"A Winter's Tale" is a song performed by

David Essex David Essex (born David Albert Cook; 23 July 1947) is an English singer, songwriter, and actor. Since the 1970s, he has attained 19 Top 40 singles in the UK (including two number ones) and 16 Top 40 albums. Internationally, Essex had the most ...

on the 1983 album ''The Whisper''. First released as a single in 1982, it reached #2 in the UK singles chart in January 1983, kept off #1 by Phil Collins's cover version of "

You Can't Hurry Love "You Can't Hurry Love" is a 1966 song originally recorded by the Supremes on the Motown label. It was released on July 25 of 1966 as the second single from their studio album '' The Supremes A' Go-Go'' (1966). Written and produced by Motown p ...

Production and release

"A Winter's Tale" was written by

Mike Batt Michael Philip Batt, LVO (born 6 February 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, record producer, director and conductor. He was formerly the Deputy Chairman of the British Phonographic Industry. Having achieved substantia ...

and

Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English lyricist and author. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ...

in late 1982 in response to a request from Essex. It was released as a single in November 1982. It spent ten weeks in the UK chart, peaking at #2 on 15 January 1983. Later in 1983, the song was included on Essex's album ''The Whisper''.

Legacy

Some time after the song's release, Tim Rice wrote an additional, third verse. "A Winter's Tale" was used to open the musical

All the Fun of the Fair ''All the Fun of the Fair'' is a 2008 jukebox musical with a book by Jon Conway, based on the songs of David Essex. The title of the musical is taken from David Essex's 1975 album ''All the Fun of the Fair.'' The show had an initial provincial ru ...

, launched in 2008, in which it was performed by

Louise English Louise English is an English actress. She was a regular performer on ''The Benny Hill Show'' from 1978 to 1986, as an actress and in dance group Hill's Angels (the show ran from 1955 to 1991), and has performed in West End plays and nationall ...

. A 2008 article by Asian News International saw "A Winter's Tale" placed as the fourth worst Christmas song. However, in 2014 ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' reported a list of 50 Best Christmas songs by

PRS for Music PRS for Music Limited (formerly The MCPS-PRS Alliance Limited) is a British music copyright collective, made up of two collection societies: the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) and the Performing Right Society (PRS). It undertakes ...

, ranking "A Winter's Tale" as the 34th best Christmas song.

References

External links

True Winter’s Tale for David Essex fan after Muswell Hill fall
{{DEFAULTSORT:Winter's Tale, A 1982 singles 1982 songs British Christmas songs David Essex songs Songs with lyrics by Tim Rice Songs written by Mike Batt