Stardust Revue (スターダストレビュー) is a band that I put up there with acts such as Sing Like Talking and Omega Tribe; they have the ability to provide both musical mellowness and some upbeat fun. Unfortunately, I'm not quite as familiar with Stardust Revue as I have been with the other two bands, but hopefully I will be able to rectify that situation in the near future.
And I get plenty of incentive whenever I hear this song "Natsu no Jou" (Summer Queen) which is a track from their 7th album "In The Sun, In The Shade". Appropriately enough, it came out in July 1989.
Up to this point, I've been accustomed to hearing guitarist Kaname Nemoto（根本要）take care of the vocals, but for this poolside-friendly tune, keyboardist Yasuhiro Mitani（三谷泰弘）, who also wrote and composed this gem, was behind the mike here. Similarly to Nemoto, Mitani also has that smooth and wafting voice, and in a way, he reminds me of another mellow-toned Yasuhiro. Considering the weather getting slowly frostier, "Natsu no Jou" is a nice reminder of the hot season.
Mitani left Stardust Revue at the end of 1994. Afterwards, he started up his own unit called esq which may have gotten its origins from a number of sources such as the abbreviation for "Essentially Superior Quality" or the suffix "-esque" or even the Escape key on the keyboard. The above video has Mitani and esq providing an even mellower version of "Natsu no Jou"...which is apparently dedicated to Esther Williams. The album "In The Sun, In The Shade" peaked at No. 5 on Oricon.
And for those who do not know Williams, here she is in her wet regal glory.
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