Courtesy Clark Sterling

wandering through a decked-out Union Square in San Francisco a couple of Decembers ago, Clark Sterling was struck with a merry notion: why not write a Christmas song about the Bay Area?

With temperate winters and no snow to speak of, the Bay Area isn’t a logical choice for holiday imagery. But Sterling, ’78, found plenty of inspiration. Sample lyric: “The silver bells are ringing/on every passing cable car/an Irish coffee greets us/at the Buena Vista bar.” He shared the words with pianist/composer Nolan Gasser, who wrapped them in a saxy arrangement reminiscent of a Tony Bennett classic, and they got smoky-voiced Tim Hockenberry to record it. The result was a hit—“Christmas by the Bay” got heavy play on local radio stations last December and record stores couldn’t keep it in stock.

Will it have the legs to become a holiday standard? The song goes into national release this winter, says Sterling, a stage veteran who played the character of Joel in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers on Broadway. “We’ve gotten interest from radio stations, airlines and businesses across the country, which is even more exciting.”