Before he became a TV star playing a smarmy wifebeater on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Martin Mull was primarily a musician who made comedy records. You know “Dueling Banjos” from Deliverance? Mull’s take on the tune, “Dueling Tubas,” reached #93 on the Billboard chart in 1973.

Later that year, Mull took another shot at the big time with a novelty Christmas record. “Santafly,” sung in falsetto over a backing track that crudely approximates Curtis Mayfield, celebrates Santa in the style of a blaxploitation theme song. “He knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be superbad for goodness’ sake,” sing the backing vocalists. Under my roof, we don’t listen to Andy Williams during the holidays. We listen to this two-minute throwaway over and over, until we start to feel ill, to remind us of the true meaning of Christmas.

In the mid-90s, Sonic Youth released an utterly brain-damaged version of the single’s B-side, “Santa Doesn’t Cop out on Dope.” Mull’s original is here.