Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
and Dr. Elmo Celebrate 30 Years
of Controversy, Conspiracy, and fun

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Time flies when you’re having fun, and no one has had more fun in the past three decades than the witty and wonderful Dr. Elmo, the man responsible for the mega-platinum Christmas standard, Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer. The controversial fun began 30 years ago, when a Bay Area radio station first played Grandma, prompting the Gray Panthers to protest that Grandma was ageist, sexist, and violent against women. The radio station, in total confusion, played the song, banned the song, and finally played it again and again.  This entire controversy might explain why that particular radio station now features an all hot-air, no-music format.

Befitting a song born in controversy, there are those who question Grandma’s age—asking over and over if anyone has seen an actual copy of her birth certificate. Even Grandma’s friends admit that she looks a decade or two over 60, but that’s to be expected of someone who has been run over by a reindeer more than 10,000,000 times. There are even those who question if Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer is a plot bent on destroying the reindeer-loving culture of America. We're not saying it's a capitalist plot, but look no further than un-indicted co-conspirators like Billboard, Hallmark, Wal-Mart, Fox News, CNN, the Cartoon and WB Networks. Explain if you can how Grandma topped Bing Crosby on the Billboard chart in 1983 and outsold Michael Jackson’s Thriller in December of 1984. Why is Hallmark selling singing holiday cards, buttons and ornaments that sing Dr. Elmo’s Grandma recording? And why, oh why, did Wal-Mart insist upon exclusive rights to the new commemorative Grandma gift tins this very year? Lastly, why does the general public insist on making Grandma the most parodied song around, Christmas or otherwise? i.e. Osama Got Run Over by a Reindeer and Grandma Got Run Over by Obama.

No one can explain the controversy and conspiracy, the mystery and myth of Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer better than the intriguing man himself, Dr. Elmo!

“It’s just not Christmas until you have spoken with Dr. Elmo!”

To interview the always delightful Dr. Elmo, please contact Pam Wendell or Nancy Clary at 415-893-9818 or docelmo@msn.com.  

Dr. Elmo Interview Helper

Did U know......                                  

• During interviews, Dr. Elmo can sing excerpts of the cleverest lines from his songs. (See below)

• As a teenager, Dr. Elmo was the exercise boy for "Needles," the Kentucky Derby and Belmont winner. Dr. Elmo was the racetrack veterinarian at Aqueduct, Belmont Park and Saratoga in New York.

• Record companies rejected all of Dr. Elmo's efforts to sell the song, until his self-produced music video of "Grandma" played on MTV in 1983. The music video can be seen on You Tube, along with seven other Dr. Elmo music video's

•  When Dr. Elmo first recorded "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer," radio stations banned it, the Gray Panthers picketed it, and a DJ got fired for playing it?

• Dr. Elmo is the #2 selling artist in SonyBMG's Christmas catalog, behind Elvis?

• "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" has recently been featured in DECK THE HALLS, starring Danny DeVito and Matthew Broderick and JARHEAD starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Jamie Foxx?

• In the past five years, the Dan Dee company has sold over 3 million singing reindeer toys containing Dr. Elmo's recording of "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer?"

• The song's popularity spawned an animated movie, "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" which airs this December in prime time on the CW Network, Cartoon Network, and worldwide? Dr. Elmo is the narrator, wrote the story, and songs in the movie?

• HALLMARK has finally embraced "Grandma" and is releasing Grandma-inspired greeting cards, musical buttons and a new "Keepsake" Christmas tree ornament this yer that sings the song?
• Dr. Elmo recently released his new Bluegrass CD, "Wild Bluegrass" to rave reviews?

• Record companies rejected all of Dr. Elmo's efforts to sell the song, until his self-produced music video of "Grandma" played on MTV in 1983. The music video can be seen on You Tube, along with seven other Dr. Elmo music video's.
• As a teenager, Dr. Elmo was the exercise boy for "Needles," the Kentucky Derby and Belmont winner. Dr. Elmo was the racetrack veterinarian at Aqueduct, Belmont Park and Saratoga in New York.

• Dr. Elmo has recently performed in Christmas concerts on the bill with Hilary Duff, Gwen Stefani, Avril Lavigne, and Peter Frampton, and this year with Brenda Lee?

 

EXCERPTS FROM DR. ELMO'S SONGS

(DR. ELMO can perform these live during interviews)

 SANTA'S E-MAIL FROM NIGERIA (17 seconds)

So when Christmas Day draws near ya
And your creditors won't clear ya          
Just hope that Santa will hear ya          
With an email from Nigeria!        

When your arrears up-rear ya
Like Bird Flu or diptheria
Trust Santa won't bum steer ya
With an email from Nigeria

SEND ME A WIFE FOR CHRISTMAS ... (15 sec.)

Make her look like a model from Vanity Fair
With a figure that makes a man kneel down in prayer
She’ll be wild for my wide body and thinning hair
Santa, send me a wife for Christmas

GRANDMA’S KILLER FRUITCAKE ... (19 sec.)

 It was harder than the head of Uncle Bucky
Heavy as a sermon of Preacher Lucky
One’s enough to give the whole state of Kentucky
A great big bellyache
It was denser than a drove of barnyard turkeys
Tougher than a truckload of all-beef jerkey
Drier than a drought in Albuquerque
Grandma’s Killer Fruitcake!

 DON'T MAKE ME PLAY THAT GRANDMA SONG AGAIN (15 seconds)

Oh no don't make me play that Grandma Song again,
Though that request line glows and glows,  just as bright as Rudolph's nose,
I'll do anything you say, I'll play them barkin' dogs all day
But please don't make me play that Grandma song again

GOIN ON A DATE WITH SANTA (15 seconds)

I went to the mall and I sat on his lap,
He gave me a pinch and I gave him a slap
He hung candy canes from the front of my blouse,
I think something stirred and it wasn't a mouse

   

Dr. Elmo Saves Halloween!

Halloween is a musical nightmare. And Dr. Elmo, the wacky, off-kilter wit responsible for the megaplatinum Christmas favorite, “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer,” is ready to save the night. But before we give you an unusual song-and-dance about his new SONY BMG Music CD, “Dr. Elmo Sings the Boos,” let’s briefly investigate the nature of this alleged Halloween nightmare.

Kids and adults clearly love Halloween. And what’s not to love about a holiday that involves playing dress-up and eating candy, without the annoyances of buying presents or attending family dinners? Halloween is the third biggest party night of the year in the United States (following New Year’s Eve and Dr. Elmo’s Birthday), yet there is only one song on the entire holiday play list, “The Monster Mash.” One might be tempted to play this venerable hit in a continuous loop through the season of tricks and treats, but mental health experts strongly advise against this practice.

Enough piffle and foo-foo, let’s cut to the chase and get to the point of this press release. Dr. Elmo (the nom de nonsense of Elmo Shropshire, DVM, an otherwise mild-mannered singer, songwriter, bluegrass musician and veterinarian) rescued Christmas 26 years ago from a mushy diet of Andy Williams, Bing Crosby and Ray Conniff, when he released the outrageously iconoclastic “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.” Dr. Elmo’s perennially popular “Grandma” has become the most requested holiday song in history, while selling more than 10 million copies. And now, with the release of his new SONY BMG CD, “Dr. Elmo Sings the Boos,” he has ten rousing new Halloween songs to ease the burden on the “The Monster Mash.”

“Dr. Elmo Sings the Boos” will appeal to adults and kids, with songs capturing the wacky, hilarious sensibilities of “Grandma.” One song that jumps off the CD is “Redneck Dracula.” Who else but Dr. Elmo would set Count Dracula down in a redneck bar in Kentucky and confront him with a litany of horrors, including Wrestlemania (rhymed in the song with Transylvania), NASCAR, big hair, gun racks and chicken-fried steak?

With songs like “The Fly,” “Texas Chainsaw Halloween” and “Pointy, the Pyramid Pumpkin,” Dr. Elmo’s new Halloween CD will provide a perfect soundtrack for the scariest night of the year. But don’t take our word for it, enjoy the enclosed CD and then contact Pam or Nancy at (415)897-7797, DocElmo@msn.com to arrange an interview with Dr. Elmo. Website: www.drelmo.com

TAX TIME?   DON’T MESS WITH the IRS!

 Dr. Elmo has clearly lost his final marble.  After stacking up a nice little pile of  green by selling ten million copies of Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer, the ever-iconoclastic Dr. Elmo is risking all that fabulous moolah by making fun of the one government agency responsible for separating Americans from their hard-earned money—the dreaded IRS!  His newly released song, Don’t Mess with the IRS, goes out of its way to aggravate, infuriate and incense the IRS (as well as Dick Cheney, Robert Blake, the Enron gang and other such worthies).

Don’t Mess with the IRS is the perfect song for everyone facing America’s least favorite day.  Be it a procrastinating taxpayer,  an overworked accountant  or even a frazzled reporter trying to find a new angle on April 15, everyone will have a little more fun getting through their annual taxpaying travails by listening to Don’t Mess with the IRS,  with the possible exception of Dr. Elmo, himself, who could be facing his fourth IRS audit!

If you are doing a story about tax time, we urge you to use Dr. Elmo's IRS song, lyrics or call Dr. Elmo, who has had some experience with the IRS.

Sample Lyrics:

You can fake remorse or plead insanity
You can get off on a technicality
You can sell your stock before it starts to sag
and force the little folks to hold the bag
You can gun your hun, the lovely Mrs. Blake
If your name's Baretta, you ain't gonna bake
You can cause a rolling blackout in the West
While you stuff another billion in your vest
After you've molested everyone you please
They just move you to a different Diocese
You can shoot your hunting buddy like a quail
Dick, you shot a lawyer, no big deal!
But don't mess................... with the Kinder more Caring, IRS