Kunio Muramatsu -- Tameiki Bakari （ためいきばかり）

https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm25480212

A couple of nights ago, I put up one of the more loaded album articles of this blog for Sugar Babe's "SONGS" LP and focused on the two prolific vocals, Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎） and Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子） before crawling into bed. Well, there was a third member of the band who also put in his two cents. So, allow me to introduce guitarist Kunio Muramatsu（村松邦男）.

The Tokyo-born Muramatsu started playing music in his high school days, and was involved in bands that paid tribute to Mike Bloomfield and Jeff Beck, playing at school festivals. He, Yamashita and Ohnuki started up Sugar Babe in the early 70s. For "SONGS", he had planned to have one song titled "Utatane" （うたたね...Siesta） included, but it was decided that it didn't quite match the overall sound for the album so instead, Muramatsu went with "Tameiki Bakari" (Always Sighs) which had that gently jaunty mid-tempo tone that fit in with the rest of the tracks.

The wonky guitar intro provides a clue about what Muramatsu's lyrics go into....the protagonist having those morning hangover blues as he realizes the coffee isn't quite working. Yup, we've all been there, haven't we?

After Sugar Babe broke up in 1976, Muramatsu continued his musical career as he also became an arranger. A few years later, he would help out "SONGS" producer, Eiichi Ohtaki（大瀧詠一）, with his famous 1981 album, "A Long Vacation" as lead guitar, and would also assist other artists such as The Chanels, Teresa Teng, Yu Hayami, etc. He also started another band, R-O-M-A, with former Barbee Boys member Takao Abe（安部隆雄）, which is currently traveling through the nation's live houses. In the video, Muramatsu is playing his old chestnut, "Tameiki Bakari".