"I Believe in Father Christmas" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Greg Lake | ||||
B-side | "Humbug" | |||
Released | November 1975 (with orchestra) | |||
Recorded | 1974 | |||
Studio | Abbey Road Studios, London | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:31 | |||
Label | Manticore | |||
Composer(s) | ||||
Lyricist(s) | Peter Sinfield | |||
Producer(s) |
| |||
Greg Lake singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Official video | ||||
"I Believe in Father Christmas" on YouTube |
"I Believe in Father Christmas" | |
---|---|
Song by Emerson, Lake & Palmer | |
from the album Works Volume 2 | |
Released | November 1977 (without orchestra) |
Genre | |
Length | 3:17 |
Label | Atlantic |
Composer(s) | |
Lyricist(s) | Peter Sinfield |
Producer(s) |
|
Works Volume 2 track listing | |
12 tracks
|
"I Believe in Father Christmas" is a song by English musician Greg Lake with lyrics by Peter Sinfield. Although it is often categorised as a Christmas song, this was not Lake's intention. He said that he wrote the song in protest at the commercialisation of Christmas. [1] Sinfield, however, said that the words are about a loss of innocence and childhood belief. [2] Released as Lake's debut solo single in 1975, the song reached number 2 on the UK Singles Chart, number 17 on the Irish Singles Chart [3] and number 98 in Australia. [4]
Lake wrote the song at his west London home, after tuning the bottom string of his guitar from E down to D. [5]
The instrumental riff between verses comes from the "Troika" portion of Sergei Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kijé Suite, written for the 1934 Soviet film Lieutenant Kijé ; [6] this was added at the suggestion of Keith Emerson (an adaptation of the same song was used on Emerson's later The Christmas Album (1988)). Peter Sinfield described the song as "a picture-postcard Christmas, with morbid edges." [7]
The song was recorded by Lake in 1974 and released separately from ELP in 1975, reaching number two on the UK Singles Chart. [8] It was kept from number one by Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody". Lake commented: "I got beaten by one of the greatest records ever made. I would've been pissed off if I'd been beaten by Cliff (Richard)." However, orchestrator Godfrey Salmon said: "I was surprised the single wasn't more successful. I thought 'Bohemian Rhapsody' was rubbish, and still do. When it got to No 1 before we'd even brought ours out, I thought it would be long gone by Christmas. How wrong can you get?" [9] The record continued to sell and in 1984 and 1986 reached 84 and 98, respectively, on the UK Singles Chart. [10] The song also reached #98 in Australia in late 1975.
The video for the record was shot on the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt, and in the Dead Sea Scrolls caves in the West Bank, and includes footage from the Vietnam War and Six-Day War. [5]
A second recording by the full ELP trio, but with a sparser arrangement, was included on the 1977 album Works Volume 2 . It was recorded a third time in 1993, for the ELP box set The Return of the Manticore , and Lake revisited it yet again for the 2002 Sanctuary Records compilation A Classic Rock Christmas. The song has also appeared on several other ELP and Christmas compilation albums including a 1995 EP titled I Believe in Father Christmas, which includes Lake's original single as well as the Works Volume II version.
In 2005 Lake wrote a letter to The Guardian about the song, in answer to a reader question regarding whether it was possible to survive on Christmas royalties alone:
In 1975, I wrote and recorded a song called "I Believe in Father Christmas", which some Guardian readers may remember and may even own. It was a big hit and it still gets played on the radio every year around December, and it appears on more or less every Christmas compilation going. So I can tell you from experience that it's lovely to get the old royalty cheque around September every year, but on its own, the Christmas song money isn’t quite enough to buy my own island in the Caribbean. I'm on tour at the moment and the Christmas song is as well received now as it was 30 years ago – maybe even more so. If Guardian readers could all please request it be played by their local radio stations, maybe that Caribbean island wouldn’t be so far away – and if I get there, you’re all invited. [11]
Chart (1975) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Singles (Kent Music Report) [12] | 98 |
Ireland (IRMA) [13] | 17 |
UK Singles (OCC) [14] | 2 |
US Billboard Hot 100 [15] | 95 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom (BPI) [16] 2008 release | Gold | 400,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released as the lead single from their fourth studio album, A Night at the Opera (1975). Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, the song is a six-minute suite, notable for its lack of a refraining chorus and consisting of several sections: an intro, a ballad segment, an operatic passage, a hard rock part and a reflective coda. It is one of the few progressive rock songs of the 1970s to have proved accessible to a mainstream audience.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer were an English progressive rock supergroup formed in London in 1970. The band consisted of Keith Emerson (keyboards) of The Nice, Greg Lake of King Crimson, and Carl Palmer of Atomic Rooster. With nine RIAA-certified gold record albums in the US, and an estimated 48 million records sold worldwide, they are one of the most popular and commercially successful progressive rock groups of the 1970s, with a musical sound including adaptations of classical music with jazz and symphonic rock elements, dominated by Emerson's flamboyant use of the Hammond organ, Moog synthesizer, and piano.
Keith Noel Emerson was an English keyboardist, songwriter, composer and record producer. He played keyboards in a number of bands before finding his first commercial success with the Nice in the late 1960s. He became internationally famous for his work with the Nice, which included writing rock arrangements of classical music. After leaving the Nice in 1970, he was a founding member of Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP), one of the early progressive rock supergroups.
Tarkus is the second studio album by English progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released on 14 June 1971 on Island Records. Following their debut tour across Europe during the second half of 1970, the group paused touring commitments in January 1971 to record a new album at Advision Studios in London. Greg Lake produced the album with Eddy Offord as engineer.
Peter John Sinfield was an English poet and songwriter. He was best known as a co-founder and lyricist of King Crimson. Their debut album In the Court of the Crimson King was considered one of the first and most influential progressive rock albums ever released.
Brain Salad Surgery is the fourth studio album by English progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released on 7 December 1973 by their new record label, Manticore Records, and distributed by Atlantic Records.
Works Volume 1 is the fifth studio album by English progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released as a double album on 25 March 1977 on Atlantic Records. Following their world tour supporting Brain Salad Surgery (1973), the group took an extended break before they reconvened in 1976 to record a new album. They were now tax exiles and recorded new material in London and overseas in Montreux, Switzerland and Paris, France. Works Volume 1 features a side dedicated for each member to write and arrange their own tracks, while the fourth side features songs performed collectively. Keith Emerson recorded his Piano Concerto No. 1, Greg Lake wrote several songs with lyricist Peter Sinfield, and Carl Palmer recorded tracks of varied musical styles.
Works Volume 2 is the sixth studio album by Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released on 25 November 1977. Unlike Works Volume 1, Works Volume 2 was a single album compilation of leftover tracks from other album sessions, similar to the Who's Odds & Sods or Led Zeppelin's Coda. While many derided the album for its apparent lack of focus, others praised it for showing a different side of the band than usual, with blues, bluegrass and jazz being very prominent as musical genres in this recording.
Gregory Stuart Lake was an English musician, singer, and songwriter. He gained prominence as a founding member of the progressive rock bands King Crimson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP).
"Shellshock" is the eleventh single released by British group New Order on 17 March 1986. The song originally appeared on the soundtrack to the movie Pretty in Pink one month prior to its single release. Production is credited to New Order and John Robie, and is loosely inspired by the 1983 Robie-produced R&B club hit, "One More Shot"—a studio project where Robie performed under the band name, C-Bank, and featuring vocals by Jenny Burton.
"Bizarre Love Triangle" is the thirteenth single by English rock band New Order, released as a single in November 1986 from their fourth studio album, Brotherhood (1986), which reached the top five on the US Hot Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart, and No. 5 on the Australian ARIA Charts in March 1987. It failed to enter the top 40 of both the UK Singles Chart and the US Billboard Hot 100; however, a new mix included on The Best of New Order was released in 1994 and charted at No. 98 on the Hot 100. In 2004, the song was ranked No. 204 on Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time."
Love Beach is the seventh studio album by English progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer. It was released on 17 November 1978 by Atlantic Records as their final studio album released prior to their split in the following year. By the end of their 1977–1978 North American tour internal relations had started to deteriorate, but the group were contractually required to produce one more album. They retreated to Nassau, Bahamas as tax exiles to record Love Beach with lyricist Peter Sinfield who is credited as a co-writer of each track. After Greg Lake and Carl Palmer had finished recording their parts they left the island, leaving Keith Emerson to finish the album himself.
"He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" is a ballad written by Bobby Scott and Bob Russell. Originally recorded by Kelly Gordon in 1969, the song became a worldwide hit for the Hollies later that year and also a hit for Neil Diamond in 1970. It has been recorded by many artists in subsequent years. The Hollies' version was re-released in 1988 and again was a major hit in the UK.
"Mull of Kintyre" is a song by the British-American rock band Wings. It was written by Paul McCartney and Denny Laine in tribute to the Kintyre peninsula in Argyll and Bute in the south-west of Scotland and its headland, the Mull of Kintyre, where McCartney has owned High Park Farm since 1966.
British rock band Queen have released 15 studio albums, 10 live albums, 16 compilation albums, 2 soundtrack albums, 2 extended plays, 73 singles, and 7 promotional singles. Queen was formed in London by Freddie Mercury, Brian May (guitar), and Roger Taylor (drums), and in 1971, John Deacon (bassist) became a member.
"The Land of Make Believe" is a 1981 single by British band Bucks Fizz. It reached No.1 in the UK in early 1982 - the second single by the band to do so. The song was produced by Andy Hill with music by Hill and lyrics by ex-King Crimson member Peter Sinfield. Despite the apparent sugar-coated style of the song, Sinfield later claimed it was a subtle attack on Margaret Thatcher and her government's policy at the time. "The Land of Make Believe" became a big hit across Europe in early 1982, topping the charts in Netherlands, Belgium and Ireland as well as the UK. The song was later covered by pop band allSTARS* for a 2002 single release.
"What a Fool Believes" is a song written by Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins. The best-known version was recorded by The Doobie Brothers for their 1978 album Minute by Minute. Debuting at number 73 on January 20, 1979, the single reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on April 14, 1979, for one week. The song received Grammy Awards in 1980 for both Song of the Year and Record of the Year. In 2024, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Photos of Ghosts is the third studio album and the first English language record by the Italian progressive rock band Premiata Forneria Marconi, also known as PFM. Released in the U.S. in October 1973, it was the first album by an Italian rock group to appear on the American charts. The album peaked at No. 180 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in November 1973.
If We Make It Through December is the sixteenth studio album by American country music singer Merle Haggard and The Strangers, released in 1974. It reached number 4 on the Billboard country album charts. The title track was previously released on Haggard's Christmas release of 1973, A Christmas Present. The single spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles chart in December 1973 and January 1974, and cracked the Top 30 of the Billboard Hot 100. "If We Make It Through December" was the No. 2 song of the year on Billboard's Hot Country Singles 1974 year-end chart.
Mark Ian Hoyle, known professionally as LadBaby, is an English YouTuber, musician, and blogger. His content focuses on his experiences as a father and is usually filmed in collaboration with his wife, Roxanne. The couple garnered the Christmas Number One on the UK Singles Chart for five consecutive years from 2018 to 2022, the most consecutive and overall for any artist, with the sausage roll-themed novelty songs "We Built This City", "I Love Sausage Rolls", "Don't Stop Me Eatin'", "Sausage Rolls for Everyone" and "Food Aid". This made them the first musical act in British history to secure five Christmas No. 1 hits, surpassing the record set by the Beatles, who had four Christmas No. 1 songs in 1963, 1964, 1965 and 1967.