Happy Winter Solstice and Happy Holidays everyone!
As a proud singles chart nerd, I have loved singles chart info from all over the globe ever since I can remember. One chart phenomenon I wasn’t really aware of until well into my adulthood was this phenomenon over in the U.K. and Ireland, a tradition that started back in 1952 and is known as the Christmas No. 1.
The Christmas No. 1 is prolly the most-coveted piece of chart nerdiness for everyone (artists and fans alike) during the entire year over in the U.K. and Ireland. Artists rush out to release singles, many of them Christmas singles, in hopes to reach the top of the charts the week in which Christmas falls. It’s a big deal. 
Since 1952, The Beatles hold the record as the act with the most Christmas No. 1’s. Band Aid’s original 1984 version of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” (the Christmas No. 1 for that year) is not only the biggest-selling Christmas song of all-time in the U.K., it’s also the second biggest-selling U.K. single of all-time (behind Elton John’s “Candle In The Wind 1997”). Two other incarnations of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” were Christmas No. 1’s in 1989 and 2004. The third-biggest selling U.K. single of all-time is Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which is the only song to hold the title of Christmas No. 1 twice – during its original 1975 release, and in 1991, following the passing of singer Freddie Mercury a month before.
There are also many popular Christmas singles that didn’t become the coveted Christmas No. 1, including “Last Christmas / Everything She Wants” by Wham! (released the same week as “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” and itself is one of the biggest-selling U.K. singles ever), and in 1987, the beloved “Fairytale Of New York” by The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl, the most-played Christmas song of the 21st century and oft-regarded as the best Christmas song of all-time. It was denied the Christmas No. 1 spot by the Pet Shop Boys’ cover of “Always On My Mind.”
In 1986, the race for the U.K. Christmas No. 1 was between a couple of non-holiday songs: a posthumous re-release of “Reet Petite,” a 1957 single by Jackie Wilson, who died in early 1984, and an a cappella cover of “Caravan Of Love,” the third U.K. Top 40 single by Hull, England’s The Housemartins.
“Caravan Of Love” was a song originally by Isley-Jasper-Isley, one-half of the famous Isley Brothers lineup dating back to the 1970s. The song was a huge R&B hit, spending three weeks at No. 1 on BILLBOARD’s R&B chart in late 1985, and reaching No. 51 on the BILLBOARD Hot 100 (it was climbing the Hot 100 this week in 1985).
A year after the popularity of the Isley-Jasper-Isley original version of “Caravan Of Love,” The Housemartins released their version, a non-album single and a cappella cover. With this cover, The Housemartins scored their second Top 10 U.K. single in a year (1986’s “Happy Hour” went to No. 3), and a month after its release, “Caravan Of Love” went to No. 1 on December 20, 1986. It was only the second a cappella single in U.K. singles chart history to reach No. 1 (the first was the Christmas No. 1 from 1983, “Only You” by The Flying Pickets, a cover of the 1982 Yaz gem).
Jackie Wilson’s re-release of “Reet Petite” reached No. 1 in the U.K. on December 27, 1986 (thanks to a popular claymation video created for the song, which aired on a BBC Two documentary series called ARENA), and stayed there for four weeks.
The 1986 re-release of “Reet Petite.”
Now, even though “Reet Petite” reached No. 1 two days after Christmas 1986, it was No. 1 the week Christmas fell that year (Christmas was on a Thursday that year; the charts were dated for that Saturday, 12/27/86), and therefore won the race for the U.K. Christmas No. 1 for 1986.
“Caravan Of Love,” meanwhile, was a huge hit throughout the globe, reaching No. 2 in Germany, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland, No. 3 in The Netherlands, No. 4 in Spain, No. 5 in Belgium, No. 7 in Austria, No. 24 in Australia, and spent eight weeks at No. 1 during 1987 in Sweden.
From the “Caravan Of Love” video.
Though the quartet lost out on the U.K. Christmas No. 1, The Housemartins could take solace in the fact that they claimed the Christmas No. 1 in Ireland, as “Caravan Of Love” spent four weeks on top over the holiday season.
The Housemartins would go on to chart four more times in the U.K. Top 40, before splitting up in 1988. Singer Paul Heaton, drummer / vocalist Dave Hemingway and roadie Sean Welch would go on to form The Beautiful South, which enjoyed success for the nearly 20 years they were together. Bassist Norman Cook found some success with Beats International, but is prolly best known for his work under the pseudonym Fatboy Slim, which has given him massive success since 1996. In January 2018, he released a remix album called FATBOY SLIM VS. AUSTRALIA.
Former Housemartin Norman Cook, AKA Fatboy Slim.
I know not everyone is a singles chart nerd like myself, but I think it’s cool that, at least once a year in at least a couple of countries across the globe, many people become singles chart nerds and then some. I mean, c’mon, who wouldn’t want a No. 1 song for Christmas?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehfiQd7lcPY
Vince and his Erasure partner-in-crime, Andy Bell, have been making music for 30 years, and had a Top 5 BILLBOARD Dance hit just last year, titled “Sacred.”
“A Little Respect” got some radio and sales respect here in the U.S., reaching No. 14 on the Hot 100 and No. 2 on the BILLBOARD Dance chart.
FOREVER YOUNG 