Song of the Day 12/17: Slade, “Merry Christmas Everybody”

As Noddy Holder asks in the second verse, does your granny always tell ya that the old songs are the best? If she’s British, this 1973 single by Slade, who ruled British charts in the ’70s, might be one of the tunes she’s talking about. It’s been among the UK’s most-played holiday songs in the years since.

The isles’ musical tradition of Christmas singles isn’t fueled by sentiment alone — it can be quite lucrative if the song becomes a perennial. “Merry Christmas Everybody” outearns them all — it’s estimated to earn the glam-rock louts between £500,000 and £1 million in royalties annually. (The Pogues’ “Fairytale of New York” comes in second, at £400,000 a year, though Shane MacGowan is touchy about the subject).

As much as I like British pop music, I’ve never understood this song’s popularity — the melody is indistinct and the chorus lands with a thud. It’s as inexplicable as Brexit, or mushy peas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpfHSqLXePI