UK kids' Charity song closes on Christmas Number 1

Children from a tiny UK school are on the verge of music history.

[ClickPress, Tue Dec 18 2007] Children from a tiny UK school are on the verge of music history.

The 52 kids from Ingleton CE Primary School in County Durham have taken their fund-raising song - "The Christmas Wish" to number 12 in the Indpendent Music Network charts in The USA and AND number 25 in the Country charts!

Yet British radio is ignoring it. Radio Two's Head of Music, Jeff Smith said the lead vocals "weren't strong enough" to stand up to the competition", and Terry Wogan's production team wouldn't even play the song to the Irish DJ.

Local radio near the school is playing the song, but it is in the USA where the song has made the biggest impact.

Written by singer-songwriter John D. Lewis & his wife, Dawn, "The Christmas Wish" went into the US charts the week it was released.

Lewis said: "If it mkaes both top tens on Christmas Day, I think that will be a first for ANY UK artist, including The Beatles, Robbie Williams and all the rest."

Songwriter Homer Joy, who wrote multi-million selling number 1 hit, "Streets of Bakersfield", said: "If this song isn't what Christmas is all about, maybe there shouldn't be one!"

On BBC Radio Two's refusal to play the song, Lewis said: "Jeff Smith's comments are lamentable. The song was mixed DELIBERATELY with my lead vocals pushed down so that the children's voices carried the song. If Smith can't recognise that, he shouldn't be in the music business! The fact that Radio Two won't play it has NOTHING to do with the vocals. The song just doesn't fit their profile and that's that.

"But it their loss: radio across the USA has been bombarding us with requests for the song. It's the fourth most popular download to radio on Airplay Access, and it's at the top of several station's own charts."

The children are hoping that the chart success in the USA will lead to more sales of the song on Napster and ITunes which will increase the money they are raising for school funds.

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