There's No One Quite Like Grandma

Last updated
"There's No One Quite Like Grandma"
No-one quite like Grandma.jpg
Single by St Winifred's School Choir
B-side "Pinocchio"
ReleasedNovember 1980
Genre MOR
Length2:58
Label Music for Pleasure [1]
Songwriter(s) Gordon Lorenz [1]
Producer(s) Peter Tattersall [1]

"There's No One Quite Like Grandma" was a number-one hit in the UK Singles Chart, [2] by the Stockport-based primary school choir St Winifred's School Choir from 21 December 1980 to 3 January 1981. [3] It was written by Gordon Lorenz.

The song was a Christmas number-one single in both the UK and Ireland. In the UK, it demoted John Lennon's last single, "(Just Like) Starting Over", to number two. [1] [2] After two weeks at number one, a previous Lennon song, "Imagine", replaced it. This was a posthumous release as Lennon had been killed three weeks prior. Another song that "There's No One Quite Like Grandma" prevented from reaching number one was "Stop the Cavalry" by Jona Lewie, which has since become a Christmas favourite in the UK but finished at number three on the Christmas chart.

More recently, the song was used within the one-off Channel 4 comedy by Peter Kay called Britain's Got the Pop Factor... , which had Sally Lindsay, who was in the original choir of the song, in a cameo role. Furthermore, an extract of the song is always used in the "Granny Brainiac" segment in Series 3 of Sky One TV show Brainiac: Science Abuse .

In October 2009, the song was re-recorded by 14 members of the original choir. [4] It was released in the UK in November 2009 as part of food company Innocent Drinks' "Big Knit" campaign, to raise money for Age Concern.

The song was covered by Leilah and Jeordie (daughters of Melanie Safka) in 1981, and this version charted on the Canadian singles chart at No. 27 in January 1982. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Hopkin</span> Welsh singer

Mary Hopkin, credited on some recordings as Mary Visconti from her marriage to Tony Visconti, is a Welsh singer-songwriter best known for her 1968 UK number 1 single "Those Were the Days". She was one of the first artists to be signed to The Beatles' Apple label.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Happy Xmas (War Is Over)</span> 1971 single by John Lennon and Yoko Ono with the Plastic Ono Band and the Harlem Community Choir

"Happy Xmas " is a Christmas song released in 1971 as a single by John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir. It was the seventh single release by John Lennon outside his work with the Beatles. The song reached number four in the UK, where its release was delayed until November 1972 and has periodically reemerged on the UK Singles Chart, most notably after Lennon's murder in December 1980, when it peaked at number two.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">(Just Like) Starting Over</span> 1980 single by John Lennon

"(Just Like) Starting Over" is a song written and performed by John Lennon from the 1980 album, Double Fantasy. It was released as a single on 24 October 1980 in the United Kingdom, with Yoko Ono's "Kiss Kiss Kiss" as the B-side. It reached number one in both the US and UK after Lennon was murdered on 8 December 1980. It was Lennon's final single released in his lifetime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hot Chocolate (band)</span> British soul band

Hot Chocolate are a British soul band popular during the 1970s and 1980s, formed by Errol Brown and Tony Wilson. The group had at least one hit song every year on the UK Singles Chart from 1970 to 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UK Singles Chart</span> British singles sales chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-selling singles in the United Kingdom, based upon physical sales, paid-for downloads and streaming. The Official Chart, broadcast on BBC Radio 1 and MTV, is the UK music industry's recognised official measure of singles and albums popularity because it is the most comprehensive research panel of its kind, today surveying over 15,000 retailers and digital services daily, capturing 99.9% of all singles consumed in Britain across the week, and over 98% of albums. To be eligible for the chart, a single is currently defined by the Official Charts Company (OCC) as either a 'single bundle' having no more than four tracks and not lasting longer than 25 minutes or one digital audio track not longer than 15 minutes with a minimum sale price of 40 pence. The rules have changed many times as technology has developed, the most notable being the inclusion of digital downloads in 2005 and streaming in July 2014.

St Winifred's School Choir, from St Winifred's Roman Catholic Primary School in Stockport, England, was a choir of children whose single entitled "There's No One Quite Like Grandma" in 1980 became that year's British Christmas number one single.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian and Michael</span> British music duo

Brian and Michael are a British music duo best known for their 1978 UK number one hit single, "Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs". Without further chart entries, they remain one-hit wonders in the UK. They comprise two members: Michael Coleman and Kevin Parrott.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paper Dolls (band)</span> English musical group

The Paper Dolls were a late 1960s British female vocal trio from Northampton, comprising lead vocalist Susie 'Tiger' Mathis, Pauline 'Spyder' Bennett and Sue 'Copper' Marshall. They were one of the few British girl groups of the late sixties.

Claire and Friends were a UK one-hit wonder, consisting of schoolgirl Claire Usher and her friends, from St Winifred's Roman Catholic Primary School in Stockport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday</span> 1973 Single by Wizzard

"I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" is a Christmas song recorded by British glam rock band Wizzard. It was first released in December 1973 and, as with most Wizzard songs, was written and produced by the band's frontman Roy Wood—formerly of The Move and a founding member of Electric Light Orchestra. Despite the song's strong, long-lasting popularity, it has reached no higher than number four on the UK Singles Chart, a position it occupied for four consecutive weeks from December 1973 to January 1974. The song was beaten to the 1973 Christmas Number 1 spot by Slade's "Merry Xmas Everybody", which remained at the top of the charts for five weeks, from December 1973 to January 1974.

Jennifer Hennessy is an English actress. She has made numerous television appearances, including as Mrs. Brazendale in the BBC TV series Lilies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Imagine (John Lennon song)</span> 1971 single by John Lennon

"Imagine" is a song by English rock musician John Lennon from his 1971 album of the same name. The best-selling single of his solo career, the lyrics encourage listeners to imagine a world of peace, without materialism, without borders separating nations and without religion. Shortly before his death, Lennon said that much of the song's lyrics and content came from his wife, Yoko Ono, and in 2017 the process to give Yoko co-writing credit, was already under way.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 210. ISBN   0-85112-250-7.
  2. 1 2 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 388–9. ISBN   1-904994-10-5.
  3. ↑ "Cult - I Love 1980 - Music". BBC . Retrieved 2008-05-11.
  4. ↑ "Original 'Grandma' choir re-form". BBC. 2009-10-12. Retrieved 2010-05-25.
  5. ↑ "50 Singles" (PDF). RPM . Library and Archives Canada.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.