Santa Claus Song
Louise Galmore
"I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" is a Christmas song with music and lyrics by British songwriter Tommie Connor and first recorded by American singer Jimmy Boyd in 1952.[1] The song has since been covered by many artists, with the Ronettes's 1963 and the Jackson 5's 1970 versions being the most famous.
The original recording by Jimmy Boyd, recorded on 15 July 1952, when he was 13 years old,[1] reached No. 1 on the Billboard pop singles chart in December 1952, and on the Cash Box chart at the beginning of the following year. It later reached number three in the UK Singles Chart when released there in November 1953. The song was commissioned by Saks Fifth Avenue to promote the store's Christmas card for the year, which featured an original sketch by artist Perry Barlow, who drew for The New Yorker for many decades.
The song describes a scene where a child walks downstairs from his bedroom on Christmas Eve to see his mother kissing Santa Claus under the mistletoe. The lyric concludes with the child wondering how his father will react on hearing of the kiss, unaware of the possibility that Santa Claus is merely his father in a costume.
It was reported that Boyd's record was condemned by the Roman Catholic Church and Banned in Boston when it was released, believing that it described an adulterous encounter.[2] The story goes that Boyd was then photographed meeting with the Archdiocese Of Boston to explain the joke behind the song, after which the ban was lifted.[2][3] However, the Archdiocese has no records of any ban, and no contemporaneous records or photographs can be found of a meeting between Boyd and any officials and the story appears to be a myth.[2]
A slightly less successful version of the song (#7 on the US Charts) was released in 1952 by Spike Jones[4] (with vocal by George Rock in the little boy voice used in Spike's hit "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth"). Jones also recorded a parody for his personal pleasure titled "I Saw Mommy Screwing Santa Claus."[5]
The Jackson 5 recorded the song for their 1970 Christmas album. The version entered the UK Singles Chart on its peak position, number ninety-one, on the week ending 5 December 1987, and charted there for four weeks total.[9] It also peaked at number forty-five on Billboard Holiday 100 on the week ending 6 January 2012,[10] and number one hundred in a Swiss singles chart on the week ending 29 December 2019.[11]
"Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" is a Christmas song featuring Santa Claus, written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie, and first recorded by Harry Reser and His Band.[1] When it was covered by Eddie Cantor on his radio show in November 1934 it became a hit; within 24 hours, 500,000 copies of sheet music and more than 30,000 records were sold.[2][3] The version for Bluebird Records by George Hall and His Orchestra (vocal by Sonny Schuyler) was very popular in 1934 and reached the various charts of the day.[4] The song has been recorded by over 200 artists including Mariah Carey, Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters, the Crystals, Neil Diamond, Fred Astaire, Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra, Mitch Miller, Boxcar Willie, Bill Evans, Chris Isaak, the Temptations, The Pointer Sisters, the Carpenters, Michael Bublé, Luis Miguel, Michael Bolton, and the Jackson 5.[5]
The earliest known recorded version of the song was by banjoist Harry Reser and his band on October 24, 1934 (Decca 264A)[6] featuring Tom Stacks on vocal, the version shown in the Variety charts of December 1934. The song was a sheet music hit, reaching number 1. The song was also recorded for Victor Records (catalog No. 25145A) on September 26, 1935, by Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra with vocals by Cliff Weston and Edythe Wright.[7]
In 1962, the Four Seasons version charted at number 23 on Billboard.[9] In 1963, producer Phil Spector included a version of the song on his rock album A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector performed by the Crystals.[10] In 1965, the Supremes' version charted at number 4 in Singapore.[11]
In 1970, Rankin-Bass produced Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town, an hour-long animated TV film based on the song, with Fred Astaire narrating the origin of Santa Claus. The same year, the Jackson 5 included the song on their best-selling album Jackson 5 Christmas Album. The Jackson 5 version would chart 50 years later on the Billboard 100 at #33. In 1971, the Partridge Family included the song on A Partridge Family Christmas Card. An eccentric 1972 live recording by Joseph Spence has been described as "a performance for the ages" by music critic Peter Margasak.[12][13] The Carpenters released the song as a single in 1974.
Australian ABBA tribute act Björn Again released a version in 1992 which reached number 55 on the UK Singles Chart.[20] Other well-known versions of this song include Mariah Carey from the album Merry Christmas (1994) and the Pointer Sisters version off the album A Very Special Christmas, also borrowing from the Crystals' arrangement.[21] Andy Williams performed the song on his album I Still Believe in Santa Claus, which was released on October 1, 1990.[22]
Luis Miguel recorded the song in Spanish as "Santa Claus Llegó a La Ciudad" for his Christmas album Navidades (2006).[23] His version of the song peaked at number 26 on the Billboard Latin Pop Songs chart.[24]
The song has also been recorded in a cappella versions. First by Straight No Chaser on their 2008 album Holiday Spirits, and later by Pentatonix on their 2014 album That's Christmas to Me.[25]
Sebastián Yatra recorded a Spanish version for Christmas 2019 and released it as a single.[28] The song charted in Spain and on Billboard's Hot Latin Songs chart and was certified gold by the RIAA in the US.[29]
About ASCAP
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During Wilson's rendition of "Santa Claus Is Back in Town," she sang with a blues-y twang while grooving to the rhythm. Meanwhile, the rasp in her voice was on point, and the backup singers complemented the performance perfectly. Toward the end of the song, the piano breakdown was absolutely epic. Watch for yourself, above.
It says: "until last year i genuinely thought i saw mommy kissing santa claus was actually about the mother cheating on her husband with santa, like it never occurred to me that her husband was dressed up as santa."
The original version of "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" was recorded by 13-year-old Jimmy Boyd in 1952. The song was absolutely huge. It went to number one, was awarded a gold record when it sold a million copies, was awarded another gold record when it sold another million, and then for the third million was awarded a special silver saddle (because Jimmy Boyd liked horses).
That's a lot of success for a song that was essentially just an advertising jingle. It was conceived not by any record company but by Saks Fifth Avenue, the department store. Saks had an annual Christmas card to promote the store, and they commissioned the song to promote the card. The card used a sketch by artist Perry Barlow, which had previously appeared on the cover of The New Yorker, of a mommy kissing Santa while he holds her confused child.
Not everyone was so keen on the song. In Boston, the Catholic Archdiocese officially condemned it, and so great was their influence that some radio stations took the song out of rotation despite it being the most popular single in the country. The church objected to "implying even a tenuous link between sex and the religious holiday." If Santa kissed Mommy, well, we can hardly expect the couple to stop there, especially with all those sinful details about Mommy tickling him underneath his beard.
Jimmy Boyd actually met with church leaders to convince them the song was harmless, and upon being granted a private audience with the 13-year-old boy, the Boston priests agreed to change their position. It's generally assumed that Jimmy explained to the priests that this song wasn't about adultery: Santa Claus is really the child's father dressed up, which is the whole joke of the song.
A fair number of people miss that detail (one memorable scene in Fresh Prince has Will scandalized on hearing the song, before Carlton explains it to him). One version of the song has an adult man, the kid's father, sing some lines to explain the truth to the listener. It doesn't change any words, but the verse makes perfect sense now as the father singing about his daughter: "She didn't see me creep / Down the stairs to have a peep / She thought that I was tucked up in my bedroom, fast asleep."
"I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" is a Christmas song with words and music by British songwriter Tommie Connor. The original recording by 13-year-old Jimmy Boyd rose to #1 on the Billboard charts in December 1952. The words tell of a child who sees Mommy kissing Santa Claus underneath the mistletoe.
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