Step into Christmas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Step into Christmas"
Step into Christmas.png
Solid centre variant of UK vinyl single
Single by Elton John
B-side"Ho, Ho, Ho (Who'd Be a Turkey at Christmas)"
Released23 November 1973
Recorded11 November 1973 – Morgan Studios, Willesden, London
GenrePop rock, Christmas music
Length4:30
LabelDJM, MCA
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Gus Dudgeon
Elton John singles chronology
"Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"
(1973) 		"Step into Christmas"
(1973) 		"Bennie and the Jets"
(1974)

"Step into Christmas" is a Christmas song written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, and performed by Elton John. It was released as a stand-alone single in November 1973 with the song "Ho, Ho, Ho (Who'd Be a Turkey at Christmas)" as the B-side. Upon its original 1973 release, the song peaked at No. 24 on the UK Singles Chart, and it reached a new peak of No. 8 on the same chart in 2019.[1] In the United States, the single reached No. 56 on the Cash Box Top 100 Singles chart[2] and No. 1 on the Billboard Christmas Singles chart.[3][note 1]

"Step into Christmas" was later included as a bonus track on the 1995 remastered re-issue of the album Caribou, even though it was released in the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road era. It also appears on the albums Elton John's Christmas Party, Rare Masters, To Be Continued, Diamonds and various Christmas compilation albums. Two versions with different vocals are known to exist: the original single mix and a version recorded for John's 1973 performance of "Step into Christmas" on The Gilbert O'Sullivan Show television program (which featured Bernie Taupin standing in for Ray Cooper on percussion).[5]

In 2009, "Step into Christmas" was the ninth most played Christmas song of the noughties in the UK.[6] In December 2018 the song was certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry for sales of 400,000 copies.[7] In December 2019 it was certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry for sales of 600,000 copies.

Recording[]

According to liner notes about the song (in Rare Masters and Elton John's Christmas Party), the track and its B-side, both produced by Gus Dudgeon, were recorded during a session on 11 November 1973 at London's Morgan Studios,[8] which was owned by drummer Barry Morgan, who had played on several of John's early albums. "Step into Christmas" was mixed to sound like one of producer Phil Spector's 1960s recordings, using plenty of compression and imitating his trademark wall of sound technique. This was intentional according to both John and Taupin, and an homage of sorts to Christmas songs by Spector-produced groups such as The Ronettes.

Music video[]

A music video was produced to promote the single, and is notable for its cameo appearance of Taupin, who is seen briefly playing tubular bells during the song's bridge. John is also seen holding his Watford F.C. supporters card. John would later go on to own the club.

Chart performance[]

UK Singles Chart
Year Peak
position 		Chart run
1973 24 Seven weeks (8 December 1973 – 19 January 1974)[9]
2007 53 Three weeks (15–29 December 2007)[10]
2011 64 Three weeks (17–31 December 2011)[11]
2012 75 Two weeks (15–22 December 2012)[12]
2014 84 Four weeks (13 December 2014 – 3 January 2015)[13]
2015 58 Three weeks (17–31 December 2015)[14]
2016 37 Four weeks (15 December 2016 – 5 January 2017)[15]
2017 11 Four weeks (14 December 2017 – 4 January 2018)[16]
2018 10 Four weeks (13 December 2018 – 3 January 2019)[17]
2019 8 Four weeks (12 December 2019 – 2 January 2020)[18]
2020 8 Seven weeks (26 November 2020 – 7 January 2021)

Charts[]

Chart (1973–2021) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[19] 44
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[20] 68
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[21] 41
Germany (Official German Charts)[22] 69
Global 200 (Billboard)[23] 55
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[24] 96
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[25] 38
Portugal (AFP)[26] 191
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[27] 67
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[28] 72
UK Singles (OCC)[29] 8
US Billboard Christmas Singles[3] 1
US Holiday 100 (Billboard)[30] 84
US Cash Box Top 100 Singles[31] 56

Certifications[]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[7] Platinum 600,000double-dagger

double-dagger Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Other versions[]

"Step into Christmas" was covered by the band The Wedding Present on their 1992 single "No Christmas" and also covered by The Business for the holiday EP Bollocks to Christmas. The song was also covered by The Puppini Sisters on their 2010 holiday album Christmas with The Puppini Sisters.

Notes[]

  1. ^ In years when Billboard published a Christmas Singles chart, Christmas singles were not listed on the Hot 100 chart.[4]

References[]

  1. ^ "Step into Christmas | full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  2. ^ "CASH BOX Top 100 Singles Week ending DECEMBER 29, 1973". Archived from the original on 1 October 2012. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Whitburn, Joel. Top Pop Singles 1955–1996 (1997):316
  4. ^ Whitburn, Joel. Top Pop Singles 1955–1996 (1997):xi
  5. ^ Elton John – Step into Christmas (Gilbert O’Sullivan Show, 1973) on YouTube
  6. ^ "Mariah Is Our Christmas Number 1". Prsformusic.com. 22 December 2009. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b "British single certifications – Elton John – Step into Christmas". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 14 December 2018.Select singles in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Step into Christmas in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  8. ^ Moments: ‘Step Into Christmas’ Retrieved 19 December 2017
  9. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 50: 30 December 1973 - 05 January 1974". Official Charts. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  10. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100: 23 December 2007 - 29 December 2007". Official Charts. Retrieved 10 December 2020. The chart listed Elton John's Christmas E.P. instead of solely the song itself.
  11. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100: 11 December 2011 - 17 December 2011". Official Charts. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  12. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100: 09 December 2012 - 15 December 2012". Official Charts. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  13. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100: 28 December 2014 - 03 January 2015". Official Charts. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  14. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100: 25 December 2015 - 31 December 2015". Official Charts. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  15. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100: 30 December 2016 - 05 January 2017". Official Charts. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  16. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100: 29 December 2017 - 04 January 2018". Official Charts. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  17. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100: 28 December 2018 - 03 January 2019". Official Charts. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  18. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100: 27 December 2019 - 02 January 2020". Official Charts. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  19. ^ "Australian-charts.com – Elton John – Step into Christmas". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  20. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Elton John – Step into Christmas" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  21. ^ "Elton John Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  22. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Elton John – Step into Christmas" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  23. ^ "Elton John Chart History (Global 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  24. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Elton John – Step into Christmas" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  25. ^ "Charts.nz – Elton John – Step into Christmas". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  26. ^ "Portuguesecharts.com – Elton John – Step into Christmas". AFP Top 100 Singles. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  27. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Elton John – Step into Christmas". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  28. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Elton John – Step into Christmas". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  29. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  30. ^ "Elton John Chart History (Holiday 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  31. ^ "CASH BOX Top 100 Singles Week ending DECEMBER 29, 1973". Archived from the original on 1 October 2012. Retrieved 18 January 2009.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""