ARTIST: Gabriella Cilmi SONG: Warm This Winter Even if it was inevitable from the minute the still brilliant 'Sweet About Me' recieved saturation airplay over the whole of 2008, it's still a shame that Aussie songstress Gabriella Cilmi, for all her Xenomania produced soul pop stompers, came to be known by two songs alone. The … Continue reading Christmas Song Advent Calendar 2018: Day 11
ARTIST: Saint Etienne feat. Tim Burgess SONG: I Was Born On Christmas Day Now here's a fact for you. Bob Stanley from Saint Etienne was actually born on 25th December. (He also happens to be a self confessed NOW compilation enthusiast, but that's for another time.) So it seems appropriate that he, Pete Wiggs and … Continue reading Christmas Song Advent Calendar 2018: Day 10
ARTIST: Goldfrapp SONG: Winter Wonderland For a band more commonly associated with a frontwoman who's been known to wear a horse's tail on stage and have the lyrical mind of a lusty French madam, the idea of Goldfrapp doing a Christmas song, particularly such a well known one, sounds about as odd as a jacket … Continue reading Christmas Song Advent Calendar 2018: Day 9
ARTIST: Sugababes SONG: New Year It's a shame that whilst music channels will only ever seem to play "Too Lost In You", the single from the second incarnation of their lineup at Christmas 2003 from the soundtrack to Love Actually at this time of year, that people forget the first lineup of Sugababes - Keisha Buchanan, … Continue reading Christmas Song Advent Calendar 2018: Day 8
ARTIST: Billie Piper SONG: Last Christmas It's amazing what happens in the space of a few years. When we wrote about Wham's evergreen festive classic 'Last Christmas' back in 2015, it was in a playlist of what we believed to be the best five contemporary takes on the song. Since that time, one half of them sadly … Continue reading Christmas Song Advent Calendar 2018: Day 7
And just like that, we're in the final few weeks of yet another year. Which can only mean it's time for yours truly to announce the runners and riders for our annual End of Year Prizes on the blog! If you've missed this for the last four years, then fear ye not, for we shall … Continue reading Alex’s End Of Year Prizes 2018: The Nominations (plus your chance to vote in our Readers Choice!)
ARTIST: Busted SONG: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing Rare is the pop band who chooses to cover one of the best loved seasonal carols that tells the story of the first Christmas. But then, Busted have never been most pop bands. After all, their biggest hit ('Year 3000') references Back to the Future, does it … Continue reading Christmas Song Advent Calendar 2018: Day 6
Ask me to name one of my all time favourite sitcoms, and unquestionably, Richard Curtis' classic BBC One staple from the 90s and 00s, The Vicar of Dibley, is somewhere in my top 5. The hilarious antics of the barmy country parish flock of St Barnabas, Dibley, in Oxfordshire, tended to by the show's titular … Continue reading Bless you for watching: The best episodes of The Vicar Of Dibley
ARTIST: Kylie Minogue and James Corden SONG: Only You "Only You" is one of those great Christmas songs that isn't technically a Christmas song. It actually started life as the debut single and a #2 hit in 1982 for Yazoo, the pop duo of former Depeche Mode member Vince Clarke and Alison Moyet. A year later, acapella … Continue reading Christmas Song Advent Calendar 2018: Day 5
ARTIST: Pet Shop Boys SONG: It Doesn't Often Snow At Christmas The proud owners of 1987's festive chart topper with their big and brassy take on Elvis Presley's "Always On My Mind", Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, aka the world's biggest selling electronic pop duo of all time, first recorded an outright Christmas song as an … Continue reading Christmas Song Advent Calendar 2018: Day 4
