Ahead of the announcement of the Christmas No 1 on 22 December, the halls of the UK Top 10 are decked with festive classics by Wham!, Mariah Carey, Elton John and others, which now get snowed in for weeks every year thanks to their popularity on streaming. But nestled among them is Jorja Smith’s cover of East 17’s Stay Another Day: the ultimate example of a type of pop song that has otherwise all but melted away.
Once upon a time, December wasn’t just a time for Christmas albums. We could depend on the pop act du jour to don some layers, head out into a chilly landscape, and slow the pace down in a bid to reach the Top 10 with a wintry but not necessarily Christmassy ballad.
