After too many years of Michael Buble and Mariah Carey domination, Kelly has a shot at the ARIA top spot with his debut seasonal album Christmas Train. The campaign to claim the coveted Christmas crown launches as his fans celebrate Gravy Day on December 21, in honour of his enduring classic How To Make Gravy. Kelly said his beloved Australian Christmas carol had always been popular live but its journey to cult classic, generating memes and millions of streams, built over the past 15 years. He believes the unconventional song – it has no chorus – struck a seasonal chord with fans because of its story of a man writing to his family from prison on December 21. Which is your favourite Christmas song? Joe shares his recipe for the Christmas dinner gravy, sends his love to his children and family and warns his brother Dan to stay away from his wife Rita. “I think people love it because it’s not a perfect Christmas, it’s chaotic and not everyone wants to be there,” Kelly said.“And now people wonder about the backstory of all the characters. I get asked a lot what was Joe’s crime or who Angus and Dolly are in the family.” Alongside the songs Kelly and his family have always sung together including Silent Night and Little Drummer Boy, the new album gifts fans a stocking’s worth of Aussie-themed songs you may not have known existed. Like Swing Around The Sun, Three Drovers, and Christmas by Melbourne musicians Chris and Wes Harrington.But it’s going to take a lot of streams on repeat for Kelly’s record to emerge victorious.This week’s ARIA chart has him ahead in the race at No. 5, with Michael Buble’s indefatigable Christmas album at No. 8 and the seasonal offerings of Delta Goodrem, Mariah Carey and Norah Jones racing up the top 50. Carey is the frontrunner to claim the biggest streaming single of the season with All I Want For Christmas but Wham’s Last Christmas is emerging as the dark horse challenger. And despite everyone expecting Ed Sheeran and Elton John’s jolly effort with their new duet Merry Christmas to trump all the old stuff, the song was just inside the top 30 this week. Also going viral this week on the Spotify charts are the very old school Brenda Lee standard Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree and Jingle Bell Rock by Bobby Helms while The Pogues’ Fairytale of New York makes its streaming charge on the viral top 50. Kelly’s label head, EMI managing director John O’Donnell, said it was time Australia got over “white Christmas” songs and back Kelly’s album in the race to No.1. “Paul Kelly has created an all-encompassing Christmas album, incorporating many of the different threads of Christmas and in doing so he has hit on something that has already made a deep connection with the Australian public,” O’Donnell said. “How great would it be to have Australia’s first, uniquely southern-hemisphere Christmas album hit #1? Step aside Mariah, Buble, and Bing – we’re dreaming of a hot, brown Christmas.”
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