No one wrote more Christmas musical goodies than Johnny Marks. Though well known in the popular song world, he found his true calling in writing Christmas songs, specifically, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” This song was successful beyond Marks’ wildest dreams and he followed it up with such staples as “The Night before Christmas Song,” “When Santa Claus Gets Your Letter,” “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” and “Holly Jolly Christmas.” The last song was premiered by Burl Ives in 1964 on the CBS children’s Christmas TV special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Ives’ recording of “A Holly Jolly Christmas” sold more than 2 million copies.
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