Prompt Cast
The History of Christmas Number One Songs in the UK and US
TLDR The Christmas number one song in the UK and US has been a cultural phenomenon, with past winners including Slade, Wizard, Cliff Richard, Wham, and The Pogues. However, in recent years, the UK Christmas number one has gone out of fashion, with only seven songs ever having the word "Christmas" in the title and the last Christmassy song reaching number one nearly 20 years ago.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
"The Rest Is Entertainment" is a new podcast hosted by Richard Osman and Marina Hyde that covers all things entertainment, including TV, movies, books, and gossip.
01:58
The Christmas number one in the UK is a significant cultural phenomenon, with past winners including Slade, Wizard, Cliff Richard, Wham, and The Pogues, while in the US, Christmas songs like "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" and "Frosty the Snowman" have been huge hits.
03:25
In the UK, the Christmas number one has gone out of fashion, with only seven songs ever having the word "Christmas" in the title and the last Christmassy song reaching number one nearly 20 years ago.
05:08
In 2009, a Facebook campaign successfully got Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name" to be the Christmas number one song, overthrowing Simon Cowell's X Factor winner, Joe McElderry.
06:43
The host discusses various unlikely contenders for the Christmas number one song, including Nala the Stevenage station cat, Sleaford mods, Suede, and EMF with Stephen Fry.
08:11
The host discusses interesting facts about Christmas number one songs, including the connection between Thora Hurd and "Chestnut's Roasting on an Open Fire," and the songwriter of "Mistletoe and Wine" also writing the theme tune to "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire."
09:37
The songwriter of "Christmas Wrapping" made money from the Spice Girls' cover version and used it to buy Jeffrey Dahmer's house.
Categories:
History
