Welcome to episode 110 of Holly Jolly X'masu! In this episode, I talk about the children’s book and album, “Superman Santa,” from 1986. I hope you enjoyed “Superman Santa.” While I would have loved a Casiopeia Christmas album, this was still a lot fun. It has an amusing premise and enjoyable music, and the book really adds to the experience. I’ll post the pictures below. Join me back here next month for a pair of great episodes. Up first is the 2004 compilation, “Christmas For Anyone?” It has an interesting blend of jazzy tunes and a cover that has to be seen to be believed. Then join me ..read more

Welcome to episode 109 of Holly Jolly X'masu! April is Jazz Awareness Month, and in this episode, I talk about the 1998 album, “Jingle Jazz.” I hope you enjoyed “Jingle Jazz” as much as I do. I love a good Christmas Jazz album, and this one is one of the better, more recent ones in my collection. I know a fair number of people who won’t give Jazz a chance. Jazz encompasses such a wide array of styles, though, that that’s almost like saying they won’t give music a chance. I don’t listen to enough to be able to tell you which specific genres of Jazz I like, but there’s quite a bit that appe ..read more

Welcome to episode 108 of Holly Jolly X'masu! In this episode, for my special Pro Wrestling Spectacular, I’m pitting the 1970s Christmas albums of pro wrestlers the Destroyer and Thunder Sugiyama against one another in order to determine which deserves the title of the Christmas World Heavyweight Champion. This was a fun episode for me. I hope you enjoyed both wrestlers’ albums as much as I did. I watched a ton of wrestling when I was younger and went to the closed-circuit broadcasts of Wrestlemanias 3-6, watching all the action on the jumbo screens at Dayton’s Hara Arena. One of my fondest me ..read more

Welcome to episode 107 of Holly Jolly X'masu! In this episode, I talk about the 2008 album, “Whistle Christmas,” by Whistle Man. I hope you liked “Whistle Christmas!” as much as I do. Like I said in the episode, this is definitely better than my other April Fools offerings. I’ve mentioned before that I tend to listen to these albums at least a dozen times while researching and writing an episode. That can be a struggle occasionally, but it really wasn’t a problem this time around. There are only one or two songs I ever skipped while listening to it, and a few that I’ve added to my regular ..read more

Welcome to episode 106 of Holly Jolly X'masu! In this episode, I talk about Akiko’s 2017 album, “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.” I hope you enjoyed this second episode about Akiko. “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” has really grown on me since getting it, and while working on this episode. It’s a fine album with some great performances, and one I’ll be listening to more in the future. Join me back here next week for my special April 1st episode. I’ll be talking about the 2008 album, “Whistle Christmas!” by Whistle Man. It’s a unique album you’re sure to enjoy. Then join me on A ..read more

Welcome to episode 105 of Holly Jolly X'masu! In this episode, I talk about Akiko’s 2007 album, “A White Album.” I hope you enjoyed “A White Album.” Japanese Jazz from the 1960s was one of the main reasons I started collecting, but a lot of fantastic Christmas Jazz albums have come out of Japan over the past twenty years as well. It’s always fun discovering something new. Join me back here on the 25th for Akiko’s second Christmas album, “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.” It features more stripped-down arrangements and puts a lot more focus on Akiko’s vocals. It’s another great albu ..read more

Welcome to episode 104 of Holly Jolly X'masu! In this episode, for Black History Month, I talk about the 1993 album, “Merry Christmas Wish,” by the American R&B trio, A.S.A.P. I hope you enjoyed “Merry Christmas Wish.” I was thrilled when I found it, mainly because of how few English versions there are of these songs I’ve been collecting over the past several years. This is a fun, solid album and it lets me throw some Japanese songs into my regular Christmas playlist without any pushback from my kids, who sometimes get annoyed when they don’t understand the lyrics. Be sure to join me ..read more

Welcome to episode 103 of Holly Jolly X'masu! In this episode, I talk about the 2009 album, “Acoustic Xmas,” by Coffee Haus. I hope you enjoyed “Acoustic Xmas” as much as I did. I really like this album and will still play it all the way through when I’m in the mood. I’m still working to get back on schedule so I haven’t been very active on social media. I’m hoping things settle down in March. Join me back here on the 25th when, for Black History Month, I’ll be discussing the 1993 album, “Merry Christmas Wish” by the American R&B trio, A.S.A.P. It’s a great album filled with soulful c ..read more

Welcome to episode 102 of Holly Jolly X'masu! In this episode, I talk about Mari Yoshiko’s 1962 album, “Singing Christmas Party.” I hope you enjoyed “Singing Christmas Party.” I’m playing catch-up after last month so I don’t have much to add here. I did manage to get a record with her version of “Toy Cha Cha Cha,” which I mentioned in the episode, but I haven’t had the time to rip the vinyl so I couldn’t include it as a bonus song in this episode, which I’d hoped to do. Be sure to join me back here next time for the 2009 album, “Acoustic Xmas” by Coffee Haus. It’s great, light Jazz album ..read more

Welcome to episode 100 of Holly Jolly X'masu! In this episode, I talk about the phenomenal 1971 album, “White Christmas,” from the obscure Korean band, Last Chance. Happy New Year! It’s hard to believe this is my 100th episode. It’s been a lot of work, but I’ve really enjoyed it. I want to thank you all for listening in, and I hope you’ve enjoyed it half as much as I have. I also hope Last Chance’s “Jingle Bells” really knocked your socks off. I can only imagine how awesome it would have been seeing them perform it live. As I mentioned in the episode, here’s the link to Rare Earth’s 21-mi ..read more