Home for the Holidays (song)

The best-known recordings were made by Perry Como, who recorded the song twice, both times accompanied by Mitchell Ayres' Orchestra and the Ray Charles Singers.

The first recording, arranged by Joe Reisman, was made on November 16, 1954. It was released as a single for Christmas that December by RCA Victor.[2] The flip side was "Silk Stockings" (which scored in the Cash Box magazine top 50). "Home for the Holidays" reached No. 8 on the Billboard magazine chart in the United States. The next Christmas it was released again, with "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" as the flip side.[3] The same recorded version was released in the United Kingdom by HMV,[4] with the flip side "Tina Marie". This recording has appeared on many compilation albums over the years and remains a Christmas radio regular.

Como's second recording of the song, in stereo and with a different musical arrangement by Joe Lipman, was made on July 15, 1959. It was released as a 33 rpm single,[5] with flip side "Winter Wonderland", by RCA Victor in the U.S. and as a 45 rpm single by HMV in the UK.[6] This 1959 version was also included on the album Season's Greetings from Perry Como and has appeared on many compilations, as well as being played on some radio stations during the holidays.

Perhaps the most iconic version of the song, other than the original Perry Como version, is the Carpenters’ recording on their 1984 LP release, An Old Fashioned Christmas.

In January 2000, a Garth Brooks version, from Garth Brooks and the Magic of Christmas, reached No. 63 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.[7]

On November 30, 2011, T-Mobile announced a surprise event at the Woodfield Mall.[8] On December 1, 2011, Alfonso Gomez-Rejon directed about six surprise singing and dancing mall performances of "Home for the Holidays" by Carly Foulkes and 100 Chicago-area women in magenta dresses. The performances were later edited into a music video with the hope that it would go viral.[9][10] The full video that was posted on YouTube has a run time of 3:48 and it was presented in a 60-second national television commercial starting on December 12. The video was produced by Ridley Scott and Tony Scott's RSA Films.[11] The musical director was Paul Mirkovich.[12]

The song was also remade as a duet between Cyndi Lauper and Norah Jones during 2011 for an exclusive iTunes Store release. The single was available to download on November 1 and did well on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, peaking at No. 11 and at No. 22 on the Adult Contemporary Radio Airplay Chart in the U.S.[13]