Released in October 1984 as the band's 19th single, this was the first ALFEE song to hit No. 1, and it finished the year in the 67th position on the overall single rankings. It was also placed on the band's album, "THE BEST SONGS", released in December 1985 which peaked at No. 5.
I've been a fan of Japanese popular music for 40 years, and have managed to collect a lot of material during that time. So I decided I wanted to talk about Showa Era music with like-minded fans. My particular era is the 70s and 80s (thus the "kayo kyoku"). The plus part includes a number of songs and artists from the last 30 years and also the early kayo. So, let's talk about New Music, aidoru, City Pop and enka.
Monday, October 22, 2012
ALFEE -- Koibito Tachi no Pavement (恋人達のぺイヴメント）
Released in October 1984 as the band's 19th single, this was the first ALFEE song to hit No. 1, and it finished the year in the 67th position on the overall single rankings. It was also placed on the band's album, "THE BEST SONGS", released in December 1985 which peaked at No. 5.
I love this song. The electric guitar, piano and strings arrangement combination was just mesmerising. Along with a few others, it was my introduction to the Alfee and Takamizawa in the mid 80s.
ReplyDeleteThey did a cover of this song for their ballads compilation in 2002, and over the years, still sing it now and then at concerts. Nothing beats the original version though. Still, I am happy and amazed that Takamizawa sounds almost the same as in 1984, managing to maintain his bright, high tones all these years.
Hello, yung. Yes, it's quite the epic song, isn't it? I think it deserved its own movie. :) I'm quite impressed that Takamizawa can still deliver the goods with his voice over the decades.
DeleteThere were two other Alfee ballads featuring Takamizawa on vocals that I heard around the same period, "あなたがそばにいれば" and "A Last Song". I think all three are brilliant.
ReplyDelete"A Last Song" featured a saxophone solo, which seems quite rare for an Alfee ballad. It was also in "The Best Songs", which despite its name was not quite your usual best album. It had 5 new songs and 5 recent singles or B-sides.
"あなたがそばにいれば" had piano, blues harp, strings and a really cool electric guitar solo. Strangely, it was a song that they hardly performed live.