St Winifred's School Choir, from St Winifred's Roman Catholic Primary School in Stockport, United Kingdom, was a choir of children whose single in 1980 became the British Christmas number one single of that year. The song was entitled "There's No-one Quite Like Grandma", and it spent two weeks at number one, and eleven weeks in the UK Singles Chart in total.[1] The lead vocal was provided by Dawn Ralph. The song was composed by award-winning record producer Gordon Lorenz. During the late 1970s and the 1980s, the choir were trained and conducted by Miss Terri Foley. It was the Music for Pleasure record label's only UK No. 1 single.
The choir had been recording since 1972,[2] when Terri Foley played the guitar with the choir and the conductor was a Miss Olive Moore.
Previously they had also been recorded as the backing vocalists in another eventual number one song entitled "Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs" by Brian and Michael, which concerned the paintings of L. S. Lowry. In 1982, the choir released a Christmas album, called Christmas for Everyone, while the album Children's Party Time featured 32 arrangements, including ABBA's "Dancing Queen" and "Waterloo".
One of the children, Sally Lindsay, who appeared on television in the 1980 recording, has gone on to become a star in her own right.[3] She is an actress and has appeared in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street.
Jennifer Hennessy, who also featured in the "There's No One Quite Like Grandma" recording, is now a television actress[4] and has appeared in the BBC drama Doctor Who and the BBC comedy The Office. Christine Cheetham and Diana Dyer - two other former pupils who sang with the choir - featured in the Identity Parade line-up on an autumn 1998 edition of BBC panel game, Never Mind the Buzzcocks.
In November 2009, fourteen of the original choir members reunited to record a new version of "There's No-one Quite Like Grandma" in association with Innocent Drinks to raise money for the Age Concern charity.[5]