"A Winter's Tale" | |
---|---|
Single by David Essex | |
from the album The Whisper | |
Language | English |
Released | November 1982 |
Recorded | 1982 |
Genre | Soft rock, Christmas |
Length | 4:10 |
Composer(s) | Mike Batt |
Lyricist(s) | Mike Batt, Tim Rice |
Producer(s) | Mike Batt |
"A Winter's Tale"originally Shunters tale is a song performed by David Essex on the 1983 album The Whisper. First released as a single in 1982, it reached #2 in the UK singles chart in January 1983, kept off #1 by Phil Collins's cover version of "You Can't Hurry Love".[ citation needed ]
"A Winter's Tale" was written by Mike Batt and Tim Rice about a day in the life of a favoured locomotive in late 1982 in response to a request from Essex. Mike Batt said in a recent radio programme on Three Counties Radio that the song was written about a relationship of his that wouldn't work for geographical reasons. However, he has now been married to that lady for 40 years. [1] It was released as a single in November 1982. It spent ten weeks in the UK chart, peaking at #2 [2] on 15 January 1983.[ citation needed ] Later in 1983, the song was included on Essex's album The Whisper. [3]
Some time after the song's release, Tim Rice wrote an additional, third verse. [4]
The Moody Blues included the song on their last album December (2003)
"A Winter's Tale" was used to open the musical All the Fun of the Fair, launched in 2008, in which it was performed by Louise English. [5]
A 2008 article by Asian News International saw "A Winter's Tale" placed as the fourth worst Christmas song. [6] However, in 2014 The Independent reported a list of 50 Best Christmas songs by PRS for Music, ranking "A Winter's Tale" as the 34th best Christmas song. [7]
Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice is an English songwriter. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Evita; Chess ; Aida ; and, for Disney, Aladdin, The Lion King, both the stage adaptation of Beauty and the Beast and the live-action film adaption. He also wrote lyrics for the Alan Menken musical King David, and for DreamWorks Animation's The Road to El Dorado.
David Essex is an English singer-songwriter and actor. From 1973 to 1994, he attained 19 Top 40 singles in the UK and 16 Top 40 albums. Internationally, Essex had the most success with his 1973 single "Rock On". He has also had an extensive career as an actor.
Rick Derringer is an American musician, producer, and songwriter. He gained success in the 1960s with his band, the McCoys. Their debut single, "Hang on Sloopy", became a number-one hit in 1965 and is now regarded as a classic track from the garage rock era. The McCoys had seven songs chart in the top 100, including covers of "Fever" and "Come on Let's Go".
Ketevan "Katie" Melua is a British singer and songwriter. She was born in Kutaisi, Georgia and raised in Belfast and London. Under the management of composer Mike Batt, she was signed to the small Dramatico record label. She made her musical debut in 2003 and within three years, she was the United Kingdom's best-selling female artist as well as Europe's highest selling European female artist.
Michael Philip Batt is an English singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, record producer, director, and conductor. He was formerly the Deputy Chairman of the British Phonographic Industry.
"Another Suitcase in Another Hall" is a song recorded by Scottish singer Barbara Dickson, for the 1976 concept album Evita, the basis of the musical of the same name. The musical was based on the life of Argentinian leader Eva Perón. Written by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, the song is presented during a sequence where Eva throws her husband's mistress out on the streets. The latter sings the track, wondering about her future and concluding that she would be fine. The songwriters enlisted Dickson to record the track after hearing her previous work.
"Radio Free Europe" is the debut single by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released in 1981 on the short-lived independent record label Hib-Tone. The song features "what were to become the trademark unintelligible lyrics which [sic] have distinguished R.E.M.'s work ever since." The single received critical acclaim, and its success earned the band a record deal with I.R.S. Records. R.E.M. re-recorded the song for their 1983 debut album Murmur. The re-recording for I.R.S. became the group's first charting single, peaking at number 78 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song is ranked number 389 in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In 2009, it was added to the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry for setting "the pattern for later indie rock releases by breaking through on college radio in the face of mainstream radio's general indifference."
"Somewhere Only We Know" is a song composed and performed by English alternative rock band Keane, officially released as the first single from their debut album, Hopes and Fears (2004). The single peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart during its first week of sales, becoming the band's signature song and biggest hit single to date.
December is the sixteenth and final studio album by the Moody Blues and their only Christmas album.
"House of Fun" is a song by English ska/pop group Madness, credited to Mike Barson and Lee Thompson. It was released as a one-off single on 14 May 1982 and reached number one in the UK Singles Chart, spending nine weeks in the charts. The song was re-released in 1992, reaching number 40. It is the band's only number one single in the UK and in 2015 the British public voted it as the nation's 8th favourite 1980s number one in a poll for ITV.
"Merry Xmas Everybody" is a song by the British rock band Slade, released as a non-album single in 1973. The song was written by lead vocalist Noddy Holder and bassist Jim Lea, and it was produced by Chas Chandler. It was the band's sixth and final number-one single in the UK. Earning the UK Christmas number one slot in December 1973, the song beat another Christmas-themed song, Wizzard's "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday", which reached fourth place. It remained in the charts for nine weeks until February 1974.
Greatest Hits is a greatest hits album released by David Essex on 6 March 2006. The album contains 20 of his biggest hits to date.
The Wombles were a British novelty pop group, featuring musicians dressed as the characters from the children's TV show The Wombles, which in turn was based on the children's book series by Elisabeth Beresford. Songwriter and record producer Mike Batt wrote and also performed many commercially successful singles and albums as 'The Wombles', including the TV series' theme tune. British Hit Singles & Albums jokingly referred to them as the "furriest act... are natives of Wimbledon Common, London". In 2011, the band played at The Glastonbury Festival.
"Oh What a Circus" is a song from the 1976 musical Evita, which had lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It was recorded by English singer David Essex and released as a single on August 19, 1978, by Mercury Records. Essex played the character of Che in the original London production of the musical, and the song is sung from his point-of-view. Produced and arranged by Mike Batt, "Oh What a Circus" is a mid-tempo song, comparing the musical's title character Eva Perón's funeral with a circus, and calling her actions fraudulent. The song is a contrafactum, and shares its tune with the better known "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" from the same show.
"Family Man" is a pop rock song written by Mike Oldfield, Tim Cross, Rick Fenn, Mike Frye, Morris Pert, and Maggie Reilly. It became a hit song in 1982 for Mike Oldfield with Maggie Reilly as the vocalist. Daryl Hall and John Oates achieved success a year later with their cover version. In 2009, Maggie Reilly recorded another version of the song for her solo studio album Looking Back Moving Forward.
Christmas is an album by Elaine Paige, released in 1986, the fifth and final album to be released on the label until the release of Piaf in 1994. The album reached number 27 in the UK album charts. The album was re-issued on CD in 2006.
All for a Song is a 1982 album by Barbara Dickson. The album was made up of mostly new recordings, but included four of her past hits.
All the Fun of the Fair is a 2008 jukebox musical with a book by Jon Conway, based on the songs of David Essex. The title of the musical is taken from David Essex's 1975 album All the Fun of the Fair.
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David Essex rang me late in 1982 - just after my return from Australia, and asked if I could write him a Christmas hit. It was already late October so we didn't have much time. I was due to be writing with Tim Rice the following day - and was hoping to develop my idea for a musical about the Aztecs ... anyway so I told Tim about the David Essex request, and we started thinking of ideas ... we wrote a bit of the chorus and two lines of the verse, and then when Tim had gone home I sat and worked on it, coming up with the finished chorus and the second verse lyrics.