A Merry Christmas With Willie J Healey
2020, or as I would like to call it, ‘the Year of Zoom’, has been incredibly strange for many reasons. Many reasons I simply cannot be bothered trying to articulate, because where would one begin? How did an exotic zoo owner become an overnight superstar? Why did so many people bulk-buy toilet rolls? Why did so many people shave their own heads? The answer my friend is blowing in the wind.
Aside from the year’s oddities, music releases have been a beacon of hope for many, including myself. I, like so many people, was given the precious gift of time. Time, that I wouldn’t have usually had before. Between watching The Sopranos and forgetting what normal life feels like, I used music to escape from the daily doom updates. In this time, listening to the radio became a regular fixture like an old bloke who sits in the same place in the pub. Remember the pubs?
I recall one evening, a song was played which sounded like George Harrison and Lou Reed wrestling for my attention. Of course, the song playing was ‘Fashun’ by Willie J Healey, and by the time the song had finished I was hooked. Soon after, ‘Twin Heavy’ arrived via Felix White’s YALA! Records, a full-length LP of mellow sonic gold. Produced by Loren Humphrey (The Last Shadow Puppets/Florence & The Machine/Tame Impala), ‘Twin Heavy’ has earned Healey considerable critical acclaim. The record is also my album of the year for many reasons, but mainly because it transported me out of this weird killer virus mode and into a calming mellow space. If said imaginary space was real, it would be decorated with wood paneling, shagpile carpets, bean-bags, and posters with slogans such as ‘take it easy’, and ‘keep on truckin’.
In November, Healey released his own Christmas song entitled ‘Merry Christmas’. Evoking the tenderness of The Beatles’ ‘Golden Slumbers’ and delivered like an aesthetically pleasing brown paper package. I think it’s fitting I deliver my final article of the year, with the man who has delivered my album of the year. Without further ado – I feel like Michael Parkinson – I would now like to introduce our very special guest, Willie J Healey, who kindly allowed me to give him a ring to ask him some questions. In classic throwback fashion, I spared no time asking his top five Christmas songs and a couple of other little gems. So, without further ado, here is our Willie J Healey Christmas special. Merry Yuckmas, and have a yuckin’ great new year….
What are your top five Christmas songs?
5. Chris Rea – Driving Home For Christmas
“It’s a classic. And who else has managed to turn a motorway into a romantic Christmas song? Nobody… I don’t think.”
4. Paul McCartney – Wonderful Christmastime
“Again, it’s just such a classic. I think John Lennon & Paul McCartney are both going to show up in my top 5. Those two were definitely an inspiration for me in terms of my own Christmas song, in thinking whether it was a good thing to do or not. I thought, “well I suppose the people I really respect, like Paul McCartney or John Lennon, have both successfully put out Christmas songs”, so that is probably why I’d pick that one, as it helped me decide on putting mine out and not being too embarrassed by it.”
3. Slade – Merry Christmas Everybody
“I think the thing I love about that one is the way they look in the video and just Noddy Holder in general! I have similar hair to him when my hair is long, so I remember being younger and thinking ‘maybe I should grow my hair’… it was always about Christmas time too, purely because of that song.
I’m massively pigeonholing Slade right now, aren’t I? I’m just thinking of these pub rock guys, you know like rowdy club music from the 70s coming out with such a Christmas classic. Amazing.”
2. John Lennon – Merry Xmas (War Is Over)
“For the kids’ choir! We wanted to do that for mine, but we didn’t have the budget or time to pay the parents of twelve kids [laughs]. Sadly, I don’t have the gravitational pull that John Lennon has…”
1. The Pogues & Kirsty MacColl – Fairytale Of New York
“It’s kind of a controversial one now because it uses some words that I’d say certainly aren’t PC anymore… Fairytale of New York by The Pogues because it’s so tragic and rooted in reality. I think whether you like it or not, you know some of the stuff it says… it’s certainly the realest Christmas song for me, and one that makes me feel massively nostalgic because it’s always been around throughout my childhood. It’s funny, when I was young, I was completely unaware of what that song is about, and the sad little moments that are written into it. I watched a really nice video on how it was all made, and how it came about. I think it’s really tragic, and I love it.”
What led to you writing ‘Merry Christmas’ and what were the inspirations behind that?
Well, my girlfriend had just got me a piano. You know like nowadays, if you look online you can often find pianos for free because people don’t want to move them. She’d tracked down this piano for me and I didn’t really know how to play piano that well, I still don’t [laughs]. So, when I got the piano, that was the start of it all. I just started to play, and I just wrote that song in one go, really quickly… just kind of fumbling about and learning where to put my fingers. I don’t know, I’ve always thought a Christmas song is a great challenge to take on because it can go so badly wrong. It can be something that goes the complete wrong way if it’s not done well. Hopefully, this one, the reaction seems to have been really good. I did it really quickly, I didn’t think about it much on my free piano!
When I was writing it, I was thinking of those classic piano ballads by Elton John, John Lennon, and McCartney and stuff like that, and I was just trying to do my own little version of that I think. That’s how the song came about and once I had the song, I thought ‘well, I could do with money’ [laughs]”
If you can have any five guests over for Christmas dinner, dead or alive, who would you choose and why?
God, I’m really rubbish at these types of questions! In my head, I’m quite shy, so if it’s someone I really love, I’m happy to never meet them because if I did, I think I’d probably shit my pants... I think I would invite Phillip Seymour Hoffman, I love everything he’s in and I’ve always found him fascinating. I’d invite George Harrison, just because maybe he could provide some zen. I think he’d be polite and nice too. I wouldn’t invite Paul [McCartney], because I think he’d probably steal all of the limelight, and maybe sing his own songs in front of everyone and I definitely wouldn’t invite John [Lennon] because I think he probably insults everyone… I don’t know, just guessing there. Maybe I should go with the angle of a super-group? Maybe if I invite them with the hope of starting a band. I would invite Phillip, Carole King, George Harrison, Mama Cass, and I need a drummer now.. I’d probably invite Loren [Humphrey] because he’s a great friend and drummer… It’d probably just be me, grossly networking the entire time. Trying to get the band together while everyone else just wants to eat.”
As we say goodbye to this year, I think it’s important not to dwell on the obvious. Before said pandemic, I think it’s fair to say that a lot of us were taking things in life for granted. I mean, we live in a world where you can order cheese from Amazon and it be delivered within an hour. Of course, we’ve taken things for granted. But if this year has taught me anything, it’s that we humans need to take a step back and appreciate the smaller things in life. A phone call, a song on the radio, going to the pub with your mates… those things will come back. To all of our readers all over the world, stay safe. Merry Yuckmas.