"Wombling Merry Christmas" is a

Christmas song Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject ma ...

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 substantial ...

, and recorded by British band

the Wombles ''The Wombles'' are fictional pointy-nosed, furry creatures created by Elisabeth Beresford and originally appearing in a series of children's novels from 1968. They live in burrows, where they aim to help the environment by collecting and recycl ...

. Released in November 1974, the song rose to a peak of No. 2 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in December that year, spending 8 weeks in the chart. The song was also released in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

, but failed to chart.

Music video

The video was recorded in 2011 as part of a re-release that year and shows the Wombles dancing to the song. The band also appeared on ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'' performing the song over Christmas 1974.

Reception

Despite significant success, the song was widely mocked on release. However, the song, labelled as 'innocent', and likened to 'golden tears falling from heaven' was liked by many, and was described in 2011 as 'actually sound nggood this time around'. Bob Stanley described it as having 'more bonhomie than a dozen boxes of crackers'. Later on, Mike Batt remarked on this criticism of the song, saying '...I wrote Wombling Merry Christmas, so I'm not scared of cliches', and that 'back in the 1970s people were more in tune with the spirit of these songs'.

Chart performance

The song was prevented from reaching number one by Mud's "

Lonely This Christmas "Lonely This Christmas" is a Christmas song by the English glam rock band Mud, that topped the UK Singles Chart in 1974, selling over 750,000 copies and reaching Christmas number one. Song Written and produced by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, ...

" which (combined with a poor marketing campaign on behalf of the Wombles) 'more than halved' sales. The song is also widely believed to have prevented Ralph McTell's " Streets of London" from reaching number one on the UK Singles Chart.

2011 re-release and Christmas number one campaign

In December 2011, after the Wombles performed at the

Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...

Dramatico Dramatico is a record label founded by Mike Batt in 2000. Artists on the label include Mike Batt, Robert Meadmore, Sarah Blasko, Katie Melua, Leddra Chapman and Alistair Griffin. Dramatico has also established a publishing company in New York ...

released a CD single of "Wombling Merry Christmas", and this was set for the Christmas number one, hoping to beat the ''X Factor'' winner.

Track listing

#"Wombling Merry Christmas" #"The Wombles Warning" #"Miss Adelaide (She's Got a Lot of Knowledge)" #"The Jungle Is Jumping" (download and streaming only) The release failed to reach the Christmas number one spot, which was achieved by the

Military Wives Choir The Military Wives Choirs is a registered charity and network of 75 choirs in British military bases across the UK and overseas, bringing women in the military community closer together through singing. With over 2,200 members, the MWC network ...

with " Wherever You Are".

I Wish It Could Be a Wombling Merry Christmas Every Day

In 2000, the song was used as part of a medley with

Wizzard Wizzard were an English rock band formed by Roy Wood, former member of the Move and co-founder of the Electric Light Orchestra. ''The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits'' states, "Wizzard was Roy Wood just as much as Wings was Paul McCartne ...

's "

I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" is a Christmas song recorded by British glam rock band Wizzard. It was first released in December 1973 and, as with most Wizzard songs, was written and produced by the band's frontman Roy Wood—formerly ...

", titled "I Wish It Could Be a Wombling Merry Christmas Every Day". This song was described by Batt as a "very silly record", however it proceeded to reach No. 22 on the UK Singles Chart, and staying on the chart for 3 weeks.

Chart performance

{, class="wikitable sortable" !Chart (2000) !Peak position , - ,

, 22

References

1974 singles 1974 songs British Christmas songs Songs written by Mike Batt CBS Records singles