Keizo Nakanishi -- Kimi no iru Hoshi （君のいる星）

Well, it looks like the Force is with me today. I had just finished writing one old kayo with the word "hoshi" in it to commemorate in that "Kayo Kyoku Plus" way the 50th anniversary of "Star Trek". Then, I realized that I hadn't written about smooth crooner Keizo Nakanishi（中西圭三）in many months and as soon as I turned to YouTube, the first song that popped out was his 7th single, conveniently titled "Kimi no iru Hoshi" (The Planet You Are On).

I gave it my first listen in a very long time and found myself enjoying it immensely once more again. As singers, I've always compared Nakanishi with Toshinobu Kubota（久保田利伸）and realized that while the latter R&B fellow has been into the funk and dance, Nakanishi has been all about the good ol' Motown days. And "Kimi no Iru Hoshi" is one of those examples which had me reminding myself of my very early toddler days when I remember (just barely) seeing acts such as The Four Tops and Smokey Robinson.

"Kimi no iru Hoshi" was released in October 1992 with Nakanishi creating the music imbued with that feeling of the 1960s while Masao Urino（売野雅勇）provided the lyrics. I particularly love the strings in there and that instrumental bridge when the horns come roaring in. Unfortunately I'm not sure how well the single did on the charts but it was a track on his 3rd album, "Steps", from March 1993 which went all the way to No. 1. Plus, Nakanishi was given his only appearance to date on the 1992 Kohaku Utagassen singing this song. It was kinda too bad that he was just doing a solo on the stage; considering the rhythm of the tune, it would have been nice to have had a group of four backup singers with him shimmying away.