"Step into Christmas" is a
Christmas song
Christmas music comprises a variety of Music genre, genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas and holiday season, Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of Christmas ...
written by English musician
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...
and songwriter
Bernie Taupin
Bernard John Taupin (born 22 May 1950) is an English lyricist and visual artist. He is best known for his songwriting partnership with Elton John, recognised as one of the most successful partnerships of its kind in history. Taupin co-wrote th ...
, and performed by John. Released in November 1973 with "Ho, Ho, Ho (Who'd Be a Turkey at Christmas)" as the B-side, the song peaked at No. 24 on the
UK Singles Chart, reaching a new peak of No. 8 on the same chart in 2019. In the United States, the single reached No. 56 on the ''
Cash Box
''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...
'' Top 100 Singles chart and No. 1 on the ''
Billboard Christmas Singles'' chart.
[Whitburn, Joel. ''Top Pop Singles 1955–1996'' (1997):316]
"Step into Christmas" was later included as a bonus track on the 1995 remastered reissue of the album ''
Caribou
The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only represe ...
''. It also appears on the albums ''
Elton John's Christmas Party'', ''
Rare Masters'', ''
To Be Continued'', ''
Diamonds
Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of electricity, and insol ...
'', and various Christmas themed compilations. Two versions with different vocals are known to exist: the original single mix and a version recorded for John's 1973 performance of "Step into Christmas" on ''
The Gilbert O'Sullivan Show'' television programme (which featured his friend and lyricist Bernie Taupin standing in for
Ray Cooper
Raymond Cooper (born 19 September 1947) is an English musician who has worked as a session and road-tour percussionist. During his career, Cooper has worked and toured with numerous musically diverse bands and artists including Elton John (as ...
on percussion).
In 2009, "Step into Christmas" was listed as the ninth-most-played Christmas song of the 2000s in the UK. In December 2023, the song was certified triple platinum by the British Phonographic Industry for sales and streams of 1,800,000 units. In September 2021, the song was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales and streams of 500,000 units.
Recording
According to liner notes about the song (in ''Rare Masters'' and ''Elton John's Christmas Party''), the track and its B-side, both produced by
Gus Dudgeon
Angus Boyd "Gus" Dudgeon (30 September 1942 – 21 July 2002) was an English record producer, who oversaw many of Elton John's most acclaimed recordings, including his commercial breakthrough, " Your Song". Their collaboration led to seven US N ...
, were recorded during a session on 11 November 1973 at London's
Morgan Studios,
Moments: 'Step Into Christmas'
Retrieved 19 December 2017 which was owned by drummer Barry Morgan, who had played on several of John's early albums. "Step into Christmas" was mixed to imitate the work of producer Phil Spector
Harvey Phillip Spector (December 26, 1939 – January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter who is best known for pioneering recording practices in the 1960s, followed by his trials and conviction for murder in the 2000s. S ...
, using compression and utilizing his trademark wall of sound
The Wall of Sound (also called the Spector Sound) is a music production formula developed by American record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios, in the 1960s, with assistance from engineer Larry Levine and the conglomerate of session m ...
technique. According to both John and Taupin, this was an homage to Christmas songs by Spector-produced groups such as the Ronettes.
Music video
The music video produced to promote the single features the band playing the song in a recording studio, with John playing at a piano adorned with a red feather boa. It is notable for its cameo appearance of Taupin, who is seen briefly during the song's bridge playing tubular bells
Tubular bells (also known as chimes) are musical instruments in the Percussion instrument, percussion family. Their sound resembles that of church bells, carillons, or a bell tower; the original tubular bells were made to duplicate the soun ...
, although they are played on the track by percussionist Ray Cooper
Raymond Cooper (born 19 September 1947) is an English musician who has worked as a session and road-tour percussionist. During his career, Cooper has worked and toured with numerous musically diverse bands and artists including Elton John (as ...
. John is also seen playfully holding his supporter's card for Watford F.C., the football club which he would later own. Later in the video John is seeing playing a guitar alongside drummer Nigel Olsson and then embracing him, and briefly with drum stick
A drum stick (or drumstick) is a type of percussion mallet used particularly for playing snare drum, drum kit, and some other percussion instruments, and particularly for playing unpitched percussion.
Specialized beaters used on some other pe ...
s inserted into the ends of his mouth.
In 2024, over 50 years after the song's original release, the video was remade as a behind-the-scenes reimagining starring Cara Delevingne
Cara Jocelyn Delevingne ( ; born 12 August 1992) is an English model and actress. She signed with Storm Management after leaving school in 2009. Delevingne won Model of the Year at the British Fashion Awards in 2012 and 2014, and List of award ...
as John. Delevingne wears an outfit identical to the one worn by John in the original video.
Chart performance
Charts
Certifications
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Step into Christmas
1973 singles
British Christmas songs
Elton John songs
Songs with music by Elton John
Songs with lyrics by Bernie Taupin
Song recordings produced by Gus Dudgeon
DJM Records singles
MCA Records singles
Song recordings with Wall of Sound arrangements