Hard-boiled.
(excerpt only)
That was the perfect expression that one Japanese commenter said for this song by City Pop crooner Tatsuhiko Yamamoto（山本達彦）, and I found out about this sultry tune by happy happenstance and just had to include into the "Kayo Kyoku Plus" family. "Night Memories" is a track from Yamamoto's 7th album "Music" released in June 1984.
What gives it that downtown hard-boiled tone is the languid tempo established by that wonderful piano and then the muted trumpet. Written by Etsuko Kisugi（来生えつこ）and composed by Yamamoto himself, it's something contemporary but still would make some great background for a narration by Mickey Spillane himself as he describes his most famous gumshoe Mike Hammer just before one of his cases. I can only imagine this song as the melodic backdrop for some hole-in-the-wall in Kabukicho nearly obscured by all that flashing neon. Mind you, the owner of the establishment would prefer it that way so that only people in the know would dare darken its door. Before I get carried away with the prose, let me just wrap it up by saying that it is a cool City Pop tune to me. As for the album itself, "Music" peaked at No. 6 on Oricon.
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