Dec 4, 2021
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...
Nov 25, 2021
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...
Nov 18, 2021
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...
Nov 11, 2021
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...
Nov 1, 2021
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...
