Last Christmas has reappeared in the Top 40 every year since 2007, thanks to the advent of downloads, and then streaming – each of which allowed classic songs to contribute to chart data.
Nostalgia has been the driving force behind the Christmas charts ever since, as perennial favourites like Fairytale Of New York and Jingle Bell Rock soundtrack the holidays.
Jack Saunders, who presents Radio 1’s Chart Show, said it was hard for new songs to compete.
“It takes time for songs to warm up and become classics,” he said.
“I think it would be a huge feat for something to come along and be number one at the first time of asking.”
Consequently, 29 of the songs in this year’s Top 40 were Christmas-themed, with only two newcomers amongst the standards: Tom Grennan’s It Can’t Be Christmas and Laufey’s Christmas Magic.
Both were commissioned by Amazon Music, which automatically played them to anyone asking their smart speaker to play Christmas music.
That gave the two artists a head start in the sales race, with Grennan’s song ultimately making it to number four.
The Coventry singer campaigned hard for that position, even getting a tattoo reading “Christmas No 1 is...” on his right thigh, which he said he would complete with whichever song emerged victorious.
