DR. ELMO :
Holiday Favorite…
Grandma Got Run
Over by a Reindeer
Turns Twenty-Five

by J.C. Johnson / Comedy Profiles Editor T a l k i n g C o m e d y . c o m

Twenty Five years ago Elmo Shropshire, aka DR. ELMO, recorded his first single … maybe you’ve heard of it … Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer? Novelty Christmas tunes come and go, but Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer has spaned generations. At the time Dr. Elmo first recorded the tune he was working as a real doctor … a doctor of horses … a veterinarian. He had just established his own animal hospital in the San Francisco Bay Area after having worked on the East Coast tending to the thoroughbreds of New York's Aqueduct and Belmont Park racetracks.

Having grown up in Lexington, Kentucky, in addition to his love of animals Dr. Elmo Shropshire also had a love of Bluegrass music. He formed a bluegrass band and began performing in small venues throughout Northern California. Although his banjo and guitar playing was well received by audiences Dr. Elmo found his vocal stylings were met with a slightly less favorable response. “People would laugh at me. So finally I started going with the flow so we could be laughing together,” says Dr. Elmo of his decision to start doing humorous musical pieces in concert.

Then one night, while performing in Lake Tahoe, a cold brutal winter snowstorm changed the course of events for Dr. Elmo’s little bluegrass band. Maybe it is fitting that a nasty snowstorm should be the event that would bring the singer and the song together … a combination that would eventually produce the biggest selling humorous Christmas song in history! As luck would have it the band that was leaving that day had to stay over when their transportation out of town was canceled due to inclement weather. Finding himself with unexpected time on his hands Randy Brooks, a musician and songwriter with the other band, decided to take in Elmo Shropshire’s show that evening. When he saw Dr. Elmo perform he sensed he’d found just the right performer for a song he’d written.

“After the show,” recalls Dr. Elmo of his first meeting with songwriter Randy Brooks, “he came back and said you know I have a song I think would be perfect for you. So we sat down and he played it.” Up until meeting Dr. Elmo everyone who heard Randy Brooks Christmas tune agreed on one thing … it was one of the weirdest Christmas songs they had ever heard. Brooks own band wouldn't even let him sing it when they performed. And Brooks couldn't interest anyone else in singing it. “But I thought it was a pretty great song,” says Dr. Elmo, “a pretty original idea.”

So that year Dr. Elmo spent his own money and recorded a single of Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer. He only had 500 copies made for he had intended the vinyl single to be a fun and unique Holiday gift that he and his band members could send out to all their family and friends. But one of Dr. Elmo’s friends sent his copy to the big radio station in the San Francisco area at the time, KSFO.

“I was driving along and I didn’t even know he’d given it to this disc jockey,” recalls Dr. Elmo of the first time he heard himself being played on the radio. “And all these kids kept saying… ‘Yeah, play it.’ And some other people were saying… ‘Don’t play it.’ And I didn’t even know what song they were talking about. And suddenly it came on and they played Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer and I couldn’t believe it. It was my song being played on my favorite radio station.”

The San Francisco radio station received many call-in requests for the song that first Christmas season, the winter of 1979. “But it took a long time to establish it,” reflects Dr. Elmo. “When it first came out radio stations played it and a lot of people liked it and wanted to hear it again. But if one person complained out of fifty they’d pull it off the air,” recalls Dr. Elmo of the tendency for radio stations to be more sensitive to the complaints than responsive to the requests, back in ‘79.

But even with this set back Grandma… was slowly beginning to sweep across the country. Even though DJ’s in other states couldn’t get a copy of this elusive‘hit’ Christmas record from any of their record distributors they made sure they got it on the air for their listeners. “In 1981 the radio stations started to know about this song. And we didn’t send them out to radio stations. The radio stations were all calling the station in San Francisco and they were taping it from there. And it spread just by taping. We knew it was starting to get played all over the country. But we weren’t selling any records,” recalls Dr. Elmo of the frustration of having a very, very popular Christmas song yet no record label interested in releasing it.

So in 1983, with the growing popularity of music videos and MTV, Dr. Elmo decided to make a video to go with his Grandma… song. “And so we spent about 30,000 dollars -- and in 1983 that was a lot of money. And I was using veterinary money to finance the project,” recalls Dr. Elmo of his decision to gamble on a video in hopes of convincing a record company to finally release Grandma…. He made the video in his house and sent it off to MTV … and they didn’t hear anything at first.

“Then somebody called up and said this is Lisa from MTV we got your video and we think it’s great. We want to play it at Christmas. And sure enough they did,” recalls Dr. Elmo. “And at the same time we got this distributor in Nashville just a small time guy. But he believed in the song so much that he bought 200,000 single copies … he had them pressed. And he sold them all just within a couple of weeks. ‘Cause everybody had heard it already for three or four years.”

“Mind you from 1979 to 1984 I had been pitching this to all the major record labels -- and minor record labels. They all said no, no way,” recalls Dr. Elmo of the difficulty getting record labels to believe in Grandma….“But finally,” continued Dr. Elmo about their change of heart in 1984, “when we made the video and, I think, actually sold 250,000 singles, Billboard got onto it and it made their Christmas chart. And from the activity they could see it was number one on their Christmas chart over Bing Crosby’s White Christmas.” Finally Columbia put out a Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer album on their Epic label. “I think the first year they distributed it … I think they sold 90,000 albums in one week. They said it was their biggest seller. They said it outsold Michael Jackson for that time.”

Since then over 10 million copies of Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer have been sold; an animated Christmas children’s special based on the song was made with Dr. Elmo supplying the voice of Grandpa and three additional original songs; and Dr. Elmo has released several other albums of original Christmas and non-Christmas tunes.

“Most of my career I just played bluegrass in pizza pallors and bars. And it was probably 15 years or so into the song when it looked like it was becoming a standard … people started calling me and asking me to play at concerts where there were big name acts,” says Dr. Elmo of how he's enjoyed more success perforing live these days then when the record first came out. “I meet all these people now and I get to play in any genre. I’ve played with country stars and I've played with all the oldies stars. Last Christmas I got to play with George Thorogood, Pat Benetar and Peter Frampton.” He also says he enjoys the chance performing Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer gives him to introduce bluegrass music to others. Most people don't realize what bluegrass music sounds like. “You know a lot of people think that they wouldn’t like it. But when they go out and see it live, they find they really do like bluegrass.”

If you’d like to see him performing live you can visit his web site DrElmo.com for a schedule of his holiday season performances this year. “It’s wonderful to have a little taste of fame for part of the year,” says Dr. Elmo, exuberant about the holiday season ahead. “I wouldn’t want to have it all year long. I’ve had just enough recognition to know how valuable it is not to have it when you don’t want it. But for a month out of the year it’s so much fun. It’s a really high spirited time at Christmas now.”

On this, the twenty fifth aniversary of the song Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer, BMG has released a brand new Christmas CD by the king of Christmas novelty tunes — Dr. Elmo, Christmas in the U.S.A. “It’s available at Wal-Mart, Toys R Us, Barnes and Noble, Kroger, Fred Meyer, Virgin, and pretty much all record stores,” adds Dr. Elmo. This time around he’s excited about a more serious tune that's mixed in with the humorous tunes on the CD… Christmas All Across the USA. “I would like everyone to check that song out. And let me have a chance at a serious tune. It’s very timely … you know the country’s a little divided right now and this song pretty much takes us away from that and tells us all the good things we have in America, despite the complaints we may have."

And if you see his other CD, from 2 years ago, entitled, what else, Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer -- when you’re out there holiday shopping for his latest CD -- then take a listen to my favorite of his more serious tunes … Feels Like Christmas. Oh, and yes, along with the numorous humorous Christmas tunes Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer (live version) is included on both of Dr. Elmo's recent CDs. Because, as Dr. Elmo adds with a chuckle … “I hate to say it, but I couldn’t do one without that song…”

Grandma got run over by a reindeer
Walking home from our house Christmas Eve.  
You can say there's no such thing as Santa,
But as for me an' Grandpa, we believe.

Animated Holiday Special, "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer"
airing December 9th 2004, check you local WB channels.
For more information about Dr. Elmo's CDs,
to find out where he's performing live during the holiday season,
or to listen to some song files online visit www.drelmo.com

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