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Merry Christmas with the Mom and Dads

I only bought this because of the cover. Thinking this would be so horrid I'd have to replace my needle and bleach my ears after playing this I eagerly paid my dollar, and gave it a good cleaning. The first thing to note is that despite a cover Yosh and Stan Schmenge would drool over, this was played straight, and reminds me of my treasured Jim Gregrash records (if you know, you know). I can imagine The Mom and Dads killing it at a barn dance. Make no mistake, this was dance music, just not the dance music of my generation.

This is fun, old timey Christmas music, and frankly considering three of the members were born before 1920, and the youngest born in the early 1930s - they were older than most artists who were starting their careers. They'd only released their debut in 1970 a couple of years earlier. Late bloomers I suppose.

I honestly wasn't sure what to expect when I started looking up the band, but I wasn't expecting to see a bunch of gold and platinum CRIA certifications. Also, they were signed to MCA when the Christmas album came out. If there was a joke, then they were in on it.

They were by all accounts a relatively big deal here in Canada, and also Australia by the look of things. Sure, it isn't a style of music I listen to a lot, but heck if Guy Lombardo and the Royal Canadians were able to sell  between 100 and 300 million records (according to Wikipedia, and that's a heck of a rounding error. I'm guessing they didn't keep track of what they sold) it shouldn't be a surprise that a good old fashioned party band managed to rack up some decent hardware. Take that you long haired hippies.

As a kid I remember staying up with my parents to ring in the New Year with Mister Lombardo, and even at the time I thought it was really old fashioned and kind of cheesy. It may have been cheese, but somewhere in the recesses of my musical development a small corner was reserved for music like this. Playing Merry Christmas with the Mom and Dads pushes the right nostalgia buttons and makes me want to curl up in a chair and drink hot chocolate.

The album itself is parsed into two sections, the lead up to Christmas, and the slide into New Years. Both sides contain the classics you'd want to hear done polka style. They're a lot of fun. I just wish they'd have had some production value. I guess MCA distributed, but didn't advance for recording? Who knows. It must be how polka albums are recorded. Live from the floor, one mic in the centre of the room and hit record. Okay, maybe two microphones - the cover says it's in stereo.

Oddly enough it's part of the appeal. 

Sadly they've all passed on now, but they've left behind a reminder to a different time and place, and if you just listen and let yourself enjoy the ride, you'll find yourself tapping your foot and smiling.


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