This song achieved some unpleasant notoriety when in May 1966, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley were jailed for life at Chester Assizes after being convicted of what were to become known as the Moors Murders. The peroxide blonde Hindley lured young children into the clutches of her lover Brady; the victims were tortured, murdered and buried on the Yorkshire Moors.
Like many murderers who kill purely for pleasure, Brady and Hindley kept sick trophies of their crimes. During the course of their lengthy and painstaking investigation the police found a tape of one of the victims, a 10 year old girl, pleading for mercy. "The Little Drummer Boy" by the Ray Conniff singers was playing in the background. In October 1997, one of the detectives who worked on the case gave an interview to the Scottish newspaper the Daily Record in which he said that he still shuddered every time he heard the song...
however, for those who are able to set aside this horrible linkage, there's now a new recording
Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth - Sir Terry Wogan and Aled Jones - proceeds to children in need.