Santa Claus selects greatest holiday hits on Spin Time
Santa Claus has come to town — but don't worry, he'll be back.
Old Saint Nick made a trip to P.E.I. just before Christmas to visit Three Oaks Senior High teacher Mike Trainor as well as DJ for CBC's Mainstreet.
"Things right now are very very organized, there's a lot of activity we're reading lots of emails now," Santa told Mainstreet P.E.I.
"The elves are working overtime, 24/7, the reindeers are prancing and ready to go, they're all getting geared up, of course Mrs. Claus is helping out, helping coordinate things."
Of all the songs Santa has heard in his many years travelling the globe, he chose three of his all-time favourites for Islanders to sing along to on Christmas Day.
Tom Jackson's Huron Carol
Santa's first pick is a song that's played on repeat on his sleigh, he said.
In his many years cruising around the world he "got to see the evolution of music."
"One of the first songs that really captured my mind was a song that was written back in 1642 by a Jesuit missionary, Jean de Brébeuf," Santa said.
That song was the Huron Carol and in the over 450 years since it was first sung no one has done it better than Canadian-born Métis singer Tom Jackson, Santa said.
Michael Bublé's Silent Night
Santa's second pick is another Christmas classic sung by a prominent Canadian.
While Santa was circling around Europe on Christmas Eve in 1818 he heard an "incredible carol coming from a cathedral," Santa said.
The carol forced him to turn the reindeer around and listen closely to the touching tunes.
Little did Santa know at the time, he said, he was listening to the inaugural singing of Silent Night.
"It just stuck with me and I had it in my head all night as I circled the globe," he said.
The song is still played on his sleigh after 200 years but of all the remakes in the centuries since, it's Michael Bublé's "incredible rendition" of the Christmas classic that's his favourite.
Springsteen's Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
Santa's final pick is a song that "just riles up the reindeer."
He said it all began when a young boy named Bruce Springsteen sent him a letter asking for a new guitar.
When Santa showed up he was confronted by a surprised Springsteen, he said, who was willing to play anything on his new guitar for old Saint Nick.
"Could you sing me a song about Santa Claus coming to town?" Santa recalled asking the blue-collar boy from New Jersey.
Springsteen did and as he began to play Santa said it didn't take long for him to realize that the "young fella is not a bad guitar player" at all.
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