KZSM — Celebrating the holidays with you
Here in San Marcos and around the country, holiday lights, trees, and decorations are appearing—sometimes earlier than usual, given our need for warmth and cheer as this difficult year comes to a close. We at KZSM.org will unpack our tree and decorate our storefront window at 216 North Guadalupe, as our program hosts prepare shows to honor the season. Thursday, December 10, 3-4 p.m. host Paul Wilson of “Philosophy and Popular Music” will welcome songwriter Randy Brooks, who wrote “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.” Cohost Steve Jones has known Brooks for over twenty years and recalls his “great stories about his early days touring Vietnam with the USO and other gigs around the US.” On the show, Brooks will undoubtedly tell the story of performing his satirical Christmas song with Elmo and Patsy Shropshire at a Lake Tahoe resort. The couple’s 1979 recording of the song became a monster hit, and “spawned an animated Christmas special, musical toys, ornaments, greeting cards, apparel, video games, a branded hot chocolate mix, a Tesla dashboard app, and inflatable yard abominations,” according to Brooks’ website. Though he jokingly accepts being “remembered for just one thing,” Brooks also sings and plays bass with The Bad Monkeys and the Americana group Young Country.