Festive favourites

“Merry Xmas, Everybody” No.1, 1973 Slade’s chart-topper was recorded in New York while the band toured the world. Flamboyant guitarist, Dave Hill – remembered for his trademark high-heel boots and dis

→ For 40 years, George Michael’s Last Christmas was the bridesmaid. The nearly-but-never-quite. The most successful single never to reach number one, it was pop’s great injustice. And then the spell b

Your favourite song could hold the key to getting through this frantic season. Bethan Rose Jenkins finds out how

Three women share their stories of festive singing

I“’m dreaming of a white Christmas”: it’s a refrain that we’ve been hearing and singing for 83 years now. The probability of that dream coming to fruition varies by abode, of course, but is always pre

13 DECEMBER SATURDAY