Biography
Among enthusiasts who hunt for the most abysmal holiday release regardless of season, the name Phil Ellis occasionally arises in connection with 1950s pop activity. Collectors often cite the Jay-Dee label’s 782 rather than speak the A-side title outright—“Dear Santa, Bring Back My Daddy to Me!”—or mention its flip, “The Church Bells Are Ringing on Christmas Morn.”
Ellis and the choir served strictly as backing vocalists, an arrangement that appears even more slighting once it is known that the lead was taken by nine-year-old Irene Treadwell, whose name is sometimes conflated with a novel piece of exercise equipment. The 1953 release was a promotional venture mounted by music-industry veteran Joe Davis. After the strong sales generated a few years earlier by his “Daddy’s Little Girl” campaign, Davis expected the public to embrace another dose of sentiment; instead Jay-Dee 782 went nowhere, a commercial outcome that evidently ended any further recording opportunities for Ellis and his singers.
Ellis and the choir served strictly as backing vocalists, an arrangement that appears even more slighting once it is known that the lead was taken by nine-year-old Irene Treadwell, whose name is sometimes conflated with a novel piece of exercise equipment. The 1953 release was a promotional venture mounted by music-industry veteran Joe Davis. After the strong sales generated a few years earlier by his “Daddy’s Little Girl” campaign, Davis expected the public to embrace another dose of sentiment; instead Jay-Dee 782 went nowhere, a commercial outcome that evidently ended any further recording opportunities for Ellis and his singers.