Tatsuro Yamashita -- Circus Town

As I was mentioning to fellow City Pop aficionado Jerry a few weeks ago, Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）has such a wide and acclaimed discography of singles and albums spanning 5 decades that it's been awfully easy to get focused on one particular period of his music since it's so good. For me, that has been the early 1980s with albums such as "For You".

I've had to be nudged somewhat to get away from my obsession with Tats' body of work of that time (as wonderful as it is), and realize that he did make good music before and after that period. So Jerry told me about some of his favourite music by Yamashita from the 1970s, and I did find a number of songs that have struck my fancy. Notably, there is the title track from his solo debut album "Circus Town".

"Circus Town" is indeed a gorgeous song by Yamashita, and it's also one of the first songs featuring the lovely partnership between him and lyricist/singer Minako Yoshida（吉田美奈子）. Starting off whimsically with Julius Arnošt Vilém Fučík's "The Entry of the Gladiators"*, which is that familiar little ditty which folks can associate with the circus (as much as I try, I really cannot imagine Russell Crowe striding in to this song!), against the background of some mellow urban funk and whirling windstorm strings, the first track to his December 1976 album is a paean to New York City where "Circus Town" and the rest of the tracks on Side A were recorded. Try to imagine Yamashita soaking up the sun as he strides up and down the streets of Manhattan while dreaming up the arrangement.

Now I can imagine why I should be looking further afield again when it comes to his material. "Circus Town" is a City Pop song by Yamashita but it's not the City Pop song that I had gotten accustomed to from his 80s stuff. Whereas I think that the tracks from "For You" such as "Morning Glory" and "Loveland, Island" are urban contemporary AOR songs that reside in Japan, "Circus Town" just feels like a Sunday morning in The Big Apple (shall we get brunch at Rockefeller Center or take a walk through Central Park?). There are those certain hits on the piano keys, the whirling strings and the way that the percussion sets the beat that also has me thinking 1970s soul. Of course, I can't forget those welcoming horns including that sax solo by Lou Marini from Blood, Sweat & Tears and then later, the Blues Brothers Band.

"Circus Town" might imply the noise of New York but there is nothing visually gaudy or obnoxious hinted in Tats and Minako's love letter to the city. It's just about inviting folks to explore and enjoy an exciting metropolis that is quite different from the largest city in Japan.

*Ah, yes, "The Entry of the Gladiators". From what I read in the J-Wiki article for the album "Circus Town", the liner notes in the remastered CD stated that the piccolo was tooting away "The Oklahoma Mixer" at the beginning. However the writer of that part of the article correctly stated that it was indeed "The Entry of the Gladiators". Believe me, I know "The Oklahoma Mixer". I had to dance to the "Oklahoma Mixer" during the group folk dancing segment of the Sports Day festivities at my school in Gunma. I'm quite glad that I don't have to do that ever again.