Mariko Ashibe -- Highway Dancer（ハイウェイ・ダンサー）

Tis the first Friday of the year, so perhaps it's time for some City Pop once more. Maybe there are still folks out there on both sides of the Pacific who still need to drive off some of that nervous Holiday energy.

Commenter roelm remarked on my recent article on my choices for 1980s City Pop albums that there was a new discovery in the form of this singer who had aspirations as a jazz chanteuse but also did her fair share of anison and urban contemporary material. Her name is Mariko Ashibe（芦部真梨子）, and according to this Japanese blog, she had started out as perhaps an aidoru in 1982 (although the photos of her on the blog had her looking not so much as a teenybopper singer) under the name of Mari Ashibe（芦部真梨）, then Mariko Ashibe and over to Reina Muramoto（村本玲奈）and then just Reina before going back to one of her previous names. According to that same site, Ashibe had also participated as a personality both on TV and radio.

roelm was kind enough to tip me off on this first track, "Highway Dancer" from her debut album as Mariko Ashibe, "Street Scandal" (1984). A bit of a worrisome album cover although we know that there are many more far more problematic covers, but "Highway Dancer" is quite the tonic for City Pop fans with that slap bass and pretty terrific riffing horns. And considering that Ashibe may have debuted as an aidoru in 1982, she made a quick transition into funk and boogie.

I was able to glean from the picture of the record in the video that the lyricist was Akira Ohtsu（大津あきら）but the composer's name was too difficult to pick out. Did some searching through Yahoo.jp and finally found out that he was a fellow named Kenzo Shikuma or Shiguma（志熊研三 ）. Also, according to this record website, guitarist Makoto Matsushita（松下誠）had a hand in the album's development.

As well, I was informed that "Highway Dancer" may have gotten some inspiration from a 1981 dance song called "Gonna Get Over You" by Canadian singer France Joli. Yes, we in the Great White North can boogie, too. Keeps us warm.