When Cliff Ruled Christmas 🕊️🍷

2025-12-18

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Mistletoe and Wine became the UK’s Christmas Number One on 18th December, 1988; the first of three singles Cliff Richard would take to the top of the festive charts. What makes its triumph so curious is that the song began life as a sardonic showtune written in 1976 for a small musical based on The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen. Originally, it underscored a scene in which the impoverished heroine is literally kicked into the snow by the heartless middle classes. Its journey to yuletide staple began with T...

Mistletoe and Wine became the UK’s Christmas Number One on 18th December, 1988; the first of three singles Cliff Richard would take to the top of the festive charts.

What makes its triumph so curious is that the song began life as a sardonic showtune written in 1976 for a small musical based on The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen. Originally, it underscored a scene in which the impoverished heroine is literally kicked into the snow by the heartless middle classes.

Its journey to yuletide staple began with Twiggy’s 1987 performance in an ITV adaptation of the musical. By then the number had morphed into a lively pub singalong, catching the ear of Terry Britten, long-time Cliff collaborator, who passed the tune along.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly discover why Leslie Stewart, one of the songwriters, disliked Cliff’s canonical version; explain why British ears appreciate the song with simultaneous earnestness and irony; and reveal what links this festive classic to the iconic theme tune for ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?’...

Further Reading:

• ‘I Wrote That: Cliff Richard’s ‘Mistletoe and Wine’’ (PRS, 2024):

https://www.prsformusic.com/m-magazine/features/mistletoe-and-wine-cliff-richard-leslie-stewart-keith-strachan-christmas-i-wrote-that

• ‘Mistletoe and Wine's political beginnings’ (BBC News, 2013): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-25333691

• ‘Cliff Richard - Mistletoe and Wine’ (Official Video, 1988): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZCEBibnRM8

#Music #Christmas #Christian #80s #Theatre

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The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart