The Fish Wives Choir - Why we should be the 2013 Christmas Number 1

The Fish Wives Choir’s Jane Dolby tells us why their single, When the Boat Comes In / Eternal Father, should be the Official 2013 Christmas Number 1.

There’s now six days to go before the 2013 Christmas Number 1 race officially kicks off, so we’ve decided to chat to some of this year’s contenders to find out why they want to be the 2013 festive chart topper.

Yesterday, it was the turn of The Retrobot with his single, Christmas Robot, and today we speak to Jane Dolby from The Fish Wives Choir about their Number 1 bid with When The Boat Comes In / Eternal Father.

The nearly 40-strong group hope to repeat the success of their military namesakes who claimed the 2011 Christmas Number 1 with their single, Wherever You Are. The Fish Wives Choir have received the backing of BBC Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans, who was instrumental in The Military Wives’ chart campaign, so they’re in with a good chance! Plus, all proceeds of the single will be donated to The Fishermen's Mission, to help support bereaved fishing families and fishing families facing hardship.

Who are The Fish Wives Choir?

Hannah Pascoe (soloist), Holly Lengden, Yvonne Sheehan, Toni Adams, Toni White, Sue Hendriks, Barbara Gallagher, Morna Young (soloist), Joy James, Elaine Campbell, Isobel Annett, Debbie Lake, Lara Hurley, Toni White, Marlene Hadden, Laura Poppy, Jenny Ansell, Sharyn Andrews, Mandy Apps, Tracey Edmunds, Helen Christie, Esther Coyote, Lee Moulton, Lisa Blatch, Wendy Roberts (soloist), Jackie Milton, Sarah Richardson, Jane Dolby (soloist), Rachel Thompson, Keri Evans, Barbara Bollen, Michelle Redshaw, Didge White, and Tommy Ludgate and Sarah Grace (voice coaches). With arrangement by John Puddick, Josh Winiberg, Phil Da Costa. Musical Director (our ‘Gareth Malone’) Josh Winiberg, and produced by Phil Da Costa and Jon Cohen.

How did the campaign to get When the Boat Comes In / Eternal Father to Number 1 come about?

Jane Dolby: “Chris Evans kindly interviewed me and played our single on his show about a month ago. He casually said something like, ‘Wouldn't it be nice to see the girls at Number 1 this Christmas’ and then he said to his listeners, ‘You know what to do!’. The press hooked onto that and there were a few articles about Chris championing us, then the next thing I knew, people were taking bets on us being this year’s Christmas Number 1 at the bookies! It wasn't until I looked online that I even realised we were in the running! The interest seemed to come out of nowhere but we're all so thrilled.”

Why should When the Boat Comes In / Eternal Father be this year’s Christmas Number 1?

“Fishing is the most dangerous job in the UK. More fishermen are killed at work (in peacetime) than in any other occupation…

“Many girls in our choir have lost husbands, sons, bothers, fathers and uncles. We are all related to fishermen and from fishing communities so even those who haven't lost a relative live with the daily risk of men going to work and never knowing if they will come back again. My own lovely husband drowned when his trawler sank in a storm off the Essex coast. The youngest of the four children were just 3 and 7.

“Our other soloist, Morna, lost her father when she was 5 off the coast of Scotland and his body was never found. My own husband's body was lost at sea for nearly a year, and without a body you can't get a death certificate. This meant I couldn't prove to any authorities like the banks that he was dead. On top of the emotional devastating there were almost catastrophic financial implications, too. But The Fishermen’s Mission helped us so much.

“Every single penny from royalties and sales from this song goes to The Fishermen's Mission to support bereaved fishing families and children in hardship to help others as we have all been helped.“

What’s you’re battle plan?

“We originally released this single in the summer never dreaming interest would be so great. We don't have a record deal, management or any financial backing, so I'm doing all the promotion myself and basically making it up as I go along, and hoping for the best!

“We use Facebook and Twitter to connect with fans and have met some brilliant journalists who have loved our story and helped raise the profile of our group. When Chris Evans played our single it shifted the interest up several gears and seems to have given us more credibility. We'll all be eternally grateful to him as being in the running wouldn't be happening without him even though he only played our song once, he is so well respected, that was enough to help us be in the running.

“My plan is to keep tweeting and Facebooking and try to get radio stations in all the regions that the girls live in across England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales to play our song. It would be wonderful to get the public living in fishing regions behind us, too.”

Who’s your biggest competitor do you think in this year’s Christmas Number 1 race?

“The other charity release is from Fynnjan Leach-Verhoeven. What a little star he is! None of us would be anything but delighted to see him in the top spot, bless him. Lovely kid and a great cause, and that is what Christmas is all about.”

Why is the Christmas Number 1 so important?

“There is a lot things families don't do together anymore but Christmas is different. Many homes will have people all sitting in front of games consoles or computers but separately. Christmas Number 1, like The Queen's Speech, brings people together to engage in fun and conversations about their favourites, what the outcome might be, who should have won etc. It's not precious and has a fab end-of-term feel good factor. And don't we all need a bit of that especially at this time of year?”

And what’s your favourite Christmas single of all-time and why?

“I can’t speak for all the girls of course, but my personal fave was Band Aid’s original version of Do They Know It's Christmas. Bob Geldof trailblazed the way for charity releases and inspired people like us to do the same. Band Aid was a great song, with an important message which is still an important message today, and the single left an inspiring legacy for others wanting to create charity releases since then.”

You can watch the official video for When The Boat Comes In / Eternal Father below:

When does the Official 2013 Christmas Number 1 race start?

Whoever you’re backing in this year’s race, make sure you buy it between 00.01am on Sunday, December 15 and midnight on Saturday, December 21 for sales to count towards this year’s Official Christmas Singles Chart.

The Official Christmas Singles Chart Top 40 will be counted down on BBC Radio 1’s Official Chart Show with Scott Mills and Jameela Jamil between 4 and 7pm on Sunday, December 22, with the full Top 100 posted on www.officialcharts.com at 7pm.