How is this for a team-up: singer-songwriter Yosui Inoue（井上陽水）rocking away with his old backing band, Anzen Chitai（安全地帯）, which, by the time this album was released, had already become a successful act in its own right? And thus, "Stardust Rendezvous Live at Jingu Stadium" was born with the album being released in November 1986.
But wait, there's more! I didn't even purchase this at Wah Yueh. I got it at the store across the street called Sun Wa for the ridiculous price of $6.95 CDN. That isn't even the price of a CD single! And perhaps the reason is that the record inside looked like a piece of vinyl that had small ambitions on becoming a Moebius strip. Yep, it was quite wobbly, but the record still holds up to the stereo needle even today.
"Stardust Rendezvous" had its Side A devoted to Anzen Chitai's hits while Side B was almost all dedicated to Inoue's discography. For example, the above stormy "Yudachi"（夕立...Evening Squall） which was Inoue's 6th single from 1974. Now, I think most of the tracks for the singer on this album deserve their own entries (which I have yet to write about at this time) so I will keep things brief for now. But let it be known that "Yudachi" has got him and buddy Koji Tamaki（玉置浩二）unleashing their vocals.
Then, there is Inoue's most excellent cover of the song that he had created for Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）, "Kazarijanainoyo Namida wa"（飾りじゃないのよ涙は）that helped her make the transition from aidoru into pop superstar. I think his rendition has more of a spooky thriller aspect.
Speaking of harmony, the final track on the record is "Natsu no Owari no Harmony"（夏の終わりのハーモニー）. I already wrote about this ultimate kayo kyoku bromance tune all the way back in September 2012, but I think it's worth putting this into this article as well. I could imagine that after the concert was over, a whole bunch of guys headed over to all of the nomiyas and izakayas around Jingu Stadium to have that bromantic brewski.
Not sure how well "Stardust Rendezvous" did on the charts but just talking for myself, I think I got myself a great bargain at less than $10 for this record...and that's considering the record's Pringles potato chip-like shape.
Ahhh...I also have another song that didn't quite make it to this article but it is also on this album, the bluesy "Jenny My Love" (ジェニーMy Love).
Definitely a great find, there's some really solid tracks on there! I'm not very familiar with Anzen Chitai past their work with Inoue, but I'll have to look into it. Thanks for the great post!
ReplyDeleteHi Ragnar. Good to hear from you again.
DeleteHopefully "Stardust Rendezvous" is still out there in CD format or even downloadable. Anzen Chitai has its own sound but come to think of it, their early work may have that hint of Inoue in there.
If you like, give "Koi no Yokan" by the band a try. It was written by Yosui and composed by Tamaki.
http://kayokyokuplus.blogspot.ca/2012/03/anzen-chitai-koi-no-yokan.html