Christmas number-two singles in the UK
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Every year in the UK Singles Chart, there is a highly publicised race for the Christmas Number One spot. This is regarded as "the most important one of the year"[1] due to single sales reaching a peak during the week before Christmas. It is a hugely publicised chart, with bets being offered on who will top the chart.
Many songs miss out on the Christmas Number One, and instead become the Christmas Number Two. Traditionally there was often a "race" for Christmas Number One, with many songs competing for the top spot. As a result, many well known songs entered the charts at Number Two. An example of this was in 1984, where "Last Christmas" by Wham! was the Christmas Number Two, missing out to the Band Aid single, "Do They Know It's Christmas?". Both songs still managed to sell over a million copies.
In recent years the Christmas Number One has been dominated by reality shows such as Popstars: The Rivals and The X Factor, with the winners of the shows heading straight to Number One in the week before Christmas. In 2007, bookmakers started taking bets on who Christmas Number Two would be instead[2].
Contents |
[edit] List of Christmas Number Two singles
Tracks marked * did top the chart either in the run-up to, or shortly after, Christmas.
[edit] 1950s
- 1952 - You Belong to Me - Jo Stafford*
- 1953 - Answer Me - David Whitfield*
- 1954 - Santo Natale - David Whitfield
- 1955 - Rock Around The Clock - Bill Haley & His Comets*
- 1956 - The Green Door - Frankie Vaughan
- 1957 - Ma He's Making Eyes at Me - Johnny Otis And His Orchestra With Marie Adams
- 1958 - Hoots Mon - Lord Rockingham's XI*
- 1959 - What Do You Want? - Adam Faith*
[edit] 1960s
- 1960 - It's Now or Never - Elvis Presley*
- 1961 - Tower of Strength - Frankie Vaughan
- 1962 - The Next Time/Bachelor Boy - Cliff Richard*
- 1963 - She Loves You - The Beatles*
- 1964 - Downtown - Petula Clark
- 1965 - Wind Me Up (Let Me Go) - Cliff Richard
- 1966 - Morningtown Ride - The Seekers
- 1967 - Magical Mystery Tour (EP) - The Beatles
- 1968 - Ain't Got No, I Got Life/Do What You Gotta Do - Nina Simone
- 1969 - Ruby Don't Take Your Love To Town - Kenny Rogers And The First Edition
[edit] 1970s
- 1970 - When I'm Dead and Gone - McGuinness Flint
- 1971 - Jeepster - T.Rex
- 1972 - My Ding-a-ling - Chuck Berry*
- 1973 - I Love You Love Me Love - Gary Glitter*
- 1974 - You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet - Bachman-Turner Overdrive
- 1975 - I Believe in Father Christmas - Greg Lake
- 1976 - Under the Moon of Love - Showaddywaddy*
- 1977 - The Floral Dance - Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band
- 1978 - Y.M.C.A. - The Village People*
- 1979 - I Have a Dream - ABBA
[edit] 1980s
- 1980 - Just Like Starting Over - John Lennon*
- 1981 - Daddy's Home - Cliff Richard
- 1982 - Blue Christmas (EP) - Shakin' Stevens
- 1983 - My Oh My - Slade
- 1984 - Last Christmas - Wham!
- 1985 - Saving All My Love for You - Whitney Houston*
- 1986 - Caravan of Love - The Housemartins*
- 1987 - Fairytale of New York - The Pogues
- 1988 - Especially for You - Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue*
- 1989 - Let's Party - Jive Bunny*
[edit] 1990s
- 1990 - Ice Ice Baby - Vanilla Ice*
- 1991 - When You Tell Me That You Love Me - Diana Ross
- 1992 - Heal the World - Michael Jackson
- 1993 - Babe - Take That*
- 1994 - All I Want For Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey
- 1995 - Wonderwall - Mike Flowers Pops
- 1996 - No Woman, No Cry - The Fugees
- 1997 - Teletubbies Say Eh-Oh! - Teletubbies*
- 1998 - Chocolate Salty Balls - Chef*
- 1999 - The Millennium Prayer - Cliff Richard*
[edit] 2000s
- 2000 - What Makes a Man - Westlife
- 2001 - How Wonderful You Are - Gordon Haskell
- 2002 - Sacred Trust - One True Voice
- 2003 - Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End) - The Darkness
- 2004 - Father and Son - Ronan Keating featuring Yusuf Islam
- 2005 - JCB Song - Nizlopi*
- 2006 - Patience - Take That*
- 2007 - What a Wonderful World - Katie Melua and Eva Cassidy*
