You know what to expect here: it’s the first chart of December and the annual back catalogue march is underway as Britain turns on its festive playlists.

1. Gracie Abrams – “That’s So True”

Five weeks. At this point, it is here on a technicality – if the Christmas back catalogue wasn’t subject to the downweighting rule, then “That’s So True” would be outside the top 5.

8. Band Aid – “Do They Know It’s Christmas”

There’s a new mix of this track available, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the original; it’s a new backing track using vocals taken from all the versions done over the years. That’s the version above, and physical sales of that version have made a big contribution to its position. But for chart purposes it’s being treated as simply another mix of the same track.

The presence of a track about the 1984 Ethiopian famine on the UK’s stock Christmas playlists has always been an oddity, and there is a school of thought that says the song is now rather patronising – or rather, that it always was, but people are noticing now. Previous contributors weren’t asked whether they wanted to be on this video – Ed Sheeran has said that if he had been asked, he would have said no. Meanwhile, there’s nothing from the much-maligned Band Aid II version on the track, officially because they couldn’t find the master tapes – except Mike Stock, who produced it, says nobody asked him for them.

It’s not a good version of the song, and the video feels far too self-congratulatory to earn the right to use footage of starving children from 1984.

The new version does get it to the highest position it’s reached since 2020; last year it only got to 15.

23. Elton John – “Step Into Christmas”

Another hardy perennial. This only reached number 24 on release in 1973, but had a long afterlife as a staple filler track on Christmas compilation albums. It’s been back every year since 2016. It reached number 8 in both 2019 and 2020, but hasn’t made the top 10 since; it peaked at 16 last year.

24. Laufey – “Winter Wonderland”
39. Laufey – “Christmas Magic”

This is more of a surprise. Laufey’s version of “Winter Wonderland” reached number 26 last year, when I think it may have been a Spotify exclusive for an initial window. It’s now generally available, and it enters at a new peak. “Christmas Magic” is one of her 2024 Christmas releases, which is an Amazon exclusive. She also has a version of “Santa Baby” generally available, though that’s not charting.

25. Tom Grennan – “It Can’t Be Christmas”

This is an Amazon exclusive – platform exclusivity only seems to be a factor in the charts at Christmas, and let’s hope it stays that way. For those of you unable to hear it, it’s a mid-paced ballad of the “it can’t be Christmas without you” style, arranged in the American Christmas style, complete with tastefully low-in-the-mix sleigh bells; as such, it can at least take Grennan’s bellowing delivery. It has a truck driver key change.

26. Michael Bublé – “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas”
34. Michael Bublé – “Holly Jolly Christmas”

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The usual two tracks from his 2011 Christmas album. “It’s Beginning…” charted for the first time in 2016 and has been back every year since (the video was made three years ago). It made the top 10 in the last three years, with an all time peak of number 6 in 2022. “Holly Jolly” first showed up in 2017, missed the top 40 in 2018, and has charted every year since. Last year, it reached an all-time peak of 21.

29. Sia – “Snowman”

This failed to chart on release in 2017, but it’s charted every year since 2021. It reached 28 in 2022, and an all time peak of 27 last year. So if it’s at 29 already, it must have a decent show of beating that.

30. The Ronettes – “Sleigh Ride”

This is an album track from the Phil Spector Christmas Album, and it didn’t appear on the singles top 40 until 2019. It’s improved its peak every year since then, and reached number 20 last year. It has a way to go before matching the Ronettes’ biggest hit, “Be My Baby”, which reached number 4 in 1963.

35. Lola Young – “Messy”

Um… I’m sorry, are you lost? You appear to be a non-Christmas record which came out six months ago by someone who hasn’t had a hit single before. I’m assuming it must have got some traction on TikTok, but at any rate it’s doing well to push through the snow.

36. Dean Martin – “Let it Snow Let it Snow Let it Snow”

Dean Martin has charted with this track every year since 2019. Last year it reached an all time peak of 13. It’s in no real danger of being his biggest UK hit, though – he had a lot of big hits in the 1950s, including a number 1 with “Memories are Made of This”.

40. José Feliciano – “Feliz Navidad”

This charted for the first time in 2020 and reached an all time peak of 21 two years ago; it got to 23 last year.

There isn’t a video for this – well, not of the original version, though there are some videos of bizarre alternate versions that he’s released over the years and that nobody would voluntarily sit through. For the masochists among you, here he is singing it with a toddler, and here’s a 50th anniversary version featuring contributions from people including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Florida Gaynor, Julio Iglesias Jr, and Shaggy.

This week’s climbers:

• “Last Christmas” by Wham! climbs 8-2.
• “All I Want for Christmas is You” climbs 10-5, so it’s falling behind Wham in the early going.
• “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” by Brenda Lee climbs 20-6. Its all time peak is 4.
• “Merry Christmas” by Ed Sheeran & Elton John – which is recent enough that it still qualifies for a reset on the downweighting rule each year – climbs 31-9.
• “Jingle Bell Rock” by Bobby Helms climbs 30-10. Its all time peak is 7.
• “Santa Tell Me” by Ariana Grande climbs 27-11.
• “Underneath the Tree” by Kelly Clarkson climbs 32-12, matching its all time peak from 2022. It got to 13 last year, so this isn’t exactly earth-shattering news.
• “Fairytale of New York” by the Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl climbs 34-13.
• “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” by Andy Williams climbs 39-15.
• “What is this Feeling” by Ariana Grande & Cynthis Erivo climbs 17-16 – the other two tracks from the Wicked soundtrack are non-movers, which is an achievement in this context.
• “Merry Christmas Everyone” by Shakin’ Stevens climbs 40-18.
• “Ma Meilleure Ennemie” by Stromae & Pomme climbs 21-19, which is another big surprise – it must be well-placed for the post-Christmas lull.
• “The Days” by Chrystal re-enters at a new peak of 38, likewise bucking trends.

The 13 tracks leaving the top 40 are:

• “Thick of It” by KSI featuring Trippie Redd, which lasted 9 weeks and had a respectable five week run in the top 10, peaking at 6.
• “Die With a Smile” by Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars, after 15 weeks and over two months in the top 10, peaking at 2.
• “Taste” by Sabrina Carpenter, a nine-week number 1 with 14 weeks in the top 40.
• “Birds of a Feather” by Billie Eilish, which spent around four months in the top 10, peaking at 2.
• “Good Luck Babe” by Chappell Roan, with a similar run and the same peak.
• “Beautiful Things” by Benson Boone, a two-week number 1 back in March which finally drops out of the top 40.
• “Lose Control” by Teddy Swims, which peaked at 2, spent 18 weeks in the top 10, and a massive 48 weeks in the top 40.
• “The Emptiness Machine” by Linkin Park, which really bucked genre trends by entering at 4 and actually hanging around the top 40 for 12 weeks.
• “Nights Like This” by the Kid Laroi, which has just spent 10 weeks hovering in the 30s on a re-entry run.
• “Like Him” by Tyler, The Creator, which had two weeks in the low 30s as a re-entry.
• “I love You I’m Sorry” by Gracie Abrams, a slow climber which eventually managed three weeks at number 4, and 16 weeks total in the top 40.
• “2 Hands” by Tate McRae, which entered at 8 and took just two weeks to drop out of the top 40.
• “Juno” by Sabrina Carpenter, with two weeks peaking at 24.

If you ignore the Christmas records, the top 10 would look like this:

1. (1) Gracie Abrams – “That’s So True”
2. (3) Rosé & Bruno Mars – “APT”
3. (2) Gigi Perez – “Sailor Song”
4. (7) Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande – “Defying Gravity”
5. (5) Kendrick Lamar & SZA – “Luther”
6. (15) Ariana Grande & Cynthia Erivo – “What is this Feeling”
7. (11) Ariana Grande – “Popular”
8. (18) Stromae & Pomme – “Ma Meillure Ennemie”
9. (6) Kendrick Lamar & Lefty Gunplay – “TV Off”
10. (8) Teddy Swims – “The Door”

The album chart is quieter.

1. Taylor Swift – “The Tortured Poets Department”

Returning to number 1 because there’s a physical special edition out. It’s a ninth non-consecutive week at number 1, the previous one being back in July. The album has never dipped below number 18.

5. Juice WRLD – “The Party Never Ends”

Yet another posthumous release, although this is being billed as the last one. Supposedly there are better tracks than this that have been leaked in the past, and there’s general bafflement about the inclusion of a Kid Laroi solo track on which Juice WRLD doesn’t even have a writing credit. Even so, it’s his second highest placing album – he had a number 1 in 2020 with “Legends Never Die”.

30. Potter Payper – “Nightmare Before Christmas”

This is low for Potter Payper – his solo releases normally make the top 10, so presumably this mixtape is being taken as a side project.