At a glance
- Artist
- Tatsuro Yamashita
- Released
- 1983
In the issue
Contains "Christmas Eve," which became Japan's best-selling single of the 1980s and perennial holiday staple, charting every December for 35+ consecutive years and selling nearly two million copies. Nothing about the carefully crafted pop song with layered harmonies and memorable melody suggested immortality when Yamashita recorded it in 1983. Then JR Central used it for their "Xmas Express" television commercials, and the song became inseparable from Japanese Christmas. Yamashita's perfectionism—commitment to sound quality, multilayered production, refusal to settle for "good enough"—created something that transcended its moment. While most of city pop was dismissed and forgotten in the 1990s, "Christmas Eve" persisted, embedded too deeply in Japanese culture to fade.
How it was made
Recorded in 1983 at Tokyo's Sedic and Sound City studios, Melodies topped Oricon on release and sold predictably well. Nothing suggested 'Christmas Eve' would outlast everything else Yamashita had written. He later said it was one of several album tracks, no special significance at the time. He played most instruments himself, stacked vocals in his usual style, spent months on the mix through Yamaha NS-10M monitors. Critics noted his consistency and craft. No one called it revolutionary.
Then in 1988, JR Central licensed 'Christmas Eve' for their Xmas Express commercials. The track charted every December for the next three decades. Melodies went from successful album to cultural fixture, reissued annually, never out of print.
Find a copy
More by Tatsuro Yamashita in the issues
- Circus Town1976
- Ride on Time1980