Before “Christmas in Kansas City”: The Forgotten Holiday Song of the Plaza Lights

It’s the holiday season in Kansas City, which means the Country Club Plaza lights are on, the Mayor’s Christmas Tree is lit, and homes across the metro are decked out in festive decorations. 

If you’ve lived in Kansas City long enough, you may have even heard the 1985 song "Christmas in Kansas City" by Brad Millison played on local radio stations. What you may not know is that this wasn’t the first Kansas City-themed Christmas song.

In 1951, local musician, amateur songwriter, and sound engineer, Roger C. Webb, composed a song titled "Plaza Lights" about the twinkling illuminations that have outlined the Country Club Plaza’s Spanish architecture officially since 1930.

Though Webb was not originally from Kansas City, he believed his adopted town deserved songs immortalizing its local traditions.

Read the rest of the story at KCHistory.org.