Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (song) Rudolph's general acceptance in the mythology as the lead reindeer of Joulupukki, the Finnish Santa. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (song) "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is a song by songwriter Johnny Marks based on the 1939 story "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" published by the Montgomery Ward Company. Gene Autry's recording hit No. 1 on the U.S. charts the week of Christmas 1949. In 1939 Marks's brother-in-law, Robert L. May, created the character Rudolph as an assignment for Montgomery Ward and Marks decided to adapt the story of Rudolph into a song. The song had an added introduction, paraphrasing the poem "A
Ross Bagdasarian Sr. play any musical instrument in the accepted sense of the word." Bagdasarian owned Chipmunk Enterprises, which sponsored Chipmunk-related sales. By 1963 some 15 companies were using or planned to use Alvin figures. By that year "Billboard" magazine estimated that the total income from the Chipmunks' record sales (including overseas sales) and record club sales to be around $20 million (around $165 million adjusted for inflation). In the following years the Chipmunks released several hit songs: "Alvin's Harmonica" (1959), "Ragtime Cowboy Joe" (1959), "Alvin's Orchestra" (1960), "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" (1960), "The Alvin Twist" (1962), and the album "The Chipmunks