More than a Holiday Hippo Masseuse

As we enter the end-of-year, everyone-gets-a-holiday season, odd are pretty good that, at some point, you'll encounter the Ur-Urban Fantasy Christmas Song*.

 I am talking about "I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas," which you knew. Because, as everybody knows, only a hippopotamus will do.

What you might not know is that a few years after endearing herself to children the world 'round with dreams of impossible pets, and simultaneously sprinkling them with nightmares of the omnivore water horse in the garage, because mom is a more reliable source of information than teacher, Gayla Peevey entered a new phase of her career under a new name. I especially like this because pen names are fun.

True to her genre roots, among the cuts she released as Jamie Horton was "Robot Man." It was a bigger hit later for Connie Francis, but what wasn't? What's great about this song is... what's not great about this song? Robots! Love! And so on!

* Nearly all the "facts" in this post are made-up. Get the truth here. It's out there. Sorry. It's not out there. The site is down now (in 2022).