Credits

I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.

Friday, February 4, 2022

Yuiko Tsubokura -- Always In Love ~ Aisazu ni Irarenai(愛さずにいられない)

 

Maybe it's just my opinion but one of the cornerstone City Pop tunes that appeared when the genre became known to ears outside of Japan was Yuiko Tsubokura's(坪倉唯子)"Tsukanoma Yotogi Bito" (一瞬夜伽伴侶). Funky to the max, it is for any genre fan in the car, at home or at your local City Pop party, and it was a part of the singer's debut album "Always In Love" from June 1986.

Some of that great bass can also be found in the title track for the album; the Japanese part of the title basically means the same as the English part. "Always In Love" isn't quite as spectacular as "Tsukanoma Yotogi Bito" but I don't think that this is meant to hit the dance floor and stomp up a cloud. It's got its own groove but there is more of that feeling of a cool-down tune and what helps is that keyboard work which could have some of those Vaporwave fans swooning.

Tsubokura was responsible for the lyrics while bassist and prolific songwriter Tsugutoshi Goto(後藤次利)took care of the melody. Looking at the J-Wiki article for the singer, the album finished outside of the Top 100 on Oricon back in the day which might surprise some people, but then again, a lot of City Pop albums didn't get their appreciation until many years later.

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