Wizzard’s Roy Wood reveals real reason why infamous Christmas hit never topped charts

Former Wizzard frontman Roy Wood has spilled the real reason why his beloved anthem never topped the charts.

The Birmingham rocker – who has teamed up with Spar for their SPARaoke this Christmas – first rose to fame in 1970 when he formed the Electric Light Orchestra.

The dad-of-one dominated the rock charts with mega hits including Flowers in the Rain with his band the Move, See My Baby Jive with the Electric Light Orchestra and Aerial Pictures with the band Wizzard.

But it’s fair to say he cemented himself in pop history with Wizzard’s 1973 hit I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday. The Christmas classic has remained in the top 20 Christmas charts for decades, alongside the likes of Mariah Carey, Bing Crosby and Wham!

However, the festive favourite has never made it to number one after fifty years on the airwaves despite being a staple in many Christmas playlists.

Now, the 78-year-old musician has revealed the real reason the beloved rock anthem never made it to number one. Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk, he opened up about his close friendship with Slade despite their friendly rivalry.

The rocker told us: “We’ve known each other since the early days and I’ve known Noddy since I was about 16 or 17. I mean, they might have made it in the number one spot anyway because Slade were really popular back then.

“But the one thing that was the major obstacle for us is our manager at the time was trying to do some sort of dodgy deal on out record, and it meant that Slade’s record was released two weeks before ours.

“So, they had two more week of sales than we did which gave them the advantage on that really. I mean, they would have done number one anyway but it would have been nice to have more of a fighting chance.”

Since then, Roy has gone on to form his own band titled The Roy Wood Rock and Roll band, but the group decided to stop touring after the global pandemic.

Despite no longer touring with the band, Roy has teased fans about some new music coming up in the new year. He teased: “I will be working on some new stuff in the New Year.

“I haven’t been in the studio for a while, but I went in the other week and looked through the old folders and I found that I’ve got enough unfinished songs that nobody’s heard before to do an album. So I’m gonna stop being lazy and get in there and have and and do something.”

It comes after the California Man hitmaker partnered with the beloved superstore, Spar for their SPARaoke campaign. The Christmas SPARaoke invites customers to take part in an in-store karaoke competition to win bragging rights and prizes.

Speaking about the festive campaign, Roy gushed: “It’s a real pleasure to work with SPAR on this campaign. I wrote this song with the intent of bringing joy to people at Christmas time.

“The track is now over 50 years old but is still a big deal at Christmas. I just loved the idea that we could turn the everyday shopping experience into something a little more joyful.”