The Wombles to take on X Factor for this year’s Christmas Number One

Britain's favourite furry eco-warriors are going head-to-head with The X Factor for this year's Christmas Number One with the release of 'Wombling Merry Christmas'. The chart stars will also be bringing 'The W Factor' to the festive season with the release of their greatest hits collection, a remastered compilation album of 20 Wombling greats including 'Remember You're A Womble', 'The Wombling Song', 'To Wimbledon With Love', 'Nashville Wombles' and the much-loved 'Minuetto Allegretto'

Speaking about Wombling Merry Christmas, which reached number two in 1974 spending eight weeks in the charts, Uncle Bulgaria said: "I don't watch much television myself – I leave that to the young Wombles – but I hear The X Factor is jolly popular. However, W comes before X. Let's see what people think of The W Factor! It should appeal to the common people."

He added: "We wish everyone a Wombling Merry Christmas."

The Wombles will be out and about in the run-up to Christmas enjoying their overdue renaissance and the season of goodwill. The 70s rock-legends were the hit of this year's Glastonbury festival with their acclaimed comeback performance on the Avalon Stage. The release of The W Factor follows the reissue of all four of their gold-achieving albums plus the soundtrack to the 1977 film 'Wombling Free' in the summer.

Immaculate pop is The Wombles' trademark sound - an eclectic range of music including blues, country, folk, barbershop harmonies, glam rock, military brass and classical. Starting from a single song, 'The Wombling Song' written by Mike Batt for the TV series, The Wombles pop group became a phenomenon in pop history. In 1975 The Wombles received the Music Week magazine award for the "best selling singles group" beating Slade, The Bay City Rollers and many other chart favourites of the time. In total, The Wombles, who regularly appeared on Top of the Pops wearing costumes made by Batt's mother Elaine, have had 8 Top 30 hits in the UK and 1 top 50 hit in the USA.

Band members:
Orinoco – lead vocals and sax
Wellington – lead guitar
Madame Cholet – bass guitar
Bungo – drums
Great Uncle Bulgaria – violin & percussion
www.facebook.com/TheWombles

The W Factor Tracklisting:

1 Remember You're A Womble
2 The Wombling Song
3 Superwomble
4 Invitation To The Ping Pong Ball
5 Wipe Those Womble Tears From Your Eyes
6 Wombling White Tie And Tails
7 Wombling In The Rain
8 The Orinoco Kid
9 Exercise is Good For You
10 Wellington Goes To Waterloo
11 To Wimbledon With Love
12 The Womble Shuffle
13 Minuetto Allegretto
14 Down At The Barbershop
15 Nashville Wombles
16 Tobermory
17 Banana Rock
18 Madame Cholet
19 Bungo's Birthday
20 Wombling Merry Christmas