Here’s a list of the songs that I performed in public for the first time during December 2025. Each month I aim to play at least one new song from each of the following repertoires:

• Songs that reached #1 in the UK.
• Songs that reached #1 somewhere else.
• Songs that have not reached #1 anywhere.

Songs that reached #1 in the UK

Date	Song (Artist, Year it reached #1)	Notes
Sun 7-Dec-2025	Just Walkin’ in the Rain (Johnnie Ray, 1956)	Christmas #1 from 1956. The artist is referenced in a different #1, “Come on Eileen” (1982): “Poor old Johnnie Ray / Sounded sad upon the radio / Moved a million hearts in mono”. Written by Johnny Bragg and Robert Riley, two prisoners at Tennessee State Prison in Nashville. Bragg, unable to read and write, gave Riley a songwriting credit in exchange for writing the lyrics down. Played in C: (G) C G C F C / Bridge: C F C7 … F C D D7 G
Sun 14-Dec-2025	It’s Only Make Believe (Conway Twitty, 1958)	Christmas #1 from 1958. Also #1 in Australia in 1970 for Glen Campbell according to one source / The original was in B, I play it in G: G Em C D to begin with

Songs that reached #1 somewhere else

Date	Song (Artist, Year it reached #1)	Notes
Sun 7-Dec-2025	Will You Love Me Tomorrow (Shirelles, 1961)	#1 in America. The first girl group to have Billboard Hot 100 #1. Written by Carole King & Gerry Goffin. Played in C: C F G C G Esus4 E7 Am (G) F C G / F Em F G7 C F Em Am D7 F G7
Sun 14-Dec-2025	Paranoid (Black Sabbath, 1970)	#1 in Germany for 2 weeks, the Christmas #1 for 1970 / Main chords: Em …D … G D Em / After Verse 1 & 4: Em C D / Bridge after Verse 2. Solo after Verse 3. Although I bought this album over 50 years ago, and have heard this song hundreds of times, I didn’t know the lyrics to all 5 verses, and it took more more attempts than I expected to learn the song’s structure.

Songs that have not reached #1 anywhere

 

Date	Song (Artist, Year it reached #1)	Notes
Thu 4-Dec-2025	After the Gold Rush (Neil Young, n/a)	After trying out “Only Love Can Break Your Heart”, another Neil Young song just after his 80th birthday. In the original key: D G D G D A G A / Bm C G C / D A C G
Wed 17-Dec-2025	Some Christmas (Me, n/a)	A Christmas song I wrote, or rather first conceived, in 2010. I recorded a simple demo of it in 2015, at Perry Vale Studios, with the late, great Pat Collier at the controls. Now that the song has entered its 16th year I have finally played it in public. It was very well-received by some of those who heard it. I will need to put it away again on 6-Jan-2026 (no Christmas songs after Epiphany), but hope to revive it and finish it off in time for Christmas 2026. If not, well at least a few dozen people have heard it now. I played it 6 times in various places around London between 17 and 26 December

Running Total of all songs played at least once, without referring to chord charts or lyric sheets:

UK #1s: 219 / Non-UK #1s: 106 / Not #1 anywhere: 112 / Grand Total: 437