The First Wish

Between 1957 and 1968, Ray Conniff had 28 albums in the American Top 40. He started out at Columbia Records as their home arranger, backing artists such as Rosemary Clooney, Johnny Mathis, and Johnnie Ray, with his orchestra and was eventually offered the chance to do his own record. We Wish You a Merry Christmas is packed with traditional holiday tunes that Conniff and his (25) Singers wove into a series of medleys. This album has a retro studio sound, which, upon listening, may conjure up images of Lawrence Welk singers strolling the stage, dressed in matching holiday garb. Sometimes melodramatic ("Ring Christmas Bells"), other times, bright and exuberant ("Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!"), it's good, clean fun for the whole family and a solid addition to any Christmas catalog.

The Kinks were one of the most influential bands of the British Invasion. Early singles "You Really Got Me" and "All Day and All of the Night" were brutal, three-chord ravers that paved the way for punk and metal while inspiring peers like the Who. In the mid-'60s, frontman Ray Davies came into his own as a songwriter, developing a wry wit and an eye for social commentary that culminated in a pair of conceptual LPs, The Village Green Preservation Society and Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire), that proved enormously influential over the years.