It’s a cliché but, as the old saying goes, every Welsh man and woman can sing like an angel. Whether that statement is true or not is another matter.
But even if it is only partly accurate, it could be one of the reasons why Welsh recording artists have had a more than generous distribution of the spoils when it comes to hit records. Even the briefest study of Top Ten successes since records (no pun intended) began back in the 1950s will show a considerable number of Welsh singers regularly appearing in the lists. Plus the much coveted Christmas No 1 hit single has been claimed by several Welsh singers over the years, while others have come very close.
Shirley Bassey just missed out on the Christmas No 1 spot when her song “As I Love You” hit the top spot on 9 January 1959, just two weeks too late. It had already appeared in the singles charts, reaching No. 27 the previous December, then disappearing before re-entering a little while later to claim poll position. The song – one of only two No. 1s in her glittering career, the other being the double-A Side ‘Reach for the Stars’ and ‘Climb Every Mountain’ – went on to remain on the singles charts for seventeen weeks.
Tom Jones
After Jones, Cardiff singer and guitarist Dave Edmunds was the next Welsh artist to claim a Christmas No. 1 with his perennial favourite ‘I Hear You Knocking’. It achieved the top place in December 1970, his first hit and his only No 1. He continued to record and achieve Top Ten hits, however, throughout the 1970s.
Shakin' Stevens
Shaky’s Christmas No. 1 returned to the charts in 2007, reaching No. 22, and has since charted every year since the download concept began. It is one of those songs that you hear in every shopping precinct and public house while the Christmas season lasts – infuriating but decidedly catchy.
Welsh singers and musicians have also been featured as part of several groups to achieve Christmas No 1s. One of the most notable was Swansea guitarist Spencer Davis. Educated at Dynevor School in the city, Davis moved to London when he was sixteen. His last name was really spelled Davies in the traditional Welsh way but with many English promoters and publicists repeatedly calling him ‘Daveys’, Spencer decided to drop the letter ‘e’ from his surname. He formed The Spencer Davis Group in Birmingham in 1963 and the band achieved the Christmas No. 1 position with their fourth hit ‘Keep on Running’ which got to No 1 on 2 December 1965 and remained in the charts for a further fourteen weeks.
Amen Corner was an all Welsh band with members from places like Cardiff, Neath and, in the case of leader Andy Fairweather Low, Ystrad Mynach. The band, named after a regular slot in the music programme at the Victoria Club in Cardiff, did not quite manage a Christmas No. 1 but they were close. Their song ‘If Paradise Is Half As Nice’ reached the top at the end of January 1969 and they went on to score several other successes before breaking up. Andy Fairweather Low later achieved success as a solo artist with his haunting ‘Wide Eyed and Legless’.
The Flying Pickets
Other Welsh singers, people like Pontardawe-born Mary Hopkin, Swansea’s Bonnie Tyler and groups like The Manic Street Preachers haven’t had Christmas No. 1 hits – yet! There is still time and with quality acts regularly coming to the fore there is every reason to hope that it will not be long before Welsh singers and musicians achieve that much valued and sought after Christmas No. 1 spot.
