‘I try to avoid my iconic Christmas hit but people play it at me’

Everyone has their ain must-play Christmas songs but there’s 1 idiosyncratic who tries not to Wizzard’s beloved I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday if helium tin assistance it.

Roy Wood, laminitis of Electric Light Orchestra and Wizzard, seldom plays the 1985 deed astatine location aft 4 decades of having to perceive to it.

The way peaked astatine fig 4 successful the UK charts and contempt ne'er reaching fig 1 is often considered 1 of the best Christmas songs ever made.

‘I don’t bash radio successful my house,’ Roy confessed to Metro. ‘It really comes connected successful the car sometimes erstwhile the classical euphony transmission is connected but isolated from that, [people] play it astatine me.

‘I can’t locomotion astir the supermarket anymore without it coming on.’

The See My Baby Jive hitmaker isn’t a full Grinch though saying his feelings towards the festivities ‘depend connected what broadside of the furniture [he] got retired of.’

‘I don’t play immoderate of the aged songs astatine location oregon immoderate of that but if the Christmas 1 came connected the radio, it brings backmost bully memories. It’s inactive a bully record, and we enjoyed making it.’

Roy has teamed up with Spar for a Christmas run wherever fans tin sing ‘SPARaoke’ to the beloved opus successful hopes of winning their buying and Christmas dinner.

While he’s not definite listening to the wide nationalist covering his opus is going to alteration his ain feelings toward the track, he’s not averse to yet landing that elusive Christmas fig one.

In 1985, Wizzard mislaid the conflict of the charts to Slade’s Merry Xmas Everybody aft a hold successful their merchandise halted their momentum.

‘It [mattered] astatine the clip but I don’t deliberation truthful now. It was annoying, to beryllium fair,’ Roy recalled of the 1985 disappointment.

He explained: ‘We were managed by a feline astatine the time, Don Arden, who was –  due to the fact that I’d ever been with EMI and helium was trying to bash immoderate benignant of dodgy woody with Warner Brothers for the Christmas record.

‘And of course, EMI was saying, “Oh, not connected our watch”. So it delayed the merchandise of the grounds by 2 weeks. So Slade had 2 weeks much than we did to get grounds sales, truthful consequently they got the fig one.’

Don — an infamous manager and the begetter of Sharon Osbourne — worked with the likes of Black Sabbath, Small Faces, and some Electric Light Orchestra and Wizzard.

However, Roy did concede that Slade whitethorn person landed fig 1 anyhow arsenic they ‘were precise popular’ but said: ‘It annoyed maine astatine the clip due to the fact that we weren’t connected a level playing field, truthful to speak.’

He admitted helium would inactive emotion that illustration apical spot, hoping that fans reconnect with the way acknowledgment to Spar’s campaign.

In 2012, I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday was voted the 2nd connected ITV’s The Nation’s Favourite Christmas Song — down The Pogues’ Fairytale of New York.

While Roy is blessed to instrumentality a backmost spot to The Pogues, he’s not definite there’s been that overmuch Christmas opus competition since the 90s.

He shared: ‘Strangely enough, I don’t deliberation it’s had a batch of contention implicit the years. During the play erstwhile lad bands started, grounds companies were thinking, “Well, radio stations halt playing Christmas records conscionable aft Christmas Day.”

‘They were reasoning of a mode to combat that truthful that the grounds continued to beryllium played successful the caller year. So you’ll find that a batch of times, the [music] videos were Christmasy and snowy and each that but the songs weren’t mentioning Christmas successful the [lyrics].

‘I deliberation they did request to effort and summation immoderate much aerial time, truthful from that time, determination haven’t been a batch of Christmas songs written. It’s a shame not to constitute 1 due to the fact that of that reason.

‘All the records similar Slade and each that are inactive doing good purely due to the fact that there’s been nary caller stuff.’

He paused earlier adding the 1 objection is Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas, which the chap festive fable praises arsenic ‘a bully record.’

However, determination are immoderate modern tracks he’s not truthful convinced by — joking he’d alternatively ‘stick screwdrivers successful his ears’ than perceive to 1 remix.

The glam stone fable said helium felt ‘humbled’ to beryllium included connected the Christmas compilation albums with the greats and that I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday has had specified longevity.

Roy added: ‘[I anticipation everyone] has a large time, we’ve got excessively galore problems with the mode things are astatine the moment. Take a heavy enactment and spell for it.’

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