November (CHRISTMAS) Voting & Songs

Did I count three songs which finish with the Jingle Bells theme?

For my song I just want to point out that that the title is actually You Make Me Shiver.



Colin Parish – Jingle Bloody Bells

Another intriguing mix of sounds: with crowd scenes, creepy low pitch choirs and squeaking. I like the bit at the very beginning with the tuneful intro and the kids playing, which lulls the listener into thinking that a pleasant jaunty song is to follow. Then the unholy sound of Jingle Bloody Bells comes in to shatter the mood. The harmonies are really good and it’s an impressive evocation of an overheated, undercooked family Christmas, where nobody really seems to be enjoying themselves. Felt like the moment of the evening when you really need someone to suggest going out for a walk for some fresh air. A strength is that you’ve juggled a multitude of effects, because the arrangement never feels overcrowded. In sentiment it couldn’t be much further from Mike’s Christmas Candle song. Good one.


Stephen Clarke – All I Want for Christmas is Some English Food.

A fine hymn to Quality Street, stuffing, plum duff and Chas and Dave. You clearly had a lot of fun making this, judging by the time you’ve taken putting together the lyrics and the spoken bits where some of the characters start chatting in the background. It wouldn’t work if you didn’t have funny lyrics, but you do, and my favourite was: ‘You can’t have Christmas cake while listening to the Queen/ We don’t do food no more, we only do cuisine’. Another good line is ‘I want beer from a barmaid in a Santa hat, not wine from a waiter in a silk cravat.’

It’s not much more than an acoustic guitar and a voice, but there are other interesting things going on such as someone shouting out ‘What?’ incredulously at the thought of the new menu, and later on ‘I’m going home’.

There are some impressive vocal gymnastics where you variously adopt the voices of cockney geezers, Auntie Mabel and Uncle Charlie. The social commentary reminds me of the tensions in my neighbourhood, where the gastropub crowd has driven away the seasoned working class drinkers at one pub, where their custom kept the boozer afloat for many years. Having said that, the new landlord does serve a nice confit de canard.


Tim and Glynn – Wishing on a Silver Lining

Terrific lilting tune that lifts the spirits. I like the brass sounds at the end of the verse, and the Motown feel. The chord change to the chorus is superb. Feels a bit Phil Spectorish. The harmony on the chorus bit of ‘stars are shining’ sounds great. You’ve pulled off the difficult feat of writing an upbeat, joyful Christmas song that doesn’t sound sentimental. In the verses the call and response of the lead vocal and backing singers is a highlight, especially the sections where the backers don’t repeat the lead vocal line.

There are occasional timing blips but it doesn’t matter – the buoyancy of the melody and the exuberance carry everything through. I loved it. A great end to your songwriting year – you’ve hit paydirt with this one.


Michael Gosling – Everybody’s Here.

A celebration of family and friendship, with warmth and a light humorous touch. I like the ‘save a seat for…’ section which tells us a bit about the mannerisms and quirks of the family members. Your talents for combining instruments and making them shine is evident throughout. The organ in the bridge works well to lift the song - something you’ve done successfully on a quite a few of your songs. I like the drumming which propels things along and gives it a breezy, yet urgent feel. Overall, it’s a bouncy tune with a lot of heart.


Michael Gosling – Christmas Candle.

Unusual in this collection in that it celebrates Christianity (I think) and the search for enlightenment. Again, the drumming works really well, complementing the instruments excellently. Nice harmonies and clicking (?). There’s a lot going here with a couple of guitars, a couple of keyboards and other bits and pieces and yet each is used so well – and sparingly – that it still seems full of space. A simple lyric but a good one, without any baggage or wasted words. Good singing as usual and occasional lead guitar interludes which include harmony playing, I think, in some parts. Very good.


Patrick Duffin – Johnny, Agnetha and Snow

Another good one – I like your theme of highlighting the way music ingrains itself in our heads over Christmas and remains vivid even many years after. You’re good at conjuring up a mood and you’ve done it well here with the opening piano and vocal which sounds rueful and yet also hopeful and celebratory. It’d be easy to revert to humbug when you’re landlocked in Stoke, so well done on remaining optimistic. It feels like a song to curl up by the fire to. Feels very atmospheric - you can smell the brandy snaps and leftover turkey. The bridge is superb, with the strings and a more energetic vocal combining very nicely.


Tim Warner – Christmas Millionaire

The trademark dark humour and insightful lyrics are in evidence again in bits referencing ‘home-made presents and recycled raffle prizes,’ and it’s a very effective moment when Joseph makes his request for money to a dad reluctant to part with cash. The structure is resolutely Warnerian – no chorus as such and a mix of the spoken word, half-singing and ‘normal’ singing. As usual there is a bit of lyrical ambiguity that enhances the song: early on I wasn’t sure whether dad had hit hard times this year in particular or whether he was generally very careful with money. Then the attention shifts to the son’s loss of innocence and what Christmas really means. It’s quite existential and I like that. Do you know The Go-Betweens? Your singing, delivery and style often remind me of Robert Forster’s songs for the band.

Like Patrick’s song there is a sense of melancholy, but also optimism. I like the melodies you bring in for the second half of the song and there’s some neat acoustic guitar playing – you should do more of that. It’s a good title too.


Phil Sanderson – Welcome to the Dawn

A cracking, haunting opening about the dark winter, deep snow and the ‘lost child’ wandering between consciousness and sleep.

It took me a few listens to realise that there is a chorus sung three times and I think that’s because the delivery of each one is quite different. It’s got rousing lines about a desire to ‘push the old year back against the wall and welcome the dawn’, and the middle one of the three choruses is the standout thanks to the close knitting of your singing with the harmony vocal. This section is brilliant. It’s a spiritual, almost like a church hymn. If you worked on polishing the singing elsewhere in the song and got it to this level throughout you’d have something majestic.

There’s some gorgeous guitar playing between 3.38 – 3.50 featuring two accoustics.

Lyrically, it feels like it’s about the day of the year with the most darkness (December 21st), and the knowledge that this is a turning point because there will be more light, and optimism from then on. It may relate to Christmas somehow, but I don’t really mind if it doesn’t – it’s this impenetrable nature of your stuff which is part of its appeal.
Welcome to the Dawn is chock full of ideas. You’ve gone on another heady journey – well done.


Phil Sanderson - Santa Claus Has Got it Coming 
Funny, yet terrifying. You’ve gradually become the Master of the Macabre on this website, Phil – the Edgar Allan Poe of Pop. Danny Baker would probably describe this tune as a trip to the ‘rag and bone shop of the soul’. It’s the sort of Gothic horror that Papa Lazarou out of the League of Gentlemen might favour – three-legged greyhounds and all. The accordion (?) sound gives a spooky feeling, but it’s the Arabesque instrumentation that is the most harrowing. I’ve never heard a Christmas song with this kind of eastern influence, but good on you for throwing us the curve ball.

The sentiment here is very funny – a grown man seeking revenge on Father Christmas for bringing him substandard presents. ‘I get so cross when he brings me dross’ is an outstanding line.

My blood ran cold at the final scene at the foot of the chimney. Does Santa get what’s coming? I’m not sure. There’s a lot of high pitched wailing in the last few bars and I thought initially this was the last breath of a traumatised Santa who’s just been gutted like a fish by our hero. But then this character also sings the line ‘Santa’s got it coming’. Perhaps you just wanted to leave it up to our imagination as to whether Santa gets his comeuppance. A fascinating song – I’ve played it many times.


Phil Sanderson - (At Christmas Time) I’m Traveling Home
This doesn’t sound like the same bloke who did Welcome to the Dawn. Like your other stuff it starts getting rewarding after two or three listens – I especially like the bassline on the verse. It combines really well with the drums.

I’m impressed that you did the a capella stuff at the beginning. It shows increased confidence and belief in your singing. Your singing sounds noticeably stronger on this one generally, particularly on the verse. Good stuff. The harmonies on the verse sound stylish.

It’s another curate’s egg of a tune that defies any categorisation. Well done on writing these three songs. I’m looking forward to your symphony.


Rob Warner – Christmas With Frandy ‘King’ Ellingcomo

Achieves the objective of sounding like a mix of Sinatra, Nat King Cole and the others thanks to some excellent mimicry. I’m sure I heard Michael Bublé in there somewhere as well. Beautiful singing, Rob. I like the voice and the walking double bass combination in the first verse. The introduction of each instrument gradually adds further pleasing layers – first the piano, then the trumpets/brass. The chords at the end of the chorus behind the words ‘magical Christmas times’ sound really good. Phil’s stuff is post-watershed so it’s good to see someone going for the family audience. I picture you singing this in a reindeer sweater, but your wonderful crooning and silky style should be popular with everyone, not just the housewives.

Colin Parish - jingle bloody bells

Lovely busy guitar work, and then a Lindisfarne style harmony vocal, which is a nice juxtaposition to the lyrical content. I like the humour in the lyrics and can certainly identify with the role that I feel older blokes are pushed towards as they age. Catchy from the first hearing. I like the contrast in the break. I think you've done enough to prevent if from being a novelty Christmas song.

Seven Clark - All I want for Christmas is some English food

Very Chas and Dave. A good sing along chorus and some smart lyrics. It all bounces along nicely and, as usual, the backing vocals are well done. It feels more like a novelty song rather than a Christmas song (creeping into novelty song territory was always a strong possibility with this task).

TIm and Glyn - Wishing on a silver lining

This feels quite Motown to me. I like the melody in the chorus and I like the tambourine work. It's feels like a good natured party song. In the break it sound like the xylophone (may not be a xylophone but you know what I mean) player gets a bit lost but the rest of the players on the take that were so pleased they wouldn't redo it. It all helps it sound like a performance rather than something that was assembled on a computer, which has to be a good thing. Most of the songs here are about something specific but this one is different as its a more general 'let's have a party' type of song.

Mike Gosling - Everybody's here

Having had the general impression that most of the contributors here are a bit grumpy about Christmas, spending the big day at Mike's house would be a bit of a trial. This is very 'up' and gathers more power as it goes, getting slowly more raucous, a bit like a song by the Pogues. It's good song well played by Mike and Karl. Again!

Mike Gosling - Christmas Candle

A more thoughtful song here and definitely feels like a Christmas song. Great harmonies. The stand out part of this song, for me, is the guitar. I've always like the way you play and this is a great example.

Patrick Duffin - Johnny, Agnetha and snow

Great chords to open. The apparent simplicity of the presentation pushes you to listen to the lyrics (not something I do easily). The stings are wonderful, I was pretty pleased with the stings I'd added to 'Christmas millionaire' until I heard this. Nicely sentimental without getting really soppy. With a more gravely voice it could almost be a Tom Waits song, so keep smoking and drinking.

Me - Christmas millionaire

I was trying to disguise the beat of the song at the start by having the piano playing on alternative beats of a triplet. I like it when a song tries to hide where the beat is at a the start to keep the listener on their toes.

Eddie Custard - Shiver

Love, love, love this. Great melodies and playing. Possibly more important I strongly identify with this. My daughter was terrified of Father Christmas (and Mr blobby. The trip to the natural history museum to see the dinosaurs was a really bad mistake). It feels like it was made by the Beatles between Rubber Soul and Revolver. The guitar playing is absolutely top draw. Even George would have been impressed.

Phil Sanderson - welcome to the dawn

Well this feels pretty bleak. It could be that Phil is rebelling against the compulsory Christmas cheer that goes with his job. This is possibly the most hymn-like of the bunch, possibly because it sounds like it was recorded in a particularly big church. I sounds like it should be an intimate song but it loses that feeling with all that reverb (you probably know I don't use much myself, so you have to bear that in mind before you take it to heart). It really takes off when there is more dense vocals at the end.

Phil Sanderson - Santa's got it coming

Some of the songs so far have been ambivalent about Christmas. This one is positively hostile and all the better for it. Vocals much better on this and some great guitar work. Certainly the best of the three songs Phil submitted.

Phil Sanderson - (At Christmas Time) I’m Travelling Home

I like the 6/8 feel to this. Rhythmically the strongest of Phil's songs and uses the familiar theme of traveling home for Christmas. The vocal start is good but could have been executed a bit better (says me who resolutely refuses to sing properly). Then it goes into a bit that sounds like it came from the fourth Police album. I would have liked more change In the instrumentation for the different sections.

Rob Warner - Christmas with Frandy ‘King’ Ellingcomo (Remember this Wonderful Christmas time)

With so many shared Christmas history, it's no surprise that this pretty much hits the mark of what I imagine a Christmas song to be. When we were young and listening to mum and dad's records we all seemed to absorb the words without ever attaching any meaning to them, so the 'stream of consciousness' lyric works perfectly, it really doesn't matter that there is no story, to me at least. The only possible criticism is the band is a bit light and could have had another verse where the band really gets going. The singing is, as always, excellent.

A good variety of Christmas songs ranging from party music to some Grumpy Old Men singalongs. If these 12 songs were put out on an album I don't think it would quite reach the musical heights of Phil Spector's Christmas album but it might be a truer reflection of how grumpy we can get at Christmastime.

Colin Parish - Jingle Bloody Bells: The grumpiness starts here; the children's hoorays misled us. The music bounces along on some nice acoustic guitar figures and some catchy "not much" backing vocals, but the lyrics tell the real story. Colin is not really enjoying his Christmas (although perhaps the fact that "everyone's ignoring" him is a good thing - a chance to read some of that book he got for Christmas). Musically, I like the change to the other section of music, but thought that the electric guitar part could be a bit more Slade-like?  9 out of 10 for grumpiness.

Stephen Clarke - English Food: Have Chas and Dave never done a Christmas song? - they've missed a trick if they haven't. This is a good idea for an alternative Christmas song and the Chas/Dave treatment is a perfect fit. If Spitting Image were still running this would be on their Christmas special (but not shown on Christmas Day - which now seems to be restricted to showing Call The Midwife and Downton Abbey - oops some of your grumpiness is rubbing off on me). Another 9 out of 10 for grumpiness.

Tim and Glynn - Silver Lining: Oh yes, Phil Spector hasn't been sidelined entirely. The Supremes / Motown groove is very effective. Although Glynn's voice isn't quite Diana Ross, together with the backing vocals and instruments this works very well. As it's a bit of a party song the lyrics got rather lost on me, but I'm pretty sure there was a notable absence of grumpiness. On a structural point, I think the song could have ended at the 2:15 mark. I didn't think the instrumental part was really necessary. Glockenspiel was nice though. Sorry, 0 out of 10 for grumpiness.

Patrick Duffin - Johnny, Agnetha and Snow: Lovely vocals, piano, strings - but in particular the vocal is delivered superbly. The sleigh bell entrance is a bit of a surprise, then it settles into a nice rhythm. The lyric, being based on nostalgic memories of youth, has a slightly wistful, melancholic feel to it which I like a lot. It celebrates Christmas memories, but not with a party hat on. Being a little older than Patrick, my youthful Christmas memories are more Slade and Wizzard rather than Abba, but the lyrical theme of the song is a good one. And not really any grumpiness - 0 out of 10, I'm afraid.  

Tim Warner - Christmas Millionaire: A really well constructed song, in particular the lyrical theme and the use of Joseph to bookend the song with "can't we just ask for money" and the line about spending it on Boxing Day. The chorus of "Everyone's a millionaire" is excellent as well - again the sentiment is well executed. My comments are all about the lyrics and not the music this time around - I think this means you got the Christmas message across very successfully. The grumpiness (which is more a kind of weariness or disillusionment) early on is eradicated as the song develops, so only 3 out of 10 for grumpiness.

Eddie Custard - You Make Me Shiver: A very good melody and set of chords for this Christmas song. Eddie demonstrates again his ability to create a fluid melodic line. I particularly like the hook "You make me shiver" - it works very well. An interesting angle on the usual Santa Claus is coming lyrical theme. I really like the guitar at the end - I think this is the musical highlight for me. I might need to go back and check for grumpiness - I think we were too scared to be grumpy - so, 0 out of 10 on the grump scale.

Phil Sanderson - Welcome the Dawn: A very good atmospheric beginning, the use of the 12 string guitar creates a dark brooding sound which the lyric and vocal delivery complement. As with Phil's songs in previous months, the listener (well this one in particular) has to work hard to appreciate the song. Maybe I listen to too much pop music
these days, but I definitely find myself drifting off (thought-wise) and hence, I always need to give Phil's songs a good few listens before getting them. A bit too dark, but not necessarily grumpy (1 out of 10 for grumpiness)

Phil Sanderson - Santa's Got It coming: Well, this was a bit different - it sounds like the Clash with Joe Strummer doing one of his more hysterical vocals. The mad bit of vocal at 2:00 is great. The rhythm and instrumentation with its kind of middle eastern vibe is very enjoyable - This is definitely my favourite of Phil's 3 entries. The grumpiness has turned into outright hostility - 7 out of 10 for grumpiness / 10 out of 10 for hostility.

Phil Sanderson - I'm Travelling Home: and Phil rounds off his trilogy with what sounds, initially, like a traditional carol from the 14th century. The different approaches to the Christmas song idea in Phil's songs are very impressive. I like the electric guitar coming in later on to support the vocal - that works well. Not sure there was any grumpiness (so, 0 out of 10 for grumpiness)

Rob Warner - Christmastime: Sorry Rob couldn't remember the whole title - that might just be the longest Christmas Song Title Ever. Well, it certainly does exactly what it said on the tin. This song is a very faithful treatment of the classic Christmas croon - a bit of Frank / Andy, and also from more recent times a lot of Michael Buble. The piano, walking bass, jazzy snare are all great. The brass also sounds great, but I'm not sure the brass runs are in the right places. Rather than using the brass in a call / response manner with the lead vocal, you have the brass line at the same time as the lead vocal - not sure that quite worked for me. Your vocal, as usual, is fantastic - the lyrics are all over the place, which actually makes it a bit more interesting to me. And you can't remember whether you had anything to be grumpy about - so, 0 out of 10 for grumpiness.

Hope you all have a great Christmas (and that you don't get too grumpy).

A great selection - we should have Christmas more often. As Mike says, lots of grumpiness, but mostly it was fun grumpiness. And anyway one of the best Christmas Carols is "In the Bleak Midwinter" which isn't exactly "Jingle Bells".


Colin Parish Jingle Bloody Bells

Yes, I can just imagine the school choirs singing this one. Excellent harmonizing, and there are some deceptively festive melodies in there. It's like that Greg Lake Christmas song, but converted to satanism. Very brave lyrics – I would never dare to use a line about not being romantic with the wife any more, well, not till the divorce anyway, for use in court.
Great use of Garageband's sounds – you must have an improved version compared to mine : )



Tim & Glyn Wishing on a Silver Lining

A return to when I was a kid, certainly, and Motown was king (not that I was aware of it at the time). Especially nice chords for the "Christmas lights reflecting in the rain" section, a real Diana Ross chorus. The piano and xylophone (?) break sounds just a little dark at first, but there's nothing wrong with that. I like the "Jingle Bells" sign off, but you just cost yourself a zillion in royalties…



Mike Gosling Everybody's Here

Zero grumpiness here. A great rock band feel, loud and proud. I like the way the jangly guitar kicks in and the song takes off into full-on party mood. Very effective a cappella (nearly) break with the drumsticks. It captures the Slade spirit, which is a big compliment in my book. And if you need someone to service your central heating I can recommend a reliable address.



Mike Gosling Christmas Candle

Great hook, nice chugging guitar in the background, very effective drumming, and the chords change at exactly the right moment to take us into the chorus, which ends in a surprising minor section. Refreshing to hear a bit of shameless White Christmas-style sincerity for once - it's harder to do than taking the pee. They'll be singing this one at nativity plays everywhere (though they'll have to be flame-free candles of course, for safety reasons).



Patrick Duffin Johnny Agnetha and Snow

That third chord in the intro gives it away – this is going to be a "morning after" song, clearing up the wrapping paper after everyone's opened their presents, laughed at their novelty socks, broken their toys, and gone home. Beautifully played and sung, as you always do. It's a highly effective and (to me) perfectly melancholic conjuring up of the spirit of Christmas past. The antidote to Slade. Pass the whisky.



Tim Warner Christmas Millionaire

John and Yoko have nothing on this. It's like a short film, a sort of slow-motion stroll through the madness of Christmas shopping, showing how pointless it all is. Nice hook line, too, a sudden outbreak of more conventional songwriting: "we're all millionaires at Christmas". I definitely should have listened to this before going Christmas shopping.



Eddie Custard Shiver

Tim Burton's Christmas. Could just as easily be about God (except for the hat and gloves of course). The ¾ rhythm (if that's what it is) matches the theme perfectly. Excellent piano playing throughout, jingling us along through Santa's grotty grotto. Great chords on "you make me shiver inside", and very effective harmonies on the bridge. And as usual a great guitar break. A Custard classic.



Phil Sanderson Welcome to the Dawn
Very wintry feel, a sort of pagan hymn, like a photo of a snowy forest. I like the echoey guitar that comes in just before the first choral section, which works really well too. And then the even more echoey guitar solo fits the mood perfectly, as does the 12-string strumming as the song ends. A surprisingly Christmassy song because it really captures the chill of mid-winter.



Phil Sanderson Santa's Got It Coming

You and Eddie Custard need to hook up and make sure Santa never bothers us ever again. This is a sort of Clash Christmas song, with its Joe Strummer-ish hook putting the boot in to the man in red. Even the falsetto at the end feels like it could be from the Clash's Sandinista period. Or the Specials – the hook reminds me a bit of "Ghost Town", with the same gloomy predictions. Very nice bass playing, effective guitar solo, and those sleigh bells are gloriously ironic.



Rob Warner Christmas with …

Even if it's meant to be a spoof, it works really well as a straight Michael Bublé Christmas special. Great old-time big-band feel, all those little touches like the brass and the drum fills are probably meant to be ironic, but they work, and when you talk about "magical Christmas times" it rings completely true. All you needed to do was go out with a big major flourish on the last vocal line and it would have been 100% celebration. The most Christmassy song of the lot.

Colin Parish - Jingle Bloody Bells
Love the sentiment –it’s not blasphemous in my book, just brutally honest. Like other reviewers I enjoyed the stark contrast between children’s cheers and the main vocal. Good arrangement, just wish there were more ‘bottom end’ ( maybe it’s the result of MP3 – have had mp3 issues with some of my songs ) Deserves a cracking good video.

Stephen Clarke - All I Want For Christmas is Some English Food.
Another song which I can immediately imagine with a video. Brilliant ‘effortless’ lyrics and terrific vocal delivery. The backing vocals are fantastic throughout, together with the different voices. I won’t be able to look at a Xmas menu again without thinking of this song. ( although, like you I don’t eat meat- I’m actually a Vegan) Does Auntie get her stuffing....oo er..

Tim and Glyn - Wishing on a Silver Lining
Lovely upbeat, positive song. It’s a rare event for me to like any joyful Xmas song, but you have certainly achieved with this one. Your vocal has definite echoes of Barbara Gaskin ( + Dave Stewart ) on this song. ( = good for me!! ) Enjoyed the keyboard / brass parts too!

Michael Gosling - Everybody’s Here
Wonderful arrangement and production from first note to last. Another upbeat song for me to really like. Maybe my grumpy views on Xmas have been altered at last – my family will be indebted to you, Mike! This song has me singing along every time now, foot tapping, playing along. ... Great!

Michael Gosling - Christmas Candle
Favourite ‘rhythm’ this month, and terrific chord / surprise at end of chorus. I can see myself wanting to use this in school next Christmas (official permission request!). It’s sort of 80s but at the same time very ‘now’. Enviable vocal performance – I can only aspire. Like the string sound again – has inspired me to work harder on mine for December!

Patrick Duffin - Johnny Agnetha and Snow
Sentimental!?? ‘Landlocked in Stoke’ could become a euphemism and may even make it into the next rewrite of the OED! Very effective strings used, and liked surprising entrance of sleigh bells. Another faultless vocal delivery. ( and another faultless instrument delivery, too! )

Tim Warner - Christmas Millionaire
Impressive ‘surreal’ opening to song ( both lyric and music) The piano part is my favourite part of song after a few listening – sort of hypnotic and I hope you somehow incorporate this section into another song with a wild guitar solo over the top! I almost feel like we have entered a daydream for this song – like the singer manages to sort out his views on Xmas as the day progresses. Excellent ‘backing’ vocal contribution!


Eddie Custard - You Make Me Shiver

Disturbing. Makes you reflect about the whole Santa thing and how we seem to celebrate a fictional character who spies on us to see if we’ve been naughty... Big Brother is watching you ( on CCTV?) The mood of the music matches perfectly to the lyrics – dark and scared.
I’m glad that you avoided making this Christmassy sounding. It reflects ( quite justified ) fear.
During the past two weeks I’ve been accompanying multiple classes of children singing ‘Santa Claus is coming to Town’. I’m now never going to play it again - EVER. I’d love to get away with playing ‘You make me shiver’ but I might get called into the head’s office ( she, like Santa, seems to know what we’re all doing )
Twin Peaks guitar playing a highlight.


Rob Warner - Christmas with Frandy King Ellingcomo(Remember this Wonderful Christmas Time)
Ah yes, Christmas is finally here.....
Seemingly effortless vocal crooning over a wonderful bass line. I have a mental picture of a home for the more elderly with a rather forgetful patient / resident half in pyjamas and half in evening suit serenading the assembled home with the orderlies in the background checking his meds and making comments about how quickly his recall of the past is diminishing. That was a long sentence, I can’t even remember the beginning...
I know you wanted to get the big band on this. I can sort of imagine the song without the big band, too - not a criticism, just a thought !!

Congrats to Patrick and Eddie. A joint Christmas Number One. It's as if Slade and Wizard were competing in 1973 all over again (except that Slade won that year!)

Well done to Patrick and Eddie. Two really good songs and I'm feeling a bit smug because I voted for them both.

I've really enjoyed being part of the SWC this year and have learned much from all the comments and from everyone else's approach to a given task. Thanks for listening.

The only thing that troubles me slightly (writing this down makes it seem a bigger concern than it really is) is that we're mainly blokes of a certain age, writing songs for blokes of a certain age. It would be nice if we could get some more input from someone outside this profile.

Congratulations to Eddie and Patrick - I enjoyed both songs.

My thanks also to Rob for putting the Collective together - it has been great to be part of it this year.

Happy New Year to you all.