Credits

I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Yasuhiro Abe -- We Got It!


I think the video above fits Yasuhiro Abe's(安部恭弘) debut song, "We Got It!" to a proverbial "T" since I can only envision Abe flying about in a really sleek car on the highway as he is singing this. Mind you, I don't think one can actually take so many thrill-seeking liberties on the Kan-Etsu Expressway in Tokyo, but the sentiment is there.

"We Got It!" was released in November 1982, and Abe and Takashi Matsumoto(松本隆)were behind the creation of this song. He's been mentioned alongside fellow musician Junichi Inagaki(稲垣潤一) and a few others as members of the City Pop fraternity, and with Inagaki, Akira Inoue(井上鑑)and Yudai Suzuki(鈴木雄大)as the New Wave Four. I've yet to hear any songs by the latter two singers, and Inagaki has a mellow crooning approach to his songs. But in the relatively brief time I've gotten to know Abe and his discography, he's got a bit more of a dynamism in his music, thanks to that wailing electric guitar and a pounding keyboard. You might say if Inagaki is resting comfortably on the hood of his car overlooking the expressway, Abe is down on that highway at full throttle.

And yet, although that driving beat is there in a lot of his songs, his voice is still quite gentle on the ears. It might not quite soar like the vocals of Koji Tamaki(玉置浩二), but it seems to always propel itself forward or even playfully amble along such as in my favourite song of his, "Irene". Abe may not have ever hit the big heights on Oricon, but his music is still my kind of music.

Yasuhiro Abe -- BEST

5 comments:

  1. Hi. Did he really never entered the charts? Not even the top 100? How is it possible?

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    Replies
    1. Like Hamada and Matsushita, he never really became an Oricon star. Most likely it was through his creations for other singers such as EPO that he found success on the charts.

      However, he did get some modest success through his 9th single, "Tennessee Waltz" in 1986 by getting as high as No. 46 on Oricon. At first, I thought "He did a cover of the Patti Page classic?!" But it's actually his own creation and it's a very 80s pop/rock tune.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ys24GKEhQ0w

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    2. Thank you for your reply.
      What about the album chart? Did he enter there at least?

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    3. Well, according to his bio on J-Wiki, his albums didn't show any record charting high on Oricon. I even checked a few of the years at this site (e.g. 1986):

      http://entamedata.web.fc2.com/music/hit_music_a1986.html

      But unfortunately, I saw nothing there in the Top 50 of the year.

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    4. ok, thank you! Anyway, this song deserved to be a hit, it's an incredible song, one of the best City Pop tunes I've ever heard.

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