SHAKIN' STEVENS "MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE"

By Mark Nobes, chief editor

"Merry Christmas Everyone" by Shakin' Stevens may be an 80s Christmas classic, but it has re-entered the UK singles chart every year since 2007, bringing the song to a whole new generation of listeners. In 2022, the song reached No.12 on Dec 9th for one week. It has now spent over 70 weeks in the Top 100, which should earn Shaky enough royalties to keep him well stocked up on mince pies, at least!

For many, it still remains a firm favourite at Christmas parties and on supermarket playlists. It's also played every Christmas without fail in my household, and it certainly gets me up and out of my chair, despite the creaking knees these days! 
The single was Shaky's fourth and last No.1 single, and was written by the Scottish songwriter and producer Bob Heatlie, and produced by the Welsh singer/songwriter and producer Dave Edmunds.
The song was originally planned to be released in 1984, but was postponed as Shaky's record company, Epic, didn't want it to clash with the Band Aid single "Do They Know It's Christmas?", which turned out to be a wise move - Wham! had to settle with #2 in 1984 with "Last Christmas".
Merry Christmas Everyone 1986 reissue - Epic A 6769 0 - Shakin' Stevens

7 inch vinyl sleeve (1986 UK reissue)

Video

in December 2022, the video had received a total of 101 million views on Youtube, with Shaky's official channel having 201k subscribers. There is also an official lyrics video which had racked up 36 million views in two years.
It starts with a young blonde girl boarding a plane to Santa World. Then we see her get off a bus with Shaky, who is dressed in a long, grey overcoat with a red scarf. Shaky also meets Santa and lots of other children, and we see scenes of them playing in the snow, building a snowman and sledging.  Shaky joins in with a snowball fight and after hitting the snowman, he gives chase. Amongst the people in the video are Shaky's own son and daughter and their friends, as well as his band members.

Chart Performance

This follow-up single to Lipstick, Powder and Paint reached #1 in the UK for Christmas 1985 on December 22nd, staying their for two weeks before being knocked off the top spot by Pet Shop Boys with West End Girls.
"Merry Christmas Everyone" was released as the follow-up to "Lipstick, Powder & Paint" and entered the UK Singles Chart at No.38 on 1 Dec 1985, reaching No.1 on 22nd Dec, pushing "Saving All My Love For You" by Whitney Houston down to No.2. It remained at No.1 for two weeks before being knocked off the top spot by Pet Shop Boys "West End Girls".
"Merry Christmas Everyone" was also a No.3 hit on the Official German Charts and the Austrian main Top 40 chart. It reached No.6 on the Danish Tracklisten chart and No.10 on Belgium's Ultratop chart.
Shakin' Stevens - Merry Christmas Everyone 7 inch vinyl sleeve front

1985 7 inch vinyl (UK)

Formats

UK 7 Inch Vinyl Single - Epic - A 6768

A. Merry Christmas Everyone - 3:39

B. With My Heart - 2:45

UK 12 Inch Vinyl Single - Epic - TA 6769

A. Merry Christmas Everyone - 4:17

B1. Blue Christmas - 2:45

B2. With My Heart - 2:45

The B-side "With My Heart" featured as track 10 on the album Lipstick Powder and Paint. 

By the time of the single's release, the Welsh rock & roll singer had already achieved success with three No.1 singles in the 80s, with "This Ole House" (1981), "Green Door" (1981) and "Oh Julie" (1982). Overall, Shaky achieved 35 Top 40 hits, 28 of these in the eighties.