u/Successful-Bread-347

You can get some info about what power source was used to record a song by checking for the electric hum around 50-60Hz which can be viewed with a some specific spectrogram checking. 60hz is mostly north america, 50hz is most of europe / asia with exceptions.

Checked using this software: https://www.reddit.com/r/Lostwave/s/LHNAXBtGVr

Your Eyes shows up clearly as 50hz.

Other lostwaves checked were Soon the Queen Will Come Your Way which also seemed to be 50hz (so not North America, which likely rules out Haack who was a possible author)

I couldn't get a good reading from Somewhere in the Night, but someone better at using the software might have a better chance

Wait Forever interestingly seems to be 60hz (so possibly North America despite sounding so European). More detail in discord.

https://preview.redd.it/enf-analyser-standalone-software-do-your-own-enf-analysis-v0-gverjjqsfoxc1.png?width=420&format=png&auto=webp&s=e8b6c6b1f5ceb464fd9c2a3bdd713d6597db6df2

1983 GOTS winners Tibet finally located and ruled out after locating Steve Sherman. Lots of Steve Shermans online but this Steve had a guitar in his profile pic lol.

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We welcome Lunateaaa as a 3rd moderator as I'll be away for a while in the near future. Many will know Lunateaaa from listening to literally over 1000 bands on our leads spreadsheet to rank possible artists, and a great help in narrowing leads down: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1AH4AQwCqBo9cAex04WPKX8FktjT2XfewkAtIdlJxMoc/edit?usp=drivesdk

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Please say hello to Luna!

What is “Poor Christmas”?

An unidentified English-language synth-pop / pop-rock recording taped off German radio in the 1980s. Despite almost 100k YouTube views, dozens of articles, podcasts, etc. the band behind the song still remains unknown.

• Recorder / OP: René M. (DeDiniDevil / MellieTerry / Osterhase8).
• Date taped: October 1987 (Germany).
• Station: uncertain; René gives Radio ffn or HR 3, and the wiki also lists NDR 2 as a possible candidate.
• Possible Title / Artist: René’s long-running “best guess” memory is title: “Poor Christmas” or “Your Christmas”, and Artist: something like “The Face” / “The Faith” / “The Race”
• The title/artist were apparently spoken by the DJ, but the announcement wasn’t captured on tape (so the “title/artist” are just René's best hearing & memory of the title and band).

Where can I listen to it?

Right here: https://youtu.be/ozpULqyrTpA?si=_LHqZvYckmM_Qt8s

Who is René M.?

MellieTerry is the handle of René M., a German private radio recorder whose cassette recordings from German FM broadcasts in the 1980s and early 1990s became primary sources for lostwave checking. Beginning in the late 1990s, René digitized clips of unidentified songs he had recorded from stations including Radio ffn, HR 3, and NDR-related broadcasts, publishing them first in about 2001 on his website DeDiniDevil.de in a “Most Wanted” list that gave approximate recording dates, artist and title guesses. This site pre-dated a lot of other music identification sites. In the 2010s he expanded to YouTube and other sites under the names MellieTerry and Osterhase8.

René M is the original recorder for some of the most famous lostwave cases, including On the Roof, Dreamtime Lover, Indian Summer, Different, Eastern Wind, Trip to Rio, and Poor Christmas, some of which were only identified decades after first being shared. His recollection of titles and band names have been reasonably accurate with few exceptions. As of the date of this FAQ, of his original song list, only Poor Christmas and Trip to Rio remain unsolved.

What are the Lyrics?

As the recording isn't perfect, its hard to make out all the words and there are many different lyric guesses you can see here: https://youtu.be/bRfDb6KR1eU?si=VhjuqcQX7Rf6O87Y . Often heard phrases include chorus hooks like “come on, come on” and “eyes of love,” along with references to a “poor boy,” his “little sister,” and something that sounds like “don’t turn away” or “need your love,” with one disputed line heard as “rights of love” or “eyes of love.” The word “Christmas” itself is faint and debated.

What other songs were recorded on the same mixtape as Poor Christmas?

Taken from René's comment in his Trip to Rio upload, and his comments in the post:

• Stepping Razor – “Latin Tears (Uncle Sam Is Coming)”
• The Loft – “Why Does The Rain?”
• The Sound – “Iron Years”
• The Cure – “Just Like Heaven”
• Momus – “Flame Into Being”
• The Leather Nun – “I Can Smell Your Thoughts (Remix)”
• Base Bazar (?) - Trip to Rio (?) - the other still unknown song (René indicated that he taped this song "at the same time" as Poor Christmas. He gives both songs an October 87 recording date)
• The Face (?) - Poor Christmas (?)
• Cetu Javu – “Help Me Now”
• Boytronic – “I Will Survive”
• Mr. Mister – “Something Real (Inside Me / Inside You)”
• Ryūichi Sakamoto & Iggy Pop – “Risky”
• Bryan Ferry – “The Right Stuff”
• David Sylvian – track from Secrets of the Beehive
• Kate Bush feat. David Gilmour – “Running Up That Hill” (Live, Amnesty International Concert (Secret Policeman's Ball? March 1987. Editor's note - Crazy good version).

Most of these songs were released mid 1987. All were available by end of 1987.

What about the Radio Stations and covered cities?

The radio stations mentioned by René M.’s were Radio ffn, HR 3, and NDR2, all major West German FM broadcasters during the 1980s with overlapping but different coverage areas. Radio ffn (Funk und Fernsehen Nordwestdeutschland) began broadcasting in 1986 as one of Germany’s first private commercial stations and served Lower Saxony, with strong reception in Hanover, Braunschweig, Oldenburg, Osnabrück, and Göttingen, and some reception in parts of Hamburg and Bremen. HR 3, operated by the public broadcaster Hessischer Rundfunk, served the state of Hesse, covering Frankfurt am Main, Wiesbaden, Darmstadt, Kassel, and Gießen. NDR2 (Norddeutscher Rundfunk) operated several regional services across northern Germany, including Lower Saxony, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, and Mecklenburg. All have been asked, and none have (or are willing) to release broadcast logs.

How good was René's memory in other cases?

Not bad, considering he likely jotted down a name from a quick DJ comment, but not perfect:

• "Eastern Wind" with no artist listed by René but noted as being a cover of a Chris de Burgh song was identified in 2025 as "Eastern Wind" performed by Kai Noll (Kai Morgan). The title was match, René just hadn't caught the artist.
• "Say (It’s Not True)" attributed by René to "Steven’s Café" was identified in 2021 as Say by Steven Café. The artist and title were an almost match.
• The track recorded by René as "Stay … The Second Time Around" with Stean Lemroy as the guessed artist was identified in 2013 as On the Roof by Johan Lindell. The title and artist were not a match.
• "Kiss Me" attributed to Stac’s was identified as "Beautiful" by Con Act. The title and artist were initially thought not a match, but later noted that Con Act also went by the name "Stac's".
• "Indian Summer" with no artist listed was identified in 2020 as "Indian Summer" by Friedemann. The title was a match, René just hadn't caught the artist.
• "Dreamtime Lover" attributed by René to "Q. Tango Mouse" was identified in 2020 as "Dreamtime Lover" by "Quango Mouse". The title and artist were a match aside from phonetic spelling.
• "Different" attributed to The Dead Adare was identified in 2013 as "Different by" The Dead Adair. The title was a match and the artist differed slightly only in spelling.
• "Come On I’m Telling You" attributed to No was identified as "Comment Allez Vous" by No. The artist was a match, but the title was a mishearing of a French title.
• "She’s Leaving" with no artist listed was identified as Queen by Chinchilla Green. No match.

Is this a Fake?

Almost certainly not. This song has been uploaded for decades and other songs on René's list have all been legitimate.

When did the search start, and what is the search timeline?

• ~2001: “Poor Christmas” appears on René’s DeDiniDevil “wanted” area (the wiki pegs “searched since 2001”).
• Sep 16, 2007: posted to SpiritofRadio.ca
• Oct 11, 2009: reposted to WatZatSong.
• Mar 31, 2015: René uploads to YouTube (as Osterhase8)
• Nov 25, 2021: René uploads a fully redigitized version and discusses ffn vs HR3.
• 2023: upload compiling multiple lyric interpretations.
• 2024: Successful-Bread joins in the search (lol - okay, I might remove that in the final version)

Current Leads

• The cassette neighborhood list (items #1–#13) is a good date / station indicator; René himself says ffn is more likely because specific tracks were “played a lot” there.
• Copyright Registration: Gema.de is the German rights organization for music, and has been searched extensively. But there is always room for more searching for similar sounding band / song names.
• The “The Face/The Faith/The Race” names should be treated as “DJ said something like…” There has not been luck so far in finding an exact match. It's considered a bit of a dead lead as at least no super obvious hits have been found.
• Charity event? The lyrics have led some to ask if this might be a song from a charity concert.

What about other records and newspapers?

In other lostwave searches, like CIA, local newspapers have been a great source of information about gig lists, bands, and charity events that might be relevant. In Lower Saxony, key newspapers include the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung (Hanover), Braunschweiger Zeitung (Braunschweig), Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung (Osnabrück), Nordwest-Zeitung (Oldenburg), and Göttinger Tageblatt (Göttingen). The HR 3 region in Hesse is dominated by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Frankfurter Rundschau (Frankfurt), along with Wiesbadener Kurier, Darmstädter Echo, and Hessische/Niedersächsische Allgemeine (Kassel), while NDR’s northern coverage centers on Hamburger Abendblatt in Hamburg, with Kieler Nachrichten, Lübecker Nachrichten, and Weser-Kurier serving surrounding areas. Newspapers remain largely untapped so far in this search, and German newspapers are largely not available on sites like newspapers.com but archives are often only available or accessible to German university students and at some public libraries. For example, students might have access to the FAZ newspaper archive for 1987: https://www.faz-biblionet.de/login?targetUrl=%2Ffaz-portal

What can I do to help out?

Just have fun searching around Youtube, Discogs, Gema.de, archive.org, etc. and enjoy the tons of great rare bands you find along the way. Because, after all, isn't the search for Poor Christmas really about all the bands we meet on the way?

Sorry to draw others into my rabbit hole but does anyone recognize this? It is from a Boards of Canada tape, who sampled Sesame Street heavily.

Unknown Song Clip ("Soon The Queen Will Come Our Way")

Following on from the great listening party earlier in the year.

We will be reviewing leads together at these times on FMM Discord Channel #CIA.

Like the last catch up:

1. I will give a lead (youtube link, or details) from our leads list: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1AH4AQwCqBo9cAex04WPKX8FktjT2XfewkAtIdlJxMoc/edit?usp=drivesdk
2. We will chat about it in the channel (text discussion, not voice), try to dig up info for further checking or ruling out. Some bands we will have music for that we can listen for similarities, others will be discussion about other info from the leads list.
3. We will move on immediately to the next lead if we rule out a band / mark them as unlikely.
4. Maximum of 8 minutes spent on any lead, then we move on to the next one.

Timing:

LONDON, United Kingdom, England

2:00a Sun, May 10 2026

3:30a Sun, May 10 2026

MOSCOW, Russia

4:00a Sun, May 10 2026

5:30a Sun, May 10 2026

NEW YORK, United States, New York

9:00p Sat, May 9 2026

10:30p Sat, May 9 2026

TORONTO, Canada, Ontario

9:00p Sat, May 9 2026

10:30p Sat, May 9 2026

LOS ANGELES, United States, California

6:00p Sat, May 9 2026

7:30p Sat, May 9 2026