"I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" is a Christmas song recorded by British glam rock band Wizzard. It was first released in December 1973 and, as with most Wizzard songs, was written and produced by the band's frontman Roy Wood—formerly of The Move and a founding member of ELO. Despite the song's strong, long-lasting popularity, it has reached no higher than number four on the UK Singles Chart, a position it occupied for four consecutive weeks from December 1973 to January 1974. The song was beaten to the 1973 Christmas Number 1 spot by Slade's "Merry Xmas Everybody", which remained at the top of the charts for five weeks, from December 1973 to January 1974. Wood sings lead vocals. The backing vocals for the single are by the Suedettes, augmented by the choir of Stockland Green School First Year. The original sleeve of the single credits "Miss Snob and Class 3C" with "Additional noises". The basic track for the single was recorded in August 1973, so to create a wintry feeling engineer Steve Brown decorated the studio with Christmas decorations and turned the air conditioning down to its coldest setting. Wood wore a woollen hat found in lost property. The schoolchildren were brought down from the Midlands to London by bus during the autumn half-term to add their contributions. At the time of the single's release, Wizzard's contract with EMI was close to expiration. Promotional copies were pressed by Warner Brothers, with whom the band had just signed for future releases. Only then was it discovered that EMI were legally entitled to the track after all, so the Warner Bros. Records pressings were halted and the record appeared on the Harvest label, but with the same picture sleeve. In a UK television special on ITV in December 2012, the British public voted the song second in The Nation's FavouriteChristmas Song. Although Wood had arranged for the members of the Stockland Green School choir to sing at the Top of the Pops television recording, their place was taken by children provided by a local London stage school.
Music video
The video shows the band dressed up in winter-themed studio and are then joined by a group of children who play instruments and join in with the singing.
Re-releases
As it was kept from number one by Slade's "Merry Xmas Everybody" it was decided to re-release the single in 1981. It was then found that the original tapes had been lost, so the song was re-recorded by the band and a new choir, from Kempsey Primary School in Worcester, was used. It is this version that has been used since. The single reached number 41 on the UK Singles Chart, and was released again in 1984, this time with an additional extended 12-inch version, getting as far as number 23. As downloads became eligible for the weekly Top 75 from January 2007 onwards, and with exposure thanks to an Argostelevision advertisement, the song charted again in November and December 2007, this time reaching number 16. In the week of 13 December 2008, the song peaked at number 31. In the week of 14 December 2009, it peaked at number 45. In the week of 11 December 2010, it peaked at number 46. In the week of 12 December 2011, it peaked at number 28. It has appeared in the British top 40 every Christmas since, and in the top 20 every Christmas since 2017.
Charts
A Vocal backing by the Suedettes
B Vocal backing by the Suedettes and the Beach Boys
C Wizzard featuring vocal backing by the Suedettes plus the Stockland Green Bilateral School First Year Choir with additional noises by Miss Snob and Class 3C
D Credited to Roy Wood's Wizzard
E Re-entry of re-issue with 12" re-recording
''The Big Reunion'' version
Background and release
On 23 October 2013, it was announced that the six 1990s and early 2000s pop bands who reunited for the ITV2 series The Big Reunion - Five, 911, Atomic Kitten, B*Witched, Blue, Honeyz and Liberty X - would be releasing a cover version of "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday", with all proceeds split between six Text Santa charities: Age UK, Barnardo's, BeatBullying, the British Heart Foundation, CLIC Sargent and Help the Hospices. The recording of the charity single, which was produced by Danish producer and songwriter Cutfather, was the subject of a behind-the-scenes documentary broadcast on ITV2 on 12 December 2013. The song was released on 16 December 2013.
Music video
The official music video for the Big Reunion version of the song was uploaded to YouTube on 2 December 2013.
The song was also re-recorded again in 2000 and released as a medley with "Wombling Merry Christmas", as a novelty record, when it was released as "I Wish It Could Be a Wombling Christmas Everyday" by The Wombles with Roy Wood. This version reached number 22 in the UK Singles Chart.
Wilson Phillips on their 2010 album Christmas in Harmony. The official music video was uploaded to YouTube on 4 November 2010.
Nick Lowe in 2013, on his holiday albumQuality Street: A Seasonal Selection for All the Family and its live 2015 follow-up album The Quality Holiday Revue Live.
