Michihiro Kobayashi -- Margarita（マルガリータ）

 

TGIF! We're supposedly in the last day of a three-day heat event with some cooler weather arriving for the weekend. The above is a Coconut Margarita that I had with my Crispy Chicken Sandwich when I caught "The Flash" in VIP a few weeks ago. The margarita wasn't so strong to get rid of my memories of how bad the CG was in the movie but it sure was tasty.😵

Let's start off this Friday's batch of urban contemporary stuff from Japan with singer-songwriter Michihiro Kobayashi's（小林みちひろ）"Margarita". A few years ago, I wrote about this obscure fellow's "Giniro no Ame"（銀色の雨）from his 1980 album "Nice to Meet You". Well, "Margarita" happens to be its track mate. I noted that "Giniro no Ame" has some Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）here and some AOR band Ambrosia there. This time though, I've noticed that Kobayashi has taken on a bit of Yosui Inoue（井上陽水）in his delivery against the background of a snappy and bubbly Caribbean rhythm which would deserve its own Coconut Margarita.🍹 Perhaps I can add that this particular song, just like a real margarita, has got its own genre ingredients: City Pop, Latin, New Music and J-AOR.

Kobayashi wrote and composed the song while Ichizo Seo（瀬尾一三）provided the arrangement. I gather that folks here and in Japan are probably hitting the margaritas hard today....or settling for some refreshing beer.🍺