The Story of the Christmas No. 1
Mistletoe and Vinyl: NEW EDITION
Format:Paperback
Publisher:McNidder & Grace
Publishing:8th Oct '26
£14.99
This title is due to be published on 8th October, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
Marc will be on tour this year to help promote the new edition.
The fascinating story of Britain's Christmas No. 1 obsession. From The Beatles and Band Aid to reality TV, novelty hits and streaming sensations, Marc Burrows explores the chart battles, music, myths and cultural moments behind the festive chart race. Updated for 2026 with the story of Kylie Minogue's Christmas No. 1.
This is the story of a national obsession: the annual race for the festive chart crown, and what it reveals about British culture, identity, and the ever-changing music industry.
From The Beatles to glam rock, from Do They Know It's Christmas? to reality-TV winners, novelty records, charity campaigns and viral streaming sensations, Marc Burrows uncovers the fascinating, funny and occasionally absurd stories behind the songs we love—and love to argue about.
New for the 2026 edition: the full story of Kylie Minogue's triumphant Christmas Number 1! Released through Amazon, Kylie's gloriously camp XMAS ended the recent dominance of charity singles and perennial festive classics to secure her first-ever Christmas chart-topper, becoming the first female artistto score UK Number One singles across four different decades. But what does it tell us about hits in the streaming age, and the deals with the devil you need to do to secure them?
Packed with chart battles, cultural curiosities, festive controversies and enough music trivia to fill Santa's sack, this updated edition brings the story of Britain's most peculiar annual sporting event bang up-to-date.
"An essential guide for those of us who hate or indeed love this annual struggle for artistic commercial dominance. It will answer some questions, settle some arguments, but I sense, will start many more." From the Foreword by Phill Jupitus
"A hugely entertaining romp through six decades of music trivia ★★★★" Classic Pop Magazine
"The biographer of hip unwraps his pen to sprinkle glitter upon the fading tradition of the festive chart-topper and crafts the ultimate gift for everyone, aged 8 to 80. This sleighs." Billy Reeves, BBC Radio London
This edition now includes the remarkable story of how XMAS became the Christmas No. 1 of 2025!
The biographer of hip unwraps his pen to sprinkle glitter upon the fading tradition of the festive chart-topper and crafts the ultimate gift for everyone, aged 8 to 80. This sleighs.
Billy Reeves, BBC Radio London
Meticulously researched and packed with detail. This highly enjoyable book is a perfect read to pop in someone's stocking.
Hazel Cushion, literary agent
The Christmas No.1 is both a very British nonsense but also deeply important. Marc's highly entertaining book about a tradition that brings together the likes of Pink Floyd, Boney M and Mr Blobby, with reality TV, boy and girl bands and a host of now-disgraced individuals, showcases the history and occasionally rum stories behind some of pop's hastily put-together, yet most enduring and biggest-selling hits.
Ian Wade, writer and DJ
Marc combines deep research, forensic detail and a wide knowledge of music with a light touch that never takes it all too seriously. The result is a fascinating read, in equal parts appalled and delighted by this weird British fixation on the Christmas charts.
Helen O'Hara, Empire Magazine and host of the Bah Humbug! podcast
Who knew the history of Christmas No. 1's could be so interesting and entertaining. Lots of trips down memory lane. It took me quite a while to read as I had to keep stopping to go and listen to so many of the songs - and watch videos of Bowie and Bing Crosby and Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Plenty of laugh out loud moments, both in the text and the footnotes.
Dr Michelle Selinger, Principal Consultant
Informative and fun.
David Quantick, author
I feel this sentence from the prologue best describes the book which follows it, 'In this frenzied digital era of hundreds of different charts, is it even a thing any more? Why and when did we start caring about it? What is its future? Yes, poor Marc has decided to wrestle all of these questions to the frigid shores, and then beat them into submission with a robust striped cinnamon candy cane of in depth analysis and weapons grade festive whimsy.' This is a brilliant book about Christmas number ones.
Verified Amazon customer
ISBN: 9780857163066
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
294 pages
New edition