Dr. Elmo | Grandma & the Reindeer

December 21, 2007

Interview with Dr. Elmo [7:42m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

We had the amusement of chatting with legendary comic singer Dr. Elmo, who shared the story with us about his song “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer,” and what he’s up to now…
From the Wikipedia entry on Dr. Elmo:

Elmo Shropshire, better known as Dr. Elmo, is a singer of comedy songs, most notably “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.” He originally recorded the song in 1979 with his then-wife Patsy. He re-recorded it solo in 1992 for the album Dr. Elmo’s Twisted Christmas and again in 2000 for the album Up Your Chimney. He also recorded two albums of year-round songs: Dr. Elmo’s Twisted Tunes (1993) and Love, Death and Taxes (2000).

Elmo is a native of Lexington, Kentucky, and has a degree in veterinary medicine. After moving to San Francisco, he opened an animal hospital and became a competitive runner, all while continuing to play with his bluegrass band. It was then that he recorded “Grandma…” (written by his friend Randy Brooks) and became an instant regional superstar.

Elmo originally invested $40,000 of his own money to produce the original album and music video for “Grandma…” and in return, he’s become “a millionaire five times over” ^[1]. Since then, Elmo has become part of a class action suit against Sony based upon the royalties paid from digital downloads and ringtone sales. ^[2]

In a Christmas special, “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer,” Dr. Elmo is the voice of Grandpa, and performs a small portion of a song, “Grandma’s Spending Christmas with The Superstars.”