''Santa Claus Lane'' is the debut studio album by American singer

Hilary Duff Hilary Erhard Duff (born September 28, 1987) is an American actress, singer, author and businesswoman. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Hilary Duff, various accolades, including a World Music Awards, World Mus ...

. It was released in the United States on October 15, 2002, by

Buena Vista Records Disney Music Group (DMG) is the music recording and publishing arm of Walt Disney Studios, a division of Disney Entertainment, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. It is located at the studio's headquarters in Burbank, California. The divi ...

. The

Christmas album Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of carols, may employ lyrics about the nativity of Je ...

contains covers of songs, including "

Santa Claus Is Coming to Town "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" is a Christmas song written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie, and first recorded by Harry Reser and His Orchestra. When it was covered by Eddie Cantor on his radio show in November 1934 it became a hit; w ...

", "

Jingle Bell Rock "Jingle Bell Rock" is an American Christmas music, Christmas song first released by Bobby Helms in 1957. It has received frequent airplay in the United States during every Christmas season since then, and is generally considered Helms' list of sign ...

" "

Wonderful Christmastime "Wonderful Christmastime" is a Christmas music, Christmas song by the English musician Paul McCartney. Recorded during the sessions for his solo album ''McCartney II'' (1980), it was released as a single in November 1979 following Paul McCartne ...

", "

Sleigh Ride "Sleigh Ride" is a Light music, light orchestra Standard (music), standard composed by Leroy Anderson. He formed the idea for the piece during a heat wave in July 1946, and finished it in February 1948. Its first performance was by the Boston Po ...

", and "

Last Christmas "Last Christmas" is a song by British pop duo Wham!. Written and produced by George Michael, it was released on 3 December 1984 via CBS Records internationally and as a double A-side via Epic Records with " Everything She Wants" in several Eur ...

". The album also features guest appearances from

Christina Milian Christina Milian ( , Flores; born September 26, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Following a number of minor television and film roles in the late nineties, Milian made her recording debut on American rapper Ja Rule's 20 ...

Romeo Miller Percy Romeo Miller Jr. (born August 19, 1989), also known by his stage name Romeo (formerly Lil' Romeo), is an American rapper, singer, actor and television personality. He gained fame as a rapper in the early 2000s after signing with his father, ...

and Hilary's older sister

Haylie Duff Haylie Katherine Duff (born February 19, 1985) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles as Sandy Jameson in the television series '' 7th Heaven'', Amy Sanders in ''Lizzie McGuire'' and Summer Wheatly in ''Napoleon Dyn ...

. ''Santa Claus Lane'' peaked at number two on US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Top Heatseekers The Heatseekers charts were "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales b ...

and

Top Kid Audio Kid Albums (formerly known as Top Kid Audio) is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine which ranks the top selling children's music albums in the United States. The chart debuted on the issue dated September 9, 1995. It origina ...

charts and peaked at number 154 on the US ''Billboard'' 200. It has been certified Gold by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA) for shipping 500,000 copies to retailers. Elsewhere, the album peaked at numbers 95 and 134 respectively in Canada and Japan. Its title track was featured in the 2002 Christmas comedy film ''

The Santa Clause 2 ''The Santa Clause 2'' (also known as ''The Santa Clause 2: The Mrs. Clause'') is a 2002 American Christmas fantasy comedy film directed by Michael Lembeck in his directorial debut. It is the sequel to '' The Santa Clause'' (1994) and the second ...

''. The song was also released as a single alongside "Tell Me a Story" that December.

Background and recording

In 2001, Duff gained fame through her starring role in the

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

series ''

Lizzie McGuire ''Lizzie McGuire'' is an American television comedy, comedy television series created by Terri Minsky that premiered on Disney Channel on January 12, 2001. The series stars Hilary Duff as the titular character who learns to navigate the person ...

''. She became interested in pursuing a music career after attending a

Radio Disney Radio Disney was an American radio network operated by the Disney Radio Networks unit of Disney Branded Television within Disney General Entertainment Content, headquartered in Burbank, California. The network broadcast music programming ...

concert in 2001. "There were all these pop acts backstage at the concert," Duff explained. "They were all getting ready backstage and warming up, and I was like, 'I want to do this so bad.'" One day, Duff met Andre Recke, who would soon become her manager. She told him of her interest in becoming a singer and briefly performed for him. This prompted him to tell her, "I want to work with you." Recke said of his encounter with Duff, "When I met Hilary, I knew she had something special. Sometimes you just have that feeling, that, 'Wow, she's a star.'" Duff's music career began with two soundtrack appearances. In 2002, she appeared on the soundtrack to ''Lizzie McGuire'', performing a

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of c ...

Brooke McClymont Brooke Maree McClymont (born 16 May 1981) is an Australian singer, songwriter and guitarist. With her two younger sisters, Samantha and Mollie, she is a founder of a country music trio, the McClymonts. She has written songs for Kate DeAraugo a ...

's " I Can't Wait", and the

Walt Disney Records Walt Disney Records is an American record label owned by the Disney Music Group. The label releases soundtrack albums from the Walt Disney Company's Walt Disney Studios (division), motion picture studios, television shows, Disney Experiences, them ...

compilation ''

DisneyMania ''Disneymania'' is the first album in the Disneymania series featuring various musical artists performing classic Disney songs. The original album, released on September 17, 2002, featured contemporary Disney classics. It peaked at number 29 on t ...

'', performing a cover of "

The Tiki Tiki Tiki Room "The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room" is the official song for Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room, an attraction at the Disneyland theme park. History The song was written in 1963 by Disney staff songwriters, The Sherman Brothers: Robert B. and Richard M ...

". Recke noted of Duff's ''DisneyMania'' appearance, "That was the first test to see how her fans would react to her as a singer and not just an actress". Duff stated that she felt

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

came early for her when she recorded ''Santa Claus Lane''. She continued, "I really loved singing these songs. It was a lot of hard work, but also big fun!"2002. ''Santa Claus Lane'' (album liner notes). Buena Vista Records. "I Heard Santa on the Radio" and "Tell Me a Story" are duets with

and

Lil' Romeo Percy Romeo Miller Jr. (born August 19, 1989), also known by his stage name Romeo (formerly Lil' Romeo), is an American rapper, singer, actor and television personality. He gained fame as a rapper in the early 2000s after signing with his father, ...

, respectively, and "Same Old Christmas" features Duff's sister Haylie. ''Santa Claus Lane'' features production from

Matthew Gerrard Matthew Gerrard is a Canadian record producer and songwriter. Biography Gerrard grew up in Don Mills, a suburb of Toronto's north-east end. He attended George S. Henry Secondary School where he played trombone in band, later playing bass in a sc ...

, Chris Hamm, Alain Bertoni,

Charlie Midnight Charlie Midnight (born Charles Kaufman, January 9, 1948) is an American songwriter and record producer and the founder of Midnight Production House. He has been nominated for the 1987 Grammy Award for Best R&B Song (Writer, " Living in America" ...

and

Chico Bennett Chico Bennett is an American record producer, musician, and songwriter based in Los Angeles, California, United States. He has written, produced and/or remixed for artists such as Madonna, Lady Gaga, The Killers, Hilary Duff, Usher, Nelly Furtad ...

; on the 2003 reissue, the bonus track "What Christmas Should Be" is produced by Charlton Pettus. This song was featured on the end credits and soundtrack of her family comedy film ''

Cheaper by the Dozen ''Cheaper by the Dozen'' is a semi-autobiographical novel written by Frank Bunker Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey, published in 1948. The novel recounts the authors' childhood lives growing up in a household of 12 children. The bes ...

'' (2003). In a 2013 interview with the website

Idolator An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry. Idolator or Idolater may also refer to: * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), a 2005 album by Blood Stain Child * ''Idolator'', a 1986 album by Ole Evenrud * "Idolater", a ...

, Duff expressed her dislike for "Tell Me a Story", saying that she "honestly hate that record — nd she hasblocked it out of ermemory". Duff also remarked that she " idn'teven remember" the song.

Release and promotion

''Santa Claus Lane'' was released in the United States on October 15, 2002, by

. It was reissued on October 14 of the following year with the bonus track "What Christmas Should Be", and released by

. Two singles were released from the album simultaneously on December 2, 2002. "Santa Claus Lane" was sent to pop radio stations, while "Tell Me a Story" was sent to rhythmic and urban radio stations. A music video for "Santa Claus Lane", featuring Duff performing on Disney's ''

Movie Surfers A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of Visual arts, visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are gen ...

'' to promote the film ''

'', received airplay on

. Duff filmed a music video for "Tell Me a Story" with Lil' Romeo which also received heavy rotation on Disney Channel.

Critical reception

''Santa Claus Lane'' received mixed reviews from music critics. An

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

editor gave the album three out of five stars. Jaan Uhelszki, in an editorial review for

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

, gave ''Santa Claus Lane'' a negative review. She wrote the album, consisting mostly of Christmas covers, "add little to the holiday music canon". She also felt that it only "perks up" on songs that feature guest musicians.

Kelefa Sanneh Kelefa T. Sanneh (born 1976) is an American journalist and music critic. From 2000 to 2008, he wrote for ''The New York Times'', covering the rock and roll, hip-hop, and pop music scenes. Since 2008 he has been a staff writer for ''The New Yorker ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' joked it was a "

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

" which was "loosely inspired by

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara (Lycia), Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya ...

, the fourth-century bishop of

Myra Myra (; , ''Mýra'') was a city in Lycia. The city was probably founded by Lycians on the river Myros (; Turkish: ''Demre Çay''), in the fertile alluvial plain between, the Massikytos range (Turkish: ''Alaca Dağ'') and the Aegean Sea. By the ...

." Christopher Thelen gave a more positive review to the album. While writing for ''the Daily Vault'', Thelen gave a B− grade and wrote it "does show there is a voice behind the pretty young face, even if this is a strange place to start one's recording career."

Commercial performance

''Santa Claus Lane'' debuted at number 154 on the ''Billboard'' 200, it also peaked in the top 5 at number 2 and 5 respectively on both the

and

Top Holiday Albums Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' magazine only Record chart, charted Christmas Single (music), singles and albums along with the other popular non-holiday Phonograph record, records until the 1958 Christmas and holiday season, holiday season w ...

charts. On December 9, 2003, the album was certified

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

by the

for 500,000 shipments to retailers. The album reached the 134th position of the

Japanese Albums Chart Japanese Albums Chart may refer to: * Oricon Albums Chart The Oricon Albums Chart is the Japanese music industry standard albums popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Oricon originally published LP, CT, Cartridg ...

in 2004. As of July 27, 2014, the album had sold 477,000 copies in the United States.

Track listing

Notes * signifies a co- producer

Personnel

Credits for ''Santa Claus Lane'' adapted from

. * Deborah Araya – Stylist * Chico Bennett – Producer * Alain Bertoni – Producer * Savina Ciaramella – A&R * J. Fred Coots –

Composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

* Matthew Gerrard – Producer * Haven Gillespie – Composer * Chris Hamm – Producer *

Martin Häusler Martin Häusler (born January 24, 1971, in Heidelberg, Germany) is a German portrait photographer, music video director and art director. In the United States, and other English speaking countries, he uses the adjusted spelling of his name Martin ...

–

Design A design is the concept or proposal for an object, process, or system. The word ''design'' refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, and is sometimes used to refer to the inherent nature of something ...

* Jay Landers – Executive producer * Gavin Lurssen – Mastering * Dani Markman – Artist coordination * Charlie Midnight – Producer * Andre Recke – Executive producer * Denny Weston Jr. – Producer

Charts

Weekly charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2002 Christmas albums 2002 debut albums Albums produced by Chico Bennett Albums produced by Matthew Gerrard Buena Vista Records albums Christmas albums by American artists Pop Christmas albums Hilary Duff albums Walt Disney Records albums Walt Disney Records Christmas albums