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The punk hit that nearly topped Christmas charts

Andrew Hartley
BBC Look North
Reporting fromBoldon
BBC Pete Zulu in chef uniform at the Black Horse pub. He has short white hair.BBC
The band's former bass player, Pete Zulu, now runs a pub in South Tyneside

Forty years ago, Sunderland band Toy Dolls took a quirky children's song, Nellie the Elephant, and transformed it into a punk rock anthem that quickly became a fan favourite.

But the track's story is about more than just a catchy tune - it is about a battle for the UK's number one spot in the pop charts in Christmas 1984.

Originally written in the 1950s, Nellie the Elephant had long been a well-loved children's song.

When Toy Dolls dropped their punk-infused cover, the track became a sensation, selling more than 530,000 copies.

It reached number four in the charts, despite being released on a small independent Newcastle-based label, Volume Records.

The singer and guitarist of Toy Dolls was Mike "Olga" Algar, and the band still records and tours to this day.

The bass player at the time was Pete Zulu, who left the band in 1985 and now runs the Black Horse pub in Boldon, South Tyneside, with wife Sarah Reid.

"Nellie the Elephant was just a great party song, you can't deny that," he says.

"It was so catchy and fun. Everybody sings along. I still can't believe that more than 500,000 went into a shop and bought it!

"How did that happen? Madness!"

The battle for number one

The Toy Dolls' cover of Nellie the Elephant found itself in a fierce battle for the coveted number one position on the UK singles chart over Christmas 1984.

As well as classics such as Wham's Last Christmas and Madonna's Like A Virgin, it was pitted against one of the best-selling songs of all time, charity single Do They Know It's Christmas? by Band Aid.

Zulu has fond memories of appearing on Top of the Pops as Nellie the Elephant climbed the charts.

"Madonna was standing nearby and you're thinking to yourself, 'how did this happen'":[]}