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Recognition finally for real stars of Christmas hit

BBC A man with long grey hair, grey shirt and glasses, a man with brown hair and a yellow top, a woman with grey hair and a long grey dress, a man with grey hair and a white shirt, a woman with dark hair and a red and white patterned dress, a man with a green tshirt and brown bowler hat and a woman with short dark hair and a floral patterned dress, holding a blue and pink trophyBBC
Keyboard player Bill Hunt was joined by Matt Allwright and singers Hilary Gunton, David Brookes, Mary Lafferty, Nik Romillie and Denise Pitkin (left to right) to recreate the song

I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday by glam rockers Wizzard has been a festive favourite for more than 50 years.

But the children seen in old footage, wearing bobble hats playing toy instruments alongside the group were not the Birmingham children who sang their hearts out on the original record.

Those children were brought in from London drama schools.

Now, a group of the children have been reunited and have been presented with a trophy from the Official Charts Company, to celebrate their top 10 hit.

The song was written by Wizzard frontman Roy Wood in the summer of 1973 and he wanted to use children from his home city of Birmingham.

Wizzard's keyboard player Bill Hunt got the job of sorting it out and he approached Stockland Green School in the Erdington area, close to where he lived.

His brother-in-law was a teacher there and set up a meeting between Bill and the headmaster, Mr Hellmuth.

Hunt said they were looking for children who "could create a good noise" and "wouldn't be intimidated by the studio environment".

A group of young children wearing various badges gathered around a man with dark hair and a large beard
The children all travelled down to London with the band to record their part

The school's music teacher, Mr Powell, selected a dozen excited 11 and 12-year-olds, including Hilary Gunton, who said her parents were less keen.

She said: "They were like 'Oh, I don't know, going to London with these rock people'. And I said 'If you don't let me go, I'll never speak to you again'."

They all travelled down to London to record the song during October half term, some in Hunt's car and others in Wizzard's tour bus.

"What they remember most is going to the Hard Rock Cafe afterwards. It had just opened in London and had burgers or whatever. We spoiled them a bit," Hunt said.

Ms Gunton added: "I was one that was lucky enough to travel in the bus, with coke and lots of sweets and Mars bars and you name it, we were well sugared-up."

Most of the track had already been taped a couple of months earlier, so it was just the choir that needed adding.

Nik Romillie said: "Roy conducted us and he pretty much give us the lines.

"He was really friendly and he knew exactly how to communicate with us and made us feel really at home."

Sally Lindsay shares stories behind some of our favourite Christmas songs.

The studio was decorated with tinsel and fairly lights to help give a festive atmosphere, and Denise Pitkin remembered pulling on Roy's beard "to see if it was real - I gave it a good tug and he gave out a bit of an 'Ouch'".

Another of the singers, David Brookes, said: "I'm sure one of us blew a raspberry into the microphone.

"You can still hear it at the start of the song."

The band's hopes of a Christmas number one, however, were dashed by West Midlands rivals Slade, who beat them with Merry Christmas Everybody.

Wizzard's song reached number four in the charts and there was more disappointment for the young singers when they saw the song on TV.

Their vocals could be heard loud and clear, but the music video featured children from the Italia Conti acting school in London and their parts on Top of the Pops were taken by children from London's Tiny Tots Model Agency.

A typed letter addressed to parents of Stockland Green School, explaining their child had been selected to perform with Wizzard at a recording studio in London in 1973
Parents of the lucky children were sent a letter by the school

Hunt believes the reason was the strict trade union rules that controlled television at the time.

He said: "The TV management needed kids with an actors' union card and they found it easier to pull in a crowd from London instead of all the way from Birmingham.

"It was sad. We were a Brummie band and it would have been great to have had Brummie kids on telly instead of these posh London kids."

For the next five decades, the young singers said they struggled to convince people it was them performing on the record.

Ms Pitkin said: "They didn't believe us - because of the other kids that were on television.

"That was a bit soul-destroying - because it was us."

Ms Gunton added: "It was disappointing. It would have been nice to go to Top Of The Pops, because everybody watched it on a Thursday."

Hands holding a large blue and pink sheet of plastic with the words official top 10 in white writing on it
Five decades after it reached number four in the charts, the children have been presented with an award

With the encouragement of Hunt, five of the original singers, David Brookes, Hilary Gunton, Mary Lafferty, Denise Pitkin and Nik Romillie have got back together to record the song with current Stockland Green pupils.

While they were there, the One Show presented them with a Top Ten Trophy from the Official Charts Company.

Ms Lafferty said despite their earlier disappointment, they were still very proud of the song.

"Even now my grandkids absolutely love it. They tell everyone: 'That's my Nan on there.'" she said.

For one of the singers it was a life-changing experience too.

Mr Romillie went on to have a career in music as a singer, songwriter and producer - performing under the name Colonel Red.

"It definitely planted a seed for me. To go to London and do something so special at such a young age. It made me feel like anything was possible," he said.

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