First off, I'd like to say to Kaori Mochida（持田香織） of Every Little Thing regarding the set in the official video: Jay Kay of Jamiroquai called....he would like his sliding floor back, please.
In any case, that and the split personality nature of ELT's 6th single, "Shapes of Love" were the things that stood out for me. Every Little Thing was having their 15 minutes in the limelight in the late 90s as their videos got played all over the place on heavy rotation.. The sliding floor was obvious in the video, but I also noticed the melodic juxtaposition of the usual ELT dance-beat rhythm with a strangely happy-go-lucky refrain. That refrain sounded almost as if it were meant as a theme song for a variety show or a romantic comedy. And the song was actually used as the theme for the TV Asahi drama, "Kenshui Nanako"（研修医なな子...Nanako The Medical Intern）.
However, no matter the switch in musical tone, it's still very much an Every Little Thing song with the crashing synths and Ichiro Ito's （伊藤一朗）wailing guitar. Written and composed by keyboardist Mitsuru Igarashi（五十嵐充）, "Shapes of Love" was released in October 1997, it managed to peak at No. 3 on Oricon while going Double Platinum. The song, which was also a track on the band's 2nd album "Time to Destination", got performed at the Kohaku Utagassen by ELT in their first appearance on the show. And speaking of the album, it was released in April 1998 and hit No. 1 on the weeklies while becoming the 3rd-ranked album for that year. Every Little Thing was becoming a Very Big Thing.
Hi J-Canuck.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I was very surprised to read "Jamiroquai" in your post. Besides being my favorite Western band, Jamiroquai my second favorite act of all times, just behind Megumi Hayashibara. The only time I attended a live concert was to see Jamiroquai in the 2011 edition of Rock in Rio. I danced and jumped so much that I don't recall almost anything. I also watched Stevie Wonder live after Jamiroquai. It was great too. Well, stories aside, I'm curious to know if you like Jamiroquai as well, J-Canuck.
As for ELT, I just love that time of their career, basically because of the "crashing" synths. Also, I just loved the way you used "crashing" here. In general, I use "sharp" synths to talk about that same sound, but "crashing" is great too. I might use it in some future posts, if you don't mind.
Thanks to this post I'll probably watch my DVD copy of ELT's "Concert Tour '98 Time to Destination" tomorrow.
Always glad to inspire someone, Marcos. And yep, I'm a fan of Jamiroquai's funk-and-groove. I got his BEST album and remember "Virtual Insanity" very well. I wonder what Jay Kay is up to these days.
ReplyDeleteGood to know you like them as well, J-Canuck. Strangely enough, I became a fan after hearing "Runaway", the disco-house song that they used to promote their best album in 2006. After a quick search, I listened to "Virtual Insanity" and fell in love with Jamiroquai's sound.
DeleteAs far as I know, they are about to release a new albul later this year or in 2015. Knowing they are quite slow these days, I'm not very optimistic about a release this year. Their last album was Rock Dust Light Star, in 2010. It's been four years...
Yeah, I think I might have to re-visit the BEST album for Jamiroquai very soon. I've come to the realization that I'm a big old funk fan no matter what the decade. :)
DeleteI like this song too. It's one of my favourites from ELT (the other being Grip!) The guitar is definitely the best part of this song.
ReplyDeleteHi, KaNa, and thanks for your comments. Yup, it wouldn't be an ELT song without the Ito guitar. I think I remember "Grip!"...the video has a whole bunch of shifting skyscrapers, doesn't it?
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