For many, the festive season truly begins when the opening notes of Jona Lewie's Stop The Cavalry fill the airwaves. The iconic track, now a staggering 45 years old, remains a Christmas staple, earning its creator a remarkable annual windfall that underscores the enduring power of a perfect festive anthem.
The Unexpected Christmas Classic
Despite its now-unbreakable association with December, Jona Lewie never intended Stop The Cavalry to be a Christmas song. The 78-year-old London-based musician recently recounted how its festive fate was sealed by a single lyric. "It featured the line 'wish I was at home for Christmas' so the record company released it in early December," he told the Daily Mail.
The single's 1980 release was overshadowed by tragedy, hitting shops on the very day John Lennon was shot and killed. "The following week, two of his tracks held the top two spots and my record was third," Lewie recalled in a 2015 interview. He admitted having "no inkling" it would evolve into a perennial classic, ranking alongside Slade and Wham! in the Christmas canon.
A Lifelong Financial Legacy
The song's success translated into substantial financial security. Lewie estimates it has sold between three and four million copies, allowing him to avoid conventional employment. However, the track's dominance created a creative dilemma. "I spent the 80s and 90s trying to move past my success with that song," he explained, acknowledging the challenge of being defined by one major hit.
Today, the royalties provide a significant and predictable income. Stop The Cavalry earns roughly £120,000 in royalties each year, a figure that could surge this year due to its feature in the high-profile Morrisons supermarket Christmas advert. Lewie revealed to The Guardian that the song constitutes about 50% of his personal income.
"The thing is, I do everything on the track," he stated, highlighting the financial benefit of his one-man-band approach. "I write the lyrics and the melody, so that’s all of the publishing. And because I’m a musician I can do all the backing track, so that’s all the recording royalty... And if you can get a track associated with Christmas, you get annual regurgitation, and potential for earning every year."
From Kitchen to Cavalry: A Career Saved
Remarkably, Lewie's signature hit nearly never happened. His career at Stiff Records was on the brink before another song secured his future. "I was on the verge of being dropped from Stiff until my 1980 hit You'll Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Parties solidified my place," he said. That track sold around 200,000 copies and reached number 16, saving his contract and paving the way for the Christmas anthem that would define his career.
Now, decades on, Lewie still experiences moments of surprise at the song's ubiquity. "Sometimes I hear it in a shop and I think, 'Blimey, that's me!'" he said. From an unintended festive release to a £120,000-a-year pension, Stop The Cavalry continues to march on, proving that some Christmas gifts truly are for life.
