Sleaford Mods talk Pet Shop Boys cover West End Girls: "Christmas Number 1 would be the highest honour"

The race for the 2023 Official Christmas Number 1 single kicks off on Friday, December 15. And, with LadBaby's five-year-long domination officially over as the pair pull out of proceedings, this year's chart battle's sure to be the most exhilarating in ages.

With the 2023 Christmas Number 1 contenders including a bunch of TikTok stars taking on Wizzard, bonafide classics from The Pogues and Wham! and a cat from Stevenage (yep), the odds on who'll clinch the most coveted chart-topper of the year are wide open.

This week, we're shining a spotlight on some of 2023's hottest challengers; with Nottingham duo Sleaford Mods kick-starting the series.

Following the Top 5 success of their album UK GRIM earlier this year, Sleaford's Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn have covered Pet Shop Boys' 1985 Number 1 West End Girls in aid of housing and homelessness charity Shelter.

Today, we catch up with Jason to talk the 'honour' of a Christmas Number 1, importance of supporting those in need and, of course, his favourite-ever #XmasNo1.

MORE: 2023's Official Christmas Number 1 single contenders

Hey, Jason. You've put a Sleaford Mods slant on a Pet Shop Boys classic. How did you land on West End Girls as your chosen cover?

My memory of Pet Shop Boys, aside from them being amazing, is that they always sparkled around Christmastime. They had the Christmas Number 1 with Always On My Mind in 1987, which always stuck out to me. West End Girls feels quite Christmassy too, in a way. It’s on that tip.

Andrew’s always been a massive fan of the song. We did a cover of Yazoo’s Don’t Go a couple of years ago, and it taught us we can do covers, remain respectable and sound like yourselves. 

I’ve been listening to Pet Shop Boys since lockdown. As far as we’re concerned, West End Girls is probably the best song they’ve ever written. They have an armful, two armfuls of hits; tune after tune. But West End Girls, for me, is Pet Shop Boys’ defining song. 

When we decided to cover it, we wanted to get it as close to the original as possible. There was no point doing some kind of updated version; that’d just be an insult!

You've received the ultimate validation from Pet Shop Boys, too - they've remixed the track! How does that feel?

I couldn’t believe it when I got an email back from them. They’re almost mythical people. Me and Andrew have grown up with them, they’re titans of pop music. 

They said to me ‘we might have something for you.’ I couldn’t even believe they’d entertain the thought. It was something we’d spoken about loosely spoken about, thinking ‘imagine if they remixed it.’ This was before we’d even been given the okay on covering it. 

When they came back with that, it was just brilliant.

MORE: Every Official Christmas Number 1 single ever

What would a Christmas Number 1 single mean to you and Andrew?

Could you imagine? Come on, it’s the gold award, isn’t it? The charts are still a thing. Everything that goes with them are complete badges of honour for musicians, working from the ground up, it’s one of the highest honours. 

A Christmas Number 1 would be up there with a Number 1 album for me.

The charts are very important to me. To anybody saying ‘charts aren’t important,’ I don’t agree. It’s a really good look if you can get into that Top 10 or Top 5, dreams come true. 

Our last two albums [Spare Ribs and UK GRIM] have gone Top 5, and it’s really elevated our band. From a selfish, business perspective it’s obviously brilliant, but let’s get the Shelter charity up there, too.

Absolutely, let's talk about your support of Shelter. Why was it so important to you to donate profits from West End Girls to the charity?

There’s nothing more effective than trying to help those around you, within the vicinity of this country. It feels like a direct connection with those that might need a little more this year.

People have been putting their decorations up earlier this year. People are just sick of the barrage of negative news, of the noise that surrounds social media, of everything. Hopefully West End Girls, and our connection with Shelter, brings a little bit of positivity. It’s all about that positive, traditional message. 

I’m all for tradition at Christmas. You get to a point in life where you think ‘f**k this,’ you know?

LISTEN to Sleaford Mods' West End Girls below:

MORE: When will the Official Christmas Number 1 single 2023 be revealed?

How would you celebrate a Christmas Number 1 single?

It’d just be a feeling of absolute pride, really. Walking around feeling so proud. Sleaford Mods has just gone from strength to strength, and this would be another notch in the belt for us.

And finally, Jason, what's your favourite Christmas Number 1 of all time?

John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Plastic Band's Happy Xmas (War is Over) has got to be up there, for me. The traditional stuff I grew up with.

Sleaford Mods' West End Girls is out now via Rough Trade Records Ltd. All profits from the single go to Shelter.

When will the Official Christmas Number 1 song 2023 be announced?

The 2023 Official Christmas Number 1 will be announced on Friday, December 22. The full Christmas Top 40 will be counted down on BBC Radio 1's The Official Chart with Jack Saunders from 4pm.

The full Top 100 Official Christmas Singles Chart and Official Christmas Albums Chart will be published on OfficialCharts.com from 5.45pm.

Make sure you’re following Official Charts on TikTok, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for updates throughout the race. Join in the Christmas Number 1 conversation using #XmasNo1 and #OfficialChart. 

Stay up to date with the latest Christmas Number 1 news right here on OfficialCharts.com. And sign up to our mailing list for breaking news alerts on the race.