Tyler Clark presents: Local Mythologies writes25 Off-The-Wall Holiday Tunes: Teresa Brewer, “Ebenezer Scrooge” (1953)

It's Christmas at CHIRP Radio, and we're looking for a cure for the common carol. Instead of bending to the will of the average 24-hour holiday muzak stations, we're spending the season unearthing a bunch of winter-approved tunes that you probably haven't heard for a while (or maybe even ever). Today: Teresa Brewer sings the theme song for the cartoon Charles Dickens never made.

Teresa Brewer - "Ebenezer Scrooge" (1953)

What if, instead of a timeless novella that teaches lessons of compassion, big-heartedness, and the power to affect late-in-life change, A Christmas Carol had instead been a Mr. Magoo-style cartoon? Although that's a question no one's ever thought to ask, journeyman songstress Teresa Brewer did her best to answer it in this 1953 b-side to the better-known "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus." Although she never became a steady chart-topper (despite scoring two Number One singles between 1950-52), Brewer knew how to sell a novelty song; here, she plays younger than her age (then 22), adding a not-unwelcome scoop of sweetness to writer Danny DiMinno's kiddie-friendly summary of Scrooge's journey. Despite being one of the season's most well-loved tales, A Christmas Carol doesn't pop up too often in latter-day pop songs, making this track a welcome anomaly. This wasn't the only weirdo Christmas tune she recorded in 1953, either; check out "Too Fat For The Chimney," the b-side of her single "I Just Can't Wait Till Christmas" that chides St. Nick for his two-packs-of-Oreos-a-day habit.