Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Juicy Fruits -- Come On Swing


This is an interesting entry by the band Juicy Fruits(ジューシィ・フルーツ). I've long known this group, fronted by guitarist Atsuko "Ilya" Okuno(奥野敦子), as this New Wave-y unit with one foot in good ol' rock n' roll and the other foot in technopop.

However, with their 7th May 1984 album "Come On Swing", though the title track starts off with a familiar quirky keyboard tap-tap-tapping that continues to pop up here and there, the whole song takes things into a different arena. Even Okuno's voice, which I had always heard as high and chirpy, comes down lower in this song that's not a jazz tune despite the title, but a tune that takes a right turn into something akin to Fashion Music with Asami Kado(門あさ美)and Ruiko Kurahashi(倉橋ルイ子). With that keyboard work, I also thought of early 1980s Taeko Ohnuki(大貫妙子)as well. Juicy Fruits guitarist Toshihiko Shibaya(柴矢俊彦)composed this classy melody (there's even a warm sax solo),  while prolific lyricist Reiko Yukawa(湯川れい子)came up with the words which set up an environment for a final night of romance in high style with glasses of Kir Royale and lamé heels. If you break it off with someone, do so with an American Express Platinum card on hand!

I haven't been able to find any other tracks from "Come On Swing" on YouTube, but I would be interested in hearing what they do sound like. By the way, this album was their final album to date.

1 comment:

  1. Ah, one of my favorite tracks from Juicy Fruits. Slick production without taking away from the natural organic feel of the track. Most of their material is more happy, bouncy pop-rock affair, so these smooth, wistful tracks are a real treat. If you're interested, 海 (Sea) is another similar track from them. They should've produced more songs in this style as it suits them well.

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