Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra feat. Sakana-kun -- Paradise Has NO BORDER

Man, am I glad that I got to see NHK's morning talk show "Asaichi"（あさイチ）today. Usually, I don't stick around to watch the Friday morning version because it has their Premium Talk segment which usually focuses on actors and actresses, and I've never been much for the Japanese thespian element. However, the guests this time around was Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra（東京スカパラダイスオーケストラ）...all nine of them filled up the set and kinda intimidated the hosts with their charisma...and of course, their music. From the old-fashioned faxes that were probably flooding the floor to the Twitter tweets, today's episode definitely got everyone up and at 'em and the morning was unusually wild with the music of Ska-Para.

Personally, my thrill was seeing Original Love himself, Takao Tajima（田島貴男）, make a rare TV guest appearance on "Asaichi" to perform his 2001 collaboration with Ska-Para, "Mekureta Orange" (めくれたオレンジ). 

One of the many other songs that perked up "Asaichi" was the title track from the band's 20th original album, "Paradise Has NO BORDER" from March 2017. Composed by NARGO, the ska is of course in there but it also starts out with a bit of salsa and then mixes it with a comely layer of surf rock. It's the type of song that will get everyone bopping about on the dance floor.

Even this song originally had some collaboration, too, with none other than popular pop ichthyologist Sakana-kun（さかなクン...Mr. Fish） helping out in the brief music video with another bass saxophone. No idea how those two got together but "Paradise Has NO BORDER" was used for a Kirin commercial starring them.