I have to confess. For years, I assumed “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” was sung by an adult pretending to be a little kid. I wasn’t listening to the radio in 1953, so when I first heard Gayla Peevey’s strong voice and comic timing years later, I assumed she was a studio singer banging out a novelty hit between commercials for Ipana toothpaste and Chesterfield cigarettes.

Turns out, Gayla Peevey was a real ten-year-old radio singer from Oklahoma City. “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” was her first single for Capitol Records, a song found for her by Mitch Miller. This clip is from “The Ed Sullivan Show.”

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My favorite labored rhyme in a Christmas song? “Chimney” and “Bimini.” I’m posting a holiday song every day from now until December 25, and today, it’s that most loved Christmas crooner … Billy Squier … and 1981’s “Christmas Is the Time to Say ‘I Love You.’”

The video for the song was an on-air Christmas card from MTV. The veejays and crew and office staff got together on bleachers and Billy lip-synched in a magnificent sweater of the era. Here’s the clip, introduced by the 1990 Martha Quinn, reminiscing about nine years earlier. Jump to 1:28 if you don’t wanna hear Miss Quinn.

Lyrically, “Christmas Is the Time to Say ‘I Love You’” is pretty standard and kinda lovely – sharing the holiday spirit around the globe and hoping it just keeps going – which is why I’m surprised it hasn’t been covered by more contemporary singers. Katharine McPhee had done it, and Darlene Love, whom I’ll write about more as we close in on December 25. The cover that best captures Billy Squier’s enthusiasm is pop punkers SR-71 on the 2001 Special Olympics benefit album, “A Very Special Christmas 5.”

Want to hear The Monkees sing a Spanish Christmas carol from the 1500s? I promised a holiday song from my collection, every day until December 25, so here’s Mike, Micky, Peter, and Davy singing “Ríu Ríu Chíu” on their 1967 Christmas episode.

You can always watch “Ríu Ríu Chíu” (or just “Riu Chiu”) on YouTube, and there’s a transfer of the TV audio on the 2007 deluxe reissue of “Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.,” but the only digital remaster I’ve found is on the Target-exclusive version of The Monkees’ 2018 CD “Christmas Party.” The lyrics are about the Virgin Mary and the Immaculate Conception and Jesus Christ’s birth on Earth (aka Christmas Day). The actual words “ríu ríu chíu” are nonsense, mimicking the sounds of a bird, a nightingale or kingfisher.

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Today’s Christmas song post is a quick one. Here’s The Drifters, Clyde McPhatter on tenor and Bill Pinkney on bass, with their doo-wop take on “White Christmas.”  The song is nice, but what really makes it is the cartoon that goes with it, created in 2002 by cartoonist and animator Joshua Held.

I’m going to post something about a song from my personal holiday collection every day until December 25. Today’s song came out just last year, but the lyrics will resonate with so many people not seeing family in 2020. “Christmas and You” is from Los Lobos’ first Christmas album, “Llegó Navidad,” or “Christmas is Here.”

Los Lobos members David Hidalgo and Louie Pérez wrote “Christmas and You,” the only original song on “Llegó Navidad.” Thematically, it’s very similar to “Blue Christmas” – being away from someone you love and longing for you to be together. It’s a sad song, but just maybe comforting to know you’re not the only one who feels that way.

Just to prove there are plenty of fun songs on “Llegó Navidad” too, here’s one tune you knew had to be on the record – “Feliz Navidad” – and if you want to hear how I kinda directed a Los Lobos music video in the middle of Walt Disney World, click here for the blog post.