Santacular Rock and Roll Countdown: #19 – George Thorogood

#19 on our way to #1. Some of the best and oddest, least heard and most overplayed, underground and over-the-top rock and roll Chirstmas tunes of all-time.
A wicked slide guitar player, George Thorogood epitomizes the dirty, bluesy but still Chuck Berry-informed rockers that came up in the 1970’s.  A lot rock and roll and nearly as much cryin’ blues, George and the Delaware Destroyers haven’t changed their sound in more than 30 years. God bless ’em. “Rock and Roll Christmas” captures that sound.  
No different than the more familiar “Run Run Rudolph”, and hardly original, the Thorogood energy carries this one, much as that energy has carried his shows for years.  He does nearly the same kind of concert now as he did when I saw them in the mid 80’s – it’s loud, it’s a bit raunchy, George plays the role of badass-but-likable Mr. Rock and Roll. 
The saddest part of the video is that is was taped from MTV, back when they would put these kind of videos on at Christmastime.  Like a lot of things that were good, it’s a day that has passed…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnnj-N_Vc0I]#