Katsumi Horii Project -- Hot Is Cool

The subject song for this article had me reminded of that McDonalds variation from my university days, the McDLT. Particularly, there was the catchphrase "You get the HOT side HOT, you get the COOL side COOL". I gather that the McDLT ended up on the gastronomic heap of history along with New Coke and deep-fried butter balls (oh, I hope that last one has indeed died).

Well, later on in the decade, the Katsumi Horii Project（堀井勝美PROJECT）came up with a funky strut (so Dazz Band) that could have made for a nice musical accompaniment to the 80s creation by the Golden Arches. This would be the title track from Horii's debut album "Hot Is Cool", released in March 1987.

I'm getting this shiver up my back as I start to remember 80s things such as spandex pants, wide-shouldered jackets and tons of hair as I'm listening to "Hot Is Cool". That Seinfeldian bass is back in good measure as a vocoder-esque vocal trips the light fantastic. I figure that if that Mos Eisley cantina from the original "Star Wars" had decided to hire a spacey R&B band instead of the swing jazz unit that played away while Obi-Wan and Han Solo were negotiating that flight to Alderaan, this would have been the right song. Future funk, indeed!

Ah, and speaking about "Seinfeld", I did find another McDLT ad with a fellow who was right from that show. Incidentally, it looks like I'm treating the Katsumi Horii Project as an annual affair. Last year, I wrote about "Through The Sky".