"Mistletoe and Wine" | ||||
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Single by Cliff Richard | ||||
from the album Private Collection: 1979–1988 | ||||
B-side | "Marmaduke" | |||
Released | 21 November 1988 | |||
Recorded | 6–10 June & 12–13 July 1988 | |||
Studio | RG Jones, London | |||
Genre | Christmas, pop | |||
Length | 4:11 | |||
Label | EMI 203024 | |||
Songwriter(s) | Jeremy Paul, Leslie Stewart and Keith Strachan | |||
Producer(s) | Cliff Richard | |||
Cliff Richard singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Mistletoe and Wine" on YouTube |
"Mistletoe and Wine" is a Christmas song made famous as a chart-topping single by Cliff Richard in 1988.
The song was written by Jeremy Paul, Leslie Stewart and Keith Strachan for a musical called Scraps, which was an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Match Girl" set in Victorian London.
Scraps was first performed at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, London in 1976. [1] The musical was renamed The Little Match Girl and adapted for television by HTV in 1987, and featured Roger Daltrey, Paul Daneman, Jimmy Jewel and Twiggy. [2] As originally conceived, "Mistletoe and Wine" had a different meaning from that for which it has come to be known. The writers wanted a song that sounded like a Christmas carol, intending it to be sung ironically while the little matchgirl is kicked out into the snow by the unfeeling middle classes. By the time the musical transferred to television, the song had become a lusty pub song sung by the local whore, as played by Twiggy. [1]
Richard liked the song but changed the lyrics to reflect a more religious theme (which the writers accepted). [3]
Richard's ninety-ninth single, it became his twelfth UK number-one single, spending four weeks at the top in December 1988 and selling 750,000 copies in the process. In the short six-week period since its release, it became the highest-selling single of 1988. Simultaneously, it also spent four weeks at the top of the Irish Singles Chart. In December 2007 the single re-entered the UK Singles Chart by virtue of downloads, peaking at number 68. [4] The single went platinum in December 2024, some 36 years after its release. One of the record-breaking statistics often cited about Richard is his achievement of number one hit singles in five consecutive decades.
Richard's version of the song was also used in a British public information film about drink driving. The film was part of the Drinking And Driving Wrecks Lives campaign, in which films were shown during ad breaks over the Christmas period.[ citation needed ] This version also appeared in BBC Two's 2015 comedy-drama A Gert Lush Christmas in the scene where Dan (Russell Howard), his girlfriend Lisa (Hannah Britland) and his family are having Christmas Dinner.[ citation needed ]
It became 1988's Christmas number one single on 18 December 1988, beating the likes of Petula Clark, Kylie Minogue & Jason Donovan (who got 1988's Christmas number two with "Especially for You" and who ended up spending three weeks at number one in January 1989 with that song), Erasure, Phil Collins, U2 and Angry Anderson to the Christmas top spot.
The music video depicts a Christmas setting with Richard singing the song alongside carollers and a marching band.
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Sir Cliff Richard is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart history, behind the Beatles and Elvis Presley.
"Do They Know It's Christmas?" is a charity song written in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. It was first recorded by Band Aid, a supergroup assembled by Geldof and Ure consisting of popular British and Irish musical acts. It was recorded in a single day at Sarm West Studios in Notting Hill, London, in November 1984.
The UK singles chart was first compiled in 1969. However, the records and statistics listed here date back to 1952 because the Official Charts Company counts a selected period of the New Musical Express chart and the Record Retailer chart from 1960 to 1969 as predecessors for the period prior to 11 February 1969, where multiples of competing charts coexisted side by side. For example, the BBC compiled its own chart based on an average of the music papers of the time; many songs announced as having reached number one on BBC Radio and Top of the Pops prior to 1969 may not be listed here as chart-toppers since they do not meet the legacy criteria of the Charts Company.
"Merry Christmas Everyone" is a festive song recorded by Welsh singer-songwriter Shakin' Stevens. Written by Bob Heatlie and produced by Dave Edmunds, it is the fourth and to date last number one single for Shakin' Stevens on the UK Singles Chart.
"Saviour's Day" is a song by Cliff Richard. It was the United Kingdom Christmas number one single in 1990, the second occasion Richard had a solo Christmas number one. The video for the song was filmed in Dorset.
This is a summary of 1988 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
"A Holly Jolly Christmas", also known as "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas", is a Christmas song written by Johnny Marks and most famously performed by Burl Ives. The song has since become one of the top 25 most-performed "holiday" songs written by ASCAP members, for the first five years of the 21st century. Successful covers have notably been recorded by Alan Jackson, Jerrod Niemann, Lady Antebellum and Michael Bublé.
"The Millennium Prayer" is a song recorded by English singer Cliff Richard, in which the words of the Lord's Prayer are set to the tune of "Auld Lang Syne". It was released in November 1999 as a charity single in the lead-up to the new millennium, hence the name. The single became a surprise hit reaching number one in the UK Singles Chart, number two in Australia and New Zealand, number three in Ireland, and the top 20 in a number of European countries.
"Little Town" is a new arrangement of the traditional Christmas carol "O Little Town of Bethlehem" by English singer-songwriter Chris Eaton. Eaton adapted the lyrics to a new melody he composed in a contemporary Christmas music style. It was first recorded by English singer Cliff Richard and released as a single in the UK for the 1982 Christmas season, reaching number 11 on the UK Singles Chart.
Private Collection: 1979–1988 is a compilation album by Cliff Richard, released in 1988. It features songs such as the number one single "We Don't Talk Anymore" from 1979, to his latest release at the time, the Christmas number one hit "Mistletoe and Wine". The album reached number one on the UK Albums Chart.
Cliff at Christmas is the 2003 Christmas album of Cliff Richard, containing eight new songs and nine previously released songs including all of his previous hit Christmas-themed singles included. One new single was released from the album, entitled "Santa's List", which reached a peak position of #5 in the UK charts over the festive period. The album reached #9 in the UK Albums Chart and was certified platinum. In 2018, it was number 3 on the Official Top 20 biggest selling Christmas albums of the 21st century in the UK, having sold 409,000 copies.
Leslie Stewart is a British-based film and TV screenwriter, playwright and director.
Under the Mistletoe is the first Christmas album and second studio album by Canadian singer Justin Bieber, released on November 1, 2011, by RBMG/Island Def Jam Music Group. The album features fifteen tracks, including seven original songs co-written by Bieber, along with cover versions of Christmas carols and standards. Fellow artists Usher, Boyz II Men, Mariah Carey, Busta Rhymes, and the Band Perry all make guest appearances on the album.
"Mistletoe" is a Christmas song by Canadian singer Justin Bieber. The song was written by Bieber and his producers, Nasri Atweh and Adam Messinger. The song was released on October 17, 2011, as the lead single from his second studio album and first Christmas album, Under the Mistletoe (2011). "Mistletoe" is a pop and R&B song, that has reggae influences. "Mistletoe" received generally positive reviews from most music critics. The song reached the top ten in Canada, Denmark and Norway, and slightly missed the top 10 in the US, peaking at 11, while also reaching the top forty in nine other countries. It set the record for the highest debut for a Christmas song in Billboard Hot 100 history. The song's accompanying music video was directed by Roman White. It features the singer singing on a snowy, lit-up street.
The singles discography of English singer Cliff Richard consists in excess of 200 singles, of which 159 singles have been released in the UK in varying vinyl, CD, cassette and digital formats. Listed alongside the UK singles in the discography below are a further 20 singles which were released in other territories, as well as 22 singles which were sung in German and only released in German-speaking countries.