Behind The Christmas Hits with Drew Savage

It's the song that helped Andy Williams earn the nickname "Mr. Christmas"! Join Drew Savage as he takes you behind the Christmas hit that is "The Most Wonderful Time of The Year."

A last minute change of plans in one of the most popular Christmas specials ever meant this throwaway song had a chance to become a classic! Join Drew Savage as he takes you through the Christmas hit that is "Holly Jolly Christmas."

The only Christmas album by a male singer to debut at #1 turns 10 years old this year - and It's by a Canadian! Join Drew Savage as he takes you behind the Christmas hit that is Justin Bieber's Mistletoe.  

After having the best year of his career, Elton John wanted to say thanks to his fans and give them a Christmas classic. Join Drew Savage as he takes you behind the Christmas hit that is Elton John's "Step into Christmas."

It's the story behind a Christmas hit by a boyband released at the very peak of their powers. Join Drew Savage as he takes you behind the Christmas hit that is NSYNC's "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays."

It's been called a Norman Rockwell painting come to life, but did you know if was written in Canada? Join Drew Savage as he takes you behind the Christmas hit - It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

What song had the longest journey ever to become #1? It's Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas is You. It was 1993 and Mariah’s then husband and head of her record company, Tommy Mottola, began strategizing with his team about her next career move. To everyone’s surprise, they decided a Christmas album was the way to go. Mariah couldn’t understand why.  Her most recent album, Music Box, had bee...

How did seeing a group of teenagers dancing to Elvis music on the beach in the middle of summer inspire one of the biggest Christmas hits of all? This is the story behind… Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree. Nobody wrote more Christmas hits than Johnny Marks. His biggest was his first in 1949: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Over the course of his career, he’d also write Run Run Rudolph, Holly Joll...

Rudolph and Frosty teamed up for a TV special in 1979, but their relationship goes back a lot further than that. In fact, you could say the song Frosty the Snowman is a direct sequel to Rudolph. Gene Autry had made Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer a huge hit in 1949 and like the true businessman he was, he wanted to do more of the same. Remember, this was a singer who eventually became the owner of...

How did the fallout of a performance at the 1968 World Series lead to the only English line in the biggest Spanish Christmas song of all time? This is the story behind…Feliz Navidad. Not many iconic Christmas songs have been written after 1970, but Feliz Navidad is one of them. It was written and recorded by Puerto Rican singer/songwriter José Feliciano. José was recording a Christmas album and pr...

It was a Christmas hit that literally had to be rescued from the trash! This is the story behind…Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. It was written for Judy Garland’s 1944 movie Meet Me in St. Louis. The film was notable for a couple of reasons: the song and for being where Judy and the film’s director, Vincent Minnelli, met and fell in love. They married in 1945 and then Liza Minnelli was bor...

It is not at all a stretch to say that this is one of the most important songs to ever be recorded in music history. This is the story of White Christmas. Written by Irving Berlin and sung by Bing Crosby for the 1942 movie, Holiday Inn. Crosby played Jim Hardy – an entertainer who turns his farm into a vacation spot that would only be open on holidays.  Irving Berlin was commissioned to write a so...

This is the story of Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer Jule Styne were meeting with their publisher on one of the hottest days of the year at Hollywood & Vine in July 1945.  A time before most people had air conditioning.   It was reportedly Cahn who said to the other two men that it was too hot to work and they should really head to the beach, to which St...

This Christmas hit was first recorded on October 4, 1943 by Bing Crosby. It was written by lyricist Kim Gannon and composer Walter Kent for soldiers who were overseas for the holidays but longing to be home. Or…was it?   This is the story of I’ll Be Home for Christmas.     Many songs featured on Behind the Christmas Hits were not immediate hits and took time to grow in popularity. Not this one -  ...

The role of the reindeer who saved Christmas was played by a young Canadian woman!  This is the story Behind the Christmas Hit…Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. The song Rudolph was written by Johnny Marks and first recorded by Gene Autry in 1949…but one of the reasons the song endures is because of the television special produced by Rankin Bass Productions in 1964. It has been broadcast on network...

The first Christmas standard ever introduced by a black singer would go on to become the most performed Christmas song ever.  This is the story behind…The Christmas Song.   The story of how it was written is a famous one. In 1945, Mel Torme and Bob Wells would take turns going over to each other’s houses to write songs. On one smoking hot July day in Toluca Lake, California, Mel went to Bob’s hous...

Today, a Christmas hit written by a Canadian band for a big budget Christmas movie starring a Canadian actor! Today, it’s the story of Green Christmas by the Barenaked Ladies for the movie How The Grinch Stole Christmas!  For this story, we hook up with the guitarist, lead singer and songwriter for Barenaked Ladies, Ed Robertson. Ed Robertson tells us about how the song came to be, being a big fan...

Donny Hathaway recognized that the Black experience was underrepresented in Christmas music, so he decided to change that. This is the story behind…This Christmas. The song Donny Hathaway would find was written 3 years before its release in the middle of a blizzard by a Chicago postal worker named Nadine McKinnor.   Nadine would keep a notebook full of lyrics she’d jot down as they came to her. Sh...

John Lennon wasn’t one to do things small.  Whether it was his activism or his music, he wanted to touch as many people as possible...which is probably why it’s no surprise that he set himself a goal to write a Christmas song that would last forever.  Here’s the story of how a slogan from a billboard campaign would go on to fulfill Lennon’s lofty ambitions. Today, Behind the Christmas Hits feature...

This song is a pretty polarizing Christmas hit, but boy do a lot of people love it! Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer. For this episode, Drew Savage sat down with Irish Rovers Founding Member George Millar! George walks us through the history of the song, and some fun facts behind the hit. George Millar explains how they Irish Rovers were not the first to record the song, but the first to release...

George Michael loved Christmas. For years, he would have a big, boozy dinner party with about 25 of his closest friends on Christmas Eve. Some years, they’d even go out carolling after dinner.  Imagine: George Michael showing up at your front door at 10 o’clock on Christmas Eve singing Silent Night. It should be no surprise that a guy who loved celebrating the season so much would write a future c...

Was Dominick connected to the mob?  It’s time to explore the story behind one of the most polarizing Christmas songs of all time: Dominick the Donkey. Written by Ray Allen, Sam Saltzberg & Wandra Merrell, Dominck was recorded by Lou Monte.   Monte grew up in New Jersey and started singing & playing guitar in clubs when he was 14. He paused his career in the early 40’s to enlist in the Army...

You’d be hard pressed to find a Christmas song that’s been written about as much as this one, yet at the same time, little is actually known about it’s origins or how the artist even feels about it.  We’re talking about Paul McCartney’s Wonderful Christmastime. Paul was the third Beatle to record a Holiday song.  John Lennon was first with Happy X-Mas, George Harrison was second with his 1974 orig...

The lyrics to one of the most popular Christmas hits of all came as bittersweet recollections from a lyricist who had just lost his brother.  This is the story of Santa Claus is Comin' to Town. Santa Claus is Comin' to Town is one of the early original Christmas hits of the 20th Century.  Written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie, the first recording was believed to have been made in October 19...

What do you do when driving to work?  If you’re Liz Mitchell, the lead singer of Boney M, you sing your next big hit for the first time.  This is the story behind…Mary’s Boy Child/Oh My Lord! For this episode, Drew Savage sat down with Boney M’s original lead singer, Liz Mitchell! Liz Mitchell walks us through the history of the song, and some fun facts behind the hit. Mary’s Boy Child Oh My Lord...