Takao Kisugi -- Sparkle

Y'know...I've once again come across one of those instances of where a purchased album that I had initially didn't think much of has finally blossomed in my mind and soul. Either those two things mellowed out enough or the album was allowed to cook on the shelf for a good long while. That first example was Taeko Ohnuki's（大貫妙子）"History: 1978-1984", the very first example of Tabo's works that I had ever bought. It took many years for it and me to come to an understanding.

Well, it's possible that the gap between purchase and final acceptance was even longer with Takao Kisugi's（来生たかお）"Sparkle", the singer-songwriter's 6th album released in July 1981. Unlike Ohnuki, though, I had already known about his famous "Goodbye Day" (which is on this album) and some of his works through other artists. I may have bought "Sparkle" on CD all the way back in my Gunma days 30 years ago; I can't quite remember (although that CD case feels quite heavy). All I know is that I only played the album very sparingly on the stereo and then just put it back on the shelf to occupy space between other discs for years. Didn't quite get his stuff, I guess.

But then last night, I saw the thumbnail for the YouTube video of "Easy Drive" which is Track 2 on "Sparkle", and I said "What the heck?". And it's a good thing that I did activate the video because on hearing it (again), I finally saw the (light, mellow and summery) light! "Easy Drive" was indeed an enjoyably nice n' easy AOR number about a guy playing side saddle for a change while his girlfriend is behind the wheel of a really nice car bombing along the coast.

Kisugi took care of the soothing music while his sister Etsuko（来生えつこ）provided the lyrics. In fact, the Kisugi siblings created all of the songs on "Sparkle". A couple of things that stood out was that AOR/City Pop darlings Tohoku Shinkansen（東北新幹線）, i.e. musicians/songwriters Etsuko Yamakawa and Hiroshi Narumi（山川恵津子・鳴海寛）, were on backup vocal duties on "Easy Drive" (although they wouldn't have the moniker Tohoku Shinkansen until the following year for their lone album), and this song is the second example of a singer going "Awooo", just like on another beloved City Pop piece.

Going through the liner notes of "Sparkle", I also noticed that there were some other veteran session musicians helping out including Shigeru Suzuki（鈴木茂）on guitar, Jake H. Concepcion（ジェイク・コンセプション）on sax, Tsuyoshi Kon（今剛）also on guitar, Tsugutoshi Goto（後藤次利）on bass and Masataka Matsutoya（松任谷正隆）on electric piano and synthesizer.

Some of those people along with Tohoku Shinkansen helped out here with "Yume no Hada"（夢の肌...Dream Skin）in which Kisugi is admiring a particular young lady on the beach who may have the looks of a Brigitte Bardot. "Yume no Hada" strikes me in terms of Kisugi's delivery and the overall rollout of the song as very reminiscent of what Akira Terao（寺尾聰）was releasing at the time. The interesting thing is that although 95% of the song has that feeling, the last 5% suddenly veers headlong into a West Coast pop/rock guitar riff as if the fawning admirer returns to his too-cool-for-the-room act in front of his buddies who've just arrived on the shore.

 

"Tasogare no Ichigo"（たそがれの苺...Sunset Strawberry）, which is the final song on Side A of the original LP, has that weird echo of Paul Anka's "My Way" and a Boz Scaggs ballad. There is a lot of intensity placed on that poor strawberry since my feeling on the lyrics is that they and the title seem to be relating the end of a relationship as represented by that fruit as it inevitably gets sliced up. Masamichi Sugi（杉真理）handled the chorus arrangement here while Izumi Kobayashi（小林泉美）was on the synthesizer.

I don't think that I had ever heard of any kayo kyoku being inspired by a script from a Woody Allen film, but according to J-Wiki, the first track on Side B, "Sparking Head", is indeed one of those cases. The story of a guy who's whipping himself into a nervous breakdown about his love for a woman is illustrated through this interesting strut arrangement involving horns, synthesizers and a clacking and haunting guitar.

Speaking of 1970s comedy film inspirations, the following track "Good Luck, My Girl" was inspired by the 1977 film "The Goodbye Girl" starring Richard Dreyfuss and Marsha Mason. A breezy waltz with a jazzy set of horns including Concepcion's sax, it's an urbane but comical swing of music.

My final song of the article is "Madobe no Hito"（窓辺の女...The Woman by the Window）which is a return to the mellow AOR with a slice of wistfulness. Etsuko Kisugi made her lyrics envisioning an older woman who has yet to know love looking out the window in a library. Many sighs apparently ensue. The description for the song on the J-Wiki article has the lyricist stating that actress Uma Thurman was the ideal woman for "Madobe no Hito", although the quote must have been from a much later interview since Thurman would have probably been all of eleven years of age when this song was first written.

Well, as you can see from the time and pixels that I've put into "Sparkle", Kisugi's album does now sparkle for me. Once again, "Better late than never" is something that I would quote here as I finally enjoy and appreciate it. I've mentioned Boz Scaggs as a reference but some of the other tracks also bring to mind Gilbert O'Sullivan. Heck, maybe with further listenings, I will be able to pick up on some of those other AOR singers. The original LP peaked at No. 54.