The Twelve Christmas Songs of Soho
Some of the seasonal classics we will be exploring in our latest walk.
It was December 1973 and things were looking grim. Fresh off defeat in the Cod War with Iceland, Britain was on high security alert following IRA bombings at London railway stations. The looming spectre of a three-day week, due to the oil crisis and industrial action by mineworkers, added to the gloom. Amidst these trying times, the nation looked to Roy Wood and Noddy Holder to cheer everyone up.
Half a century ago two records went head to head for the Christmas Number One slot. Roy Wood’s Wizzard were wishing it could be Christmas everyday, while Noddy Holder’s Slade was simply wishing everybody a Merry Xmas. While Slade won the battle, both songs remain popular and have gone on to represent generous pension plans for their creators.
Roy Wood’s song was a faithful interpretation of the Phil Spector Wall of Sound, with sleigh bells and a children’s choir, kicked off with the ring of an old fashioned cash register. Slade celebrated a working class Christmas with their good-time glam rock, but with a passing reference to those troubled times. As Holder later explained: “I came up with the line ‘Look to the future now, it’s only just begun,’ because the country at the time was in a terrible state.”
The Slade and Wizzard songs represent a turning point in the history of the Christmas Song. Before them there had only been two Christmas number ones that had any reference to the festive season itself, but after 1973 everyone had a go at the seasonal top spot, in particular - and perhaps most surprisingly and successfully - Britain’s prog rockers.
This December we’re telling the story of the Christmas song on a guided walk through the streets of Soho. We’ve put together a playlist that leads us from one location to another, weaving together the story of the seasonal song with the story of Soho’s contribution to our musical culture. The Spotify playlist is below, each song on which we will share the story of in some detail on the walk. In this post we will focus on just a few of the highlights. Songs are listed according to location. So let’s start our walk by St Giles church on Denmark Street - London’s own Tin Pan Alley.
Denmark Street: Lionel Bart - Give Us a Kiss For Christmas
Lionel Bart - “The King of Denmark Street” - was an art school educated Jewish east ender, whose grand parents escaped pogroms in Ukraine to settle in London. He wrote a string of hits like Living Doll and From Russia With Love and single handedly kick-started the British musical in the 1960s with Oliver!
While Bart is responsible for some enduring standards, this song is an example of what Denmark Street was known for. It made most of its money not from standards but from novelty songs such as I’ve Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts and Have You Ever Seen a Straight Banana? The successes of Mr Blobby, Bob the Builder and Ladbaby as Christmas chart toppers are evidence of how novelty records remain dependable stocking fillers.
Soho Square: The Pogues/Kirsty MacColl - Fairytale of New York
There’s a bench on Soho Square with Kirsty MacColl’s name on it. Every year fans gather around it on her birthday to remember this most brilliant singer and songwriter. At the time she guested on this 1987 record by The Pogues she was unable to record in her own name because of the bankruptcy of Stiff Records who she was signed to. But the success of the song gave her the confidence to relaunch her solo career once the legal issues were resolved. This Christmas there is a particular poignancy to the song.
Fairytale of New York is a beautiful and moving song, brought to life by two remarkable artists who separately had referenced Soho in their own songs. It took two years to write the song and perfect the arrangements, and it was only in the latter stages of this period that The Pogues visited New York for the first time. While the song was beaten to the Christmas number one slot, it has charted on nineteen occasions since.
There are six dominant themes in Christmas songs: snow, Santa, home, falling in love, falling out of love, having a party, peace/faith. This duet between Kirsty MacColl and Shane MacGowan captures home through a sense of place and bundles it up with the lost love, lost youth and ruined dreams of the Irish diaspora in New York. It has justifiably become one of Britain’s most popular Christmas songs - a dramatic ballad full of argument and the hint of reconciliation, which probably captures the seasonal spirit for many. It pursues a theme that The Pogues’ frontman explored often through his songs, which writer Sean O’Hagan describes as “damaged souls adrift in a cold-hearted city”.
49 Greek Street: Shirley & Dolly Collins - The Gower Wassail
The legendary folk club located in the basement of 49 Greek Street only lasted for the seven years up to 1972. Described by writer Rob Young in terms of “progressive push and nostalgia pull” Les Cousins was where the experimentation of late sixties rock and jazz met the authenticity of folk, helping to launch the careers of Pentangle, John Martyn, Shirley Collins and Fairport Convention.
Shirley Collins and her sister Dolly recorded this wassail from South Wales accompanied by David Munrow and his Early English Consort, who together represented the more traditionalist wing of the late sixties folk revival. Their interest was in recreating the vocal and musical integrity of traditional folk. Wassailing is a pagan custom that involved groups of poor people decorating an empty wassail bowl with ribbons and taking it door to door in more prosperous neighbourhoods, singing wassail songs and asking for ale, food or money to fill the bowl. It took place in the autumn, and especially during the Christmas and New Year period. Over time it evolved into the practice of carol singing.
Shirley Collins was a regular performer during the early years of the club and has since been described as “one of England's greatest cultural treasures”. A forgotten figure in Britain today, David Munrow played a vital role in rediscovering and popularising early English music. He took his own life in 1976. One year later, NASA’s Voyager spacecraft was launched. In 2013 it left the solar system and entered interstellar space, making it the farthest human-made object from Earth. On board is a twelve inch metal long playing record with sounds of Earth. Alongside Mozart, Beethoven, Azerbaijani folk music and Chuck Berry, is “The Fairy Round” recorded by David Munrow, ensuring that his music will live on across the universe.
49 Greek Street: Bert Jansch - In the Bleak Midwinter
Two other Les Cousins regulars, Bert Jansch and John Renbourne, formed the group Pentangle with jazz session players Terry Cox and Danny Thompson, along with singer Jacqui McShee.
This adaptation of a ‘traditional’ hymn is on one of Jansch’s early solo albums. Hymn singing was imported to Britain from Germany, embraced first by methodists as a means of bonding and expressing congregation and community. Unable to preach, women seized the opportunity that hymn singing represented, channelling their faith into writing hymns and carols. Once in Royal David’s City, We Plough the Fields and Scatter and All Things Bright and Beautiful are among the greatest hits of women hymn writers.
According to Professor Valentine Cunningham: “Into a religious world managed by men, these women subversively interposed words, feelings, experiences manifestly from the female sphere.” The English poet Christina Rossetti wrote the words of In the Bleak Midwinter which were set to music by Gustav Holst, and was recently voted the most popular carol in Britain.
17 Greek Street: Wham! - Last Christmas
Le Beat Route Club was located in a basement on Greek Street immediately over the road from Les Cousins - one decade later - and was the haunt of choice for London’s New Romantics. One of the themes we explore in our walks around Soho is how London’s music is a product of migration to the city, with Soho serving historically as a home for many waves of refugees over centuries. Indeed, it’s called Greek Street because of the Greek Orthodox Church built there in 1677 to serve the neighbourhood’s Greek community who had fled oppression under the Ottoman Empire.
Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou (a London born Cypriot who called himself George Michael) and Andrew Ridgeley (whose father was expelled from Egypt in the 1950s on account of being an Egyptian/Yemeni Jew) were regulars at Le Beat Route and came up with the idea of Wham! one evening at the club.
Since 2011, Billboard magazine in the US has curated its Holiday 100 chart of the most popular Christmas songs using a formula that blends download sales, airplay and streaming data. The top ten has all the predicable standards by Bing Crosby, Mariah Carey and Nat King Cole. There is only one non-US song. It’s by Wham.
Last Christmas has hooks, sleigh bells and a joyful melody that together deliver a desperate ballad about obsession, love, rejection plus a bit of self—loathing thrown in. There’s also more to the song than initially meets the ear, with “a man under cover” perhaps referring to George Michael’s life as a closeted gay man. It stands as one of the great pop songs of all time, and would have easily been 1984’s Christmas number one, had it not been for Band Aid.
Last Christmas was a singular achievement. George Michael wrote the song, produced it, sang the words and played every instrument on the record. Including the sleigh bells. He was a man with something to prove.
Prince Edward Theatre, Old Compton Street: Winifred Atwell - Let’s Have Another Party
A qualified pharmacist from Trinidad, Winifred Atwell was Britain’s top musical star of the 1950s. She hosted her own TV shows on both BBC and ITV, and had fourteen top 20 hit records. Her tally of three number ones in the 1950s places her just behind Elvis Presley with his four. A further five top five singles with total sales of over 20 millions discs, makes Winifred Atwell one of the most successful music stars of the decade.
Her remarkable run of success began at what is now the Prince Edward Theatre on Old Compton Street where she stepped in to replace the star of a charity performance who went down with a sudden illness. She was a natural TV performer and accomplished classical pianist, making the first stereo recordings of Grieg’s piano concerto. Her stage show combined the classics with boogie woogie.
Her single Let’s Have Another Party was the first record by a black musician to get to number one - and was the second ever Christmas number one - and she remains the only woman to top the charts with an instrumental single. Both Elton John and Keith Emerson cite her as an important influence. Her blending of popular and classical music influenced the latter’s contribution to prog rock.
Marquee Club, Wardour Street: Pink Floyd - Another Brick in the Wall
Pink Floyd were regulars at Wardour Street’s Marquee Club during their early years when they were known for English whimsy and intergalactic space rock. By the mid 1970s they had moved on to oppression, alienation and mental illness, so it was really only a matter of time before they had a Christmas hit. Another Brick in the Wall pt 2 from The Wall became the 1979 Christmas number one in the UK, US and several other countries. This is because it scores highly on the attributes of a successful Christmas song - apart, of course, from any reference to Christmas itself.
While there are no sleigh bells or tubular bells in evidence (which are found on nearly half of the most popular Christmas songs), there is a children’s choir. Singability marks out many seasonal hits. Also, very unusually for Pink Floyd, the song has a slow disco rhythm, which makes it ideal for the dance floor. The Phil Spector Christmas template, which is followed religiously by Roy Wood, Mariah Carey and many others, emphasises danceability.
69 Dean Street: Siouxsie and the Banshees - Israel
In 1978, Tuesday nights at Billy’s basement nightclub was Bowie Night. Hosted by Steve Strange and featuring music by Kraftwerk, Roxy Music and of course David Bowie, it attracted people such as Simon Le Bon, Boy George and others who would be part of the New Romantics. They also included ‘the Bromley Contingent’ - Steven Severin, Siouxsie Sioux Billy Idol and others from the South London suburb. Later in 1982, two floors up in the same building, The Batcave was a Wednesday club night where Goth subculture took root. Regulars included Siouxsie Sioux, Robert Smith, Nick Cave and Marc Almond.
While touring in Europe in autumn 1980, Siouxsie and the Banshees wanted to write a Christmas song to be released on time for December of that year. Composed on the road, Israel was the first song written jointly by by all four band members: Siouxsie Sioux, Steven Severin, John McGeoch and Budgie. Featuring a 30 strong Welsh choir, the single peaked at 43.
Some interpret the song, and its references to red and green, as being pro-Palestinian. Others say there’s allusions to the holocaust and that it’s about Jewish people building a new future. Others say it’s about uninformed tourism in the holy land. Another interpretation is that it’s a song about being a refugee. Songs can be whatever we want them to be - that is the very essence of popular music - songs become popular because we can overlay them with our own meanings, contexts and passions.
17 St Anne’s Court: George Harrison - My Sweet Lord
When it comes to Christmas Number Ones, timing is everything. Release too early in November and it can peak before Christmas. A late November or even December release date may not provide enough momentum to secure the seasonal top spot. My Sweet Lord, a sublime song of faith and devotion, was released in January.
It was the first single from George Harrison’s 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass, and his first solo release after The Beatles had disbanded. The main part of the song had been recorded at Abbey Road with a stellar cast of musicians that included Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton and Gary Brooker. George Harrison had a very clear idea of how the backing vocals should sound, which on the album are credited to the George O'Hara-Smith Singers.
This singing ensemble was George himself, overdubbed many times. To create this choir, the recording shifted to the UK’s only 16 track studio - Trident Studios. Now long departed from 17 St Anne's Court, Trident played a significant role in the music of the late sixties and throughout the 1970s. Hey Jude and a number of songs from The Beatles’ ‘White Album’ were recorded here, many of the early 70s albums by David Bowie, Queen, Elton John and Marc Bolan made use of its state-of-the-art equipment and innovative recording techniques. And of course Lou Reed’s Walk on the Wild Side was recorded here.
Harrison had to be persuaded to release the song as a single. As a late November release in the United States, it reached number one - on Boxing Day - where it stayed for four weeks. It hit number one in the UK from the end of January through to March 1971. The song may have narrowly missed being a Christmas chart topper, but with sales of around ten million it remains one of best selling singles of all time.
Sounds of the Universe, Broadwick Street: The Fall - Hark the Herald Angels
This part of Soho was famed for its record stores. Sounds of the Universe is located in what was once the Bricklayers’ Arms pub - where the classic line up of The Rolling Stones first rehearsed together in an upstairs function room. Sounds of the Universe began its life as a record stall above Dingwalls in Camden Town, moving to its current location in the 1990s where it specialises in a wide range of non-mainstream music.
The store became John Peel’s favourite record store - just a ten minute walk from the BBC radio studios from where he broadcast his show and, every year from 1976, compiled his Festive Fifty. This alternative take on seasonal songs was an annual list of the year's fifty best songs compiled at the end of the year and voted on by listeners to his radio show.
The Fall were firm favourites in the Festive Fifty - although this song, first performed live on Peel’s show, never made it. Hark the Herald Angels was written by Charles Wesley - John Wesley’s brother - who penned over 6,000 hymns. Assuming he was banging them out from the age of 10, that’s one every four days of his life. The hymn was given the tune we’re all familiar with by Mendelssohn, and in this version given a very singular attitude by Mark E Smith who provided one of the best quotes about music: “The great thing about rock and roll is, any idiot can play it. The bad thing about rock and roll is, any idiot can play it.”
Heddon Street, Bing Crosby & David Bowie - Peace on Earth / Little Drummer Boy
The future fell to earth on Heddon Street. This narrow central London backwater is where the cover of David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust was photographed, celebrated by an unofficial blue plaque and a themed pub - The Starman. The album itself was recorded a few streets away at Trident Studios where, just two years earlier, George Harrison had created his heavenly choir.
Five years and several creative reinventions later, Bowie was enjoying his hugely inventive period living and working in Berlin. In 1977 he released Low and Heroes, together with producing and co-writing two Iggy Pop albums. Certainly one of his most productive years - but not a commercial success. A reluctance of promote Low led to low sales, so when it got to the release of Heroes, RCA insisted he did some TV work.
The song was performed and recorded at the Elstree TV studio just north of London for a Bing Crosby Christmas special. On arrival at the studio Bowie told the producers that he was unhappy about singing Little Drummer Boy, so the show’s musical arrangers spent an hour writing the words and music of Peace on Earth, which Bowie could sing as a counterpoint to Crosby’s Little Drummer Boy. A further hour of rehearsal later, and their performance was recorded and filmed in one take. This began a fashion for Christmas duets that have proven popular over the years. It was Bing Crosby’s final popular hit - peaking at #3 - and with sales of 500,000 it is one of Bowie’s most successful singles.
Bowie’s 1977 TV duets didn’t augur well. First he duetted on Marc Bolan’s TV show, just before Bolan was killed in a car crash. Then he sang with Bing Crosby, one month before Crosby died of a heart attack. Bowie gave up duets for a while.
3 Savile Row: Billy Preston - That’s The Way God Planned It
Our final Soho Christmas song has no link to Soho, in strict geographical terms, and was never a hit at Christmas. But bear with us on this one.
Savile Row is not in Soho - but then neither is Denmark Street. We interpret the neighbourhood’s boundaries very liberally. When The Beatles performed on the roof of 3 Savile Row, they could be heard (just about) in Soho itself. And that’s good enough for us. The building was for a time the headquarters of Apple Corps Ltd - the multimedia company set up by The Beatles. Along with a film division and publishing house, the company included Apple Records, and from 1968 to 1973 the label had a good track record for both hits and breaking new talent. James Taylor, Mary Hopkin and Badfinger delivered hits, while John Tavener, the English composer of religious choral music, was a surprise signing.
Another successful signing was the American keyboard player Billy Preston who had accompanied the group on their January 1969 rooftop performance. He also contributed to the Abbey Road sessions and was seriously considered as a permanent member of the group for a time. In April, as work started on the group’s final album, Billy Preston went into the studio to record his own album with George Harrison as producer.
Work started on the album’s standout track That’s The Way God Planned It in the basement studio at Savile Row, later moving to Olympic Studio in west London. Preston had played Hammond Organ on the Let It Be song which was also recorded at Savile Row - and his own song developed using the same chords as the McCartney classic, but went in a very different direction.
George Harrison had promised to bring some friends along to the recording session, but Preston had not expected to see Harrison accompanied by Eric Clapton on guitars, Ginger Baker on drums and Keith Richards on bass. With Doris Troy and Madeline Bell on backing vocals, the session was a pinnacle of late 60s musicianship producing a unique and thrilling gospel/rock crossover. It became a hit in June 1969 - as far from Christmas as you can get. But the song exudes an infectious joy through a tempo and melody that soars, a delivery by the musicians full of passion and exuberance and lyrics that convey a message of hope, resilience and faith. At the end of day, what more do you want from a Christmas classic?
The full playlist with locations
Enjoy the songs on our playlist in the locations where they were made/celebrated/remembered
Denmark Street
St Paul’s Cathedral Choir - Gaudete
Darlene Love - White Christmas
Connie Francis - Among My Souvenirs
Lionel Bart - Give Us a Kiss For Christmas
The Equals - Black Skinned Blue Eyed Boys
Soho Square
Charles Ignatius Sancho - Les Contes des Fees, pt 3
Wings - Mull of Kintyre
Pogues/Kirsty MacColl - Fairytale of New York
Greek Street
Amy Winehouse - I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
49 Greek Street
Shirley & Dolly Collins - The Gower Wassail
Bert Jansch - In the Bleak Midwinter
Cat Stevens - Morning Has Broken
Le Beat Route Club - Greek Street
Wham! - Last Christmas
The Establishment Club - Greek Street
Tom Lehrer - A Christmas Carol
Prince Edward Theatre
Winifred Atwell - Let’s Have Another Party
Corner of Frith Street
Sinead O’Connor - I Believe in You
Original Charisma Offices, Old Compton Street
Monty Python - Look on the Bright Side of Life
Sir John Betjemen - Death in Leamington
Original 2i’s Coffee Bar, Old Compton Street
Joe Brown - I’ll See You in my Dreams
Roundhouse Club, Wardour Street
Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Chris Barber Band and Ottilie Patterson - When the Saints Go Marching In
Marquee Club, Wardour Street
Jethro Tull - Christmas Song
Emerson Lake & Palmer - I Believe in Father Christmas
Pink Floyd - Another Brick in the Wall
69 Dean Street
Siouxsie and the Banshees - Israel
Dean Street
Aztec Camera - The Red Flag
St Anne’s Court
George Harrison - My Sweet Lord
Sounds of the Universe, Broadwick Street
The Fall - Hark the Herald Angels
Broadwick St Gents Toilets
Yoko Ono - Listen, The Snow is Falling
William Blake House
Fat Les - Jerusalem
50 Carnaby Street
Lord Kitchener - Bring De Scotch For Christmas
1 Kingly Street
Oliver Reed and Ann-Margret - Christmas
Heddon Street
Bing Crosby & David Bowie - Peace on Earth / Little Drummer Boy
3 Savile Row
Billy Preston - That’s The Way God Planned It
What a cool well informed piece.
I for one am very glad the world has moved on - as a child I was subjected to Bing Crosby singing at Christmas for far too many years !!!
Happy Humbug.
Ray.