DA PUMP/m.c.A・T -- Feelin' Good 〜It's PARADISE〜

Perhaps spring is finally around the corner. Still cool but getting a bit warmer and the sun is peeking out more and more.

So it's time for the appropriately titled "Feelin' Good 〜It's PARADISE〜". It also makes for a nice slice of Ichikawa nostalgia since I was ensconced in my tiny apartment in my old Chiba city when I first saw the good fellows from DA PUMP hoof it up a notch with their debut. Let's kick it with some singing, dancing and rapping.

It came out in June 1997 under the Avex Tune label with musician-producer m.c.A・T as the lyricist and Akio Togashi（富樫明生）as the composer. Both lyricist and composer are one and the same person. I'm sure that DA PUMP was feelin' plenty good as "Feelin' Good" hit the peak of No. 15. The yearly rankings saw the song hit a much more modest No. 144, but it did go Gold, selling close to 200,000 copies. The song was also on the group's debut album "EXPRESSION" from July 1998 which peaked at No. 3 and became the 37th-ranked album for the year.

Just found out that the DA PUMP debut was actually a cover of the original single, his 13th to be exact, by m.c.A・T himself from September 1996. The subtitle was slightly different: "Koi no Paradise"（恋はパラダイス...Love is a Paradise）. It peaked at No. 85.