Roy Wood founded Birmingham based band WIZZARD after leaving Electric Light Orchestra the band he co-founded with Jeff Lynne. Roy was former member also of the Move. Roy Wood was Wizzard. Just after ELO's first album Wood found himself at odds with co-founder Jeff Lynne. There were personal and musical differences and because of this it became clear the Wood and Lynne could not work together in the same group. the upshot was that Wood left taking fellow band members Bill Hunt, and Hugh McDowell as well as Trevor Smith who was ELO's sound engineer. They left and formed WIZZARD.
The band made their first live appearance at the London Rock and Roll show in Wembley Stadium on the 5th August 1972. this also was the very first concert to be held at Wembley. Wizard's second appearance was at the Reading Festival later in August. these appearances were made famous with Wood's distinctive warpaint make-up and colourful costumes.
In 1973 Wizzard release their christmas single and no-one could have predicted it's success. It has become the norm to hear it on the radio all over the world as one of the best christmas singles alongside Slade (Fellow Birmingham Band) "Merry Christmas Everybody". The Wizzard single was an outright success. It was reissued in 1981 and a 12" single recording was released in 1984.
When the snowman brings the snow
Well, you just might like to know
He's put a great big smile
On somebody's face
If you jump into your bed
Quickly cover up your head
Well, don't you lock the doors
You know that sweet Santa Claus
Is on the way
Well, I wish it could be Christmas every day
When the kids start singing and the band begins to play
Oh, I wish it could be Christmas every day
And let the bells ring out for Christmas
When we're skating in the park
If the storm cloud paints it dark
Then your rosy cheek's
Gonna light my merry way
Now the frosty paws appear
And it's frozen up to here
So we'll lie by the fire
Til' the sleep simply melts 'em all away
Well, I wish it could be Christmas every day
When the kids start singing and the band begins to play
Oh, I wish it could be Christmas every day
(Christmas every day)
And let the bells ring out for Christmas
When the snowman brings the snow
Well, he just might like to know
He's put a great big smile
On somebody's face
So if Santa brings that sleigh
(Santa brings that sleigh)
All along the Milky Way
I'll sign my name on the rooftop in the snow
Then he may decide to stay
Well, I wish it could be Christmas every day
(Ooh, don't you know that)
When the kids start singing and the band begins to play
Oh, I wish it could be Christmas every day
(Christmas every day)
And let the bells ring out for Christmas
On November the 3rd 2013 Roy Wood commented in the Birmingham Mail "I never thought, back in 1973, that people would still be listening to it after all this time. It wasn’t even the biggest-selling Christmas record of that year."
So why would anyone wish it could be christmas everyday? The answer to that question is complex but begins with what we mean by Christmas. Christmas Holidays. The Birth Of Christ. The Season of the Year. My definition for this devotion is "Christmas is a festival or season of the year in which the followers of Jesus choose to remember his birth"
There are a number of reasons why it is good to wish it could be Christmas every day. The following are some my own thoughts.
Reason 1- Christmas should remind followers of Jesus that the season and that life in this world is really about Jesus. For myself and for countless others Christmas is the time when we choose to remember Jesus and to encourage ourselves to remember every day would seem to me a good and worthwhile occupation. To say "I wish it could be Christmas everyday" is to acknowledge this fact, that as the followers of Jesus it is Jesus who should occupy our hearts, our lives, our thinking on a daily basis.
Reason 2 - Christmas should remind followers of those things that are important - Family and close friendships. Perhaps you do not need reminding that Christmas is also about families. The bible talks about the Holy Family and the visits that are made to the stable by shepherds and perhaps others. In our busyness we often face the danger of neglecting our families as we commit ourselves to the things that occupy our lives. To say "I wish it could be Christmas Everyday" is to acknowledge that the family is important and should be our daily involvement both for the good of the family and for the good of ourselves.
Reason 3 - Christmas should remind followers of Jesus about giving. Christmas is a reminder of the generosity of God in Christ and a reminder of our own generosity too. The story of the birth of Jesus is a story of great generosity. The gracious generosity of God. We are told the story of our generous God in various passages of the the gospel narratives. In each narrative the gospel writer tells us the story but all have the generosity of God as a central theme. We too are encouraged to display generosity in our lives as a response to the gospels and a response to Jesus. To say "I wish it could be Christmas Everyday is to acknowledge that God is generous and that we should be also.
There are of course bigger issues to reflect upon about "Christmas" There are a number of reasons why it is not good to wish it could be Christmas every day. The following are some my own thoughts.
Reason 1. Consumerism is a reason why "I don't wish it could be Christmas everyday". More goods and more spending. It is recognised that in the UK Christmas spending will reach massive proportions. On Black Friday this year shoppers in the UK spent £2Million a minute all over the UK. the total spend was £1.2 Billion. It is also thought that on average the UK family will spend £868 on Christmas this year. In surveys some are saying that they will finance Christmas from saving while others are saying they will finance Christmas by loans or maxing out on credit cards. To say "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" Is to say that this kind of consumerism is Okay and we wish it could be happening on a daily basis.
Reason 2. Displacement or Identity Fraud is a reason why "I Don't Wish It Could be Christmas Everyday". Trees, Baubles, Santa, Reindeer, Christmas lights and good cheer are rife at Christmas. I don't want to be a kill joy but I think we are missing something and it's not more stuff. Sometimes the Church is guilty of buying into sentimentality and myth telling at Christmas. We condone and contribute to avoiding the truth. We unpack the christmas trees and tinsel them up we celebrate the season and when the season is over are we not guilty of putting Jesus away with the christmas tree till next year. We displace Jesus or we play identity fraud games with him. It would be refreshing just to take a bigger look at who he is this Christmas season.
Christmas for me could be a time of retelling the story. Of revisiting the whole truth and nothing but the truth. that the story of Christmas is also the story of Good Friday and Easter Sunday and also the story that has occupied eternity. For many of the saints in Church history including Athanasius of Alexandria who when speaking of Christmas spoke of Easter and when speaking of Easter spoke of Christmas. For Athanasius the Incarnation and the Atonement were inseperable.
I finish this devotion with the prologue of John the apostle. Who speaks in all his writings of the importance of placing true faith in Jesus.
Let the bells ring out for the real meaning of Christmas. JESUS.John 1:1-14 "1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
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