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Holly Jolly X'masu


Jan 25, 2022

Welcome to episode 42 of Holly Jolly X'masu! In this episode, I talk about Chewing Gum’s wonderful 1974 album, “Christmas Best Hits.”

Christmas Best Hits - 1974

I’ve been lucky enough to get some fantastic records over the past two years, and this really is one of the best. There’s not a song on the album I don’t enjoy. I also listened to their greatest hits CD while preparing this episode and was impressed by everything I heard. Their earliest music is not only enjoyable, but is all the more impressive when you consider how young Rika and Mami Matsuda were when they started writing and performing.

Christmas Best Hits - Back

At first, I didn’t realize that their later singles as Bar Balloon, Lucky Lips and MORE were on the CD. After listening to them, I was surprised they weren’t bigger hits. The sisters showed they could produce City Pop just as fine as the Folk Pop they’d been performing for the previous decade. I tried to find a couple of their later singles on vinyl, but they appear to be fairly scarce.

Golden Best 2 - 2005

I hope you were as delighted by Chewing Gum as I was. I’ve been looking forward to covering this album for quite a while. Next month I’m planning on just two new episodes. Join me on the 11th for the 2016 album, “Christmas Songs,” by May J. Then listen in on the 25th as I discuss Chris Hart’s 2015 album, “Christmas Hearts – Winter Gift,” for African-American 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!