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Welcome to episode 38 of Holly Jolly X’masu! In this episode, I talk about the 1978 album, “Snow Flakes,” by the Paradise Garage. It’s a groovy collection of Yuletide Disco!

One of the best parts of this hobby is that feeling I get when I finally get an album I’ve spent months trying to acquire. The excitement I felt over “Snow Flakes” wasn’t quite on the same level as Jun Fukamachi’s “Now Sound Christmas,” but it was close. I had a couple near misses along the way. One was due to the fact that I stopped checking one site entirely due to the sticker shock I had from shipping on one order. After two weeks of not checking, I looked again and found that I’d missed a copy by less than a day. When it finally turned up again, I was intent on getting it. Thankfully, the person I was bidding against wasn’t as relentless.

I’ve had a couple albums that, while good, didn’t live up to my expectations. I’ve been lucky enough that most of the albums I’ve gotten turned out better than I hoped. “Snow Flakes” is one of those rare albums that turned out exactly as I expected. I had high hopes, so that’s not a bad thing. It’s a solid collection of Disco tunes that avoids the cheesy, fabricated sound of so many similar collections, and it took me back to the days of KC, Alicia Bridges and the Village People streaming out of my Snoopy transistor radio.

Thanks for listening, and I hope the Paradise Garage helped you boogie through your Christmas. Be sure to join me on New Year’s Eve for my special bonus episode where I discuss a handful of Singaporean Christmas records. Until then, remember to keep on truckin’.

As always, any feedback on this episode would be appreciated. If have any suggestions, or if you’d like to recommend a song or album for a future episode, drop me a line and let me know.

Remember, I’ve added a button to my Ko-fi page. If you’d like to support me one cup of coffee at a time, a donation is only $3. I’ve also opened a Redbubble store. I only have a couple designs up, but keep an eye on it as I’ll be trying to add more. Any proceeds or donations received will be put towards purchasing new Japanese Christmas music to review for future episodes. You can also find me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. And if you get a chance, leave me a review on iTunes. Thanks!

Listen to this episode of the Holly Jolly Xmasu Podcast
Author: Holly Jolly X’masu
Title:

Episode 38 – The Paradise Garage’s “Snow Flakes”

Holly Jolly Xmasu

Welcome to episode 37 of Holly Jolly X’masu! In this episode, I talk about the 1982 album, “Non Stop! Christmas,” by Pochettes.

As I mentioned in the episode, I didn’t know what to expect when I got this. Having worked with an airbrush for several years in high school and college, I liked the cover. I was hoping for a bit more Disco, but I wasn’t entirely displeased overall. I’m sure not everything on the album will appeal to everyone, but I’m hoping each of you listeners enjoys at least some of what’s on it.

While most of the songs in the medley are standards, here’s the full list in case you missed any:

  1. Jingle Bells (0:23) 2. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (0:33) 3. Joy To The World (0:06) 4. The Twelve Days Of Christmas (0:26) 5. Sleigh Ride (0:15) 6. Jingle Bell Rock (0:29) 7. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (0:29) 8. Winter Wonderland (0:30) 9. Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town (0:45) 10. Frosty The Snowman (0:44) 11. Here Comes Santa Claus (0:23) 12. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus (0:58) 13. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (0:57) 14. Little Christmas Tree (0:58) 15. I’ll Be Home For Christmas (0:58) 16. Little Drummer Boy (0:50) 17. Deck The Halls (0:30) 18. White Christmas (1:00) 19. The Christmas Song (0:46) 20. Oh Come All Ye Faithful (0:37) 21. You’re All I Want For Christmas (0:58) 22. Silver Bells (0:22) 23. The First Noel (0:47) 24. We Wish You A Merry Christmas (0:29)

I talked quite a bit about Stars On 45, and I mentioned Holly & the Ivy’s “Christmas on 45.” Here are links to videos for them. If you were alive in the early 80s, these should bring back some hopefully fond memories.

Stars On 45 – “Stars On 45” (Original Single Version)

Stars On 45 – “Stars On 45” (Original 12-Inch Version)

Holly & The Ivy’s – “Christmas On 45”

Thanks for listening, and I hope you had some fun with this episode. Join me back here on Christmas Day for some top quality, genuine Disco from the height of the Disco Era, as I talk about the absolutely groovy 1978 album, “Snow Flakes,” by The Paradise Garage. I guarantee, you’ll dig it!

As always, any feedback on this episode would be appreciated. If have any suggestions, or if you’d like to recommend a song or album for a future episode, drop me a line and let me know.

Remember, I’ve added a button to my Ko-fi page. If you’d like to support me one cup of coffee at a time, a donation is only $3. I’ve also opened a Redbubble store. I only have a couple designs up, but keep an eye on it as I’ll be trying to add more. Any proceeds or donations received will be put towards purchasing new Japanese Christmas music to review for future episodes. You can also find me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. And if you get a chance, leave me a review on iTunes. Thanks!

Listen to this episode of the Holly Jolly Xmasu Podcast
Author: Holly Jolly X’masu
Title:

Episode 37 – Pochettes’ “Non Stop! Christmas”

Holly Jolly Xmasu

Welcome to episode 36 of Holly Jolly X’masu! In this episode, I talk about Koichi Oki’s 1975 album, “The Man from YUKIGUNI.”

This album was something of a gateway drug for me. It not only solidified my interest in Japanese Christmas music overall, but it led me to discovering the Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra’s music, and it introduced me to the Electone. Electone and other electronic organ albums were quite popular in Japan from the mid-60s until the early 80s. As I mention in the episode, Michishiro was the Electone pioneer. He put out multiple albums, well into the 1980s, including four solo Christmas albums, and a collaboration with Keitaro Miho. The Keitaro Miho album was one of my earliest purchases, and I’ve gotten two of Michishiro’s solo album.

In addition to those, though, I also have albums by Mori Midori, Hideko Kojima, Keiko Ohta, Kodama Mari and Hidemi Saito. Mori Midori’s album is one of my favorites, while Hidemi Saito’s is the earliest Japanese electronic organ Christmas album I’ve found. I’ll get to them eventually.

Reading about Koichi Oki, I also found out about his son Yuichi and the Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra. They’ve only released a few Christmas songs, but the rest of their music is worth searching out. Their energetic and sometimes over-the-top performances are a blast to watch, and if you enjoy Ska, you’ll love their music. And as mentioned in the episode, Yuichi Oki remastered “The Man From YUKIGUNI” last year and released it digitally. Here’s a link to where you can find it:

The Man From YUKIGUNI

Thanks for listening, and I hope “The Man From YUKIGUNI” has helped add to your yuletide season. Tune in next week when I cover the 1982 album, “Non Stop! Christmas” by Pochettes. Then join me on Christmas Day for “Snow Flakes” by The Paradise Garage. It’s one of my favorite albums and one you’re sure to enjoy.

As always, any feedback on this episode would be appreciated. If have any suggestions, or if you’d like to recommend a song or album for a future episode, drop me a line and let me know.

Remember, I’ve added a button to my Ko-fi page. If you’d like to support me one cup of coffee at a time, a donation is only $3. I’ve also opened a Redbubble store. I only have a couple designs up, but keep an eye on it as I’ll be trying to add more. Any proceeds or donations received will be put towards purchasing new Japanese Christmas music to review for future episodes. You can also find me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. And if you get a chance, leave me a review on iTunes. Thanks!

Listen to this episode of the Holly Jolly Xmasu Podcast
Author: Holly Jolly X’masu
Title:

Episode 36 – Koichi Oki’s “The Man From YUKIGUNI”

Holly Jolly Xmasu

Welcome to the remastered edition of Episode 4 of Holly Jolly X’masu! In this episode, I discuss the granddaddy of all Japanese Christmas compilation albums: King Records’ “Merry, Merry X’mas,” from 1963. This revered classic really established the gold standard for Christmas compilations in Japan.

I considered redoing the whole episode, but due to time constraints, that wasn’t plausible. Instead, I redid my introduction and included the full songs from my recently-obtained vinyl copy of the album. You can’t imagine how thrilled I was to finally get this. I’d bid on it several times before but dropped out when bidding got over $50. I paid far less than that for the copy I finally won. The cover isn’t in great shape, there’s no obi, and the record is extremely warped, but it plays beautifully, which is the most important thing.

I’ve also managed to get two of the singles that were included on the album. I have “Silent Night” by Yasuo Tanabe and Michiyo Azusa, and the Peanuts’ “Jingle Bells.” I also managed to get the “Merry X’mas” flexi-disc journal featuring the Peanuts and Hajime Hara & Crazy Cats. It’s one of the more sought-after flexi-disc journals, so I was lucky to get a copy. I don’t have Yukari Ito’s Christmas EP yet, but it goes for almost as much as the album. As far as I can tell, the other songs were never released as singles, although a couple show up on other later compilations.

It was interesting redoing this episode. I’ve made a lot of changes to how I write and edit an episode, so it was a bit of a challenge readjusting. One big change I made was to take out the clip of “March on the River Kwai,” since I don’t own a physical copy. I did find a couple copies for auction, and based on the starting bids, I don’t think I ever will own a copy. I do have “Mothra’s Song” on a CD, though, so I kept it in.

I also got a kick out of looking back on how far I’ve come since this episode came out. A couple days before it was released, I had just ordered a copy of one of my first true Holy Grails, Jun Fukamachi’s “Now Sound Christmas,” which brought my Japanese Christmas collection up to 40 whole items. Since then, I’ve managed to track down a lot of my most-wanted albums, and I’m to…well, a fair deal more than 40 LP’s, CD’s and singles. I’m also closing in on my 40th episode. Considering how much I struggled to get out one episode per month at first, I’m pretty pleased with how things are currently going.

I hop you’ve enjoyed this refreshed and expanded episode. Join me here every Saturday this month for all new episodes, as well as a special bonus episode on New Year’s Eve. I have a lot of great music lined up to help you enjoy your Christmas, most of which you can’t hear anywhere else.

As always, any feedback on this episode would be appreciated. If have any suggestions, or if you’d like to recommend a song or album for a future episode, drop me a line and let me know.

Remember, I’ve added a button to my Ko-fi page. If you’d like to support me one cup of coffee at a time, a donation is only $3. I’ve also opened a Redbubble store. I only have a couple designs up, but keep an eye on it as I’ll be trying to add more. Any proceeds or donations received will be put towards purchasing new Japanese Christmas music to review for future episodes. You can also find me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. And if you get a chance, leave me a review on iTunes. Thanks!

Listen to this episode of the Holly Jolly Xmasu Podcast
Author: Holly Jolly X’masu
Title:

Episode 4 – Remastered – King Records’ “Merry, Merry X’mas”

Holly Jolly Xmasu

Welcome to episode 35 of Holly Jolly X’masu! In this episode, I discuss Satoru Oda and his 1964 album, “Tenor in X’mas.” It’s a wonderful mood album by the acclaimed tenor saxophonist.

For the longest time, this was one of my favorite Japanese Christmas albums. To be honest, though, for the longest time it was one of the few Japanese Christmas albums of which I’d found a decent download. Most of the small handful of 1960s Japanese Christmas Jazz albums I’d found online were in fairly bad shape. The copy I found of Satoru Oda was complete and clean, with no skips and just a small amount of noise and clicks. While I’ve gotten rid of my downloads, finding those albums really sparked and maintained my interest in Japanese Christmas music.

Part of the appeal of these albums is that they’re almost entirely unknown in this part of the world. A lot of the ones I’ve found are obscure in Japan as well. I enjoy discovering and learning about them. A really frustrating aspect of my collecting, though, is finding an artist like Satoru Oda and not being able to uncover any biographical information about him online. I’ve read the same sentiment from several Japanese bloggers. A few have pointed out that, when they first started collecting, there was a decent amount of information about some of these musicians online, but those articles and interviews are now gone. As difficult as that makes my research, it’s also a terrible loss when you consider how notable and influential some of them were during the height of their career. While I come up short on some of them, I do appreciate being able to share what I find with you.

Thanks for listening, and I hope you enjoyed Satoru Oda as much as I did. And for those of you in the US, I want to wish you a safe and happy Thanksgiving. Join me here in December as I cover some of my favorite albums. Setting the theme for most of the month is my main episode on Christmas Day, the 1978 Disco classic, “Snow Flakes” by The Paradise Garage. Up first, though, is Koichi Oki’s “The Man From YUKIGUNI.” It’s one of the best Electone Christmas albums around. Then tune in again on December 18th for another Disco album, “Non Stop! Christmas” by Pochettes. And if I have the time, I’ll work in another album before the end of the year.

As always, any feedback on this episode would be appreciated. If have any suggestions, or if you’d like to recommend a song or album for a future episode, drop me a line and let me know.

Remember, I’ve added a button to my Ko-fi page. If you’d like to support me one cup of coffee at a time, a donation is only $3. I’ve also opened a Redbubble store. I only have a couple designs up, but keep an eye on it as I’ll be trying to add more. Any proceeds or donations received will be put towards purchasing new Japanese Christmas music to review for future episodes. You can also find me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. And if you get a chance, leave me a review on iTunes. Thanks!

Listen to this episode of the Holly Jolly Xmasu Podcast
Author: Holly Jolly X’masu
Title:

Episode 35 – Satoru Oda’s “Tenor in X’mas”

Holly Jolly Xmasu

Welcome to episode 34 of Holly Jolly X’masu! In this episode, I talk about the Lotus’s 1965 album, “Christmas Guitar Beat.” It’s a fantastic collection of Yuletide and Surf Rock gems.

This is one of a handful of Japanese “Christmas” albums I know of that don’t have a lot of Christmas music on them. The Christmas songs that are on here are pretty great, and this would have been a genuine classic if it had been entirely Christmas. As it is, it’s a curious memorial to a talented group of young guys who didn’t quite manage to leave the sort of mark on the music industry they were hoping to.

I have to say that I have mixed feelings about albums where I can’t find much biographical information about the bands. On the one hand, it makes the episode a lot easier to put together. On the other hand, I feel like I’m letting my audience down by not being able to tell them more about the artists behind the music. Even when I draw a blank on Wikipedia, I can usually find some obscure blog post or an old interview or news article about the artists I’m covering. With the Lotus, the few sites that mentioned them all seemed to have copied the same scant bits of information from one another. One positive note is that the music is good enough to speak for itself.

Thanks for listening, and I hope you enjoyed the Lotus and their mix of songs. Join me back here on the 25th when I discuss Satoru Oda’s “Tenor in X’mas,” from 1964. It’s wonderful Mood Kayo album, in the same vein as Nakamura Hachidai and Hidehiko Matsumoto’s “Christmas Tenor Mood,” and one you’re sure to enjoy.

As always, any feedback on this episode would be appreciated. If have any suggestions, or if you’d like to recommend a song or album for a future episode, drop me a line and let me know.

Remember, I’ve added a button to my Ko-fi page. If you’d like to support me one cup of coffee at a time, a donation is only $3. I’ve also opened a Redbubble store. I only have a couple designs up, but keep an eye on it as I’ll be trying to add more. Any proceeds or donations received will be put towards purchasing new Japanese Christmas music to review for future episodes. You can also find me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. And if you get a chance, leave me a review on iTunes. Thanks!

Listen to this episode of the Holly Jolly Xmasu Podcast
Author: Holly Jolly X’masu
Title:

Episode 34 – The Lotus’ “Christmas Guitar Beat”

Holly Jolly Xmasu

Welcome to episode 33 of Holly Jolly X’masu! In this episode, I talk about Yujiro Ishihara’s 1966 album, “Xmas Carol.” It’s a fantastic vocal album that should appeal to any fans of Perry Como or Andy Williams.

Before finding the LP, I first came across the flexi-disc version, which was released at the same time. Due to some misinformation, at first I thought it was a double-LP, then a set of two 45’s. I finally found an extremely affordable copy of it online which showed the flexis. I wasn’t collecting flexi-discs at the time, so I passed. The copies I’ve found since then are a little more than I’m willing to spend.

After receiving and listening to the album, without knowing anything about Ishihara, I developed a picture of him in my mind of a Ricky Nelson type who transitioned from teen idol roles to similar family-friendly fare as he got older. I was really surprised to read about his long career in tough guy roles, and his Sinatra-esque reputation in the industry.

One disappointing aspect of my research was that I couldn’t find a lot about his actual singing career. Wikipedia was light on the details, providing little more than a few lists of his albums and singles. He apparently started out as a brash, rebellious sort, before settling into more of a crooner role. However, he did maintain his rough, onscreen persona throughout his acting career.

Thanks for listening, and I hope you appreciated Yujiro Ishihara as much as I do. Join me back here on the 18th when I discuss the 1965 album, “Christmas Guitar Beat,” by the surf rock band, The Lotus. Then tune in on the 25th for Satoru Oda’s splendid “Tenor in X’mas” from 1964.

As always, any feedback on this episode would be appreciated. If have any suggestions, or if you’d like to recommend a song or album for a future episode, drop me a line and let me know.

Remember, I’ve added a button to my Ko-fi page. If you’d like to support me one cup of coffee at a time, a donation is only $3. I’ve also opened a Redbubble store. I only have a couple designs up, but keep an eye on it as I’ll be trying to add more. Any proceeds or donations received will be put towards purchasing new Japanese Christmas music to review for future episodes. You can also find me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. And if you get a chance, leave me a review on iTunes. Thanks!

Listen to this episode of the Holly Jolly Xmasu Podcast
Author: Holly Jolly X’masu
Title:

Episode 33 – Yujiro Ishihara’s “Xmas Carol”

Holly Jolly Xmasu

Welcome to Episode 3 of Holly Jolly X’masu! In this episode, I discuss the classic 1976 album, “Christmas,” from For Life Records. This was my introduction to Japanese Christmas compilation or omnibus albums, and it got me hooked on tracking down similar releases.

I was hoping to have this episode out much sooner but had a lot of delays due to issues related to the stay at home order. Once I finally had an opportunity to record it, I ran into even more problems. After recording the whole episode, I found that the input on my mic was turned all the way down. No matter what I did, I couldn’t make it sound decent, so I re-recorded it. My voice was rather hoarse the second time around, and I adjusted the audio a bit during editing, so that affected the sound quality a bit. Amusingly, in a couple spots it sounds like my voice was taken off an old vinyl record. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, the program I use to edit the show crashed multiple times. Thankfully, I was able to recover it each time.

Below, I’ve included pictures of some of my favorite Christmas compilations from my personal collection, including For Life’s “Christmas,” and the two Firestone albums I mentioned in the episode, “Popular Christmas Classics” and “Home for the Holidays.” The other two albums are two of the best Japanese Christmas albums from the 80s, “Mint Sound’s X’mas Album,” and “Winter Lounge.”

Any feedback on this episode would be appreciated. If you’d like to recommend an album for a future episode, drop me a line and let me know. Remember, I’ve added a button to my Ko-fi page. If you’d like to support me one cup of coffee at a time, a donation is only $3. Any donations received will be put towards purchasing new Japanese Christmas music to review for future episodes. Thanks!

Listen to this episode of the Holly Jolly Xmasu Podcast
Author: Holly Jolly X’masu
Title:

Episode 3 – For Life’s “Christmas”

Holly Jolly Xmasu

Welcome to episode 32 of Holly Jolly X’masu! In this special Halloween episode, I discuss the 1978 movie, “Blue Christmas – Blood Type: Blue,” and its soundtrack.

Once I finally tracked down a copy, I really had no idea what to expect from “Blue Christmas.” At times, it’s a gritty, tense, and unnerving thriller. At other times, it’s uneven and somewhat outlandish, with some improbably bad acting and several unnecessarily explicit references to Hitler and the Holocaust. The good outweighs the bad, though, so I’m glad I was able to see it.

Blue Christmas Trailer

While the editing could have been a little tighter, Okamoto’s direction is fine. I love the overall look of the movie and there are some truly gorgeous scenes.

As long as nobody is speaking English, the cast is great. The bulk of the non-Japanese actors were amateurish at best. The main cast was splendid, though.

Tatsuya Nakadai as Kazuya Minami

Yusuke Okada as Kidokoro, and Harumi Arai as Yuko Takamatsu

Hiroshi Katsuno as Oki Taisuke

Keiko Takeshita as Saeko Nishida

Masaya Oki as Harada

John

Super-powered Alan

George

Reno

The Humanoids!

The Christmas scenes were great, as were the closing shots of Oki and Saeko’s tragic end.

Char’s “Blue Christmas” really grew on me, especially after watching the movie all the way through six times, then scanning through multiple times for notes and screen captures. Given the choice, I’ll listen to the Japanese version, but I’m glad I got both copies.

Thanks for listening, and I hope you enjoyed my recap of “Blue Christmas” and its music. While not strictly a horror movie, it was a fun way to bring a little eerie, Halloween feeling to the podcast. Join me back here next month for a couple albums from the 1960s. First up is Yujiro Ishihara’s 1966 album, “Xmas Carol.” It’s a fine vocal album and one any fan of Perry Como or Andy Williams should enjoy. Then tune in on the 25th for Satoru Oda’s splendid 1964 album, “Tenor in X’mas.” It’s a wonderful Mood Kayo sax album, and one you don’t want to miss.

As always, any feedback on this episode would be appreciated. If have any suggestions, or if you’d like to recommend a song or album for a future episode, drop me a line and let me know.

Remember, I’ve added a button to my Ko-fi page. If you’d like to support me one cup of coffee at a time, a donation is only $3. I’ve also opened a Redbubble store. I only have a couple designs up, but keep an eye on it as I’ll be trying to add more. Any proceeds or donations received will be put towards purchasing new Japanese Christmas music to review for future episodes. You can also find me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. And if you get a chance, leave me a review on iTunes. Thanks!

Listen to this episode of the Holly Jolly Xmasu Podcast
Author: Holly Jolly X’masu
Title: Episode 32 – Blue Christmas – Blood Type: Blue
Holly Jolly Xmasu

Welcome to episode 31 of Holly Jolly X’masu! In this episode, I talk about Ohashi Trio’s 2013 album, “Magic.”

When I first got this CD, I listened to it repeatedly for a couple weeks. I thought it was fantastic. I did slightly regret the fact that I couldn’t get the DVD, as I’d have liked to have seen the short film, “Tree House.” Unfortunately, not only could I not get the DVD, but I’ve yet to see the video turn up online. The video for “Magic” appears to have been made from footage from “Tree House,” or at least shot concurrently, so you can get something of a feel for the film.

Unlike the bulk of the albums I’ve covered, I was able to find videos for nearly every song on the album. The only one missing is “Hallelujah.”

Koibito ga Santa Claus

Magic

Love the Season

All I Want for Christmas Is You

River

Starman

Snow Drop

Mori no Christmas

Please Come Home for Christmas

Thanks for listening, and I hope you enjoyed Ohashi Trio as much as I did. Be sure to listen in next week to my special Halloween episode where I discuss the 1978 sci-fi thriller, “Blue Christmas – Blood Type: Blue,” and its soundtrack.

As always, any feedback on this episode would be appreciated. If have any suggestions, or if you’d like to recommend a song or album for a future episode, drop me a line and let me know.

Remember, I’ve added a button to my Ko-fi page. If you’d like to support me one cup of coffee at a time, a donation is only $3. I’ve also opened a Redbubble store. I only have a couple designs up, but keep an eye on it as I’ll be trying to add more. Any proceeds or donations received will be put towards purchasing new Japanese Christmas music to review for future episodes. You can also find me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. And if you get a chance, leave me a review on iTunes. Thanks!

Listen to this episode of the Holly Jolly Xmasu Podcast
Author: Holly Jolly X’masu
Title:

Episode 31 – Ohashi Trio’s “Magic”

Holly Jolly Xmasu

Welcome to episode 30 of Holly Jolly X’masu! In this special Ko-fi patron-sponsored episode, I talk about the 1965 album, “Christmas Young Party,” by Columbia All Stars.

As I state in the episode, this is an album I searched for for quite a long time. It definitely didn’t disappoint. I’ve actually had it for several months, and I even shared the cover on Instagram back in April. I was going to feature a children’s album I actually received in my latest shipment, but I decided to go with Columbia All Stars instead. It’s a much better album, and it better reflects how much I appreciate the support. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate any feedback I receive.

As promised, here’s the video for Karou Chiga’s “Midnight Guitar.”

Also, don’t forget to check out Christmas on Vinyl, both on Instagram and Mixcloud.

Thanks for listening, and I hope “Christmas Young Party” brought you a little yuletide cheer. In my neck of the woods, it looks like it will finally start feeling like fall later this week. That always gets me in the mood for more Christmas music. I’ll be working on my next episode throughout the week, and picking up Norah Jones’s “I Dream of Christmas” this Friday. Between that and the albums I didn’t get to listen to enough last year, I should have plenty of Christmas music to listen to when I’m not listening to Christmas music for the podcast. Speaking of which, be sure to tune back in on the 25th when I discuss Ohashi Trio’s 2013 album, “Magic.” It’s one of the best and most original Christmas albums from the 2010’s, so you don’t want to miss it.

As always, any feedback on this episode would be appreciated. If have any suggestions, or if you’d like to recommend a song or album for a future episode, drop me a line and let me know.

Remember, I’ve added a button to my Ko-fi page. If you’d like to support me one cup of coffee at a time, a donation is only $3. I’ve also opened a Redbubble store. I only have a couple designs up, but keep an eye on it as I’ll be trying to add more. Any proceeds or donations received will be put towards purchasing new Japanese Christmas music to review for future episodes. You can also find me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. And if you get a chance, leave me a review on iTunes. Thanks!

Listen to this episode of the Holly Jolly Xmasu Podcast
Author: Holly Jolly X’masu
Title:

Episode 30 – Columbia All Stars “Christmas Young Party”

Holly Jolly Xmasu

Welcome to episode 29 of Holly Jolly X’masu! In this episode, I discuss Koga Records’ 2020 compilation, “Happy Christmas from Shimokita.” This is a great collection of songs produced during the height of the pandemic last year. It’s a mostly upbeat, optimistic compilation, which makes it stand out from most of the similarly-themed Christmas music I heard last year.

I started collecting Japanese Christmas music close to two years ago now and I’ve managed to get a pretty wide variety of albums. I haven’t covered a lot of contemporary music as of yet, so I was looking forward to this episode. While most of the bands here lean toward Rock or Punk, it’s still a fairly eclectic collection with a diverse blend of styles and sounds.

As I mention in the episode, a couple of the songs have music videos. I really enjoy the video for Moshimo’s “Holy Night.” It conveys a lot of what’s in the lyrics and gives an idea of their energetic performances that have added to their popularity.

Moshimo “Holy Night”

Rocket K “Can’t I Kiss Dear Mr. Santa”

Thanks for listening, and I hope you enjoyed “Happy Christmas from Shimokita.” You can find most of the bands on YouTube and social media, so if you like what you heard, be sure to look them up. I’ll be back on the 25th with Ohashi Trio’s 2015 album, “Magic.” Prior to that, though, I’ll be releasing a special patron-sponsored episode thanks to the Ko-fi donations I received last month. Both albums are great, so be sure to check them out.

As always, any feedback on this episode would be appreciated. If have any suggestions, or if you’d like to recommend a song or album for a future episode, drop me a line and let me know.

Remember, I’ve added a button to my Ko-fi page. If you’d like to support me one cup of coffee at a time, a donation is only $3. I’ve also opened a Redbubble store. I only have a couple designs up, but keep an eye on it as I’ll be trying to add more. Any proceeds or donations received will be put towards purchasing new Japanese Christmas music to review for future episodes. You can also find me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. And if you get a chance, leave me a review on iTunes. Thanks!

Listen to this episode of the Holly Jolly Xmasu Podcast
Author: Holly Jolly X’masu
Title: Episode 29 – Happy Christmas from Shimokita
Holly Jolly Xmasu

Welcome to episode 28 of Holly Jolly X’masu! In this episode, I talk about Criola’s spectacular 1992 album, “Criola Winter Songbook.”

I heard this online a few years ago and fell in love with it the first time I played it. When I found they had another Christmas song on their third album, I knew I had to track it down as well.

I love Criola’s sound. Pianica Maeda seems to bring a similar feel to everything he’s involved with. When I got “Winter Songbook,” the album “Cactus Man” by his band Piranians was included. If you enjoyed these last two episodes, it’s worth seeking out as well.

As I mentioned in the episode, my favorite discovery while researching this album was the history behind the song “Tannenbaum.” It comes from John Simon’s 1971 album, “John Simon’s Album.” I might have to pick up a copy at some point. Here’s the video for his version of the song:

John Simon’s “Tannenbaum”

Thanks for listening, and I hope you enjoyed Criola as much as I do. Join me here next month as I cover a pair of more recent albums. “Happy Christmas from Shimokita” is a wonderful compilation produced and released during the pandemic, while Ohashi Trio’s “Magic” from 2015 is one of the best Christmas albums I’ve heard in recent years. I’ll also be doing a special patron-sponsored episode thanks to some recent Ko-fi donations.

As always, any feedback on this episode would be appreciated. If have any suggestions, or if you’d like to recommend a song or album for a future episode, drop me a line and let me know.

Remember, I’ve added a button to my Ko-fi page. If you’d like to support me one cup of coffee at a time, a donation is only $3. Any donations received will be put towards purchasing new Japanese Christmas music to review for future episodes. You can also find me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. And if you get a chance, leave me a review on iTunes. Thanks!

Listen to this episode of the Holly Jolly Xmasu Podcast
Author: Holly Jolly X’masu
Title: Episode 28 – Criola Winter Songbook
Holly Jolly Xmasu

Welcome to episode 27 of Holly Jolly X’masu! In this episode, I talk about the 1993 compilation, “Cool Christmas,” produced by Toro Takeuchi and released by Pony Canyon.

I forget where I first saw the cover for “Cool Christmas,” but I was instantly intrigued. I spent months trying to track down a copy and finally found it listed on eBay. Once it arrived, I couldn’t have been more pleased. The Mood Kayo and Jazz albums of the 60s helped get me hooked on Japanese Christmas music, and this was the first more contemporary Jazz album I’d found. I’ve listened to it quite a few times since then, and I’m always impressed by the quality and diversity of the music in its short, 36-minute runtime.

Thanks for listening, and I hope you found “Cool Christmas” to be as much of a delight as I did. After playing catch-up the last few months, I’m finally ahead of my game, so both of this month’s episodes should be out on time. With any luck, I’ll be able to get a jump on my October episodes as well. Be sure to join me back here on the 25th for “Criola Winter Songbook” from 1992. It’s a fantastic album with a couple great original tunes, as well as several unexpected covers.

As always, any feedback on this episode would be appreciated. If have any suggestions, or if you’d like to recommend a song or album for a future episode, drop me a line and let me know.

Remember, I’ve added a button to my Ko-fi page. If you’d like to support me one cup of coffee at a time, a donation is only $3. Any donations received will be put towards purchasing new Japanese Christmas music to review for future episodes. You can also find me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. And if you get a chance, leave me a review on iTunes. Thanks!

Listen to this episode of the Holly Jolly Xmasu Podcast
Author: Holly Jolly X’masu
Title:

Episode 27 – Toro Takeuchi’s “Cool Christmas”

Holly Jolly Xmasu

Welcome to episode 26 of Holly Jolly X’masu! In this episode, I discuss “Summer Lounge,” the summer-themed 1987 compilation, produced by Masamichi Sugi.

Come on down to fabulous Summer Lounge, where cool summer breezes blow!

Right after I covered “Winter Lounge” back in November, my friend J-Canuck who runs the Kayo Kyoku Plus blog, posted the video for “Holiday Company,” and mentioned that it came from a follow-up album to “Winter Lounge.” Shortly after that, I started seeing copies of the 45 of “Holiday Company” for sale, but it wasn’t until months later that I finally started seeing copies of “Summer Lounge.” I wanted to get a copy, but I didn’t want to pay too much. After a few tries, I got a copy in my price range. As luck would have it, as soon as I won the auction, a copy of the CD showed up for sale. I’m satisfied with the vinyl, though.

“Summer Lounge” is a fun album and I wanted to work it in at some point. When I decided to start making August 80’s month, I figured this was as good a time as any. With the Olympics, school, and several other issues that came up, I fell way behind on the podcast and was worried that I wouldn’t get this out on time. Thankfully, I’m now all caught up. At least for the time being.

While I knew about the “Holiday Company” video, I wasn’t sure if any of the other songs had videos. I found fan-made videos for a few of them, but I was only able to find authentic videos for “The Hottest Summer in the World,” by Princess Princess. Check out both the official video and a TV performance below.

Holiday Company – Pops All Stars

The Hottest Summer in the World – Princess Princess:

Official Video

Television Performance

One thing I like about these two albums is the artwork. While “Summer Lounge” doesn’t have quite as much as “Winter Lounge,” what’s there is nice. The cover is great and you have to love Santa. The inner sleeve also includes pictures of all the participating acts.

Thanks for listening, and I hope you’ve enjoyed this little summer break. I’ll be back next month with a couple 90s episodes. “Cool Christmas” from 1993 will arrive on the 25th. I’ll work in another episode at some point, although I haven’t finalized my schedule yet.

As always, any feedback on this episode would be appreciated. If have any suggestions, or if you’d like to recommend a song or album for a future episode, drop me a line and let me know.

Remember, I’ve added a button to my Ko-fi page. If you’d like to support me one cup of coffee at a time, a donation is only $3. Any donations received will be put towards purchasing new Japanese Christmas music to review for future episodes. You can also find me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. And if you get a chance, leave me a review on iTunes. Thanks!

Listen to this episode of the Holly Jolly Xmasu Podcast
Author: Holly Jolly X’masu
Title: Episdoe 26 – Summer Lounge
Holly Jolly Xmasu

Welcome to episode 25 of Holly Jolly X’masu! In this episode, I talk about Yen Records’ 1983 compilation, “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”

This was the first Japanese Christmas compilation I heard, a full year or so before I started buying records. I was able to listen to it online and I was taken by how strange and non-Christmassy most of the songs sounded. I read a couple reviews that characterized it as both the epitome of 1980’s Japanese Christmas, and typical of the era. This album is anything but typical. As much as I enjoy it, I was both gladdened and relieved when I started listening to more music from the 80’s.

While “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” satisfies my occasional desire for experimental New Wave and Technopop Christmas music, I’m generally more drawn to City Pop, and more mainstream New Wave and Rock. I’ve managed to track down a wealth of songs and albums from a variety of genres, including some deep cuts, forgotten singles and B-sides. One of the things I’ve enjoyed most about all this is finding those songs that haven’t seen a release since they first appeared on vinyl. I’ll eventually be covering them here.

Thanks for listening, and I hope “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” helped to satisfy your 80’s cravings. I fell a little behind, but I should be back on track by the end of the month. Be sure to tune in toward the end of this month for some more 80’s goodness as I discuss Masamichi Sugi’s 1987 compilation, “Summer Lounge.” It’s not a Christmas album, but it is a follow-up to “Winter Lounge,” and I thought it would be a fun way to round out the summer.

As always, any feedback on this episode would be appreciated. If have any suggestions, or if you’d like to recommend a song or album for a future episode, drop me a line and let me know.

Remember, I’ve added a button to my Ko-fi page. If you’d like to support me one cup of coffee at a time, a donation is only $3. Any donations received will be put towards purchasing new Japanese Christmas music to review for future episodes. You can also find me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. And if you get a chance, leave me a review on iTunes. Thanks!

Listen to this episode of the Holly Jolly Xmasu Podcast
Author: Holly Jolly X’masu
Title:

Episode 25 – Yen Records’ “We Wish You A Merry Christmas”

Holly Jolly Xmasu

Welcome to episode 24 of Holly Jolly X’masu! In this episode, I talk about Misia’s 2020 album, “So Special Christmas.”

After seeing her perform in the Opening Ceremonies of the Tokyo Olympics, and finding out she had released a Christmas album just last year, I decided I wanted to get out an episode in time to coincide with the games. Unfortunately, life got in the way. Shipping on my order took longer than expected. After that, my old knee injury reared its head. As I was finally getting back on my feet, summer was wrapping up and the school year was starting. Needless to say, I’m running behind.

I’ve posted the link to a video of Misia’s “The Glory Day” below. And if you think about it, please consider making a donation to the Special Olympics.

Misia – The Glory Day – Live – 2004

Thanks for listening, and I hope you’ve Misia’s music and learning a little more about her. Despite all the delays, I’m still intending on getting my two planned 80s episodes by the end of the month. Join me on the 25th as I discuss Zen Records’ “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” from 1984. Then listen in the following week for some more 80s goodness.

As always, any feedback on this episode would be appreciated. If have any suggestions, or if you’d like to recommend a song or album for a future episode, drop me a line and let me know.

Remember, I’ve added a button to my Ko-fi page. If you’d like to support me one cup of coffee at a time, a donation is only $3. Any donations received will be put towards purchasing new Japanese Christmas music to review for future episodes. You can also find me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. And if you get a chance, leave me a review on iTunes. Thanks!

Listen to this episode of the Holly Jolly Xmasu Podcast
Author: Holly Jolly X’masu
Title:

Episode 24 – Misia’s “So Special Christmas”

Holly Jolly Xmasu

Welcome to episode 32 of Holly Jolly X’masu! In this episode, I wrap up my coverage of Ryoko Moriyama with 1981’s “The Christmas Album – Greetings from Ryoko Moriyama.”

The Christmas Album – Greetings from Ryoko Moriyama – 1981

It’s been a real pleasure presenting these albums to you. Like a lot of these artists, I wasn’t familiar with Ryoko Moriyama before discovering her Christmas albums. She’s truly been one of the high points in my collecting and podcasting journey.

Naotaro Moriyama – Wasremono – 2001

Thanks for listening, and I hope you’ve enjoyed Ryoko Moriyama’s music as much as I have. I hope this month’s episodes have also helped you enjoy your Christmas in July. I’d wanted to get them out a little earlier, but unexpected delays pushed them back to the last half of the month. Be sure to listen in next month as I discuss Zen Records’ “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” from 1984. It’s one of the more eclectic Christmas compilations from the 80s and and you don’t want to miss it.

As always, any feedback on this episode would be appreciated. If have any suggestions, or if you’d like to recommend a song or album for a future episode, drop me a line and let me know.

Remember, I’ve added a button to my Ko-fi page. If you’d like to support me one cup of coffee at a time, a donation is only $3. Any donations received will be put towards purchasing new Japanese Christmas music to review for future episodes. You can also find me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. And if you get a chance, leave me a review on iTunes. Thanks!

Listen to this episode of the Holly Jolly Xmasu Podcast
Author: Holly Jolly X’masu
Title:

Episode 23 – Ryoko Moriyama’s “The Christmas Album – Greetings From Ryoko Moriyama”

Holly Jolly Xmasu