Theme Week, Part Chimney

Jeremy's Sametime Status Proudly Presents:  Santa Week!

Santa personally commissioned Bruce Springsteen to liven up that song


It was probably for the best.  The original was a little stale.


Well, such is the problem with an awful lot of Christmas music.  The vast majority of it is bland rehashes of the same old stuff, with no real creativity involved.  In fact, I have a remarkably long rant about Christmas music that needs to be filmed and produced at some point.  Maybe if somebody wants to tuck a digital production studio under my tree this year, that could happen.  Regardless, most Christmas music happens when some reasonably well-known artist decides to pick up a guitar and record "their" version of the same old Christmas carols for no purpose other than to make money exploiting their fans.  Every Now And Again, somebody will Come Along and do Something Really Unique Or Special with a Beloved Christmas Carol, but those truly are the exception.  Most of the time, they're crap.  Somebody shows up at a studio and decides to record "White Christmas" and make the world forget about that Crosby guy.  Spoiler alert...it doesn't happen.

In much the same vein, Santa Claus has an image and a brand that are remarkably difficult to maintain and update with the ever-changing times.  I mean, really...when people think of Santa Claus, they don't usually think of this guy:

 He didn't even have his fuzzy red jacket until the late 1860s.  He wore yellow until 1864, he smoked a pipe until the 1902, and wore Army fatigues during WWII.  He's always keeping up in order to keep his brand relevant to the children of the day.  He's awesome like that. 

So in the 1970s, Santa and his team decided to work their way into the rock and roll era, so an update to a famous Christmas Carol seemed perfectly appropriate.  The iconic "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" was a widely known song pretty much since its introduction in 1934, and already had a number of recorded covers at the time.  Santa studied and interviewed various bands to select one for his new rock anthem before ultimately settling on Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.  Rumor has it the late Clarence Clemons was a big fan of Santa's at the time, which led to his specifically getting a shout-out in the live recording.  The Boss happily accepted the project and created a truly unique and one of a kind recording of the beloved carol for the ages.