"Merry Christmas Jakey Boy" is a single released exclusively for the

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

market in December 2006 by

Jake Stevens Jake Stevens is a fictional Irish television personality and musician portrayed by the comedian PJ Gallagher. He first featured in the popular RTÉ Two hidden camera television series, ''Naked Camera''. Stevens later achieved his own spin-off ...

. Stevens is an

alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I", " doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a differen ...

of the comedian PJ Gallagher who features in the popular

RTÉ Two (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while ...

hidden camera A hidden camera or spy camera is a camera used to photograph or record subjects, often people, without their knowledge. The camera may be considered "hidden" because it is not visible to the subject being filmed, or is disguised as another obje ...

/comedy style television series, ''

Naked Camera ''Naked Camera'' is a hidden camera comedy television show which began airing on RTÉ Two in 2005. Set and filmed in the Republic of Ireland (mostly in Dublin), its concept is similar to that of the UK show ''Trigger Happy TV'' or the ascendant ...

''. The Jakey Boy in the song's title refers obviously to Stevens himself. The single reached number nine in the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...

and was performed on a number of television shows including '' The Cafe'' and ''

Tubridy Tonight ''Tubridy Tonight'' is a talk show hosted by Ryan Tubridy that aired on RTÉ One for five seasons between 2004 and 2009. The programme featured guest interviews (usually three per show), audience participation and live music from both a guest mu ...

''.

Chart performance

"Merry Christmas Jakey Boy" featured in the Irish Singles Chart, where it remained listed for a total of four weeks in the Ireland Singles Top 50. A total of two of these four weeks were spent in the Ireland Top 20. The song entered the charts for the first time in the forty-ninth week of the year 2006 at a position of #11, making its final appearance on the fifty-second and final week of that year. It peaked at #9, and remained at this point for two weeks of its tenure in the Irish Singles Chart. In December 2019, PJ Gallagher revealed the chart performance of the single was compromised by the fact he accidentally scheduled the single to be released on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

on 12/01/2007 rather than 01/12/2006.

Television performances

"Merry Christmas Jakey Boy" was performed by PJ Gallagher (as his alter ego Jake Stevens) on at least two television shows, the youth programme ''The Cafe'' and the primetime chat show ''Tubridy Tonight''. ''The Cafe'' performance came on 14 December 2006, following a guest appearance by Gallagher alongside his ''Naked Camera'' colleague

Maeve Higgins Maeve Anna Higgins (born 24 March 1981) is a comedian from Cobh, County Cork, Ireland and is based in New York. She was a principal actor and writer of the RTÉ television production '' Naked Camera'', as well as for her own show ''Maeve Higgi ...

and the corporate magician Jack Wise. UK band The Charlatans also performed their single "

Blackened Blue Eyes Blackening, Blackened, or Blacken may refer to: Entertainment * "Blackened", a 1988 Metallica song from ''...And Justice for All'' (album) * ''The Blackening'', a 2007 album by thrash metal band Machine Head * ''The Blackening'' (film), a 2022 ...

" on the same show. The ''Tubridy Tonight'' performance saw Stevens engage with the audience as the credits rolled.

References

{{reflist

External links

''Tubridy Tonight'' performance
2006 singles Christmas novelty songs Irish novelty songs