How 'Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer' singer became a Jersey Shore guy

There will be times, during the renowned charity band Holiday Express’s whirlwind tour throughout New Jersey this month, when the crowd isn’t quite feeling it at first.

After all, these audiences generally are not comprised of ticket-purchasing fans. Holiday Express might be performing at a hospital, or a shelter, or a soup kitchen, or a school for children with special needs.

It’s then that bandleader Tim McLoone will bring “Dr. Elmo” to the microphone. That would be Elmo Shropshire, whose voice is recognized coast to coast as the singer of “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” – the quirky, unforgettable Christmas ditty that has become as much of a yuletide fixture as eggnog and Santa’s sleigh.

“I introduce him by saying, ‘What is your least favorite holiday song?’” McLoone said. “Once he opens his mouth and says the first word, people realize it’s actually him because he’s got such a unique voice. He says, ‘grand,’ and he doesn’t even get to ‘ma’ and people are already going crazy.”

Shropshire and his wife Pam Wendell live in California, but for the past couple of years they’ve taken up residency in Highlands throughout December to tour with Holiday Express.

“It’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever been a part of,” Elmo said Thursday, just after arriving in the Garden State. He joins the band starting Monday for three rip-roaring weeks, including its annual benefit show Dec. 19 at Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank.

At 87, can he still hit all the notes of his signature song?

“I’m not sure if I ever hit them in the first place,” he deadpanned.

'Stop sending us this crap'

Shropshire’s connection to Holiday Express is fascinatingly offbeat. But first, his backstory. Born in Kentucky, he was raised in the equine business and for a time lived on a horse farm in Mount Holly, Burlington County. He earned a doctorate in veterinary medicine from Auburn University and worked as a racetrack veterinarian before opening an animal hospital in San Francisco (hence the stage name Dr. Elmo).

On the side, Shropshire played banjo in a bluegrass band. In 1979 he recorded “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer,” which was written by musician friend Randy Brooks.

“I thought it would be funny, people could listen to it and they’d laugh once, and that would be the end of it,” he said.

The song got some radio play in San Francisco around Christmas, but his effort to market it to a wider audience was met with derision.

“I sent letters to record companies and a lot of them would write on the letter, ‘Stop sending us this crap,’ and send it back to me,” he said. “I was working at my veterinary hospital – I wasn’t wining and dining any disc jockeys.”

Shropshire pressed 500 vinyl singles of the tune. Tower Records agreed to buy 10 of them for 50 cents each.

“I thought I’d have 490 in my garage forever,” he said.

But almost immediately after that, Tower called and asked for 500 more. Momentum started to build, to the point where “people picketed one of my performances in San Francisco” claiming the song was ageist and sexist, he said.

“I just saw it as proving there’s a Santa Claus,” he said.

In 1983 he made the bold decision to sell his veterinary hospital and spend $30,000 of the proceeds on making a music video of the song. MTV started playing it, and the rest is history.

“After all these years, when comes on the radio or on Muzak, it makes me feel great,” Dr. Elmo said.

When it airs on his car radio, does he sing along?

“Absolutely!” he said.

Of course, with success comes demands, and you can imagine how many requests Shropshire’s gotten over the years. Wendell acts as his gatekeeper of sorts, and when McLoone reached out a few years back, she was skeptical.

A serendipitous connection

At some point one of McLoone’s bandmates crossed paths with Dr. Elmo and suggested the union. So McLoone cold-called him.

“Tim called for Elmo and I put my hand over the phone and said, ‘It’s some guy who wants you to play for his charity – I’m going to tell him no,’” Wendell recalled. “Then Tim mentioned he’s a runner and I went, ‘Oh, why didn’t you say so? Hold on a minute.'”

Once a 4:07 miler at Harvard, McLoone has coached Rumson-Fair Haven’s girls track and cross county teams to multiple state championships. Shropshire is more than an avid runner. In 2022, at 86, he logged the world's fastest times for his age group – 8:23 for the mile and 27:19 for five kilometers.

So the running connection opened a door for McLoone, and that’s all he needed.

“The first time we came, the first event that they played was at a hospital and I was crying the whole time,” Wendell said. “It was so moving, what Tim does for these kids, and the singers are all so talented, I had chills the whole time. Once we came to that first event we always wanted to come back. It grabbed us by the heart.”

In addition to crooning his classic, Dr. Elmo blends right in with the band’s other staples.

“I never liked, 'All I Want for Christmas is You,’ he said of the Mariah Carey hit. “But after hearing all the wonderful singers Holiday Express has, I’ve come to enjoy playing it on the guitar. You’ll never hear me try to cover that one vocally though.”

Their partnership goes beyond the stage. McLoone hosts Elmo and Pam at his Little Silver home on Christmas, and Elmo has attended Rumson-Fair Haven’s track meets and even performed “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” for McLoone’s athletes. A friendship has bloomed, as you might expect from two guys devoted to spreading good cheer – which they do, without fail.

“We go some places and people look at us as we’re trying to do all this happy stuff, and you can see they’re not willing,” McLoone said. “Then I introduce him – and everybody gets very happy.”

A little Christmas magic? You may say there’s no such thing, but as for him and Elmo, they believe.

For tickets to Holiday Express’s Dec. 19 show at Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank, visit https://thebasie.org/events/holiday-express-3.

Jerry Carino is community columnist for the Asbury Park Press, focusing on the Jersey Shore’s interesting people, inspiring stories and pressing issues. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: How 'Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer' singer joined Holiday Express