What are you listening to right now?
- Thread starter Andem
- Start date
The Pretenders - "2000 Miles" (1983)
In 1983, the British band fronted by an American woman had a big Christmas hit with this.
In 2022, Chrissie Hynde, now 74, applied for, and became, British.
The song is simply about a woman missing a man at Christmas.
Chrissie has said of the band's guitarist: "Robbie McIntosh plays beautifully on '2000 Miles.' Anything to avoid listening to my voice and my stupid words."
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Wham! - "Last Christmas" (1984)
Despite being the UK's 1984 Christmas No2 - having been beaten to the coveted UK Christmas No1 by Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" (in which George Michael himself sang) - amazingly the band fronted by George Michael, who went on to have a successful solo career and who died on Christmas Day 2016, are the favourites to get a THIRD CONSECUTIVE UK Christmas No1 with this song, having achieved the feat in 2023 and 2024, 40 years or so after it was released.
Pepsi and Shirlie ended up become a duo in their own right, and Shirlie, who is now 63, is married to actor and former Spandau Ballet bassist Martin Kemp...
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New Order - "Bizarre Love Triangle" (1986)
In an almost unique scenario, after Ian Curtis, the vocalist of rockers Joy Division hanged himself in his kitchen in 1980 just before they were about to undertake a tour of America, the Salford, Greater Manchester, band re-organised themselves as syth-pop band New Order, not only charging into a new band but changing musical genres.
New Order are still going to this day.
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Spandau Ballet - "Musclebound" (1981)
In the year I was born, the London New Wave band had a hit with this.
Spandau were New Romantics, a UK subculture of the late 70s and early 80s in which men wore elaborate and androgynous clothing and makeup.
Bassist Martin Kemp later became an actor - most famous for playing Steve Owen for many years in BBC soap opera EastEnders - and is married to former Wham! backing vocalist Shirlie Holliman.
Martin's brother Gary Kemp was the vocalist.
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Aled Jones - "Walking In The Air" (1982)
In the year in which the British unleashed the Gurkhas onto the Argentinians in the Falklands War, Aled Jones had a Christmas hit with this song that featured in the 1982 animated British Christmas movie "The Snowman".
The animated movie is about a young boy who builds a snowman. The snowman comes alive, the two become best friends and embark on a magical Christmas adventure.
The video was filmed in the Brecon Beacons, Wales.
Today, Aled is a TV presenter.
In the year in which the British unleashed the Gurkhas onto the Argentinians in the Falklands War, Aled Jones had a Christmas hit with this song that featured in the 1982 animated British Christmas movie "The Snowman".
The animated movie is about a young boy who builds a snowman. The snowman comes alive, the two become best friends and embark on a magical Christmas adventure.
The video was filmed in the Brecon Beacons, Wales.
Today, Aled is a TV presenter.
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Kylie Minogue - "XMAS" (2025)
The Australian and British songstress and actress, 57, has got the coveted UK Christmas No1 of 2025.
It is her eighth UK No1 hit and it's made her the first female solo artist to top the UK charts in four different decades - 80s, 90s, 00s, 10s and 20s...
The Australian-born singer and actress, who has also become British, sets the record straight on British Christmases Vs Aussie Christmases. In Australia, of course, Christmas is at the height of summer...
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