Episode 94: Shoji Suzuki’s “Merry Christmas”

Welcome to episode 94 of Holly Jolly X’masu! In this episode, I talk about Shoji Suzuki’s 1963 album, “Merry Christmas.”

This is a great album and I can’t tell you how excited I was when I first learned that Shoji Suzuki had made another Christmas album. Of the two, “Merry Christmas” seems to be the harder one to come by. I believe I’ve only seen two copies come up for auction. The first time I saw it, I settled in for a protracted bidding war, but I managed to get it for a reasonable price.

The market for Shoji Suzuki records seems to fluctuate with no rhyme or reason. I’ve seen copies of “Swingin’ Christmas go for $30-50, while other copies sit for weeks, being relisted over and over with no buyers. The prices for some records are pretty consistent, but with others it’s impossible to tell. I asked one of the guys in Japan about it, and he said he just hopes that when he finds a record he needs, there aren’t several other bidders looking for it at the same time.

I hope you’re enjoying these episodes about Shoji Suzuki. Tune in next week when I talk about his “Swingin’ Christmas,” which is one of my all-time favorite albums. Then listen in each week in December as I cover some of the best and most interesting albums in my collection. I’ll start off the month with the Meiji Gakuin University Glee Club’s 10th anniversary performance of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. After that, I’ll cover a really outstanding late 60s album, “Christmas Song/New Year’s Song.” If you like Now Sound music, you’ll love this album. Then listen in for Kayo Ishu’s outstanding “Scat Christmas.” I’ll close out the year with a pair of extremely rare albums from the early 70s that have to be heard to be believed.

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. Half of any proceeds or donations received will be donated to support the people of Ukraine, while the rest will be used to purchase 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!