there's a good reason for this.
0:30:02 > 0:30:08Bob had just seen the first footage on BBC News
0:30:08 > 0:30:11of this famine in Ethiopia.
0:30:11 > 0:30:12I spoke to him on the phone and he said,
0:30:12 > 0:30:14"I've seen this thing on television.
0:30:14 > 0:30:17"It's disgusting, and I want to do something. Will you help?"
0:30:17 > 0:30:22And we sat down, and in a very cold and calculated way,
0:30:22 > 0:30:26figured out that if we could pull people's heartstrings and release
0:30:26 > 0:30:29their purse strings, with a Christmas record,
0:30:29 > 0:30:34we could generate maybe £100,000 to send to Africa.
0:30:34 > 0:30:36So I went home and sat in my kitchen
0:30:36 > 0:30:39and came up with this da-da-da-da, da, da-da-da.
0:30:43 > 0:30:46I thought, that's Christmassy. That'll do, that's fine.
0:30:46 > 0:30:49Then Bob came in with these really dark lyrics.
0:30:49 > 0:30:53# There's a world outside your window
0:30:53 > 0:30:57# And it's a world of dread and fear... #
0:30:57 > 0:31:02There's a new song at the top of the pop charts, and the record has itself set a record.
0:31:02 > 0:31:05It's become the fastest-selling single ever.
0:31:05 > 0:31:09It still, to this day... that record will give me shivers.
0:31:09 > 0:31:13See! The hairs on my arms are standing up just thinking about it.
0:31:13 > 0:31:16Just... It's a piece of history.
0:31:16 > 0:31:19# Throw your arms around the world
0:31:19 > 0:31:21# At Christmas time. #
0:31:22 > 0:31:26Do They Know It's Christmas? went on to make £7 million for the famine appeal.
0:31:26 > 0:31:30And the real masterstroke behind its success was the sheer weight
0:31:30 > 0:31:32of A-list talent on show.
0:31:32 > 0:31:39# Well, tonight, thank God it's them Instead of you. #
0:31:39 > 0:31:41U2...
0:31:41 > 0:31:43- ..Paul Young...- Phil Collins...
0:31:43 > 0:31:47Boy George, Bananarama, Duran Duran, George Michael.
0:31:47 > 0:31:49# But say a prayer
0:31:51 > 0:31:53# Pray for the other ones
0:31:56 > 0:31:58# At Christmas time. #
0:31:58 > 0:32:02All these people who I thought would be famous for ever,
0:32:02 > 0:32:06in the same studio at the same time, it just seemed like the most
0:32:06 > 0:32:08incredible thing that had ever happened.
0:32:08 > 0:32:12# Feed the world
0:32:12 > 0:32:16# Let them know it's Christmas time
0:32:16 > 0:32:19# Feed the world... #
0:32:21 > 0:32:23Band Aid capitalised on our love of fame
0:32:23 > 0:32:28and celebrity in the West, working on our guilt in the name of charity.
0:32:28 > 0:32:31Half the planet was starving, was dying,
0:32:31 > 0:32:33while we were all looking forward to Christmas.
0:32:33 > 0:32:36And that's obscene, in a way, and all we wanted to do,
0:32:36 > 0:32:40in our own little way, was kind of redress the balance a little bit.
0:32:40 > 0:32:44So, in a way, yes, it's probably the ultimate Christmas message.
0:32:45 > 0:32:49# Let them know it's Christmas time
0:32:49 > 0:32:51# Feed the world... #
0:32:53 > 0:32:56Nothing could have bettered Band Aid's message
0:32:56 > 0:32:58in the Christmas chart in '84.
0:32:58 > 0:33:02A fact not lost on the biggest selling singles artist of the '80s.
0:33:05 > 0:33:08I always wanted to have a Christmas Number One,
0:33:08 > 0:33:11and Merry Christmas came up, and it was actually going to be
0:33:11 > 0:33:15released in '84, at the end of the year, obviously.
0:33:16 > 0:33:21But there was a Band Aid record out, a charity record,
0:33:21 > 0:33:24and you know, you can't really compete with charity, really,
0:33:24 > 0:33:30as big as that, so we released it a year later.
0:33:30 > 0:33:33# Time for party and celebrations
0:33:34 > 0:33:38# People dancing all night long... #
0:33:39 > 0:33:41He timed it right
0:33:41 > 0:33:44and nothing else would be left to chance as team Shaky shipped out
0:33:44 > 0:33:49to a Christmas theme park to leave no seasonal stone unturned.
0:33:49 > 0:33:54# We're gonna have a party tonight... #
0:33:54 > 0:33:59This is at the height of Shaky's imperial hit-making phase,
0:33:59 > 0:34:01so there's a lot of money to spend on the video.
0:34:01 > 0:34:04It was all there, the snow, the trees, and everything,
0:34:04 > 0:34:09and Father Christmas, the bells and snowball fights, and sledges.
0:34:09 > 0:34:12That's what it's all about, Christmas, really.
0:34:12 > 0:34:16# We're gonna have a party tonight... #
0:34:16 > 0:34:21Cheese. I mean, you know - the video is cheese.
0:34:21 > 0:34:23But Shakin' Stevens was not, in a way, a "serious" artist...
0:34:23 > 0:34:25No, that sounds wrong.
0:34:25 > 0:34:28He was a serious artist in terms of he sold lots of records,
0:34:28 > 0:34:32but, you know, he was light-hearted.
0:34:32 > 0:34:35# Love and understanding
0:34:35 > 0:34:36# Merry Christmas, everyone... #
0:34:38 > 0:34:41# It's the season of love and understanding
0:34:41 > 0:34:44# Merry Christmas, everyone. #
0:34:44 > 0:34:45See?
0:34:45 > 0:34:48You know, you can mock it, but one person in the room starts singing it,
0:34:48 > 0:34:52it's very hard for everybody else in the room to not join in.
0:34:52 > 0:34:56# Merry Christmas, everyone. #
0:34:56 > 0:35:02Shaky's perfect festive package sailed into the Christmas number one in '85.
0:35:02 > 0:35:06But by 1988, this snow-dome scene couldn't have been further
0:35:06 > 0:35:09from the sun-drenched saga captivating the nation
0:35:09 > 0:35:12day in, day out on TV.
0:35:15 > 0:35:18# Neighbours
0:35:18 > 0:35:20# Everybody needs good neighbours... #
0:35:22 > 0:35:25It was all about Charlene and Scott and what was
0:35:25 > 0:35:29happening down in Ramsay Street, and we were fascinated as a nation by it.
0:35:30 > 0:35:32Pure romance.
0:35:32 > 0:35:36It was just wonderful to see Jason and Kylie and see them get together.
0:35:36 > 0:35:39We were just jealous of Kylie for being with Jason.
0:35:39 > 0:35:41You know - he was ours!
0:35:41 > 0:35:43Are you two walking out together?
0:35:43 > 0:35:45- We're bodies.- Anybody's!
0:35:46 > 0:35:48Kylie and Jason were the nation's TV sweethearts
0:35:48 > 0:35:51and had also become pop's hottest property
0:35:51 > 0:35:54under the guidance of Stock, Aitken and Waterman.
0:35:54 > 0:35:57A duet for Christmas was surely on the cards!
0:35:57 > 0:36:01There was no question that we had to do a Kylie and Jason record.
0:36:01 > 0:36:03This wasn't even a question.
0:36:03 > 0:36:07Matt and I jumped on a plane to Australia on a Sunday.
0:36:08 > 0:36:11We were in the middle of filming Neighbours at the time.
0:36:11 > 0:36:16They finished Neighbours at 4.00. We went into the studio at 7.00.
0:36:16 > 0:36:19It took a day. A very, very long day.
0:36:19 > 0:36:21We worked all the way through the night.
0:36:21 > 0:36:24Caught the plane back to Britain, we mixed it,
0:36:24 > 0:36:26brought the staff in to hear it.
0:36:26 > 0:36:28The staff just beamed!
0:36:29 > 0:36:35# Now we're back together, together
0:36:35 > 0:36:41# I wanna show you My heart is oh, so true
0:36:41 > 0:36:49# And all the love I have is especially for you... #
0:36:49 > 0:36:51When I listened to it the first time,
0:36:51 > 0:36:58I was just amazed at how good I sounded, so the magic was happening.
0:36:58 > 0:37:00At that point, I knew it was number one.
0:37:00 > 0:37:03The stage was set for a perfect end to the love story.
0:37:03 > 0:37:09Scott and Charlene's duet was a shoe-in for the top spot at Christmas.
0:37:09 > 0:37:13But there was one force in pop that even Stock, Aitken and Waterman
0:37:13 > 0:37:14couldn't take for granted -
0:37:14 > 0:37:18a man with a divine right to the festive throne.
0:37:18 > 0:37:23# Christmas time, mistletoe and wine
0:37:23 > 0:37:28# Children singing Christian rhyme
0:37:28 > 0:37:34# With logs on the fire And gifts on the tree
0:37:34 > 0:37:38# A time to rejoice in the good that we see... #
0:37:38 > 0:37:46It seems, you know, to be the battle between the forces of Mammon and God.
0:37:46 > 0:37:49If you had said to me as a betting man, Cliff versus Jason and Kylie,
0:37:49 > 0:37:51they're going to win hands down,
0:37:51 > 0:37:55because you could feel the power of pop.
0:37:55 > 0:37:57Guess who beat us to number one!
0:38:00 > 0:38:04Cliff Richard! It still didn't work! Couldn't believe it!
0:38:05 > 0:38:10# The child is a king The carollers sing
0:38:10 > 0:38:15# The old is past There's a new beginning... #
0:38:15 > 0:38:20At Christmas time, people forget who they are, and probably put on a
0:38:20 > 0:38:24Cliff Richard record which they never would do for the rest of the year.
0:38:24 > 0:38:27It's acceptable at Christmas!
0:38:27 > 0:38:29# Mistletoe and wine
0:38:29 > 0:38:34# Children singing Christian rhyme... #
0:38:34 > 0:38:37Mistletoe and Wine combined the two loves in Cliff's life -
0:38:37 > 0:38:41pop and Christianity - and the result became his winning formula
0:38:41 > 0:38:43for chart longevity.
0:38:43 > 0:38:47You can't disassociate Cliff Richard from Christmas. He IS Christmas.
0:38:47 > 0:38:49He's got a really, really good outlook on life,
0:38:49 > 0:38:51and I think he's just trying to stay young.
0:38:51 > 0:38:55Christmas comes, and out comes Cliff. That and Wimbledon.
0:38:55 > 0:38:57That's when you find Cliff!
0:38:58 > 0:39:01Between October and December,
0:39:01 > 0:39:04more records are sold than the other nine months totalled.
0:39:04 > 0:39:07Why would you want to release a record in January,
0:39:07 > 0:39:10when you knew it was going to sell more if you released it in December?
0:39:10 > 0:39:13So it was purely business, really.
0:39:13 > 0:39:18# We have been through the harvest
0:39:18 > 0:39:21# Winter is truly begun
0:39:22 > 0:39:27# Now we have walked in the chill of the night
0:39:27 > 0:39:31# We are waiting for, waiting for
0:39:31 > 0:39:35# For the saviour's day. #
0:39:35 > 0:39:38Cliff was back on top of the Christmas chart
0:39:38 > 0:39:40in 1990 with Saviour's Day,
0:39:40 > 0:39:44complete with these epic visuals of Cliff on a cliff
0:39:44 > 0:39:47confirming him as the pied piper of Christmas.
0:39:47 > 0:39:49In his heyday, there's absolutely no doubt
0:39:49 > 0:39:51that Sir Cliff had us on the run.
0:39:51 > 0:39:53There's always a question - will he, won't he?
0:39:53 > 0:39:55Will Sir Cliff produce a Christmas tune?
0:39:55 > 0:39:58Because if he does, then it's probably unbettable.
0:39:58 > 0:40:02# Life can be yours if you only stay... #
0:40:02 > 0:40:05The mass purchasing power of his followers
0:40:05 > 0:40:08kept Cliff's songs at the heart of Christmas pop.
0:40:08 > 0:40:13But not everyone shared his devotion to the Christian message.
0:40:13 > 0:40:17Some of the records became slightly more religious than we were used to.
0:40:17 > 0:40:21I mean, he certainly wasn't Noddy Holder, let's put it that way!
0:40:21 > 0:40:26How did you feel being voted the United Kingdom's best-known Christian?
0:40:26 > 0:40:30I find it very hard to take those kinds of polls seriously.
0:40:30 > 0:40:33To kind of beat the Pope, but it's understandable -
0:40:33 > 0:40:35he hasn't had a record out for years!
0:40:38 > 0:40:41Sir Cliff went for broke at the turn of the last century
0:40:41 > 0:40:44with his Millennium Prayer.
0:40:44 > 0:40:49# Our Father, who art in heaven
0:40:49 > 0:40:53# Hallowed be thy name... #
0:40:53 > 0:40:57He came up with a Millennium Prayer where he had Auld Lang Syne and
0:40:57 > 0:41:02the Lord's Prayer all into one, and I thought, this is desperation time!
0:41:04 > 0:41:11# Let every home and every dream be born in love
0:41:11 > 0:41:14Christian Christmas songs were out of favour by the '90s.
0:41:14 > 0:41:17In fact, even overtly festive songs seemed out of step
0:41:17 > 0:41:19when the big ballad took over.
0:41:20 > 0:41:25And this trend was set by one of the biggest of them all.
0:41:25 > 0:41:33# If I should stay
0:41:35 > 0:41:43# I would only be in your way... #
0:41:43 > 0:41:47Still to this day, it's the most amazing powerful ballad
0:41:47 > 0:41:51that you could ever hear, and it will always touch right here.
0:41:51 > 0:41:59# I'll think of you every step of the way... #
0:42:03 > 0:42:04I love that song.
0:42:04 > 0:42:09It's got to be one of the best power ballads of all time.
0:42:09 > 0:42:19# And I will always love you
0:42:19 > 0:42:21I think you can't beat a ballad, you know what I mean?
0:42:21 > 0:42:25It's got that sentiment about it that, I dunno,
0:42:25 > 0:42:28relationships and stuff like that, you know.
0:42:28 > 0:42:30Everyone comes together around Christmas.
0:42:30 > 0:42:33This is a fact Terry knows only too well.
0:42:33 > 0:42:36In 1994, East 17's Stay Another Day
0:42:36 > 0:42:40became the biggest thing to ever come out of Walthamstow.
0:42:40 > 0:42:44East 17 and 1994's Christmas number one.
0:42:44 > 0:42:47# Stay now. # Tune.
0:42:47 > 0:42:52# Stay now, baby if you've got to go away
0:42:52 > 0:42:56# Don't think I could take the pain
0:42:56 > 0:43:01# Won't you stay another day? #
0:43:01 > 0:43:05That song will always remind me of the days when my sister and I
0:43:05 > 0:43:09used to sing it in our bedroom and when we used to fancy the pants off
0:43:09 > 0:43:13of East 17, and wish that one day, they'd be our husbands.
0:43:13 > 0:43:16It's not happened yet, but there's still time!
0:43:16 > 0:43:23# I touch your face while you were sleeping and hold your hand
0:43:23 > 0:43:28# Don't understand what's going on
0:43:28 > 0:43:33# Stay now, if you got to go away
0:43:33 > 0:43:37# Stay now, baby if you've got to go away... #
0:43:37 > 0:43:41East 17 are one of those bands that people take the mick out of.
0:43:41 > 0:43:45They did wear, I would say as a pop band, some of the daftest
0:43:45 > 0:43:51clothes and hats and baggy trousers, and everything else, of all time.
0:43:51 > 0:43:55# Baby if you've got to go away... #
0:43:55 > 0:43:58East 17 were at the height of their gangster pop powers
0:43:58 > 0:44:00when they dropped this sweet treat of a Christmas tune.
0:44:02 > 0:44:06Stay Another Day came from another place. It's a cry from the heart.
0:44:06 > 0:44:09They just bust through the outer perimeter of what everyone
0:44:09 > 0:44:11thought they were capable of.
0:44:11 > 0:44:15On first listen, Stay Another Day is pure Christmas slush,
0:44:15 > 0:44:18but the song had a hidden meaning.
0:44:18 > 0:44:20Tony wrote it, out the band,
0:44:20 > 0:44:24and it was actually wrote about his brother who committed suicide.
0:44:25 > 0:44:30It was nice that a song like that, like a heartfelt song,
0:44:30 > 0:44:32actually done really well.
0:44:32 > 0:44:36# Don't leave me alone like this
0:44:36 > 0:44:40# Don't you say it's the final kiss
0:44:40 > 0:44:45# Won't you stay another day? #
0:44:45 > 0:44:48A heartfelt love song delivered by the biggest names in pop -
0:44:48 > 0:44:51with added snow and bells, of course -
0:44:51 > 0:44:54became the go-to Christmas number one of the '90s.
0:44:54 > 0:44:56But there was still room for the odd surprise.
0:44:59 > 0:45:02# Blobby, oh, Mr Blobby
0:45:02 > 0:45:06# If only you could make us understand... #
0:45:06 > 0:45:08What is Mr Blobby all about?
0:45:08 > 0:45:10It's a question which I'm sure has exercised
0:45:10 > 0:45:12some of the finest philosophical minds!
0:45:12 > 0:45:17What was it? A guy in a plastic pink suit, wasn't it?
0:45:17 > 0:45:20# Blobby, Mr Blobby
0:45:20 > 0:45:24# You're the guy who puts the do in do or die... #
0:45:24 > 0:45:29I remember at my tenure as the chart host, there's me interviewing
0:45:29 > 0:45:32Mr Blobby about the Christmas number one - "Blobby, blobby, blobby!"
0:45:32 > 0:45:34Er...ridiculous!
0:45:34 > 0:45:38As I used to do Noel's House Party, I will not have a word said -
0:45:38 > 0:45:41and I stress this - about Mr Blobby,
0:45:41 > 0:45:46who was a fine figure of a blobby in those days!
0:45:46 > 0:45:49# Blobby, Mr Blobby... #
0:45:49 > 0:45:50Love it or hate it,
0:45:50 > 0:45:53every few years, just when you least expect it,
0:45:53 > 0:45:55something silly turns up in the Christmas charts -
0:45:55 > 0:46:00and the Great British Public go out and buy it in their droves.
0:46:00 > 0:46:04Bob the Builder here. It's fantastic being number one!
0:46:04 > 0:46:06You'd never get a novelty record in the States.
0:46:06 > 0:46:09You'd never get a novelty record in Australia.
0:46:09 > 0:46:12I wonder why it's just this country and this culture.
0:46:12 > 0:46:15# Bob the Builder, can we fix it? #
0:46:15 > 0:46:17We are an island,
0:46:17 > 0:46:21and one thing I love about Britain - we laugh at ourselves.
0:46:21 > 0:46:23We're not frightened to have a laugh.
0:46:23 > 0:46:27Fastest Milkman In The West, Lilly The Pink, Mr Blobby.
0:46:27 > 0:46:29It's like...only in Britain!
0:46:29 > 0:46:35And back in Britain of the mid-'90s, another unique pop phenomenon was taking hold.
0:46:35 > 0:46:37# I'll tell you what I want What I really, really want
0:46:37 > 0:46:39# So tell me what you want What you really, really want
0:46:39 > 0:46:41# I'll tell you what I want What I really, really want
0:46:41 > 0:46:43# So tell me what you want What you really, really want
0:46:43 > 0:46:45# I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna
0:46:45 > 0:46:48# I wanna, I wanna really, really Really wanna zig-a-zig ah... #
0:46:48 > 0:46:51For a while, it seemed to be that there was no music
0:46:51 > 0:46:52apart from the Spice Girls.
0:46:52 > 0:46:56I just remember everybody loved them and everyone had all the stickers, and the CDs.
0:46:56 > 0:46:59They bring back memories of happier times.
0:46:59 > 0:47:01# I'll tell you what I want What I really, really want
0:47:01 > 0:47:03# So tell me what you want What you really, really want... #
0:47:03 > 0:47:06The mid-'90s saw pop hit the high street in a big way,
0:47:06 > 0:47:11and Christmas itself became more and more about big brands.
0:47:11 > 0:47:13Christmas became different.
0:47:13 > 0:47:17Christmas became much closer to tinselly high street than it did to candlelit church, I think.
0:47:17 > 0:47:20And that's reflected in the music you hear at Christmas.
0:47:20 > 0:47:23The agnostic '90s power ballad seemed to have taken over the job
0:47:23 > 0:47:25of the traditional carol at Christmas.
0:47:25 > 0:47:29And the Spice Girls knew exactly how to cash in.
0:47:29 > 0:47:33It was all about kind of spicing up your life for the rest of the year,
0:47:33 > 0:47:37then it was like - voom! - ballad for Christmas.
0:47:37 > 0:47:42# Come a little bit closer, baby Get it on, get it on
0:47:42 > 0:47:45# Cos tonight is the night
0:47:45 > 0:47:49# When two become one... #
0:47:49 > 0:47:53In 1996, 2 Become 1 became the Spice Girls' first in a hat-trick
0:47:53 > 0:47:56of Christmas number ones.
0:47:56 > 0:47:57It was a very evocative track.
0:47:57 > 0:48:00It fitted well into the Christmas mood,
0:48:00 > 0:48:02but it didn't sell the Christmas message at you.
0:48:02 > 0:48:05And again, by doing that it was tapping into the teens
0:48:05 > 0:48:10and the early adults who pretended they hated Christmas anyway, but they wanted to be down the disco.
0:48:10 > 0:48:15# Too much of nothing is just as tough
0:48:15 > 0:48:19# I need to know the way to feel
0:48:19 > 0:48:22# To keep me satisfied... #
0:48:22 > 0:48:27The Spice Girls even used the Christmas chart to bid us farewell.
0:48:27 > 0:48:301998's Goodbye was the end of an era.
0:48:30 > 0:48:32# Goodbye, my friends
0:48:32 > 0:48:37# I know you're gone, you said you're gone but I can still feel you here. #
0:48:37 > 0:48:40Looking back on them now, they look like the peak of authenticity,
0:48:40 > 0:48:42don't they? Because they were a real band, even though
0:48:42 > 0:48:45they were a manufactured band, it wasn't the X Factor stuff,
0:48:45 > 0:48:48it wasn't a series of changing faces - it was five women.
0:48:48 > 0:48:54It was time to say goodbye to the Spice Girls and hello to the TV talent show.
0:48:58 > 0:49:00I think Popstars: The Rivals was
0:49:00 > 0:49:05the start of the death of the Christmas number one.
0:49:05 > 0:49:09It's my fault, is it, now? It's my fault - I've killed Christmas!
0:49:11 > 0:49:15Two teams of wannabes were primed for Christmas chart success by
0:49:15 > 0:49:20boy-band Svengali Louis Walsh and God's gift to '80s pop, Pete Waterman.
0:49:20 > 0:49:24We are both going for the tightest spot in the world of music -
0:49:24 > 0:49:26the Christmas number one.
0:49:26 > 0:49:28It's war. Total war.
0:49:29 > 0:49:35The whole thing about Popstars: The Rivals was
0:49:35 > 0:49:40ITV wanted to prove they could have the Christmas number one.
0:49:40 > 0:49:42We were manipulated by television.
0:49:42 > 0:49:45I can tell you the Christmas number one...
0:49:45 > 0:49:47- Is it the boys...- for 2002... - ..or is it the girls?
0:49:47 > 0:49:48It's Girls Aloud!
0:49:51 > 0:49:53The might of the TV format prevailed.
0:49:53 > 0:49:58Girls Aloud took the Christmas number one in emphatic style.
0:49:58 > 0:50:01# It's the sound of the underground
0:50:01 > 0:50:04# The beat of the drum goes round and around
0:50:04 > 0:50:06# Into the overflow
0:50:06 > 0:50:10# Where the girls get down To the sound of the radio... #
0:50:10 > 0:50:12Now the power of TV had been realised.
0:50:12 > 0:50:16The Grinch went to work and nothing could stop the onslaught of what came next
0:50:16 > 0:50:18for the Christmas number one.
0:50:18 > 0:50:20'The competition was fiercer than ever!'
0:50:23 > 0:50:27I'm singing for my life now cos I ain't having a no!
0:50:27 > 0:50:29Did you own the whole stage?!
0:50:29 > 0:50:31You are right up my street.
0:50:33 > 0:50:36That's what I call a pop star.
0:50:36 > 0:50:41The Christmas number one now is so much tied in to the kind of
0:50:41 > 0:50:47incredibly interconnected web of influence - money,
0:50:47 > 0:50:51and drive that comes from people like Simon Cowell, I guess
0:50:51 > 0:50:53and the X Factor.
0:50:53 > 0:50:55For me, X Factor's ruined Christmas.
0:50:55 > 0:50:58There's no soul in it, there's nothing personal about it,
0:50:58 > 0:51:01it could be that person, that person or that person singing it.
0:51:01 > 0:51:03Whether you enjoy the show or not,
0:51:03 > 0:51:07the victors of the X Factor quickly colonised the Christmas chart.
0:51:07 > 0:51:12# I'm here to win your heart and soul
0:51:12 > 0:51:16# That's my goal. #
0:51:16 > 0:51:19# A moment like this
0:51:19 > 0:51:23# Some people wait a lifetime
0:51:23 > 0:51:26# For a moment like this. #
0:51:26 > 0:51:29# There can be miracles
0:51:29 > 0:51:34# When you believe... #
0:51:34 > 0:51:36Without doubt the low point for the Christmas number one
0:51:36 > 0:51:39was in about 2006
0:51:39 > 0:51:43when we realised that X Factor had basically cornered the market.
0:51:43 > 0:51:45There was no point betting on it any more.
0:51:45 > 0:51:48It really was dark days for this national institution,
0:51:48 > 0:51:49which is the Christmas number one.
0:51:51 > 0:51:54Everyone's got their opinion about the X Factor.
0:51:54 > 0:51:56No-one really, really understands
0:51:56 > 0:52:01the hard work that goes into being on that show. It's a lot.
0:52:01 > 0:52:05# I heard there was a secret chord
0:52:05 > 0:52:09# That David played and it pleased the Lord
0:52:09 > 0:52:15# But you don't really care for music, do ya? #
0:52:15 > 0:52:19I always used to watch Top Of The Pops, I always used to say to my mum,
0:52:19 > 0:52:21"I'm going to get on there one day".
0:52:22 > 0:52:24I just can't even explain the feeling
0:52:24 > 0:52:27of having that number one and what it felt like.
0:52:28 > 0:52:32And then to perform it on Top Of The Pops, the one show I always wanted to perform on,
0:52:32 > 0:52:35I'm still, to this day, blown away,
0:52:35 > 0:52:39and it still makes me extremely emotional.
0:52:39 > 0:52:41# Maybe there's a God above
0:52:41 > 0:52:46# But all I've ever learned from love
0:52:46 > 0:52:52# Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew you
0:52:54 > 0:52:58# It's not a cry that you hear at night
0:52:58 > 0:53:02# It's not someone who's seen the light
0:53:02 > 0:53:09# It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah, oh
0:53:09 > 0:53:12# Hallelujah... #
0:53:12 > 0:53:15It's hard to knock a girl whose childhood dream came true
0:53:15 > 0:53:20but by 2009, after four years of X Factor whitewash of the Christmas number one,
0:53:20 > 0:53:23it was time to fight back.
0:53:23 > 0:53:27Stop! Whoa! I'm not having any more of this.
0:53:27 > 0:53:30Cowell cannot have his way every single Christmas.
0:53:32 > 0:53:36But who would have the power to topple Simon Cowell?
0:53:36 > 0:53:41We thought that "OK, let's see if we can make our own number one
0:53:41 > 0:53:43"To outdo the X Factor."
0:53:43 > 0:53:45I chose Rage Against The Machine
0:53:45 > 0:53:49because I felt it was a complete antithesis
0:53:49 > 0:53:53of what anything the X Factor would put out.
0:53:53 > 0:53:54# Uh!
0:53:57 > 0:53:59# Killing in the name of... #
0:53:59 > 0:54:04In the internet age, you don't need a primetime TV show to speak to the nation.
0:54:04 > 0:54:07You can be an average Joe - or, in this case, John -
0:54:07 > 0:54:11and use Facebook to turn mass disaffection into downloads.
0:54:11 > 0:54:13I bought Rage Against The Machine.
0:54:13 > 0:54:17I did download Rage Against The Machine, I think, five times.
0:54:17 > 0:54:21I didn't have a clue who Rage Against The Machine were.
0:54:21 > 0:54:23They're not really my type of genre of music.
0:54:23 > 0:54:28And I didn't grasp how anybody would want to listen to that song
0:54:28 > 0:54:31on Christmas Day, eating their Christmas dinner.
0:54:31 > 0:54:34# It's the climb... #
0:54:34 > 0:54:38As the feasting commenced around Britain's dining tables in 2009,
0:54:38 > 0:54:43the nation's families had made their choice between the anti-Christmas rap rockers
0:54:43 > 0:54:45and X Factor's squeaky-clean boy wonder.
0:54:49 > 0:54:52The Christmas Number One 2009 is...
0:54:52 > 0:54:54CROWD: # Killing in the name of! #
0:54:54 > 0:54:56Rage Against The Machine.
0:55:00 > 0:55:05The Rage campaign proved that the Christmas chart belongs to the people.
0:55:05 > 0:55:09And last year their choice for Christmas number one wasn't a pop star,
0:55:09 > 0:55:11it wasn't even really a pop song.
0:55:20 > 0:55:21Good afternoon, everyone.
0:55:21 > 0:55:28My name is Gareth Malone, and I want to invite anyone to come and join a choir.
0:55:28 > 0:55:31It came at such a perfect time for us.
0:55:31 > 0:55:35Our husbands were deployed, we were feeling a bit melancholy.
0:55:35 > 0:55:37I think the choir
0:55:37 > 0:55:41brought a whole new community spirit to Chivenor.
0:55:41 > 0:55:44# Wherever you are
0:55:44 > 0:55:48# My love will keep you safe... #
0:55:48 > 0:55:51Gareth Malone's Military Wives would have their own song,
0:55:51 > 0:55:55the words taken from letters they'd exchanged with their husbands in Afghanistan.
0:55:55 > 0:55:59It doesn't matter if you're not in the military, or know anybody in the military,
0:55:59 > 0:56:02I think everyone can take something from it
0:56:02 > 0:56:04because they're such poignant lyrics,
0:56:04 > 0:56:08and the meaning of them, to me it's all just about love.
0:56:08 > 0:56:11# Wherever you are
0:56:11 > 0:56:15# Our hearts still beat as one... #
0:56:16 > 0:56:21The choir's journey culminated in this gala performance at the Albert Hall.
0:56:21 > 0:56:25# Light up the darkness
0:56:25 > 0:56:28# My wondrous star
0:56:28 > 0:56:35# Our hopes and dreams, my heart and yours, for ever shining far
0:56:35 > 0:56:42# Light up the darkness My prince of peace... #
0:56:42 > 0:56:47When we'd done the Albert Hall, it was very emotional, we thought that's us, that's finished.
0:56:52 > 0:56:57Little did we know, the next weekend we were in London recording the single,
0:56:57 > 0:57:00and I thought, "No-one's going to buy this."
0:57:00 > 0:57:04Then the next minute, I'm speaking to Chris Evans live on the radio.
0:57:04 > 0:57:06We just started getting these texts and e-mails,
0:57:06 > 0:57:08so we played it. The cumulative effect
0:57:08 > 0:57:13of the appreciation for the song and the way it's moving people,
0:57:13 > 0:57:17it speaks love, care, and it speaks massive emotion.
0:57:18 > 0:57:22Brought a tear to my eye, even now when I think of the song.
0:57:22 > 0:57:24I thought it was just amazing.
0:57:24 > 0:57:27The fact everybody's rather shy about doing it
0:57:27 > 0:57:31and conquers all their fears, I think everybody rooted for them.
0:57:31 > 0:57:35All of a sudden I've got into choirs for some reason!
0:57:38 > 0:57:42What had started with a TV vehicle to keep the home fires burning
0:57:42 > 0:57:46had just produced, by popular demand, a hot contender
0:57:46 > 0:57:48for the Christmas number one.
0:57:48 > 0:57:53Your Christmas number one. Military Wives.
0:57:59 > 0:58:04Military Wives was a true, true great Christmas record.
0:58:04 > 0:58:10It's not about make-up and money and showing off.
0:58:10 > 0:58:14It's about real issues, real things, and people can connect to that.
0:58:14 > 0:58:17There's something very beautiful about people coming together
0:58:17 > 0:58:21and singing, but also finding something in our togetherness
0:58:21 > 0:58:23that's worth celebrating.
0:58:27 > 0:58:30Looking back at 60 years of Christmas number ones reminds us
0:58:30 > 0:58:34that Christmas brings out the bonkers in the British.
0:58:34 > 0:58:36But last year the nation fell back in love
0:58:36 > 0:58:41with the most powerful ingredient in all great Christmas songs.
0:58:41 > 0:58:44It's about gathering people together.
0:58:44 > 0:58:48It's about people missing each other and coming back together for Christmas.
0:58:48 > 0:58:52And that's really the message of Christmas.
0:58:52 > 0:58:55A bit like, "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas" in its sentiment.
0:58:55 > 0:59:00I'm dreaming of home, a hearth, with your loved ones.
0:59:01 > 0:59:10# I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
0:59:10 > 0:59:18# Just like the ones I used to know
0:59:20 > 0:59:30# And may all your Christmases be white. #
0:59:30 > 0:59:32Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd