'A Sensible Christmas!'

Now if there is one bloke I would love to meet for a Christmas drink and a chat it is Captain Sensible! Our Ray is a real character and a pretty good lyricist when he puts his mind to it as well. The records he released with Producer, Tony Mansfield at the helm in the mid 80's are a delight and range from the sublimely ridiculous 'Wot!' to thoughtful songs like 'Yanks With Guns'.

Aside from singing ode's to his beloved home town of 'Croydon' and whisking his way to the number 1 spot with 'Happy Talk' from 'South Pacific' its a little known fact that the good Captain released a Christmas single called 'One Christmas Catalogue' in 1984.

The song didn't quite come over as Christmassy enough at the time I remember and failed to sell but listening to it nowadays I rather like it!
The video is really good as well incorporating elements of the classic 'A Christmas Carol' and 'The Witch, The Lion & the Wardrobe' stories.
To try and boost sales of the record the record company released a limited 12" version of the song which  came with a real foam beard on the cover and the Captain's lively version of F.G.T.H.'s 'Relax' on the b side as well as a couple of other non-lp tracks. None of it helped the record into the charts though

Frustratingly, during the recording of their third album of songs together, Tony and Ray had a disagreement over the musical direction of the songs recorded so far and so the album was scrapped and they parted company forever. Well, I for one would LOVE to get a copy of those unreleased songs for Christmas! Be they good or bad it would be great to hear them and find out what all the fuss was about.

Pop music today is SOOO lacking characters like Captain Sensible, Roy Wood and the late, great Alvin Stardust. Music seems to have gone the way of modern thinking these days and become dour, ultra serious and 'arty'.

Give me a blast of 'Wot!' any day!

God bless you Ray (& Tony) wherever you are...

'Merry Christmas Everybody!'

'Merry Christmas Everybody' by Slade surely has to be the No 1 U.K. Christmas record of all time. Recorded  in late summer 1973 the song has sold well over a million copies in the U.K. and has charted  every year here since 2006 thanks to Christmas download sales. There is something impossibly jolly and festive about the record that just doesn't allow you to ignore it and with its jaunty, slightly ZZ Top 'Gimmie All Your Lovin', bouncy rock n' roll melody its the perfect record to get the whole family up and dancing.

Ironically, the song came out at a time when there was much political unrest here in the U.K. Christmas 1973 was not a happy time for many as the miners, led by Joe Gormley, were on strike and many homes and stores were having to make do with candlelight. Prime minister, Ted Heath and his government were having a torrid time and the country as a whole was far from harmonious. It is typical though of the British people that whenever adversity strikes a general determination to 'overcome' seems to rise to the surface. 'Merry Christmas Everybody' was thus the ultimate 'up yours' to a world which it seemed had decided to dampen spirits and Slade with their sparkling glam rock outfits and platform shoes put the fun and festive back into Christmas.

The biggest selling Christmas record of all time globally is of course 'White Christmas' by Bing Crosby but even Bing's warm hearted and romantic Christmas classic cannot match 'Merry Christmas Everybody' for its 'one for all and all for one' appeal. Mums and Dads, Nans and Grandads, kids and even toddlers all start to shake and wobble along to the Slade but 'White Christmas' is more for adults only.

Surprisingly, Slade only ever made one more Christmas single. 'All Join Hands' was an admirable sing-a-long song and it did have a kind of 'Auld Lang Syne' participation appeal but it only made No 15 at Christmas 1984 and has never seen the light of the festive chart since. I think for me 'Merry Christmas Everybody' and 'I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday' by Wizzard (more about that later) have to be the top two Christmas U.K. hits of all time but then I am biased because I associate so many happy childhood memories with the early 70's and simply LOVED all the glam glitter and dressing up of the Glam rock era. 

Whatever the case, what is certain is that 'Merry Christmas Everybody' is a Christmas classic that will be with us every Christmas for many years to come yet...  




MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!!!!!!