Yoshitaka Minami -- Video City

I kinda wish I didn't have to start the Yoshitaka Minami（南佳孝） file with this song since he had an even bigger hit earlier in this career called "Monroe Walk", but I came across "Video City" just by accident for the first time in over 20 years via YouTube and just had to post it up. I first heard it on a compilation album lent by my friend and never bothered to find out who sang it. I just remembered it as a quirkily fun tune.

Minami usually relies on two themes when he writes his songs: manly emotions and life in the big city. I would say his 17th single falls firmly into the latter category. When it comes to City Pop, the image is often of a cool nocturnal Tokyo while someone is knocking back a few drinks in a Western bar. "Video City" is City Pop through Disney glasses. You're still in Tokyo but you're not in Aoyama or Roppongi; most likely you're in Akihabara and knocking back a Makudonarudo strawberry milkshake. Right from that tinkly synthesizer, Minami's slightly Speedy Gonzalez delivery and funky horns, what you get is a musically fun tour of Tokyo's modern, neon-drenched areas.

(from Japan Walk)

In a way, the 1987 "Video City" gives me some fond memories of the old Akihabara with all of the "Where did they think of this?"-gadgets and sleek electronics shops. Would love to walk through the area once more.

Hear of Maid Cafes? This was a Maid Tour Guide of Akihabara.