Remembering an early Christmas Number One by a London great.
George Michael, East 17, the Pet Shop Boys... Londoners have often topped the charts at Christmas time. The very first to do so was Winifred Atwell, way back in 1954, in the earliest days of the Hit Parade.
Atwell, a hugely talented composer and piano player, bagged the top-spot with the suitably merry Let's Have Another Party. It's an entirely instrumental track, comprising a medley of ragtime piano tunes. Here, have a listen:
That's *at least* as catchy as Shakin' Stevens, with a lot more raw talent on show than most subsequent chart toppers. It stayed at the top for five weeks, and remains the only instrumental Christmas Number One.
The festive superlatives are merely the icing on the cake. With Let's Have Another Party, Atwell became the first Black artist to top the UK Singles Chart. That's huge. She also became the first person to take a piano instrumental to the top, and remains the only woman to do so.
Atwell moved to London in 1945, having previously left her native Trinidad to study music in New York. Her talent was quickly in demand, and regular TV and radio appearances followed, as well as performances at the London Palladium. Besides her Christmas Number One, she also hit the top spot with The Poor People of Paris in 1956, and would sell millions of records over a very successful career. Though her peak was in the 1950s, she reached a new audience in the 1970s by playing the theme to snooker show Pot Black.
The pianist would eventually move to Australia, but forged close connections with London while living here. Notably, she would open a hair salon in Brixton in 1956, one of the first to cater to the needs of the growing Afro-Caribbean community. The site on the corner of Railton Road and Chaucer Road is today marked by a Nubian Jak plaque.
Even when she wasn't in London, a little bit of the city came with Winifred Atwell. "My other piano", a second-hand upright bought from Battersea, would travel around the world with her. She'd play it alongside the more performance-orthodox grand piano wherever she went. And such was her fame that she was able to insure her hands with Lloyds of London for £40,000.
It's really quite incredible that Winifred Atwell didn't get an official English Heritage Blue Plaque until 2025. The disc marks her former home at 18 Bourdon Street, Mayfair. It was unveiled by Jools Holland and YolanDa Brown, just two of the high-profile musicians inspired by her talent. Elton John is another.
After such a life as that, remembering Atwell for her Christmas Number One seems almost trivial.
