Captain & Tennille

Merry Christmas
Have a very, very merry christmas
Dream about your heart's desire
Christmas Eve when you retire
Santa Claus will stop and I know he'll drop
Exactly what you wanted from your chimney top
So be jolly, have a holiday as gay as holly
May the ones you love be near you
With the laugh of friends to cheer you
When the church bells ring and the angels sing
And you hear the joyful hymn they chime
Hang a wish from me
On your Christmas tree
For a very merry Christmas time
So be jolly, have a holiday as gay as holly
May the ones you love be near you
With the laugh of friends to cheer you
When the church bells ring and the angels sing
And you hear the joyful hymn they chime
Hang a wish from me
On your Christmas tree
For a very merry Christmas time

In 1972, Toni Tennille was a co-writer of the musical Mother Earth. Daryl “Captain Keyboard” Dragon, who got his nickname while touring with the Beach Boys from his signature skipper’s cap, took a job as the keyboardist for Mother Earth and the two hit it off romantically and musically, forming a nightclub act that charged $70 a night.

When two radio DJs urged the duo to record their cover of the Beach Boys song “Disney Girls” in 1974, they also recorded an original song “The Way I Want to Touch You” which attracted interest from several record labels. A&M Records, home to the platinum-selling male/female duo The Carpenters who had scored ten top 5 hits in the US from 1970-1974, signed them.

Captain & Tennille’s 1975 debut album featured seven originals, three Beach Boys covers and – at the suggestion of A&M’s A&R man – a cover of Neil Sedaka’s “Love Will Keep Us Together”. The latter was released as their first single and found massive success in North America. It reached #1 in the US & Canada, won a Grammy for Record Of The Year, and was the biggest song of of the year in the US. Even their Spanish version of the song “Por Amor Viviremos” reached #49 in the US. A&M followed it up with “The Way I Want to Touch You” and it reached #4 in both the US and Canada. Both songs also found success in New Zealand and the UK. The two married in November 1975.

more tracks from the album

The Secret of Christmas

From the album

The Secret of Christmas (2007)

Captain & Tennille popular songs

Merry ChristmasCaptain & Tennille

Captain & Tennille

The Secret of Christmas