Christmas Song Stuck In My Head This Year - The Ronettes - I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

Phil Spector seemingly had a history of erratic behaviour involving guns and so when, last year, he was finally convicted of the shooting and death of actress Lana Clarkson in 2003 it was no real surprise. All of this, however, can never detract from the amazing music he created throughout his career as a record producer.

For me, Christmas isn't really Christmas without the album 'A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector' as it really just feels so Christmassy. This is helped by Spector's 'Wall Of Sound' method of recording which is best described in this quote from songwriter Jeff Barry who worked extensively with Spector - "You're going to have four or five guitars line up, gut-string guitars, and they're going to follow the chords...two basses in fifths, with the same type of line, and strings...six or seven horns, adding the little punches…formula percussion instruments — the little bells, the shakers, the tambourines. Phil used his own formula for echo, and some overtone arrangements with the strings. But by and large there was a formula arrangement."

This large ensemble of musicians were recorded, on the whole, at Gold Studios in Los Angeles as Spector liked to work with their echo chambers. The process is best described from this quote from Wikipedia - 'Microphones in the recording studio captured the sound, which was then transmitted to an echo chamber—a basement room outfitted with speakers and microphones. The signal from the studio would be played through the speakers and would reverberate around the room, being picked up by the microphones. The echo-laden sound was then channelled back to the control room, where it was transferred to tape.

The natural reverberation and echo from the hard walls of the room gave his productions their distinctive quality and resulted in a rich and complex sound when played on AM radio, with an impressive depth rarely heard in mono recordings.'

The Christmas album showcases this extremely well and is now a much loved album but, on its release, it didn't sell so well. This was, for the most part, due to the fact it was released on 22nd November 1963. This was also the same day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated so people, understandably, were not really in the mood for jolly Christmas tunes. However as time passed it became a staple of many people’s Christmas playlists including mine.

I hope you enjoy my favourite track from the album, 'I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus' performed by The Ronettes!!

The Ronettes - I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

I Saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus,
Underneath the mistletoe last night!
She didn't see me creep,
Down stairs to have a peek!
She thought that i was tucked up
In my bedroom fast asleep.

Then I saw Mommy tickle Santa Claus,
Underneath his beard so snowy white!
Oh, what a laugh it would have been,
If Daddy had only seen,
Mommy kissing Santa Claus last night!

I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus,
Underneath the misletoe last night!
She didn't see me creep,
Down stairs to have a peek!
She thought that i was tucked up
In my bedroom fast asleep!

Then I saw Mommy tickle Santa Claus,
Underneath his beard so snowy white!
What a laugh it would have been
If Daddy had only seen,
Mommy kissing Santa Claus last night,
Mommy kissing Santa Claus last night!!!