29 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!
Buy Saviour's Day here (Apple Music)
Stream Saviour's Day here (Spotify)
Re-live Cliff's 1988 Christmas number one, Mistletoe and Wine, here
I was always aware of Cliff Richard when I was growing up - when an artist has as many indelible hit records as Sir Cliff, it is nigh on impossible not to have songs like Congratulations, Devil Woman and Living Doll as your childhood soundtrack. It was his re-imagining of the Scraps musical song, Mistletoe and Wine, back in 1988 that actually encouraged me to go to the store and buy his record. He topped the charts for Christmas with that now-classic song so a festive follow up must have been on his mind as he remained a chart regular over the next couple of years. That came in the form of Saviour's Day - an original composition by Chris Eaton. The story goes that Chris had written the song in 1989 and was so determined that it was a Cliff song that he was happy to wait until there was space in the singer's busy release schedule for the magic to happen. Luckily the stars aligned and between them, Cliff and Chris (as well as co-producer Paul Moessi) conjured up some more seasonal enchantment to charm the masses...
Cliff's previous single, From A Distance, had been an uplifting, inspirational tune so it made sense that it was followed by Saviour's Day. It was a contemporary carol with a wintry percussion and a shimmering groove, plus pan pipes that added an almost medieval vibe to the song. The lyrics were a rousing call to do better and be kinder, using the titular date as a beacon to spread the message. With a booming choir and Cliff's soaring vocal, it was an early favourite for the festive top spot in 1990. It was an instant top ten debut when it was released at the end of November 1990, but Cliff had to deal with pesky newcomer Vanilla Ice and that sassy Madonna whose Ice Ice Baby and Justify My Love were blocking the top two spots respectively. Of course, Saviour's Day prevailed and became Cliff's second Christmas number one. It spent a solitary week at the top before being dethroned by Iron Maiden (of all people) - but history had been made and this song deserves just as much recognition as the (arguably) more famous Mistletoe and Wine...
UK chart run ~ 6-3-2-1-3-20-56
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