The Christmas hit written in an hour by unlikely duo who’ve by no means even met: The Rat Pack tribute singer and freelance author behind the anti-Starmer charity music that is shock contender for festive primary
It has topped the charts and already been heard more than a million times but the Christmas hit criticising Sir Keir Starmer was actually created by a duo who have never met.
Freezing This Christmas is about the government’s slashing of winter fuel payments for pensioners and the resultant ‘hardship’ inflicted on its victims.
The track was written by freelance marketer and writer Chris Middleton and uses the melody of Mud’s 1974 hit Lonely This Christmas and has been released under the mock band name Sir Starmer and the Granny Harmers.
It was sung by Frank Sinatra impersonator Dean Ager, 51, from Worthing, who recorded it in just 15 minutes.
All revenue generated from sales will go towards charities supporting the elderly.
The song features the lyrics: ‘It’ll be freezing this Christmas, without fuel at home, it’ll be freezing this Christmas, while Keir Starmer is warm. It’ll be cold, so cold, without fuel at home, this Christmas.’
Middleton, from Newcastle, said he was inspired by ‘something on Twitter a couple of months ago about trying to do a Christmas song for pensioners’ and that the hook of the chorus then ‘just came’ to him.
Speaking to the Telegraph, Ager said that Middleton had stumbled across him online when he was looking for a singer for the record and offered just £50 for him to perform the track.
The hit was sung by Frank Sinatra impersonator Dean Ager, who recorded it in just 15 minutes
Chris Middleton (pictured) wrote the song and employed a freelance videographer to help as well
The song mocks the decision to strip up to 10 million pensioners of the winter fuel payment based on new means-tested criteria
Ager explained: ‘Chris contacted me and said ”I’ve got this song – can you do it?” He paid me £50 and I recorded it in about 15 minutes. I already knew the tune, well-ish, and so I sent it and scurried off on my way. I thought that would be the end of it.
‘When Chris asked me if I wanted recognition I looked at the lyrics again and thought ”Wow, that’s something”, but when he told me we were number one on the iTunes download charts, I was jumping around in excitement like a little kid.’
Middleton was raised by his grandparents for a number of years and says he has seen first-hand how damaging Labour’s fuel payment policy had been.
He said: ‘Older people do feel the cold more.
‘My gran had a heart attack and her medication makes her blood vessels constrict so she is always freezing. Even in summer she’s bundled up by the fire.
‘After 14 years of the Tories we were all fed up, and we thought things would be different under Labour, but it’s way worse than anyone thought.’
Ager, who frequently does gigs at care homes, agreed, saying he is ‘not very political’ but that ‘you don’t have to look far to see that the elderly are vulnerable and a lot of people are really struggling’.
An original member of Mud, Rob Davis, who is now 77, is among those to voice their support for the record.
Writer Chris Middleton only paid singer Dean Ager £50 to sing the Christmas song
More than a million people have already watched the cover on YouTube
The song features the lyrics: ‘It’ll be freezing this Christmas, without fuel at home, it’ll be freezing this Christmas, while Keir Starmer is warm. It’ll be cold, so cold, without fuel at home, this Christmas’
The track, written by freelance marketer and writer Chris Middleton, uses the melody of Mud’s 1974 hit Lonely This Christmas and has been released under the mock band name Sir Starmer and the Granny Harmers
Dean Ager is one of the men behind the scathing anti-Starmer Christmas number one contender that mocks Sir Keir Starmer’s winter fuel cuts
He said of winter fuel cuts: ‘That’s not a good thing. I mean, there are a lot of very broke people over here. It’s very hard.’
He also said of the parody arrangement: ‘It’s a good version. The vocals sound the same as Les [Gray, the late singer of Mud]. It’s a cool version.’
Perhaps paralleling the production of previous charity Christmas songs, Freezing This Christmas was written quickly – reportedly in an hour – and has already raised £24,000.
The figure is not quite so much as the millions generated by Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas but like many of those singing on the iconic 80s single, the men behind the new festive charity tune have still have not even met.
Dean Ager, the singer on the track, claimed the BBC’s refusal to play the song is ‘giving them bad publicity for being so biased’
Dean Ager (pictured this week performing at Bankers chip shop in Hove)
While 1.4 million people have already watched the cover on YouTube, the only airtime the song has had so far on radio is via a small chart round-up on Heart Radio, a channel run by media company Global.
But bookmaker William Hill has pegged the song as a second favourite to become Christmas No 1.
The official singles chart is announced each Friday with the Official Charts Company collating sales across paid downloads, streams, and physical purchases to arrive at the best-selling track each week.
William Hill has spoken of how the single is now actually ‘a serious contender to top the charts on Christmas Day’ and that a miracle next week is still on the table.
The company currently has Wham! at 1/16 odds to take pole position and Sir Starmer and the Granny Harmers at 12/1.
Tens of thousands of elderly people could face a stark choice between heating and eating this Christmas after changes to the rules surrounding winter fuel payments introduced by Rachel Reeves.
The chancellor announced this summer that claims for the allowance, which is intended to help pensioners with energy bills and is worth up to £300, would be largely limited to people eligible for pension credit.
The change resulted in a surge of pension credit claims that has overwhelmed Whitehall, creating a pile-up of 91,075 unprocessed applications as of 18 November, according to Emma Reynolds, the pensions minister.
