Keizo Nakanishi -- Yoru ni Hi wo Tsukete（夜に火をつけて）

Happy Monday! It's somewhat harder for me to keep tabs on what is current in Japanese music these days without watching "Uta Kon"（うたコン）, and for whatever reason, TV Japan likes to throw on "Music Station" in the wee hours. However, I have an inkling that funk and soul aren't in the ascendant these days, and I do miss those genres.

Which is why I always cherish a lot of the singers and music from the past such as sweet-singing Keizo Nakanishi（中西圭三）. I found another soulful ballad from his 3rd album "Steps" from March 1993.

Titled "Yoru ni Hi wo Tsukete" (Light the Night), it fades in rather gently for the first several seconds before a bass or a bass synth joins the melody followed by a wailing guitar and some wistful chords.  Then Nakanishi starts his heartfelt message, imploring a woman who may have left him to reconsider and bring back some light into his life. I enjoy that nighttime Latin soul.

As far as I'm concerned, Nakanishi could sing the first hundred pages of a phone directory and he would have a hit on his hands. Reiko Yukawa（湯川れい子）provided the lyrics while the singer and Takao Konishi（小西貴雄）composed the song. "Steps" hit No. 1 on the charts.