Tommie Connor, a songwriter from Bloomsbury, in London, received a strange commission in the early 50s: to write a song promoting the annual Christmas card of the flagship Saks Fifth Avenue department store in New York. The song-sheet holiday card, which included Connor’s lyrics to “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus,” featured a cartoon showing a young woman kissing Father Christmas next to a decorated tree, with bags of presents strewn across the floor. This image would remain forever imprinted in the public’s mind after Jackson 5 released their version of the song, in 1970. Show
Banned on radio“I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” was first recorded in July 1952 by Jimmy Boyd and it aroused controversy. Objections were raised by church groups, who took exception to the saucy lyrics, while radio stations in Boston, influenced by local Catholic Church officials, even banned the song when it came out. Boyd, a skinny, red-headed kid of 12, helped persuade stations to lift the ban, and his version of “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” became a big hit, which led to a successful career in movies and on television variety shows for the Mississippi-born child star. Though there have been hundreds of versions of the song since 1952 – including those by The Beverley Sisters, The Ronettes, Andy Williams, Reba McEntire, John Mellencamp, Jessica Simpson, Amy Winehouse, and John Prine – the most popular is by Jackson 5, who recorded it for Motown. The Jackson 5 version“I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” was one of the tracks on Jackson 5 Christmas Album, which was released on October 15, 1970. The album was recorded when child prodigy Michael Jackson was on the cusp of his 12th birthday. Jackson takes the lead on the part-sung, part-spoken track, which opens with his exclamation, “Wow! Mommy’s kissing Santa Claus.” The joke of the song, of course, is that the man kissing the woman under the mistletoe is in fact the boy protagonist’s father, who is wearing a Santa costume. Jackson 5’s track, which also featured Jackie, Jermaine, Marlon, and Tito Jackson, was produced by Hal David. Jackson 5 Christmas Album also features a sparkling version of Mel Tormé’s “Christmas Song.” The group’s version of “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” gave the Jacksons a hit single in New Zealand, and they would regularly perform the song live and on television shows, sometimes doing an a cappella version. Tommie Connor earned serious money from his hit, more than he’d earned from co-writing the 1937 festive song “The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot,” which was recorded by Nat King Cole. He went on to write lyrics for some of the music in the 1966 Spaghetti Western The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly. But it is his cheeky festive hit, so associated with that exuberant Motown version, that keeps his name alive. Looking for more? Discover the best Christmas songs of all time.
"I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" is a Christmas song with music and lyrics by British songwriter Tommie Connor and first recorded by Jimmy Boyd in 1952.[1] The song has since been covered by many artists, with The Ronettes version from 1963 being one of the most famous cover versions. Jimmy Boyd original version[edit]The original recording by Jimmy Boyd, recorded on July 15, 1952, when he was 13 years old,[1] reached No. 1 on the Billboard pop singles chart in December 1952, and on the Cash Box chart at the beginning of the following year. It later reached Number 3 in the UK Charts when issued there in November 1953. The song was commissioned by Saks Fifth Avenue to promote the store's Christmas card for the year, which featured an original sketch by artist Perry Barlow, who drew for The New Yorker for many decades. The song describes a scene where a child walks downstairs from his bedroom on Christmas Eve to see his mom kissing "Santa Claus" under the mistletoe. The lyric concludes with the child wondering how his father will react on hearing of the kiss, unaware of the possibility that Santa Claus is merely his father in a costume. Boyd's record was condemned by the Roman Catholic Church in Boston when it was released, believing that it described an adulterous encounter. Boyd was photographed meeting with the Archdiocese to explain the song. After the meeting, the ban was lifted.[2] Cover versions[edit]A less successful version of the song was released in 1952 by Spike Jones[3] (with vocal by George Rock in the little boy voice used in Spike's hit "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth"). Jones also recorded a parody for his personal pleasure titled "I Saw Mommy Screwing Santa Claus."[4] Versions by The Beverley Sisters and by Billy Cotton and His Band charted on the UK Singles Chart in December 1953, peaking at, respectively, number six[5] and number eleven.[6] The Ronettes recorded their own version in 1963 for A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector. The version peaked at number eighty-four on Billboard Holiday 100 on the week ending December 9, 2016.[7] The Jackson 5 recorded the song for their 1970 Christmas album. The version entered the UK Singles Chart on its peak position, number ninety-one, on the week ending December 5, 1987, and charted there for four weeks total.[8] It also peaked at number forty-five on Billboard Holiday 100 on the week ending January 6, 2012,[9] and number one hundred in a Swiss singles chart on the week ending December 29, 2019.[10] John Mellencamp also filmed a music video to promote his recording for the 1987 Special Olympics charity album, A Very Special Christmas.[11] Amy Winehouse performed the song live at Union Chapel, Islington on 15 December 2004 for a BBC Radio 2 show "The Gospel According To Christmas" which was broadcast on Christmas Day. The live recording was released as a single in 2020. On December 14, 2019, Saturday Night Live sketch featured a version of I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus. It was sung by Cecily Strong portraying a child; it also featured Scarlett Johansson as mother, Beck Bennett as Santa Claus, and Mikey Day as father. In addition, the sketch added extra lyrics implying that the singer's parents have a cuckolding fetish.[12] Other artists Molly Bee, Bobby Sherman, Andy Williams, The Four Seasons, Reba McEntire (with the title "I Saw Mama Kissing Santa Claus"), Homer and Jethro, John Mellencamp, Mitch Miller, John Prine, Sammi Sanchez, Tiny Tim, The Cheetah Girls, Ray Stevens, Bif Naked, Jessica Simpson, Teresa Brewer, Rica Fukami, Secret Chiefs 3 and Dionne Bromfield have also covered it. The Dollyrots recorded a variation (titled "I Saw Mommy Biting Santa Claus") with humorous lyrics. RuPaul and Kip Addotta both recorded versions with changed lyrics titled "I Saw Daddy Kissing Santa Claus." Twisted Sister recorded their own variation of the song onto their album A Twisted Christmas. International versions[edit]
Film adaptation[edit]A made-for-television movie based on the song was released in 2001. Notes and references[edit]
External links[edit]
Is the dad Santa Claus in I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus?The song describes a scene where a child walks downstairs on Christmas Eve to see his mother kissing "Santa Claus" (his father in a Santa Claus costume) under the mistletoe.
Was I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus banned by the Catholic Church?Boyd's record was condemned by the Roman Catholic Church in Boston when it was released, believing that it described an adulterous encounter. Boyd was photographed meeting with the Archdiocese to explain the song. After the meeting, the ban was lifted.
How old was Michael Jackson when he saw mommy kissing Santa Claus?Michael Jackson was 12 when he and his brothers, The Jackson Five, released their version of "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" in 1970.
Who originally sang I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa?Jimmy Boyd, a singer best known for recording the Christmas novelty hit “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” in 1952 when he was 13, died Saturday. He was 70.
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