“Christmas Stocking” by The Sandy Coves spent thirteen weeks in the top forty in 1989, with four consecutive weeks at number two. Written by lead vocalist and guitarist Derek “Dex” MacKenzie, it was the band’s only top-twenty hit and remains a seasonal favourite. The single’s success was helped along by a humorous video featuring Angie Ellis, a well-known soap star at the time, but the comic touches in the video together with the upbeat fast-tempo production mask a pretty simple tune with surprisingly melancholy lyrics. Rumour has it Dex wrote the song about his failing marriage to Karen French. However, despite writing a song in which he begged Karen to stay with him, it was Dex who left the marriage—and the band after almost a decade together—walking out in 1990 for second wife and fellow musician Tammy Ferguson. He launched an unremarkable solo album, Seashells, a year later, but when his first and second singles both failed to break the top one hundred, he was dropped by his record label.

Bonus fact: After divorcing Tammy, Dex moved to Cornwall, married again, and opened his own ice cream parlour. He never released another record.