Merry Christmas Everyone
| "Merry Christmas Everyone" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Shakin' Stevens | ||||
| B-side | "With My Heart", "Blue Christmas" | |||
| Released | 25 November 1985 | |||
| Recorded | 1984 | |||
| Genre | Pop rock, Christmas music | |||
| Length | 3:39 | |||
| Label | Epic | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Bob Heatlie | |||
| Producer(s) | Dave Edmunds | |||
| Shakin' Stevens singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Merry Christmas Everyone" on YouTube | ||||
"Merry Christmas Everyone" is a festive song recorded by Welsh singer-songwriter Shakin' Stevens. Written by Bob Heatlie and produced by Dave Edmunds, it was the fourth and last number one single for Shakin' Stevens on the UK Singles Chart.[1]
It was released on 25 November 1985[2] and was the Christmas number one for that year.[3] Ever since it has been included on many top-selling Christmas collections and received frequent airplay every Christmas. In 2007, the song re-entered the UK top 30 and reached number 22 on the Christmas chart.[1] This is because downloads are now included in the UK Singles Chart; whereas in past years this would have been impossible unless there was a physical re-release of the song. From 2007 to 2017, the song charted in the UK at peak positions 22, 36, 47, 68, 42, 46, 54, 38, 26, 17 and 10. Originally only in the chart for eight weeks, it has since amassed over 70.[1] In December 2018 it reached No. 9 in the UK chart, its highest position since 1985.[4] In both December 2019 and December 2020, it did even better still, reaching No. 6 in the UK chart on both occasions.[5][6]
Background
"Merry Christmas Everyone" was recorded in 1984. Its original planned release was put back by a year to avoid clashing with the runaway success of Band Aid's charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?", to which Stevens did not contribute.[7]
Music video
The video shows a young girl named Samantha traveling by plane to a place called Santaworld where she meets up with Stevens who met her on a bus going to the place. Stevens is then seen riding with a woman dressed as an elf in a sleigh pulled by a horse and is taken to meet Santa Claus before going to a replica of Santa's workshop where children are seen playing with toys before going out with Santa on the sleigh and joins in a snowball fight with some other children and ends up hitting a snowman who starts to chase him. At the end of the video, Stevens is seen bidding farewell to Santa, the snowman and the children before going back into the sleigh with the woman. Filmed in Sweden the children included Shaky's son, daughter, their friends including Shaky's drummers; daughter the actor, Sarah J Price (in her first role) and competition winner Jeremy Cartwright who was holidaying in Wales prior to filming and can be seen sledging at speed down a hill.
Track listing
UK 7-inch single
- "Merry Christmas Everyone" (Bob Heatlie) – 3:39
- "With My Heart" (Bruce Roberts / Darrell Edwards / Shakin' Stevens) – 2:45
UK 12-inch single
- "Merry Christmas Everyone" (Bob Heatlie) – 3:39
- "Blue Christmas" (Billy Hayes / Jay W. Johnson) – 2:45
- "With My Heart" (Bruce Roberts / Darrell Edwards / Shakin' Stevens) – 2:45
Charts
| Chart (1985–2021) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[8] | 52 |
| Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[9] | 4 |
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[10] | 10 |
| Denmark (Tracklisten)[11] | 6 |
| Germany (GfK)[12] | 4 |
| Global 200 (Billboard)[13] | 70 |
| Hungary (Single Top 40)[14] | 22 |
| Ireland (IRMA)[15] | 3 |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100)[16] | 46 |
| New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[17] | 34 |
| Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[18] | 9 |
| Portugal (AFP)[19] | 147 |
| Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)[20] | 53 |
| Slovenia (SloTop50)[21] | 37 |
| Sweden Heatseeker (Sverigetopplistan)[22] | 4 |
| Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[23] | 21 |
| UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)[1] | 1 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[24] | 2× Platinum | 180,000‡ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[25] Physical single |
Gold | 500,000^ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[26] Digital single |
2× Platinum | 1,200,000‡ |
|
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
"Echoes of Merry Christmas Everyone" (2015)
| "Echoes of Merry Christmas Everyone" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Shakin' Stevens | ||||
| Released | 4 December 2015 | |||
| Recorded | 2015 | |||
| Genre | Bluegrass | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Bob Heatlie | |||
| Shakin' Stevens singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
In time for Christmas 2015, Shakin' Stevens released a new version of the song as a charity single in collaboration with The Salvation Army. It is a completely revamped version with folk and bluegrass influences and prominent use of banjo. The single was available as a download starting December 2015[27] with all proceeds going to The Salvation Army.
The 2015 single did not chart on the UK Top 100, although the original by Shakin' Stevens made it to number 26 on the UK Top 100 Chart published on Christmas week.
References
- ^ a b c d "merry christmas everyone > Full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company.
- ^ "shakin1". Net-serve.co.uk. 1986-12-07. Retrieved 2014-03-30.
- ^ "Christmas Number Ones : Singles - everyHit.com". Retrieved 19 December 2009.
A technical note; the Christmas Number One does not always synchronise with the dates elsewhere as they refer to 'week ending' chart dates. These are the real Christmas Number Ones.
- ^ Official Singles Chart Top 100 - 28 December 2018 - 03 January 2019
- ^ Official Singles Chart Top 100 - 27 December 2019 - 02 January 2020
- ^ Official Singles Chart Top 100 - 11-17 December 2020
- ^ "7 British Christmas Songs That Somehow Never Made it Big in the US". Lost in the Pond. 27 November 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
- ^ "ARIA Chart Watch #557". auspOp. 28 December 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ "Shakin' Stevens – Merry Christmas Everyone" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
- ^ "Shakin' Stevens – Merry Christmas Everyone" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
- ^ "Track Top-40 Uge 52, 2017". Hitlisten. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
- ^ "Shakin' Stevens – Merry Christmas Everyone" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
- ^ "Shakin Stevens Chart History (Global 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
- ^ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
- ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Merry Christmas Everyone". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
- ^ "Shakin' Stevens – Merry Christmas Everyone" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
- ^ "NZ Top 40 Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 30 December 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ "Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Polish Airplay Top 100. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
- ^ "Shakin' Stevens – Merry Christmas Everyone". AFP Top 100 Singles. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
- ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 202051 into search. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
- ^ "SloTop50 – Slovenian official singles chart". slotop50.si. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
- ^ "Veckolista Heatseeker, vecka 52". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
- ^ "Shakin' Stevens – Merry Christmas Everyone". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
- ^ "Danish single certifications – Shakin Stevens – Merry Christmas Everyone". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
- ^ "British single certifications – Shakin Stevens – Merry Christmas Everyone". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
- ^ "British single certifications – Shakin Stevens – Merry Christmas Everyone". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
- ^ Copsey, Rob (24 November 2015). "Christmas Number 1 2015: The contenders revealed. Who will take this year's Christmas chart-topper crown?". OfficialCharts.com. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
