Mistletoe and Wine
{{for|the Mediæval Bæbes album|Mistletoe and Wine (album)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2012}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Mistletoe and Wine
| cover = Mistletoe_&_Wine_-_Cliff_Richard_single_cover.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Cliff Richard
| album = Private Collection: 1979–1988
| B-side = Marmaduke
| released = 21 November 1988
| recorded = 6–10 June & 12–13 July 1988
| studio = RG Jones, London
| venue =
| length = 4:11
| label = EMI 203024
| writer = Jeremy Paul, Leslie Stewart and Keith Strachan
| producer = Cliff Richard
| prev_title = Two Hearts
| prev_year = 1988
| next_title = The Best of Me
| next_year = 1989
| misc = {{External music video|type=single|header=Music video|1={{YouTube|BjmGbI-Mnys|"Mistletoe and Wine"}}}}
}}
"Mistletoe and Wine" is a Christmas song made famous as a chart-topping single by Cliff Richard in 1988.
The song was written by Jeremy Paul, Leslie Stewart and Keith Strachan for a musical called Scraps, which was an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Match Girl" set in Victorian London.
Background
Scraps was first performed at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, London in 1976.{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7787675.stm | title=The Stories of the Christmas Hits | work=BBC News Online | publisher=BBC | date=22 December 2008 | access-date=27 December 2011 }} The musical was renamed The Little Match Girl and adapted for television by HTV in 1987, and featured Roger Daltrey, Paul Daneman, Jimmy Jewel and Twiggy.{{cite news | url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0145047/ | title=The Little Match Girl |work=IMDb | access-date=27 December 2011 }} As originally conceived, "Mistletoe and Wine" had a different meaning from that for which it has come to be known. The writers wanted a song that sounded like a Christmas carol, intending it to be sung ironically while the little matchgirl is kicked out into the snow by the unfeeling middle classes. By the time the musical transferred to television, the song had become a lusty pub song sung by the local whore, as played by Twiggy.
Cliff Richard version
Richard liked the song but changed the lyrics to reflect a more religious theme (which the writers accepted).John McKie, [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-25333691 Mistletoe and Wine's political beginnings], BBC News, 14 December 2013
Richard's ninety-ninth single, it became his twelfth UK number-one single, spending four weeks at the top in December 1988 and selling 750,000 copies in the process. In the short six-week period since its release, it became the highest-selling single of 1988. Simultaneously, it also spent four weeks at the top of the Irish Singles Chart. In December 2007 the single re-entered the UK Singles Chart by virtue of downloads, peaking at number 68. The single went platinum in December 2024, some 36 years after its release. According to analysis of PRS for Music figures, it was estimated that the song generates £100,000 of royalties per year.{{cite news|url=https://www.radiox.co.uk/features/how-much-do-christmas-songs-make-each-year/|title=From Wham to Slade... just how much do these classic Christmas songs earn each festive season?|date=21 December 2024|work=Radio X|accessdate=24 December 2024}}
Richard's version of the song was also used in a British public information film about drink driving. The film was part of the Drinking And Driving Wrecks Lives campaign, in which films were shown during ad breaks over the Christmas period.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}} This version also appeared in BBC Two's 2015 comedy-drama A Gert Lush Christmas in the scene where Dan (Russell Howard), his girlfriend Lisa (Hannah Britland) and his family are having Christmas Dinner.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}
It became 1988's Christmas number one single on 18 December 1988, beating the likes of Petula Clark, Kylie Minogue & Jason Donovan (who got 1988's Christmas number two with "Especially for You" and who ended up spending three weeks at number one in January 1989 with that song), Erasure, Phil Collins, U2 and Angry Anderson to the Christmas top spot.
The music video depicts a Christmas setting with Richard singing the song alongside carollers and a marching band.
= Charts and certifications =
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==Weekly charts==
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Chart (1988–1989)
!Peak |
|---|
| {{single chart|Australia|30|artist=Cliff Richard|song=Mistletoe & Wine|access-date=5 September 2013}} |
| {{single chart|Flanders|22|artist=Cliff Richard|song=Mistletoe & Wine|access-date=5 September 2013}} |
| {{single chart|Dutch100|71|artist=Cliff Richard|song=Mistletoe & Wine|access-date=5 September 2013}} |
| {{single chart|Germany|70|artist=Cliff Richard|song=Mistletoe and Wine|songid=32981}} |
| {{single chart|Ireland2|1|artist=Cliff Richard|song=Mistletoe and Wine|access-date=5 June 2018}} |
| {{single chart|Norway|7|artist=Cliff Richard|song=Mistletoe & Wine|access-date=5 September 2013}} |
| {{single chart|UKsinglesbyname|1|artist="Cliff Richard"|song=Mistletoe and Wine|refname=OCC}} |
| Chart (2014–2023)
!Peak |
| {{single chart|Poland|20|year=2014|chartid=1506|access-date=29 December 2014}} |
| scope="row"| Poland (Polish Streaming Top 100){{cite web|url=https://www.olis.pl/charts/oficjalna-lista-sprzedazy/single-w-streamie|title=OLiS – oficjalna lista sprzedaży – single w streamie|publisher=OLiS|language=pl|access-date=4 January 2024|type=Select week 22.12.2023–28.12.2023.}}
| style="text-align:center"| 47 |
| scope="row"| Slovenia (SloTop50){{cite web|url=https://www.slotop50.si/Glasbene-lestvice/Tedenske-lestvice/?year=2016&week=51|title=SloTop50 – Slovenian official singles chart|publisher=slotop50.si|access-date=28 August 2018}}
| style="text-align:center"| 32 |
{{col-2}}
==Year-end charts==
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| align="left"|Chart (1988)
! style="text-align:center;"|Position |
|---|
| United Kingdom (OCC)UK Best Selling Singles of 1988
| style="text-align:center;"|1 |
==Certifications==
{{Certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry |region=Denmark |artist=Cliff Richard|title=Mistletoe & Wine |type=single|award=Gold |id= 10867 |certyear=2021 |access-date=1 January 2021}}
{{Certification Table Entry |region=United Kingdom |artist=Cliff Richard|title=Mistletoe and Wine |type=single|award=Platinum |relyear=2011 |certyear=2024 |refname=UKCert|id=4314-3620-1}}
{{Certification Table Bottom | nosales=true|noshipments=true|streaming=true}}
{{col-end}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{Cliff Richard}}
{{Cliff Richard singles}}
{{UK best-selling singles (by year) 1970–1989}}
{{UK Christmas number ones in the 1980s|song}}
{{authority control}}
Category:UK singles chart number-one singles
Category:British Christmas songs
Category:Carola Häggkvist songs