Status Quo: 'It's Christmas Time'

It's hard to believe Status Quo have never recorded a Christmas single. The three-chord boogie-rock outfit, now on their 75th single, have never been ones to shy away from a commercial opportunity - lest we forget those 'Whatever You Want' Argos adverts. However, after 45 years in the business Rossi and Parfitt have decided its time to bring some festive cheer into the studio and challenge X Factor for the feted Xmas number one.

Tackier than a Jodie Marsh mini-skirt, 'It's Christmas Time' sounds like it took two minutes to write and even less to record. "It's Christmas time, it's Christmas time, wake up, wake up and see the snow outside," the band sing with all the festive cheer of Scrooge after he's just lost a fiver. Repeating the same jaunty riff sequence of 98% of Quo's tracks and placing sleigh bells over the top smacks of laziness even for a band who are famed for being one-trick ponies. The worst kind of festive cash-in, you'd rather find another jumper from granny in your stocking than this.