Dominick the Donkey facts for kids

Quick facts for kids "Dominick the Donkey"
"Dominick the Donkey" 1960 release
Song by Lou Monte
Language	English
B-side	"Christmas At Our House"
Released	December 1960 September 28, 2011 (re-release)
Recorded	1960
Genre	Christmas folk country
Length	2:35
Label	Roulette Records, Dexterity Records
Songwriter(s)	Ray Allen, Sam Saltzberg, Wandra Merrell

"Dominick the Donkey" is a fun Christmas song. It was written by Ray Allen, Sam Saltzberg, and Wandra Merrell. The singer Lou Monte recorded it in 1960. The song tells the story of Dominick, a helpful donkey. He helps Santa Claus deliver presents to children in Italy. Why a donkey? Because Santa's reindeer can't climb the steep Italian hills!

The song was released again online in 2011. This time, the name "Dominick" was spelled "Dominic." It was also part of some Christmas music collections. In December 1960, the song was listed on Billboard's "Bubbling Under the Hot 100" chart. Later, in a 1977 TV special called Nestor, the Long–Eared Christmas Donkey, Santa also had a donkey helper. This donkey was named "Spieltoe." The song was even featured in an episode of the TV show Family Guy in 2018.

Dominick's Popularity in the UK (2011)

In 2011, "Dominick the Donkey" became very popular in the United Kingdom. This happened because of a radio show called The Chris Moyles Show on BBC Radio 1. The show often played the song around Christmas. They did this because their newsreader was named Dominic Byrne.

The Campaign for Number 1

The radio show encouraged listeners to download the song. They wanted to see if it could become the Christmas number one song. Many people downloaded it from iTunes and Amazon. Between December 19 and 25, 2011, the song reached number 2 on the British iTunes chart. It then peaked at number 3 on the official UK Singles Chart. This happened in the last week of 2011.

If "Dominick the Donkey" had reached number 1, it would have set a record. It would have been the song that took the longest time to reach the top of the British charts after its first release. The song did better than many other songs that were also trying to be Christmas number 1 that year.

Song Charts

This section shows how well "Dominick the Donkey" did on different music charts. A "chart" is a list that ranks songs based on how popular they are.

Certifications

A "certification" means a song has sold or been streamed a certain number of times. A "Silver" award means it has reached a big milestone!