Sam Ryder Takes On Wham! For UK No 1 Single
Sam Ryder is challenging Wham! for No 1 in the Official UK Singles Chart this week. You’re Christmas To Me currently sits less than 800 chart units away from knocking Last Christmas from the top spot.
As it stands, Sam’s Amazon Music Original is expected to rise to No 2, meaning it’d becoming his second single to reach that position after his Eurovision 2022 anthem SPACE MAN.
Meanwhile, The Pogues ft. Kirsty MacColl’s Christmas classic Fairytale of New York is currently sat in third position in the mid-week charts, though that could change following the funeral of Shane MacGowan last week.
In an interview with Official Charts, Ryder spoke about the making of the song, “I wrote it in August, so high summer. When I wrote it, the deadline was that day; I had to get it to Amazon Prime Video for their movie Your Christmas or Mine 2. I thought ‘I’ll sort it out tomorrow,’ then ‘tomorrow’ became the next day, then the next day.
The day came and it was like ‘have you got your homework to hand in?’, essentially. I was like ‘oh my God!’ I took a train to my friend Max [Wolfgang]’s, and I’d had the chorus for a Christmas song in my head for a long time. I was thinking ‘whatever I come up with on this train journey is the song, because there’s no other option.’”
Ryder went on to talk about his favourite Christmas songs, “My favourite, and one that’s inspired You’re Christmas To Me, is Darlene Love’s All Alone On Christmas. Darlene’s the Queen of Christmas, in my opinion.
“It’s very much in that Home Alone 2 era of Christmas songs. Late 80s, early 90s Tina Turner-sounding saxophones, big New York swing drums. Those songs that remind you of shopping on a freezing cold, festive night.
“We went with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band vibes, and wanted to add an element of The Darkness with the guitars.
“If you want to know my favourite Christmas songs, just listen to the whole of the Home Alone 2 soundtrack.