Brit Sweep: December 23, 2012...

Hey gang....it's time to wrap up the weekend with a look at the new songs making their way on the the official music sales charts in Great Britain this week.

This week is the lauded "Christmas #1" week, where the busiest shopping week of the year causes an annual race to be the top single of the week. In the past, X Factor/Idol "winner's songs", novelty hits, and viral campaigns (like in the case of Rage Against the Machine's "Killing In The Name"). But also there are tearjerker single, like last year's "Wherever You Are" by the Military Wives (a chorus made of spouses and girlfriends of soldiers overseas). The same thing happened this year, as the charity record for the legal fund for the families of those lost in the tragic football accident at Hillsborough in 1989, where 96 people died from a crowd rush in an inadequately laid out and policed stadium. That being said, is it me, or it is an odd choice for a tribute to those whose died from being crushed in a human stampede to be the song "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother"? Well, either way, the performances by the all-star group called the Justice Collective, featuring Paul McCartney, Robbie Williams, Mel C from the Spice Girls, Glenn Tilbrook from Squeeze, Holly Johnson of Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Tony Hicks and Bobby Elliot from the Hollies and more, are outstanding...

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Coming in at #25 is YouTube star Alex Day with "Stupid Stupid". It's his third novelty song to make the chart, last year's "Forever Yours" vied to be the Christmas #1 and made it to #4...

Another novelty holiday record making the chart at #47 is "The Twelve Days Of Christmas" by the Eddie Stobart Truckers, from the British reality TV show. This one is to benefit the "Help For Heroes" charity...

One of the British "faux-reality" shows, Made In Chelsea, are at #53 with "L'Americano" with the Gypsy Queens..

British rapper Dot Rotten, who had a top-20 hit this year with "Overload", is back at #67 with "Karmageddon"...

One notch below that at #68 is BlackNWhite with "Sweaty Goals". "Black & White" is the nickname of the Newcastle United Football club, its another novelty song....

 At #69 is Area 11 with "Minecraft Christmas" (see a pattern here?)...

..and entering at #70 is Games Maker Choir with Alistar Griffin with "I Wish For You The World". It benefits the London Olympic and Paralympic Association...

Frank Ocean comes in at #86 with "Lost". It's his first top-100 hit in Britain...

The final entry at #98 is British singer Tom Odell with "Another Love"...

That does it for this week...I'll be back tomorrow with another Song of the Day, Candletime, part six of my twostepcubchart 2012 recap, and this week's "robbed hit"....Cheers!