Rock n’ Roll Christmas music is undoubtedly the biggest “sub-category” in my collection; it spans every music media format I own except 8-track and reel-to-reel. 2008 marks the assembly of my 10th Annual Compilation Christmas cd — and there’s plenty more where that came from, I assure you.
My interest in yule tunes began in 1975 when I was Christmas shopping at the Richmond Mall with my mom. As always, I had accompanied her for as long as my patience could stand before suggesting thirty minutes of solo shopping and meeting up by the movie theaters. Of course, this was simply a selfish excuse to blitz the record racks in JC Penny, Woolworths, Sears, and my favorite; Record Rendezvous. Thirty minutes was just about enough time to make the four-store circuit if I didn’t dawdle and didn’t stop to gawk at lurid posters on display under the black lights in Spencer Gifts.
My interest in yule tunes began in 1975 when I was Christmas shopping at the Richmond Mall with my mom. As always, I had accompanied her for as long as my patience could stand before suggesting thirty minutes of solo shopping and meeting up by the movie theaters. Of course, this was simply a selfish excuse to blitz the record racks in JC Penny, Woolworths, Sears, and my favorite; Record Rendezvous. Thirty minutes was just about enough time to make the four-store circuit if I didn’t dawdle and didn’t stop to gawk at lurid posters on display under the black lights in Spencer Gifts.
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On this occasion it wasn’t the naughty elves costumes in Spencers that waylaid me, but a beat-up television monitor in the display window of Record Rendezvous. Playing in an endless loop on the screen was Greg Lake from the the British band Emerson, Lake & Palmer. He was playing a beautiful acoustic guitar and singing what has become one of my all-time favorite Christmas tunes and, today’s Happy Medium Song of the Day: “I Believe in Father Christmas.”
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I was transfixed by the song because I think it was my very first encounter with non-traditional, secular Christmas music. In retrospect I think I was also fascinated by the first “music video” I had ever seen — six years before MTV broadcast The Buggles and “music video” became a common household term.
For me, the song encapsulates Christmas perfectly with a soft-spoken rant against the gross commercialization of the holiday, jangly sleigh bells, and an uplifting choir. The musical refrain from Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kije Suite evokes a giddy sleigh ride through the snow on a cold winter night like no other piece of music.
As rain falls on Kensington tonight, there’s no snow for Santa’s sled. However, after all these years, there is still a hint of “magic” in the air and the promise of surprise that always brings joy and laughter. I embrace that sense of wonder and welcome a Christmas day full of love and cheer and child-like excitement — punctuated by music of the season. Merry Christmas everyone.
(Please use the comments box to share your thoughts.)
For me, the song encapsulates Christmas perfectly with a soft-spoken rant against the gross commercialization of the holiday, jangly sleigh bells, and an uplifting choir. The musical refrain from Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kije Suite evokes a giddy sleigh ride through the snow on a cold winter night like no other piece of music.
As rain falls on Kensington tonight, there’s no snow for Santa’s sled. However, after all these years, there is still a hint of “magic” in the air and the promise of surprise that always brings joy and laughter. I embrace that sense of wonder and welcome a Christmas day full of love and cheer and child-like excitement — punctuated by music of the season. Merry Christmas everyone.
(Please use the comments box to share your thoughts.)