November is almost here and we will soon start hearing about contenders for the race for Christmas number 1. What I like about the tradition is that it creates such an absurd canon from Benny Hill (1971) and Bob the Builder (2000), to Pink Floyd (1979) and Rage Against the Machine (2009). The annual result of the competition utterly disregards taste in favour of pure commerce and over the years has literally contained something for everyone. It is a kind of canonical lottery.
A couple of years ago I wrote an article
comparing Susan Boyle and Elvis Presley. It seemed an unlikely comparison to
many at the time. What is interesting, however, is that this year the Boyle
camp have just announced that Susan will sing a posthumous charity duet with
Elvis in hope of climbing the Christmas download chart.
Proceeds from ‘O Come, All Ye Faithful’ will go to Save The Children.
Proceeds from ‘O Come, All Ye Faithful’ will go to Save The Children.
If the Boyle duet succeeds, it could mean that Elvis will have his first UK Christmas number 1 since ‘Return to Sender’ in 1962.
