Must Be Santa (song)

"Must Be Santa" is a Christmas song written by Hal Moore and Bill Fredericks[1] and first released in November 1960 by Mitch Miller on Columbia 41814 (45 rpm).[2] A cover version by Tommy Steele reached Number 40 on the UK Singles Chart a year later.[3] Another cover, by Joan Regan made number 42 a week later.[4]

A contrafactum of a German drinking song[2] (Schnitzelbank), "Must Be Santa" is structured as a call and response, with the lead singer posing the question of who has a certain feature, with a chorus responding that Santa Claus has said feature. After every other verse, the list of features mentioned up to that point is reiterated, followed by the chorus of "must be Santa" repeated three times and ending with "Santa Claus".

Example:

Lead singer: Who laughs this way, ho ho ho?
Chorus: Santa laughs this way, ho ho ho!
All: Ho ho ho, cherry nose, cap on head, suit that's red...

  1. ^ "Repertoire Search | Must Be Santa". BMI. Retrieved June 29, 2017.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ a b "Reviews Of This Week's Singles". The Billboard. November 7, 1960. p. 46. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved December 3, 2011.
  3. ^ "Tommy Steele". UK Chart Archive. Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on February 4, 2013. Retrieved December 3, 2011.
  4. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 50 | Official Charts Company". Official Charts.