A Promo Christmas

The commercialization of Christmas is not new; and certainly not a novelty in the record business. I have heard promotional holiday records that date back into the 1920s, and I would be surprised if there aren't older items out there.

Today we will sample several types of promotional disks, and even one that could be considered an anti-promotion.

The first type of promotion is a record intended to benefit a charity. This collection has three examples of the genre, all of them official "Christmas Seal songs" of their respective seasons. Christmas Seals were originally a tuberculosis charity, later broadened to include all lung diseases. I haven't been able to discover the first official "Christmas Seal song" in the U.S., but I know the tradition dates back to at least "Happy Christmas, Little Friend," which was written by Rodgers and Hammerstein at the behest of Life Magazine in 1952, and then was chosen as the Christmas Seal song the next year, in the Rosemary Clooney recording.

The Christmas Seal song for 1954 was "The Spirit of Christmas," a fine Matt Dennis-Tom Adair tune that Kitty Kallen recorded, with a Jack Pleis backing.

For the official 1956 song, Rosemary Clooney returned with her young sister Gail and "He'll Be Comin' Down the Chimney," with music lifted from "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain" and its antecedents. (I wonder if the listed "composers" donated their publishing royalties?)

Finally, the 1965 Christmas Seal song was Robert Goulet's "This Christmas I Spend with You," the title tune from his 1963 Christmas LP. This transfer is from the promotional 45, which includes opening and closing messages from Goulet as well as his rendition of "White Christmas."

Dinah Shore was renowned for her vocal skill, warmth and charm, which made her an ideal commercial spokesperson, and she was employed both by her record company and her television sponsor for promotional purposes during the holiday season.

1957 Billboard ad with Dinah Shore

In 1957, Dinah was the face of RCA Victor's extensive Christmas releases, appearing on point-of-sale materials and in trade ads. Oddly, Dinah herself did not merit a Christmas LP release, only an EP titled "You Meet the Nicest People at Christmas." No arranger is listed, although it may have been Harry Zimmerman, who was working with Shore both at RCA and on her TV show.

1961 Chevy promo

In 1961, her sponsor, Chevrolet, called upon her for another EP, which I believe was a giveaway at dealerships. By that time, Dinah had moved on to Capitol, but had not moved on from "You Meet the Nicest People," which appears here in a different, peppier version. This EP, with backing by Jack Marshall, is just as good as the RCA effort.

Another type of promotional item is a demo record. Today's collection includes what I believe was a demo sent by the publishers Patore Music to record companies on behalf of its composer, Henry Tobias and two of his Christmas ditties, "Take Off Those Whiskers Daddy" and "The Holiday Hop." The artist is Bernie Knee, a talented vocalist who was one of the best known demo singers. His backing is by Irving Fields, whose popular 1959 LP, "Bagels and Bongos," can still be found in many thrift shops.

Based on copyright records, I believe the Tobias-Knee-Fields 45 is from 1966. Several years later, Knee and Tobias combined to record the Richard Nixon tribute, "Hang In There, Mr. President," during the waning days of Nixon's term, replacing Irving Fields with Frankie Yankovic. (Sadly, only a snippet of this gem is available online.)

We conclude with an anti-promotional record of sorts, Stan Freberg's "Green Chri$tma$" from 1958, which is the satirist's complaint against Madison Avenue's appropriation of Christmas for its own purposes. It's a funny bit if you remember the ads he skewers. It's also a little ironic because Freberg was making some green himself from this Christmas record.

Wikipedia, perhaps reflecting Freberg's own views, would have you believe that Capitol did not want to release the record and did so with "no promotion or publicity," which isn't true. The company issued it with a picture sleeve containing Freberg's essay of self-praise on the back. My own copy of the 45 is a white-label Capitol promo. The record itself was a moderate hit and appeared on Billboard's charts.