"Christmas in Hollis" is a single by

Run-DMC Run-DMC (also spelled Run-D.M.C.) was an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York City, founded in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history of ...

that was included on two 1987 Christmas compilation albums featuring various artists: ''

A Very Special Christmas ''A Very Special Christmas'' is the title of an ongoing series of Christmas music compilation albums that benefit the Special Olympics. It features songs performed by artists from a variety of genres, such as U2, Stevie Nicks, Bon Jovi, Madonna ...

'' (A&M 3911) and ''Christmas Rap'' (Profile 1247). When

Bill Adler Bill Adler is an American music journalist and critic who specializes in hip-hop. Since the early 1980s he has promoted hip-hop in a variety of capacities, including as a publicist, biographer, record label executive, documentary filmmaker, mu ...

first asked Run-DMC to contribute to ''A Very Special Christmas''—the first in a series of various artists compilation albums produced to benefit the

Special Olympics Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in 1 ...

—they refused. After Bill—who was then the director of publicity for Rush Productions, which managed Run-DMC—gave the band the idea for "Christmas in Hollis," they changed their minds and agreed to be on the album. (Other contributing artists included

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston in ...

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...

and the E Street Band,

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

, and

Bob Seger Robert Clark Seger ( ; born May 6, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded as Bob Seger and the Last Heard and The Bob Seger System throughout the 1960s, break ...

.) The track was produced by the group along with

Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is the co-founder (alongside Russell Simmons) of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popula ...

and was originally released as a single in 1987 by A&M. In 2000, thirteen years after it was first released, it reached number 78 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart. The title refers to

Hollis, Queens Hollis is a residential middle class, middle-class neighborhood within the southeastern section of the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Queens. While a predominantly African-American community, there are small minorities of Hispa ...

, the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

neighborhood in which the members of Run-DMC grew up. The track samples

Clarence Carter Clarence George Carter (born January 14, 1936) is an American singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. His most successful songs include " Slip Away", " Back Door Santa" (both released 1968), " Patches" (1970) and "Strokin" (1986). Ea ...

's 1968 holiday song "

Back Door Santa "Back Door Santa" is a funk-style song recorded by Clarence Carter, which Atlantic Records released as a single in 1968. In an artist biography, it is described as "a superbly funky Christmas single" and "raunchy". The song was included on an Atc ...

", as well as "

Frosty the Snowman "Frosty the Snowman" is a popular Christmas song written by Walter "Jack" Rollins and Steve Nelson, and first recorded by Gene Autry and the Cass County Boys in 1950 and later recorded by Jimmy Durante. It was written after the success o ...

", "

Jingle Bells "Jingle Bells" is one of the best-known and most commonly sung American songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont (1822–1893) and published under the title "The One Horse Open Sleigh" in September 1857. It has been claimed th ...

", and "

Joy to the World "Joy to the World" is an English Christmas carol. The carol was written in 1719 by the English minister and hymnwriter Isaac Watts, and its lyrics are an interpretation of Psalm 98 celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. Today, the carol is usua ...

" and features an

Acme siren The Acme siren is a musical instrument used in concert bands for comic effect. Often used in cartoons, it produces the stylized sound of a police siren. It is one of the few aerophones in the percussion section of an orchestra. The instrument i ...

. "Christmas in Hollis" was included as a bonus track on the deluxe edition of ''

Tougher Than Leather ''Tougher Than Leather'' is the fourth studio album by American Hip hop music, hip hop group Run-D.M.C., released on May 17, 1988, by Profile Records. The album was produced by the group members themselves, Davy DMX, Davy D. and Rick Rubin. Wh ...

''.

Music video

The music video for "Christmas in Hollis" takes place at the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Mag ...

and in

. At the end of the video, Santa is seen flying away with his sled being pulled by a dog. The video was directed by Michael Holman with cinematography by Mark Richardson, both

NYU New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-United States Secretary of the Treasu ...

film students at the time, and features a cameo appearance by Bannah McDaniels, DMC's adoptive mother. "Christmas in Hollis" went on to win ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

''s Best Video of the Year award in 1987, beating out

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

's "

Bad Bad or BAD may refer to: Common meanings *Evil, the opposite of moral good * Erroneous, inaccurate or incorrect * Unhealthy, or counter to well-being * Antagonist, the threat or obstacle of moral good Acronyms * BAD-2, a Soviet armored troll ...

" directed by

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...

In popular culture

* The song was used in the movies '' Less than Zero'' (1987), ''

Die Hard ''Die Hard'' is a 1988 American action film directed by John McTiernan, with a screenplay by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza. Based on the 1979 novel '' Nothing Lasts Forever'', by Roderick Thorp, it stars Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Ale ...

'' (1988), '' The Night Before'' (2015), ''

The Grinch The Grinch is a fictional character created by Dr. Seuss. He is best known as the main character of the 1957 children's book ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'' He has been portrayed and voiced by many different actors, including Boris Karloff, ...

'' (2018), and ''

Holiday Rush ''Holiday Rush'' is a 2019 Christmas romantic comedy-drama film directed by Leslie Small and written by Sean Dwyer and Greg Cope White. It was released on November 28, 2019. Plot Widowed hip-hop radio DJ Rashon "Rush" Williams loses his job at ...

'' (2019). * Run-DMC performed the song live in the 1987 ''A Very Special Christmas'' CBS TV special, and on the Christmas episode of ''

All That ''All That'' is an American sketch comedy television series created by Brian Robbins and Mike Tollin. The series originally aired on Nickelodeon from April 16, 1994, to October 22, 2005, lasting ten seasons, and was produced by Tollin/Robbins P ...

''. * It was also used in the TV shows ''

The Office ''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries. The original series of ...

'', ''

Everybody Hates Chris ''Everybody Hates Chris'' is an American television semi-autobiographical sitcom that is inspired by the memories of the teenage years of comedian Chris Rock. The show is set from 1982 to 1987, although Rock himself was actually a teenager from ...

'', ''

Chuck Chuck is a masculine given name or a nickname for Charles or Charlie. It may refer to: People Arts and entertainment * Chuck Alaimo, American saxophonist, leader of the Chuck Alaimo Quartet * Chuck Barris (1929–2017), American TV producer * C ...

'', ''

Brooklyn Nine-Nine ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'' is an American police procedural comedy television series that aired on Fox, and later on NBC. The show aired from September 17, 2013, to September 16, 2021, for a total of eight seasons and 153 episodes. Created by Dan G ...

'', ''

Lip Sync Battle ''Lip Sync Battle'' is an American musical reality competition television series that premiered on April 2, 2015, on the American cable network Spike, later known as Paramount Network. The show is based on an idea by Stephen Merchant and John K ...

'', ''

Orange Is the New Black ''Orange Is the New Black'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''OITNB'') is an American comedy-drama streaming television series created by Jenji Kohan for Netflix. The series is based on Piper Kerman's memoir '' Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Wo ...

'', ''

Hindsight Hindsight bias, also known as the knew-it-all-along phenomenon or creeping determinism, is the common tendency for people to perceive past events as having been more predictable than they actually were. People often believe that after an event ha ...

'', ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...

'', ''

How to Be Single ''How to Be Single'' is a 2016 American romantic comedy film directed by Christian Ditter and written by Abby Kohn, Marc Silverstein and Dana Fox, based on the novel of the same name by Liz Tuccillo. It stars Dakota Johnson, Rebel Wilson, Damon Way ...

'', and '' Hawkeye''. * The song was sampled on a track called "Ballin' on Christmas," featuring

Jim Jones James Warren Jones (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978) was an American preacher, political activist and mass murderer. He led the Peoples Temple, a new religious movement, between 1955 and 1978. In what he called "revolutionary suicide", ...

, J.R. Writer, & Stack Bundles, and released as part of Jones' album "

A Dipset X-Mas ''A The Diplomats, Dipset X-Mas'' is an album by Jim Jones (rapper), Jim Jones and his ByrdGang music group, released on December 5, 2006. This album features the remix of Jim Jones' "We Fly High." Track listing Charts References

J ...

" in 2006. * Kid Cholesterol produced a re-edited version of the song entitled "Christmas at Holly’s" in 2010. * The story of the making of the song was told at length by Joseph "Run" Simmons and Bill Adler in Mitchell Kezin's documentary film, "Jingle Bell Rocks" (2013). * The song was used as part of UK catalogue retailers

Argos Argos most often refers to: * Argos, Peloponnese, a city in Argolis, Greece ** Ancient Argos, the ancient city * Argos (retailer), a catalogue retailer operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland Argos or ARGOS may also refer to: Businesses ...

Christmas 2014 campaign. * The song was used in the 2015 and 2018 Christmas ads for the

Nissan , trade name, trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells ...

automobile lineup. *

Eve Eve (; ; ar, حَوَّاء, Ḥawwāʾ; el, Εὕα, Heúa; la, Eva, Heva; Syriac: romanized: ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the ...

covered this song on '' The Talk'' during the shows holiday special in 2019. During the performance her fellow co-hosts

Carrie Ann Inaba Carrie Ann Inaba (born January 5, 1968) is an American television personality, dancer, choreographer, actress, and singer. She is best known for her work on ABC TV's ''Dancing with the Stars'' for which she has served as a judge since 2005. She c ...

performed a dance break and

Sheryl Underwood Sheryl Patrice Underwood (born October 28, 1963) is an American comedian, actress and television host. She first rose to prominence in the comedy world as the first female finalist in 1989's Miller Lite Comedy Search. Currently, Underwood is one ...

paid homage to Jam Master Jay as Eve's DJ.

Track listing

A-side

#"Christmas in Hollis" #"

Walk This Way "Walk This Way" is a song by the American rock band Aerosmith. Written by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, the song was originally released as the second single from the album '' Toys in the Attic'' (1975). It peaked at number 10 on the ''Billboa ...

B-side

Peter Piper "Peter Piper" is an English-language nursery rhyme and well-known alliteration tongue-twister. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19745. Lyrics The traditional version, as published in John Harris' ''Peter Piper's Practical Principles of P ...

" #"

King of Rock ''King of Rock'' is the second studio album by American hip hop music, hip hop group Run-D.M.C., released on January 21, 1985, by Profile Records. The album was produced by Russell Simmons and Larry Smith (producer), Larry Smith. ''King of Rock ...

Charts

References

External links

Run-DMC - Christmas in Hollis
{{authority control 1987 singles American Christmas songs Christmas novelty songs Run-DMC songs Songs written by Darryl McDaniels Songs written by Joseph Simmons Songs written by Jam Master Jay 1987 songs A&M Records singles Song recordings produced by Rick Rubin Songs about New York City Singles with cover art by Keith Haring