During a recent conversation with Gold Radio’s James Bassam, Dave Hill disclosed the hidden influence of John Lennon on Slade’s 1973 Christmas classic, ‘Merry Xmas Everybody.’
When the interviewer reminded the singer it was the 50th anniversary of ‘Merry Xmas Everybody,’ the guitarist recalled recording the song in New York in July. Then, Bassam asked why they recorded a Christmas song in the middle of summer, Hill replied:
“Because we were in New York and we hadn’t anything to do and Chas [Chandler, producer] had heard that Nod [Holder] and Jim [Lea] had written a Christmas song. Because the idea was Jim’s granny said, ‘Nobody writes Christmas songs anymore’ and certainly not a rock band.”
Behind The Scenes With Lennon
Detailing their studio process and how Lennon was involved, he continued:
“Chas says, ‘We’ve got some free time. I’ll ring up in the studio.’ And John Lennon was in there and John was a mate of Chas. John says, ‘Actually, I’m on home council in a week here. If you want the studio, you can have it.'”
The musician then talked about how the recording went and how John’s instrument contributed to the song:
“And it’s really funny this story because we went in there. We didn’t know the song. We had to learn it in there. And you can imagine we all sweaty outside and then come in, and actually we used John Lennon’s harmonium. If you listen to the beginning of the song where it goes [mimicking the part], that’s John Lennon’s harmonium. We just borrowed it.”
Reflection On The Song’s Success
In a 2022 chat with Jackie Brambles on her Greatest Hits Radio show, Hill reflected on the recording session of ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’ again. He then recalled their reaction to the track’s huge success, explaining:
“None of us knew the immensity of that song. We just recorded it and let our manager take the tapes back to England and mix it. We hadn’t heard it for months and when it finally did come out, I thought, ‘Oh that sounds really good,’ but we didn’t know how big it would be. Although 1973 was a massive year for us with ‘Cum On Feel the Noize,’ we had so many big songs that year, but the Christmas song was something special. As soon as the public got to hear it, it just flew.”
During a 2020 interview with Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, Noddy Holder also shared that John Lennon was in the studio for his album’ Mind Games.’ During this time, Lennon praised Noddy’s voice, noting that he sounded like him—a compliment that Holly found ‘amazing.’
Below, you can watch the rest of his interview and listen to Slade’s ‘Merry Xmas Everybody.’
