UMe To Release Christmas Classics From Bobby Helms On Collectible 7” Vinyl
‘Jingle Bell Rock’ and ‘Captain Santa Claus (And His Reindeer Space Patrol)’ will be released on apple red vinyl this holiday season.
Last year, UMe gathered a number of classic holiday songs and released them individually as collectible 7” singles. The tradition will continue in 2025, including a version of Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock” and “Captain Santa Claus (And His Reindeer Space Patrol),” pressed to apple red vinyl.
Other titles set to be released in the series of 2025 7-inch collectible vinyl records include Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas,” John & Yoko’s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” / “Listen, The Snow Is Falling,” Dean Martin’s “Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow” / “Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer,” Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime,” and The Jackson 5’s “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town.”
All of the 2025 7” releases plus all the collectibles from 2024 will be available individually and as part of a carrying case featuring the entire collection.
When country music singer Bobby Helms was first offered the chance to sing a new festive song called “Jingle Bell Rock,” he was initially skeptical about the idea of mixing rock’n’roll and Christmas. But he was quickly won over, and his single, issued by Decca Records in October 1957, soon became a holiday classic. “‘Jingle Bell Rock’ has made itself a part of Christmas,” Helms said. “It lifts people up.”
At the time Helms recorded the song, he was already a popular singer. His single “Fraulein” had been another hit for Decca and the Indiana-born singer had become a regular guest on TV, appearing on both American Bandstand and The Ed Sullivan Show. The single was an instant hit and featured an intriguing B-side called “Captain Santa Claus (And His Reindeer Space Patrol).” Helms first appeared in the Billboard Top 100 in 1958 – and was back there more than six decades later when “Jingle Bell Rock” re-appeared in the charts in 2018.
