Merry Christmas Everyone

"Merry Christmas Everyone"
Single by Shakin' Stevens
B-side "With My Heart", "Blue Christmas"
Released 1985
Format 7" vinyl, 12" vinyl
Recorded 1984
Length 3:39
Label Epic
Writer(s) Bob Heatlie
Producer(s) Dave Edmunds
Shakin' Stevens singles chronology
"Lipstick, Powder and Paint"
(1985)
"Merry Christmas Everyone"
(1985)
"Turning Away"
(1986)

"Merry Christmas Everyone" is a popular festive song by the Welsh singer-songwriter Shakin' Stevens.

Written by Bob Heatlie and produced by Dave Edmunds, this was Shakin' Stevens fourth, and most recent, number one on the UK Singles Chart.[1] Originally it was to be released in 1984, but was postponed a year so it would not clash with Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas".[2]

It was finally released in early December 1985[3] and was the Christmas number one for that year.[4] Ever since it has been included on many top-selling Christmas collections and received airplay every Christmas. In 2007, the song re-entered the UK top 30 and reached number 22 on the Christmas chart.[1] This was because downloads now make up the UK Singles Chart; in past years this would have been impossible unless there was a physical re-release of the song. From 2007 to 2011, the song charted in the UK at peak positions 22, 36, 49, 47, and 42 respectively.[1]

Music video

The video shows a young girl named Samantha traveling by plane to a place called Santaworld where she meets up with Stevens who met her on a bus going to the place. Stevens is then seen riding with a woman dressed as an elf in a sleigh pulled by a horse and is taken to meet Santa Claus before going to a replica of Santa's workshop where children as seen playing with toys before going out with Santa on the sleigh and joins in a snowball fight with some other children and ends up hitting a snowman who starts to chase him. At the end of the video Stevens is seen bidding farewell to Santa, the snowman and the children before going back into the sleigh with the woman.

Chart performance

Year UK[1][5] IRE[6] AUT SWI
1985 1 3
2007 22
2008 36
2009 49 50 87
2010 73
2011 42
Preceded by
"Saving All My Love for You" by Whitney Houston
UK Singles Chart number one single
22 December 1985–4 January 1986 (2 weeks)
Succeeded by
"West End Girls" by Pet Shop Boys

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Chart Stats - Shakin' Stevens - Merry Christmas Everyone". Retrieved 19 December 2009.
  2. "BBC Wales - Music - Shakin' Stevens - Biography". Bbc.co.uk. 2008-11-17. Retrieved 2014-03-30.
  3. "shakin1". Net-serve.co.uk. 1986-12-07. Retrieved 2014-03-30.
  4. "Christmas Number Ones : Singles - everyHit.com". Retrieved 19 December 2009. A technical note; the Christmas Number One does not always synchronise with the dates elsewhere as they refer to 'week ending' chart dates. These are the real Christmas Number Ones.
  5. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 457. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  6. "irishcharts.ie search results". Retrieved 18 December 2009.

External links