britneyspears

WIZZARD really got into the Christmas spirit while recording their 1973 hit festive song… in August. The band hired fans to cool their studio down to a frosty temperature and decorated it with tinsel and festive ornaments. They even recorded the song wearing woolly hats and scarves! Frontman Roy Wood had wanted to create a ‘proper rock and roll’ Christmas song, having grown tired of the novelty acts of the previous years (Jimmy Osmond was top of the festive pops in 1972, with Benny Hill taking the honour the previous year). Initially he was going for a stripped back approach but soon decided to go at it with glam rock gusto. This was no more evident than when, after deciding a sound effect wasn’t good enough, a real cash register was hired to create the iconic opening. Wood told Q Magazine in 1996: “We hired a proper old fashioned metal cash register with all the scroll work on the sides, and I pressed the buttons while Rick (Price, bassist) dropped the coins in. It wa