I heard this one through Van Paugam's race on the highway and thought it was another perfect fit as a driving song.
Anyways, Yamashita has a bit more of his rock guitar in here and according to the liner notes for "Moonglow" (October 1979), the originating album for "Hot Shot", the singer-songwriter tried to reflect some of the style of the Isley Brothers from that decade. I don't know enough of the Isley Brothers to agree or disagree, but some of that keyboard work had me thinking Gino Vannelli.
"Moonglow" itself was Yamashita's 4th album which peaked at No. 20. I also had to include the video above since uploader fuijiki tnichi does a great job on bass, and after all, City Pop usually needs some great bass to propel things forward.
Good evening J-C. Take a listen to the 1973 Isley Brothers "That Lady" and you'll definitely hear the Ernie Isley influence in Hotshot ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4oCKDii_nA )
ReplyDeleteGood morning, T-cat.
DeleteYup, I can definitely hear "That Lady" in "Hotshot". I didn't watch "Soul Train" as a child but seeing the Isley Brothers perform in the video, I still got rather nostalgic.:)