| "December Will Be Magic Again" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Kate Bush | ||||
| B-side | "Warm and Soothing" | |||
| Released | 17 November 1980 | |||
| Recorded | 1979, 1980 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 4:51 | |||
| Label | EMI | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Kate Bush | |||
| Producer(s) | Kate Bush, Jon Kelly | |||
| Kate Bush singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"December Will Be Magic Again" is a festive-themed song by English singer-songwriter Kate Bush. It was released as a single in the UK in November 1980.
"December Will Be Magic Again" was written and originally recorded in 1979 at Abbey Road Studio 2 London with Preston Heyman on drums, sleigh bells and maracas, Alan Murphy on guitar, Kuma Harada on bass and Kate herself on piano, but not released until the Christmas season of the next year on 17 November 1980. The single peaked at number 29 on the UK Singles Chart, but due to its early release date had slipped before the Christmas week. [1] No promotional video was filmed for this single, but an alternative recording of the song was performed on Bush's 1979 Christmas television special. In addition to the version on the single release, another very different cut exists (on CD) with congas played by Tour of Life drummer Preston Heyman and slide whistles on the rhythm track. Neither has ever appeared on a Kate Bush album, except for the This Woman's Work box set, but both have managed to find their way on to various Christmas compilations.
The B-side was "Warm and Soothing", a simple piece of Bush singing with just her piano accompaniment. In this sense it was similar in style to "In the Warm Room" and "Feel It" from her first two albums. This was the first song she recorded at Abbey Road Studios. [2]
Initial pressings of the 7" single have "Cut by Chris Blair", "Songs & arrangements by Kate Bush", and "Cover by Nick Price" centered on the rear sleeve. Reissues have these acknowledgements spread out across the bottom. Originals also have "Happy Christmas" etched into the dead wax on Side A. The song was featured on the 12" single of "Experiment IV" and later on the second of two CD editions of the "Moments of Pleasure" single in 1993 and had a slightly different mix. In 2005 the song was included on Elton John's Christmas album, Elton John's Christmas Party . [3]
The lyrics mention two people by name: Bing Crosby ("While Bing Crosby sings 'White Christmas'. He makes you feel nice.") and Oscar Wilde ("Light the candle-lights, To conjure Mr. Wilde... Oh, it's quiet inside, Here in Oscar's mind.").
Andy Gill of NME wrote: "Looks like we'll have to endure that fairy Kate Bush". [4] In 1990, Stuart Maconie deemed the song "one of the neatest Christmas tunes since Spector" in his This Woman's Work box set review. [5] Ronnie Gurr of Smash Hits described "novel with her optimistic December operetta". [6]
| Chart (1980) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Ireland (IRMA) [7] | 13 |
| UK Singles (OCC) [8] | 29 |
| West Germany (Official German Charts) [9] | 55 |
Catherine Bush is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single "Wuthering Heights", becoming the first female artist to achieve a UK number one with a self-written song. Bush has since released 25 UK Top 40 singles, including the Top 10 hits "The Man with the Child in His Eyes", "Babooshka", "Running Up That Hill", "Don't Give Up", and "King of the Mountain". All nine of her studio albums reached the UK Top 10, with all but one reaching the top five, including the UK number one albums Never for Ever (1980), Hounds of Love (1985) and the greatest hits compilation The Whole Story (1986). She was the first British solo female artist to top the UK album charts and the first female artist to enter the album chart at number one.
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"Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy" is a Christmas song performed by English singer-songwriter David Bowie and American singer Bing Crosby. Recorded on 11 September 1977 at ATV Elstree Studios near London for Crosby's television special Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas, the song features Crosby singing 1941 standard "The Little Drummer Boy" while Bowie sings the counterpoint tune "Peace on Earth", written by the special's musical supervisors Ian Fraser and Larry Grossman, and scriptwriter Buz Kohan, specifically for the collaboration. The duet was one of Crosby's final recordings before his death in October 1977.
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