Mistletoe And Wine

Year: 1988

Written By: Keith Strachan, Jeremy Paul, Leslie Stewart

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The gentle relaxing Christmas track 'Mistletoe and Wine' was made popular by much loved pop star Cliff Richard when it was released in December 1988. The song was written by a trio, each having their own input. These three people were Keith Strachan, Jeremy Paul and Leslie Stewart.

'Mistletoe and Wine' was originally performed for 'Scraps' (a musical). 'Scraps' was later renamed 'The Little Matchgirl'. This musical was an adaptation of one of Hans Christian Andersen's fairytales. This Christmas hit was originally meant to be an accompanying carol in 'The Little Matchgirl' when the little matchgirl in the musical is kicked out in to the snow.

Cliff Richard is understood to have enjoyed the song and thought much of it; however he wished to make changes to it for his own version. The writers then after agreed to allow Cliff Richard to put his own spin on the song. The change Cliff Richard wished to make and did make was to put a more religious focus and theme in to the song. It is apparent in the lyrics that this change occurred in the line, 'Children singing Christian rhyme'. Cliff Richard is a highly devoted Christian, who to date lives with a former Roman Catholic priest. The priest's name is John McElynn.

The video to Cliff Richard's song sees him singing in the traditional Christmas festive background (the background being covered in snow). He is seen picking up a candle and later putting it back down. There is also a marching band in the video. The typical dance moves for the song is a gentle swaying back and forth which Cliff Richard does with what appears to be your typical family. The end of the song sees a young child finishing off the song with Cliff Richard looking on.

Cliff Richard re-created this song with huge success, achieving the UK number one spot which in turn gave him the 1988 Christmas number one. 'Mistletoe and Wine' managed to sit at the top of the UK Charts for four weeks. The track was such a hit that it became the best-selling single for 1988; it achieved this with sales of 750,000 copies. This Christmas song was remarkably Cliff Richard's 99^th single of which he managed to achieve his 12^th UK number one single which is an amazing achievement for any musician.