Tomoyasu Hotei -- Thrill（スリル）

My observation on the various tarento/comedians that have appeared over the years while I was in Japan is that a number of them got their 15 minutes of fame due to some signature move or catchphrase which for whatever reason really resonated with or tickled the viewing public.

For instance, there was Edo Harumi（エド・はるみ）with her dancing and guuing.

And Waseda University graduate Yoshio Kojima（小島よしお）, a man built like an Olympic swimmer in only a pair of bikini briefs who goes on a maniacal dance with his own catchphrases of "Sonna no kankei nee"（そんなの関係ねぇ!）and "Oppapi~"（おっぱっぴー）.

Then, there is longtime entertainer Egashira 2:50（江頭2:50）. Unlike a lot of the others, this nut doesn't particularly have a catchphrase and has appeared steadily over the years. His shtick is basically terrifying everyone around him including the audience and fellow celebrities by his unpredictability and scary countenance while running around topless in black leggings. Jumping on the audience is one of his particular tricks up his sleeve (if he actually wears a shirt).

Of course, with anyone that...flamboyant, whatever theme song trails him will end up as an earworm. And by accident today, I found out that that opening riff that felt like a melodic Keystone Kops caper belonged to Tomoyasu Hotei's（布袋寅泰）10th single, "Thrill" from October 1995. A song of octane from start to finish, it comes with a music video that should be watched in a well-lit room with some distance from the screen.

Not a huge rock fan but Hotei's voice has been something that I've usually enjoyed listening to. There is a certain quality to it...kinda smooth and velvety despite the genre. Hotei came up with the melody while Yukinojo Mori（森雪之丞）wrote the lyrics. And I found out from the J-Wiki article for "Thrill" that Fumiya Fujii（藤井フミヤ）from The Checkers（チェッカーズ）helped out in the chorus.

"Thrill" hit No. 1 on Oricon and became the 62nd-ranked single for 1995. The song also got onto Hotei's 5th album "King & Queen" released in February 1996. It also hit the top spot on the album charts. The thing is, though, that whenever Hotei plays it at his concerts, I sometimes wonder if the audience has been conditioned to expect Egashira 2:50 to crash the party. In any case, I would love to see the singer participate in the Opening Ceremonies for the 2020 Games. Perform the "Kill Bill" theme? Perfect!