Akiko Wada -- Funanori-tachi ga Atsumaru Mise（船乗りたちが集まる店）

From Good Free Photos

 

When I first heard Akiko Wada's（和田アキ子）"Funanori-tachi ga Atsumaru Mise" a while back, I'd thought that the translation of the title would be along the lines of "The Store Where the Ship Passengers Meet" which struck me as a bit odd. Considering how groovy and urbane the song was, I felt that a souvenir shop for folks on a cruise seemed a bit ordinary. But then, I realized that the word funanori meant sailors and knowing that the source album was Wada's 1978 New York-set City Pop album "Park Avenue 7 PM", my mind automatically went to the conclusion that the singer and songwriters were referring to the annual Fleet Week in the Big Apple.

But I was wrong again. The tradition of American naval ships coming into New York City to give tours while their crew members can explore the metropolis themselves didn't officially begin until 1982, four years after "Funanori-tachi ga Atsumaru Mise" (The Store Where the Sailors Meet) and the rest of "Park Avenue 7 PM" hit the record shelves. 

So I'm left wondering what the inspiration behind the song was. Maybe the songwriters had seen a ship docked at New York Passenger Ship Terminal (now known as the Manhattan Cruise Terminal) before the tradition began and noted a lot of sailors amassed around a particular establishment...maybe a bar. In any case, those songwriters were lyricist Reiko Imamura（いまむられいこ）and composer Tomoko Hakata*（八角朋子）. The intro to the song had me thinking Fashion Music with those dramatic strings but then it quickly settled down to some nice and groovy 1970s City Pop with Wada affecting that slightly world-weary tone in her vocals reminding me of fellow singer Naoko Ken（研ナオコ）. 

I would like to know who the musicians were behind "Funanori-tachi ga Atsumaru Mise" (including that bluesy guitarist and the funky keyboardist) since they were really getting into a nice mellow jam. I've already written about a couple of tracks on "Park Avenue 7 PM" including the title track last year so this is definitely firming up as a good album to grab if it's still out there for sale.

*The composer's family name has many readings and since I wasn't able to track down the confirmed reading, I just went with the first one that I saw on Jisho.org. If anyone can tell me what the proper pronunciation is, I would be most grateful.