Hideki Saijo -- City Dreams From Tokyo

Considering the number of singers who were jumping up onto the City Pop bandwagon back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, I guess it shouldn't be surprising that even the triumvirate that made up the Shin-Gosanke（新御三家....The New Big Three）would try their hands and mouths on Japan's urban contemporary music. For example, Hiromi Go（郷ひろみ）tried it with "Irie Nite"（入江にて）and then there was Goro Noguchi（野口五郎）with his hit "19:00 no Machi"（19:00の街）.

And finally, I found out originally through New J-Channel's running video of City Pop that Hideki Saijo（西城秀樹）also gave the genre a go of it. It was quite the pleasant surprise to hear the percolating and bubbly "City Dreams of Tokyo" from his 17th album "From Tokyo" released in June 1986. It's all in English, thanks to the lyrics and music by Mayumi Horikawa（堀川まゆみ）.

Listeners might have an issue with Saijo's English pronunciation but I'm OK with it. For me, it's all about the cool funk of the mid-80s...makes for a nice little strut through the big city itself. Plus, I think it already sounds ready-made to become a Future Funk/Vaporwave project. Heck, the video is perfect as a visual Vaporwave piece.

"City Dreams of Tokyo" was also the B-side to Saijo's 54th single, "Tsuioku no Hitomi ~ LOLA"（追憶の瞳 -LOLA-...Reminiscing Eyes）from April 1986. It peaked at No. 26 on Oricon.