Must Be Santa, over the years (now with more Dylan)
December 20, 2010 9:26 AM   Subscribe

 
I heard "Must be Santa" for the first time on Friday --- "sung" by my daughter's kindergarten class.
posted by leahwrenn at 9:29 AM on December 20, 2010


Holy crap, it's Schnitzelbank!

If Brave Combo covered Schnitzelbank I could die a happy man.
posted by The Bellman at 9:40 AM on December 20, 2010 [1 favorite]


Dylan's version quickly became my daughter's favorite song last year.
posted by Sailormom at 9:40 AM on December 20, 2010


Children love it if you replace Santa's name with theirs and use their characteristics in the song.

"Who has cheeks that are plump and round?"

"$CHILD has cheeks that are plump and round!"

etc
posted by DU at 9:44 AM on December 20, 2010


The Bellman: Holy crap, it's Schnitzelbank!

My wife mentioned the same thing when she saw the Dylan video, but I thought it would be a bit much to toss that into the mix. I was wondering if the call-and-response is popular in polka, or if the original Must Be Santa got polka-fied and ended up sounding remarkably like another polka that had call-and-response.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:47 AM on December 20, 2010


No, filthy, I think it's pretty clear that it's an homage/parody/re-imagining of Must Be Santa by the Animaniacs folks. They did a lot of those and some of them were flat out brilliant. Brave Combo does a fair amount of audience interaction, and a whole lotta polka, but I don't think it's a hallmark of the form. In case you don't know Brave Combo (which I suspect you do), they're one of the best live bands ever -- go see them at a "hipster" venue if you have a chance and watch the cool kids dissolve in paroxysms of pure musical joy.
posted by The Bellman at 9:55 AM on December 20, 2010


Yep, must be filthy light thief.

I used to have an account with the Schnitzelbank, but having my personal checks made of meat caused problems.

FEARLESS PREDICTION: The next single from Weird Al Yankovic (modern master of rock accordion) will be "Must Be Dylan" and it will be the perfect (long-awaited) follow-up to "Bob".
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:01 AM on December 20, 2010 [1 favorite]


You're wrong about Mitch Miller originally recording it in 1969 - maybe you mean '59? I remember the song from the Christmas Sing-Along album when I was a wee kid in the early '60s.

Besides, if the original recording was in '69, how did Lorne Green record it in '66?
posted by DandyRandy at 10:28 AM on December 20, 2010


Crumbs, that should have been '61 for the original recording by Miller.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:40 AM on December 20, 2010


Hey, thanks for posting this. I've been having a miserable holiday season, and this whole post made me finally get excited for the Christmas.
posted by KingEdRa at 11:12 AM on December 20, 2010


The only version of this song for me is the one on my Raffi casette tape. It came right after Baby Beluga.
posted by ChuraChura at 1:19 PM on December 20, 2010


item, it was first released in 1961. My typo.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:28 PM on December 20, 2010


One more version: "singing" lights (an illuminated house, flashing in time to music).
posted by filthy light thief at 1:30 PM on December 20, 2010


"Who has really bad gingivitis?
"Who has non-specific urethritis?

Corey McAbee - The Billy Nayer show does the version that all 12 -15 year old boys love best.
posted by pianomover at 4:24 PM on December 20, 2010


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