Every year is the same. Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas’ is on the radio at least twice an hour and
your tipsy Aunt somehow knows all the words to ‘Fairytale of New York’ even though she’s already had enough – it baffles you every time Christmas comes around. However, there is a reason for this; writing a quality Christmas song essentially ensures an Artist’s legacy forever. In relative terms, the selection of festive songs in comparison to the rest of the year is minimal (despite nearly every burnt-out act trying their hand at it) and so if you can come up with something special, there’s a strong chance people will be playing your tune for years to come whilst they open their presents and dance around the Christmas tree, if people actually do that.
But herein lies the problem: naturally, there is a limited amount of material with which one can write a festive song and there’s only so many jingling bells and sleigh-rides one can stomach when you’re battling your way through the queues to get your kid the latest toy.
And that’s another thing – when you think about it, how many of these songs we hear every year from the end of November up until the big day actually feel like they were written from the heart? How many are honestly presenting a true and meaningful image of what Christmas is all about? The problem is, much like many of the cheap and tacky gifts you find in your crackers, these songs are so very fake and superficial; they simply gloss over the real importance of the Christmas period with a thin veneer of fabricated snow and pound shop tinsel. I don’t want to put a downer on Christmas songs in any way, they make people feel happy and jovial, but after years of listening to the same songs at Christmas, I think we can all admit that we have given into the ‘image’ and falsity of Christmas, rather than embracing its soul and sentiment.
The question that troubles most musicians as they sit down to write a Christmas song is probably: “How do I make this not sound cheesy and clichéd?”. Writing a Christmas song is far from an easy task, yet it is a hugely fruitful one if you can find the perfect recipe.
Everyone knows Slade’s classic ‘Merry Christmas Everybody’ which earned front-man, Noddy Holder, £800,000 in 2013 alone (Source: Telegraph). As you can see, writing an amazing Christmas song is the gift that literally keeps on giving; every year when Christmas comes around you’re guaranteed a big fat bonus that will more than likely keep you going until next year (Think Hugh Grant’s character in About a Boy who lives off the royalties from his Father’s one hit wonder Christmas song). It’s practically an annual Lottery!
Being able to work with a plethora of clients who have paved the way within the music industry is always something that inspires us. Last year, we worked on many Christmas release campaigns and we would like to highlight the music pr campaign of one of our wonderful clients, Kajagoogoo star and 80’s favourite Limahl.
Well known for his favoured hits ‘Too Shy’ and ‘Never Ending Story’, we wanted to not only celebrate Limahl’s undeniable previous success, but to also highlight his most recent ventures in the present day.
Something that Quite Great prides themselves on most is the relationship between our team and our artists we are working with. We set up a plethora of meetings with Limahl to speak through everyone’s ideas and visions for how we could imagine a Winter campaign looking, as Christmas was just around the corner and Limahl’s newest revamped festive single ‘One Wish For Christmas’ was ready to be heard by all!
Throughout the excitement of the festive season and Limahl’s newest music venture, we always include other interesting areas into our initial PR planning. Through one of our conversations with Limahl we found that he was incredibly passionate about the topic of his struggles with IBS and the inclusion of his FODMAP Diet. Through our strong contacts, we were able to get a pieve in The Daily Mail through the ‘Under The Microscope’ section where Limahl shared an honest Q&A focussed around his health journey.
https://twitter.com/Limahl_Official/status/1474533850986467335
We also knew that due to the excitement around the Christmas Single, we needed to get Limahl involved with as many radio opportunities as possible. We organised 19+ radio interview and radio play opportunities, including 11 BBC Radio interviews all where Limahl was able to speak on the creation of the single, his past and present creative ventures and of course speak on the topic of Kajagoogoo and the abundance of well loved tracks from the 80’s and beyond. As well as this, we got Limahl a great slot on two GB News appearances where he chatted with Mark Dolon about his music career and joining the chart battle for Christmas No.1!
skype – quitegr8
Leave a Comment