In 1986 the Monkees recorded a Christmas medley video for MTV. This was clearly done in haste, and though aired on the network a few times, has never been released. Mostly it is chaotic and not all that pleasant to hear. Davy Jones however, delivers an excellent version of I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus smack dab in the middle of this mess.
I snipped that part out of an MP3 I made of the Youtube video. I did this simply to add to my collection of Christmas music. However, the sound quality was so poor, one could barely hear the song when it followed a properly produced record. In order to save the project, I wrote a new (albeit similar) arrangement and recorded a brand new backing track.
For a number of technical reasons this was much harder to do then I had envisioned. After hours and hours of struggle, I managed to secure my 59 seconds of Christmas cheese. Davy Jones sounds magnificent and Micky Dolenz' harmonies are clear and lively. I hope that this finds a home in your Christmas music collection.
credits
from Tyranny of the Calendar,
released December 2, 2016
Music and Lyric: Tommie Connor
Vocals: Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork
Arrangement and Production: Elliott Marx
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