Welcome to episode 43 of Holly Jolly X’masu! In this episode, I’ll be discussing the 2016 album, “Christmas Songs” by the R&B Pop artist, May J.

When I first started collecting Japanese Christmas music, I didn’t buy much contemporary music. My main focus was the 1960s through 1980s. As I got more, though, and started doing my podcast, I started checking out more recent music. I’ve found some great albums, so I’m glad I expanded my horizons a bit. I’ve mentioned before that, for a while, I relied on some sharing sites to find new music. Part of what intrigued me about May J.’s album was the fact that, not only was it not on any of those sites, but as soon as one site would upload it, it would either be taken down immediately, or the site itself would actually be taken down. I’m guessing the Mouse was the main reason for that, which is why I only include a brief sample of the one song in this episode.

You may have noticed that this episode came out later than I planned, and that I’ve been absent from social media for the most part. Some of that is due to the post-Christmas malaise that normally sets in, but my personal life has also been extremely hectic. I’m hoping to be back on track shortly.

I hope you enjoyed May J.’s album. Join me back here on the 25th as I discuss Chris Hart’s 2015 album, “Christmas Hearts – Winter Gift,” for Black History Month.

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!

Episode 43: May J.’s “Christmas Songs”

Welcome to episode 41 of Holly Jolly X’masu! In this episode I’ll be talking about Christmas songs by Japanese Folk singers. I’ve pulled these songs from half a dozen different records from the late 60s and early 70s. Some are familiar standards, but the real standouts here are the original songs.

I’ve been wanting to do this episode for quite a while now. When I initially started collecting these albums, the bulk of what I bought were full albums. I had a fairly short list of records I wanted to get and only a couple of those were singles. I figured I’d only end up with enough albums for two or three dozen episodes at most, and I planned on tacking on those singles to whichever album seemed most appropriate. As I found more music that I liked, though, I realized I’d have to start buying more singles in order to get the music I wanted.

Initially it was just 7” 45s. I started picking up the occasional 12” single, and then eventually a bunch of mini-CD singles. I then started finding songs that only appeared as deeper cuts on full-length albums, so I started collecting some of those as well. Before I knew it, I had hundreds of these songs.

I realized that I was going to have to start planning episodes that didn’t focus on a single album. I figured themed episodes would be the best approach, and I’ve already done that a couple times with my Christmas in July episodes. As I got closer to this month with my planned Folk albums, I decided to do one dedicated to these other Folk tracks I’d accumulated.

Thankfully, the Folk songs I’ve collected are all pretty great, so putting together this episode was fairly easy. I’d already listened to a lot of the songs here dozens of times, and listening to them a few more times was certainly no chore. Research for this episode was a little frustrating due to the lack of information for several of the bands, but it’s often hit-or-miss with some of these artists.

I did find a page dedicated to Japanese Folk bands, so I’ll be going back to that and trying to find additional Christmas Folk. I was surprised by just how many Japanese Folk bands there were. As thorough as that site seems to be, it actually left out a couple of the artists I have in this episode.

As for Maki Asakawa, I really wish she’d done more Christmas music, as she was just spectacular. I’d love to do a full episode about her. At some point, I might pick another album and then cover it as a bonus episode.

I hope you enjoyed this sampling of Folk music. As much as I enjoy the albums I find, I don’t always have the time to go back and listen to them repeatedly. The songs from this episode are some of those that I have a made a point to revisit quite a few times. Join me next episode for one of those albums I can listen to year round—“Christmas Best Hits,” by Chewing Gum. It’s one of the best Japanese Christmas albums you’re likely to hear, and one of my personal favorites.

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!

Welcome to episode 39 of Holly Jolly X’masu! In this year-end bonus episode, I talk about Singaporean Christmas music.

One of the things I’ve really enjoyed over the years is finding just how much “undiscovered” Christmas music is really out there. Forgotten old nuggets from the US are becoming increasingly rare due to how many people have been searching them out and sharing them over the past few decades, but there’s tons of new Christmas music being created each year, and some of it is quite good.

Outside of the US, there’s a wealth of music to be found. I primarily focus on Japanese music, but during my searches, I find records from all over the world that I’ve seen listed anywhere else. I’ve seen records from all over Europe, Korea, Trinidad, Indonesia, Africa and elsewhere. If I had unlimited funds, I’d pick up a few of them.

Other than a few domestic releases each year, I seldom buy Christmas music anymore outside of my Japanese purchases. These Singaporean albums really struck a chord with me, though, and I wanted to get copies I could listen to without skips, scratches, pops and hiss. There are a few other Singaporean and Indonesian records I’ve heard with some great music on them, but the ones I discussed in this episode really are the cream of the crop, as far as I’m concerned.

I’d have liked to have found a decent amount of biographical information about each of the bands. The lack of information about the Silverstones and the Spiders was disappointing, but I was glad I was able to find as much as I did about the others, and I was happy to see that Ernie Djohan is still going strong.

I hope you enjoyed this foray into Singapore, and that it helped enliven your New Year’s celebration. Join me back here next month as I kick off 2022 with a pair of fantastic folk albums. First up is “Merry X’mas with the Shandracks” from 1970. Then, on the 25th, I’ll be covering one of my absolute favorite albums, “Christmas Best Hits,” from Chewing Gum. It’s an absolutely wonderful album and you don’t want to miss it.

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!

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!

Episode 37 – Pochettes’ “Non Stop! Christmas”

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!

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

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!

Episode 34 – The Lotus’ “Christmas Guitar Beat”

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!

Episode 3 – For Life’s “Christmas”

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!

Episode 31 – Ohashi Trio’s “Magic”

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!