Ahhh...love this one too by Anzen Chitai（安全地帯）. "Masquerade" was the Hokkaido band's 6th single from July 1984 by the usual team of Koji Tamaki and Goro Matsui（玉置浩二・松井五郎）. It has those achingly plaintive vocals by Tamaki while the lead guitar wails away and the other instruments provide that Anzen Chitai sound. I'm not sure whether an official music video was ever released with this one, but if it had, I'm sure there would have been a very ornate setup out of "The Rose of Versailles" with Tamaki in full costumed regalia.
"Masquerade" along with a lot of the other early songs by the band made for some great driving music as well as fine melodic accompaniment in the wee hours. My other Anzen Chitai-loving buddy from our U of T days used to drive me home after Kuri karaoke or downtown disco while this was playing on the car stereo; I don't think a ride bombing up the Don Valley Parkway ever went quite as cool or as exotically when we were listening to Koji and company. As well, it was also a time for university all-nighters studying or essay writing. I never wrapped a hachimaki around my head but I did press Play on my tape recorder to hear this band play urban contemporary stuff like "Masquerade".
Unfortunately, J-Wiki never listed how well this single did on Oricon. However, it is included as a track on "Anzen Chitai II" from May 1984 which peaked at No. 2.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Feel free to provide any comments (pro or con). Just be civil about it.