November 18th 2024.
Roy Wood, the founder of Electric Light Orchestra and Wizzard, has a Christmas hit that he doesn't listen to very often. While everyone has their own favorite Christmas songs, Roy tries to avoid listening to Wizzard's beloved "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" if he can help it. After four decades of having to listen to it, the song has lost its charm for him.
Although the track peaked at number four in the UK charts, it is still considered one of the best Christmas songs ever made. Roy confessed that he doesn't even listen to the radio in his own house, saying, "It actually comes on in the car sometimes when the classical music channel is on but apart from that, [people] play it at me. I can't walk around the supermarket anymore without it coming on." It seems that the constant exposure to his own song has made him a bit tired of it.
But Roy isn't a total Grinch when it comes to Christmas. He admits that his feelings towards the season depend on his mood, saying "It depends on what side of the bed [he] got out of." This year, he has teamed up with Spar for a Christmas campaign where fans can sing "SPARaoke" to his beloved song in hopes of winning their shopping and Christmas dinner. While he's not sure listening to the general public covering his song will change his own feelings towards it, he's not opposed to finally landing that elusive Christmas number one.
In 1985, Wizzard lost the battle of the charts to Slade's "Merry Xmas Everybody" after a delay in their release halted their momentum. Roy recalls, "It [mattered] at the time but I don't think so now. It was annoying, to be fair." He explains that the delay was caused by his manager, Don Arden, who was trying to make a deal with Warner Brothers for the Christmas record. This caused a delay in the release of the song, giving Slade a two week advantage in record sales. However, Roy admits that Slade may have landed number one anyway, as they were very popular at the time.
Despite the disappointment, Roy still hopes to reach that top spot on the charts. He says, "I would still love that chart top spot, hoping that fans reconnect with the track thanks to Spar's campaign." In 2012, "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" was voted the second on ITV's The Nation's Favourite Christmas Song, just behind The Pogues' "Fairytale of New York."
Roy doesn't mind taking a back seat to The Pogues, but he's not sure there has been much competition in the Christmas song realm since the 90s. He says, "Strangely enough, I don't think it's had a lot of competition over the years." He believes that this is because record companies started to realize that radio stations stop playing Christmas songs after Christmas Day. To combat this, they started making music videos with a Christmas theme, but the songs themselves didn't mention Christmas in the lyrics. As a result, there haven't been many new Christmas songs written since then.
Roy does give credit to Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas" as a great modern Christmas song. However, he's not a fan of all the remixes and jokes that he would rather "stick screwdrivers in his ears" than listen to one. He also feels "humbled" to be included on Christmas compilation albums with other great artists. He hopes that everyone has a great time during the holiday season, saying, "[We] have too many problems with the way things are at the moment. Take a deep breath and go for it."
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