"Walking in the Air" | |
---|---|
Single by Howard Blake & Peter Auty | |
B-side | "Dance of the Snowmen" |
Released | 1982 |
Genre | |
Length | 3:30 |
Label | CBS |
Songwriter(s) | Howard Blake |
Producer(s) | Howard Blake |
"Walking in the Air" is a song written by Howard Blake for the 1982 animated film The Snowman based on Raymond Briggs's 1978 children's book of the same name. [1] The song forms the centrepiece of The Snowman, which has become a seasonal favourite on British and Finnish television. [2] The story relates the fleeting adventures of a young boy and a snowman who has come to life. In the second part of the story, the boy and the snowman fly to the North Pole. "Walking in the Air" is the theme for the journey. They attend a party of snowmen, at which the boy seems to be the only human until they meet Santa Claus with his reindeer, and the boy is given a scarf with a snowman pattern. In the film, the song was performed by St Paul's Cathedral choirboy Peter Auty; [3] this performance was reissued in 1985 (on Stiff Records) and 1987. [4]
In 1985, an altered version was recorded for use in a TV advertising campaign for Toys "R" Us. [5] While it was believed[ by whom? ] that Auty's voice had then broken, Auty claimed in an interview with BBC Breakfast News on 2 December 2022 that his voice had not broken and he was never contacted for the recording.[ citation needed ] Blake recommended the then-14-year-old Welsh chorister Aled Jones, whose recording reached number five in the UK Singles Chart on 28 December 1985, and who became a popular celebrity on the strength of his performance. [5] [6] The association of the song with Jones, combined with Auty not being credited on The Snowman, led to a common misbelief that Jones performed the song in the film. "Walking in the Air" has subsequently been performed by over forty artists, in a variety of styles. In a UK poll in 2012, the Aled Jones version was voted 13th on the ITV television special The Nation's Favourite Christmas Song . [7]
Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee. The band was formed in 1996 by lead songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former lead singer Tarja Turunen. The band soon picked up drummer Jukka Nevalainen, and then bassist Sami Vänskä after the release of their debut album, Angels Fall First (1997). In 2001, Vänskä was replaced by Marko Hietala, who also took over the male vocalist role previously filled by Holopainen or guest singers. Although Nightwish have been prominent in their home country since Angels Fall First, they did not achieve wider success until the release of the albums Oceanborn (1998), Wishmaster (2000) and Century Child (2002).
The Snowman is a 1982 British animated television film and symphonic poem based on Raymond Briggs's 1978 picture book The Snowman. It was directed by Dianne Jackson for Channel 4. It was first shown on 26 December 1982, and was an immediate success. It was nominated for Best Animated Short Film at the 55th Academy Awards and won a BAFTA TV Award.
Aled Jones, is a Welsh singer, radio and television presenter, and actor. As a teenage chorister, he gained widespread fame in 1985 with his recording of "Walking in the Air", which reached No 5 in the UK pop chart. He has since worked in television with the BBC and ITV, and on radio for the BBC and Classic FM.
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