Slade - Merry Xmas Everybody (1973)

Описание: UK Christmas No.1 1973 - Official Chart (5 weeks) Melody Maker Chart (3 weeks) New Musical Express Chart (2 weeks).

Slade were at the peak of their popularity when their manager suggested they record a Christmas song. While the band were initially against the idea, guitarist Jim Lea came up with the line ‘are you hanging up your stocking on the wall’ which he matched with the melody to singer Neville 'Noddy' Holder’s 1967 song Buy Me a Rocking Chair (sadly never recorded). Lea and Holder discussed the song one night while out drinking in Wolverhampton, and Holder went back to his mom’s house in Walsall and completed the lyrics.

Late summer 1973 saw the band in New York, trying to record the song. And not being able to get the echoey sound they wanted; they recorded it in a hallway in the record studio’s building at 321 West 44th Street. The song had advance orders of 350,000 copies and was certified silver before it was even released. And, once it was released, Polydor struggled to produce enough copies to keep up with demand. Unusually for a Christmas song, it remained in the charts until mid-February, with the band wondering who was still buying it.

Video: Top of the Pops 1973

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