MORE THAN A REVIEW FOR WHAT
IS MORE THAN A DOCUMENTARY

Each year at this time, the world becomes a bit merrier thanks to two older, lovable, admirable men with white hair, twinkling eyes, and joie de vivre – jolly souls associated with Christmas gifts. One is a certain Mr. Claus who lives at the North Pole (exact age uncertain); the other lives on the West Coast of the USA, but spent his earlier life on the East Coast, is 99-and-a-half-years-old, and wrote (among many other things) the melody for a mega-popular song about the other guy. The composer is Philip Springer and the lyrics by Joan Javits allowed them – and any of the many who have sung it – be on a first-name basis with Mr. Claus.

“Santa baby, just slip a sable under the tree for me.
Been an awful good girl, Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight…”

A sable coat is just the first item requested for home delivery. Other requests are for a yacht, a duplex, jewelry, signed checks, and a light blue 1954 convertible. That would be a vintage car now, but was a brand new automobile when the song debuted in the fall of 1953 when the fun/flirtatious song was created for (and recorded first by) sultry Eartha Kitt. The world took notice. It was a perfect fit and a hit for Kitt, but that wasn’t the end of it. Scroll down a few paragraphs for more about that perky perennial. But first: more about More Than Santa Baby, the interesting and emotional film about the composer.

This documentary short, like Santa himself on Christmas Eve, has been making the rounds; in the case of the film, that means being shown at various film festivals and screenings, where it’s picked up awards and perked up audiences. As the title suggests, songwriter Springer’s success is much more than the one memorable monster smash that might seem to overshadow the many other delightful compositions and intriguing projects (some of which have been under the radar or didn’t come fully to fruition). It’s puzzling that music fans can admire a tune, listen to it over and over again over the years,  buy one or more versions, happily hum it, and not take the logical next step to look into other pieces the writer(s) created, since there’s a pretty good chance those others will be appealing, too. Fortunately, many of the songs have been collected on Springer-specific releases and individual numbers are on albums that are still in print.

Stage and Cinema had a chance to chat with the documentary’s dedicated director/producer/writer/narrator who oversees the Springer music catalogue. She is also – neither incidentally nor coincidentally – his daughter, Tamar Springer. She told us of her father’s beginnings, his musical labors at the legendary mecca for publishers and writers of pop songs, the Brill Building in Manhattan, his mostly undaunted enthusiasm. She and the movie don’t sugar-coat the disappointments, the need to change course when the music business changed in the rock era, and telling us about projects that didn’t get off the ground, such as a musical that was in the works that didn’t see the light of day – or, rather the lights of a Broadway marquee.

Here are some of the things Tamar Springer shared in a private interview about topics beyond his most noted song:

• “Overall, he had the frustration of his music not being widely recognized – his other music.”
• “Later in his life, he did start writing more lyrics. He wrote plays, and the books of the shows.”
• “George London, the baritone at the Metropolitan Opera was set to star [in the Springer/Javits Broadway-bound musical Solomon and She]. He fell ill or something and he couldn’t fill the role so the show was cancelled because the producers were counting on this mega-star bringing in the audience.”
• “There’s a show called The Bells of Notre Dame based on Victor Hugo’s novel that I love. It’s one of my favorites. I produced it for one night in 1999, in West Hollywood. I would probably go back to that.”
• “I hope that there will be a More Than Santa Baby stage show and record.”
• “It’s really a curious thing — how one song hits it big and another one doesn’t.”
• “The documentary is Oscar-qualified and it’s submitted.”
• “I absolutely love the song ‘Beautiful Today’ which is in the credit roll.”
• “His pride and joy and really his mission in life was to compose with the greatest lyricists.”

Those lyric writers include Fred Ebb, Carolyn Leigh, Richard Adler, Buddy Kaye, United States Senator Orrin Hatch, and Wizard of Oz lyricist E.Y. “Yip” Harburg (Mr. Springer was his last collaborator and there’s a collection of their songs, The Last Legacy of E.Y. “Yip” Harburg, as well as a book written by Ms. Springer). Not counting “Santa Baby,” singers who’ve covered the composer’s work are such names as Elvis Presley on the number “Never Ending,” Frankie Laine on “Midnight Gambler,” Judy Garland for the torchy “Heartbroken,” and Frank Sinatra with “(How Little It Matters) How Little We Know,” as well as Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, Ann-Margret, Steve Lawrence, Eydie Gorme, Vikki Carr, Johnny Hartman, and Cliff Richard. He’s also composed operas, symphonic works, and film scores. And he’s still at it!!

More Than Santa Baby uses its 39-minute run time economically, packing a lot into the featurette, taking a cue perhaps from how Santa Claus gets so much into that bag and sleigh while going all over the world to so many homes with chimneys in a single night, without having to go all the way back to the North Pole often to get more gifts. We hear Philip Springer’s memories, see him nostalgically revisiting Manhattan, recalling career highlights and frustration, and at the piano (including a clip, which went viral on social media, featuring him in his 90s playing Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata). There is archival footage, voiceover comments (featuring informative and thoughtful narration by Springer herself), snippets of songs, a TV interview, and more — as the camera lovingly glides across sheet music, posters, and records. There’s a generous montage of vocalists with their varied stylings of “Santa Baby” with mini-samples of other selections to whet the appetite for a deep dive into the catalog. The snapshots of this specific career give a real eye-opening sense of a professional musician’s work, milieu, variety, rewards, and commitment that are relevant to the realities of others in the field. So, this short motion picture gives us a valuable broader picture of the music business in changing times. The warmth, knowledge, appreciation, and perspective come through distinctly in the approach of Tamar Springer in putting together and putting her heart in this lovely labor-of-love film.

MORE ABOUT THE LONG LIFE OF “SANTA BABY”: In live performances and recordings, the winking wish list has been on the set list and/or track list for literally hundreds of performers. Before the 20th century was over, Mae West, Madonna, Freda Payne, and RuPaul tried it on for size. And there’s been a definite uptick in this century, with many more jumping on the bandwagon (or sleigh): Gwen Stefani, Megan Hilty, Alicia Keys, Kelly Clarkson, Ariana Grande, Maria Muldaur, Jane Krakowski, Kylie Minogue, Carnie Wilson, LeAnn Rimes, the ubiquitous Taylor Swift, and the iconic chanteuse – the porcine and popular Miss Piggy. Even Kim Kardashian had a breathy go at it.

This year’s Disney Christmas TV special enlisted Mariah The Scientist. Some ladies who are known just by their first names have had their turns recently, too: Cher, Brandy, Laufey, and Shakira. Women occasionally combine forces and might seem to be competing for Saint Nick’s attention and budget (The Puppini Sisters, The Pussycat Dolls, and a pairing of Sabrina Carpenter and Shania Twain). And persuading the gift-supplier  in the red suit to be generous isn’t restricted to females (Norm Lewis put in his requests and, for Michael Bublé, “buddy” replaced “baby” when he sang it with a male-bonding/ dude-to-dude attitude) and the Gay Men’s Choruses of Dublin and Los Angeles. It’s been incorporated in numerous movies and sung on TV on Glee and America’s Got Talent and in TV commercials to encourage shopping at Kmart, Belk Outlet Stores, Debenhams Department Store, Pier One, and Victoria’s Secret. (Sometimes we have to shop for things Santa doesn’t bring as per your request, especially if you’re on the Naughty List again.)

Even without Joan Javits’s giggle-worthy words, the sly and slinky Springer melody works its charm – as proven by instrumental groups of various sizes: The Modest Jazz Duo, Rex Bell Trio, The Michael Allen Harrison Quartet, and Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band. Star brass player Herb Alpert, who’s creeping up on Mr. Springer’s age (he turned 90 this year), got to it in 2017.

Want to hear the composer himself singing “Santa Baby,” accompanying himself on piano, for a Christmas treat recorded when he was younger (age 98)? Here it is, preserved on Youtube (which we might think of at this time of year as “Yuletube”):

for more info, visit Philip Springer, More Than Santa Baby Film, and Instagram