"I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" | |
---|---|
Single by Jimmy Boyd | |
Language | English |
B-side | "Thumbelina" |
Released | 1952 |
Recorded | 1952 |
Composer(s) | Tommie Connor |
Lyricist(s) | Tommie Connor |
"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]
A recording by 13-year-old Molly Bee appeared on the US Country charts in 1952.[ citation needed ]
Versions by the Beverley Sisters and by Billy Cotton and His Band charted on the UK Singles Chart in December 1953, peaking at, respectively, number six [6] and number eleven. [7]
The Ronettes recorded their own version in 1963 for A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector . The version peaked at number eighty-four on Billboard Holiday 100 on the week ending 9 December 2016. [8]
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]
In 1987, a recording by John Cougar Mellencamp featured on the first A Very Special Christmas compilation album, which benefits the Special Olympics.
A made-for-television movie based on the song was released in 2001.
Chart (1953) | Peak position |
---|---|
UK Singles (OCC) [12] | 3 |
Chart (1953) | Peak position |
---|---|
UK Singles (OCC) [13] | 11 |
Chart (1953) | Peak position |
---|---|
UK Singles (OCC) [14] | 6 |
Chart (2019–2024) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [15] | 97 |
Global 200 ( Billboard ) [16] | 79 |
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [17] | 94 |
Portugal (AFP) [18] | 146 |
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) [19] | 100 |
UK Singles (OCC) [20] | 84 |
US Billboard Hot 100 [21] | 43 |
US Holiday 100 ( Billboard ) [22] | 30 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [23] The Jackson 5 version | Gold | 45,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [24] The Jackson 5 version | Silver | 200,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
Jimmy Devon Boyd was an American singer, musician, and actor known for his 1952 recording of the song "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus."
"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. 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. The version for Bluebird Records by George Hall and His Orchestra was very popular in 1934 and reached the various charts of the day. 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.
Jackson 5 Christmas Album is the first Christmas album, and fourth studio album, by Motown family quintet the Jackson 5, released on October 15, 1970. Included on the Christmas Album is the Jacksons' hit single version of "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town". The Jacksons' versions of "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" and "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" remain frequent radio requests during the Christmas season. The album spent four weeks at the number one position on Billboard magazine's special Christmas Albums chart that the magazine published in December 1970, making it the best-selling Christmas album of that year and also of the year 1972 in the United States. This album was a top seller and had the potential to chart high on the US Billboard Top LPs ranking, but from 1963 to 1973, holiday albums were not allowed to chart in it. The album has been praised by music critics.
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A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector is an album of Christmas songs, produced by Phil Spector, and originally released as Philles 4005 in November 1963. Spector treated a series of mostly secular Christmas standards to his "Wall of Sound" treatment, and the selections feature the vocal performances of Spector's regular artists during this period. One month after its release, the album peaked at No. 13 on Billboard magazine's special, year-end, weekly Christmas Albums sales chart.
"Santa Baby" is a song performed by American singer Eartha Kitt with Henri René and His Orchestra and originally released in 1953. The song was written by Joan Javits and Philip Springer, who also used the pseudonym Tony Springer in an attempt to speed up the song's publishing process. Lyrically, the song is a tongue-in-cheek look at a Christmas list addressed to Santa Claus by a woman who wants extravagant gifts such as sables, yachts, and decorations from Tiffany.
"Blue Christmas" is a Christmas song written by Billy Hayes and Jay W. Johnson and most famously recorded by Elvis Presley, although it was first recorded by Doye O'Dell in 1948. It is a tale of unrequited love during the holidays and is a longstanding staple of Christmas music, especially in the country genre.
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"Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane)" is a popular Christmas song written and originally performed by Gene Autry, with music composed by Oakley Haldeman. Autry's original recording (in which he pronounces Santa Claus as "Santy Claus") was a top-10 hit on the pop and country charts; the song would go on to be covered many times in the subsequent decades.
Billboard Greatest Christmas Hits is a set of two Christmas-themed compilation albums released by Rhino Records in 1989, each featuring ten popular Christmas recordings from 1935 to 1983, many of which charted on the Billboard record charts. Both volumes were certified Gold by the RIAA in the U.S., with the second volume being certified Platinum.
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I Still Believe in Santa Claus is a Christmas album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released by Curb Records in 1990. It was his fourth solo album of Christmas music, following The Andy Williams Christmas Album (1963), Merry Christmas (1965) and Christmas Present (1974). As with the 1965 LP, this album focuses exclusively on 20th-century compositions, including two new songs: "Christmas Needs Love to Be Christmas" and "My Christmas Vow ", the latter of which Williams describes in the liner notes as "a new lyric set to an old Hawaiian melody".
"Santa Tell Me" is a Christmas song recorded by American singer Ariana Grande. The song was released worldwide by Republic Records on November 24, 2014, via iTunes Store. It was included on the Japanese exclusive reissue of Grande's first EP Christmas Kisses (2013), and a "naughty version" with suggestive lyrics was included on Grande's second EP Christmas & Chill (2015). The song was written by Grande, Savan Kotecha, and Ilya Salmanzadeh, who also served as its producer.
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Holiday Sing Along with Mitch is an album by Mitch Miller and The Gang. It was released in 1961 on the Columbia label. This album consisted of more contemporary Christmas songs, while his Miller's previous Christmas album, Christmas Sing Along with Mitch, consisted of more traditional carols, a few of them of a religious character.
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i saw mommy screwing santa claus.