Song of the Day 12/24: Frankie Carle and His Orchestra, “Little Jack Frost Get Lost”

My car thermometer registered 5 degrees this morning, so it’s a good day for this revived swing-era tune that makes Christmas playlists every year despite making no mention of the holiday.

The song was written by Al Stillman, whose “No Place Like Home for the Holidays” gets airplay every year, and pianist/vocalist Seger Ellis, who first recorded it in 1948. The more popular version, released the same year, was by pianist and bandleader Frankie Carle. Bing Crosby and Peggy Lee also covered it a few years later, but after that it lay dormant until the ’90s, when it was included on one of the Pottery Barn’s Christmas CDs. That sparked a renewed interest in the tune that hasn’t abated.

The vocalist for Carle’s track, Marjorie Hughes, is actually Marjorie Carle, the bandleader’s daughter. Her name was changed to hide the family connection until columnist Walter Winchell spilled the beans.