Kazuo Zaitsu -- Wake Up

I've always thought that this was the perfect title for a morning song. It sounds a whole lot nicer than an alarm clock. Sung in the high tones of Kazuo Zaitsu（財津和夫）, "Wake Up" was the second solo single for the leader of New Music band Tulip which had first formed in 1972, and was his first solo hit. It peaked at No. 3 on Oricon after its release in December 1979 and ended up as the 23rd-ranked song of 1980.　It was also part of his 1980 2nd album, "I Need You and YOU".

"Wake Up" was used for a couple of commercials. One was for Seiko while the other was a much more recent venture for Wonda Canned Coffee. I was in Japan to see that ad, and watching it brought about a whole lot of nostalgic feelings....and a need to part with my 100 yen for that vending machine.

Just one small piece of trivia: Zaitsu is an old buddy of another leader of a famed 70s Japanese band, Kazumasa Oda（小田和正） of Off Course（オフコース）. They used to hit the links quite often, and apparently Zaitsu was Member No. 4 of the Off Course fan club, the Off Course Family.