I’m slightly behind schedule on these. Looks like I’ve got to publish one on most of the days left between now and Xmas otherwise I will be breaking my own rule that Xmas music should only be listened to during Advent and on Xmas day itself.
The Kinks have long been a favourite band of mine. They had a string of hit singles in the 1960s: starting with two - You Really Got Me and All Day and All of the Night - that kind of invented the chord-heavy riff metal sound before completely abandoning it in pursuit of a character-led almost theatrical style of music.
Many of the 1970s Kinks albums are overly-long single-concept albums that play out like stage plays. They took to touring with a full brass section and their stage shows featured actors and multiple costume changes. Record sales dwindled until they reinvented themselves as a stadium act in the 1980s, drawing on their huge back catalogue to play just the hits to packed crowds.
At the peak of their late 1970s unpopularity. They released a Christmas song:
Number 4: Father Christmas by the Kinks
The christmassy glockenspiel intro gives way to a trademark Dave Davies guitar peel. Lead singer Ray Davies sings the song from the perspective of a mall santa who tells the story of a time he was mugged by a gang of children who taunt him with the central refrain:
“Father Christmas, give us some money
Don't mess around with those silly toys
We'll beat you up if you don't hand it over
We want your bread so don't make us annoyed.
Give all the toys to the little rich boys!”
In 1977, pipe bands not glockenspiels were the Christmas music theme du jour, so Paul McCartney’s ode to his estate in the Scottish lowlands, Mull of Kintyre got the number one spot. This Kinks song failed to chart.
What are your favourite forgotten Christmas anthems? Let me know in the comments below or on Facebook.
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