Sunday, December 22, 2024

Day After Day #337: Christmas in Hollis

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).

Christmas in Hollis (1987)

In 1987, hip hop was an emerging genre. The Beastie Boys and Run-DMC had success in 1986 with big hits and tours, but hip hop was still considered a passing fad. 

Def Jam Records received a call asking if Run-DMC would contribute a song to a new Christmas compilation benefiting the Special Olympics. At first the group rejected the idea because they thought it would be a joke, but they were eventually talked into it.

Going through a stack of Christmas songs, Run-DMC's DJ Jam Master Jay came across Clarence Carter's raunchy 1968 holiday funk jam "Back Door Santa" and found inspiration. Def Jam publicist Bill Adler had the idea for them to write a song about Christmas in their neighborhood of Hollis, Queens and the group got to work.

Run (Joseph Simmons) wrote his verse about Santa coming to their neighborhood park and DMC (Darryl McDaniels) wrote about what the holidays were like in his house growing up.

"It was December 24 on Hollis Ave. in the dark/When I seen a man chilling with his dog in the park/I approached him very slowly with my heart full of fear/Looked at his dog, oh my God an ill reindeer/But then I was illin' because the man had a beard/And a bag full of goodies, 12 o'clock had neared/So I turned my head a second and the man was gone/But he must've dropped his wallet smack dead on the lawn/I picked the wallet up but then I took a pause/Took out the license, it cold said 'Santa Claus.'"

Meanwhile, DMC was focused on some home cooking.

"It's Christmastime in Hollis, Queens/Mom's cooking chicken and collard greens/Rice and stuffing, macaroni and cheese/And Santa's put gifts under Christmas trees/Decorate the house with lights so bright/Snow's on the ground, snow white so bright/In the fireplace is the yule log/Beneath the mistletoe as we drink eggnog/The rhymes you hear are the rhymes of Darryl/But each and every year, we bust Christmas carols."

The song's video was directed by Michael Holman, a former member of the Tubes who in 1984 had produced and hosted the short-lived hip hop TV show Graffiti Rock. The video, which takes place at the North Pole and in Hollis, was a big hit on MTV and eventually was named video of the year by Rolling Stone over Michael Jackson's "Bad," which was directed by Martin Scorsese.

A Very Special Christmas also featured music from Bruce Springsteen, U2, Madonna and Bryan Adams, among others. The album was a huge hit and raised millions for the Special Olympics. There have been several more compilations released.

"Christmas in Hollis" was later added as a bonus track to Run-DMC's album Tougher Than Leather. The song has been featured in countless TV shows and movies and has become a Christmas staple. I was in college when it came out and loved the song right away; 37 years later, I still love it.

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Day After Day #337: Christmas in Hollis

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4). Christmas in Hollis (1987) In 1987, hip ...