Well, as I write this, I only have 1 hour left before August turns into September. I realize that summer still has 3 weeks to go but there is something symbolic about the transition from the eighth month into the ninth month, so I wanted to get in a summer song before the midnight hour strikes.
I'm not sure but "Stay Girl, Stay Pure" may be the first Omega Tribe (under its then-incarnation as 1986 Omega Tribe) song that I ever heard. In any case, it is the first Omega Tribe song that I saw performed by the band on "The Best 10". "Stay Girl, Stay Pure" was the 5th single by 1986 Omega Tribe (so not including the singles by its previous incarnation as Kiyotaka Sugiyama & Omega Tribe) released in November 1987. At the time, the lead vocal was Carlos Toshiki Takahashi from Parana, Brazil who had an even higher voice than Sugiyama.
To be honest, the only thing I remembered from viewing that particular episode of "The Best 10" was this band, since Carlos and company sounded really different in comparison. At the time, I didn't know the terms City Pop or J-AOR, but I do remember comparing their sound (perhaps erroneously) to that of the Minneapolis, Minnesota-based family band, The Jets, who were making their mark on the US Billboard charts at around the same time. To me, Omega Tribe sounded less Tokyo and more Los Angeles.
In any case, "Stay Girl, Stay Pure" reached No. 5 on Oricon. Masao Urino（売野雅勇）provided the lyrics while Tsunehiro Izumi（和泉常寛）was responsible for the smooth melody (do love the sax in there). The song itself was the reason for me to purchase the band's 1988 album, "Down Town Mystery". The single was also used as the theme song for the NTV drama, "Koi wa Hi-Ho!"（恋はハイホー!...Love Is Hi-Ho!）
Lovely song, J-Canuck.
ReplyDeleteIt's very moody, in my opinion. I really feel the end of the summer while listening to it (well, it's winter in Brazil, but as I mainly listen to Japanese songs, I always feel like I'm in the summer during this time of the year).
Also, it was a nice surprise to see that Omega Tribe had a Brazilian vocalist. And that makes sense, as Paraná is one of the places with most Japanese people here in Brazil. I think it's only behind São Paulo, but I'm not 100% certain about that.
"Summer Suspicion" is still my favorite Omega Tribe song, and I can thank you for that.
Thanks, Marcos.
DeleteFor me, "Stay Girl, Stay Pure" is the one definitive song that represented the Carlos Toshiki years of the band. Really nice and smooth but I think the band in all its incarnations represented that sound.