Episdoe 26 – Summer Lounge

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!