As the festive holiday draws close every year since 1994, “All I Want For Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey tops the charts. Unknown to some, the timeless Christmas song was inspired by 1963’s “Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)” by Darlene Love.
The late producer Phil Spector co-wrote “Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)” with Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich. Phil’s unique spin on the song made it stand out from other holiday songs, and Darlene recalled how certain she was that it would be a hit once she heard the demo.
The best Christmas song was written by a murderer
Phil Spector was behind the murder of film star Lanna Clarkson in 2003, and it was not until 2009 that he was arrested and sentenced to 19 years in prison. He shot her in the mouth in his Pyrenees Castle in Alhambra, California.
When interrogated, Phil Spector tagged the incident a murder-suicide, saying the actress kissed the gun. He stayed free on a million-dollar bail for the next six years, during which he produced Hargo Khalsa’s “Crying for John Lennon.” Phil Spector died in prison at the age of 81, and the news of his passing was met with disdain from the public.
Phil Spector’s Christmas song remains a timeless classic
The news of Phil Spector’s crime did not taint “Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home),” as it grew more popular over time. It has topped the Billboard charts for weeks in recent years and was included in A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector, containing other songs like “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” and “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”
Mariah has expressed her love for the song, which made Phil Spector’s “wall of sound” producing technique, which she used in her hit single, popular. She has performed “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) a few times, including her 2020 Christmas special on Apple TV.
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