"Street sounds swirling through my mind..."
Now, when it comes to the band Chicago, even though I did come to realize that they had been together since the late 1960s as the Chicago Transit Authority, I only knew them mostly for their 1980s power ballads such as "Hard Habit to Break". Y'know...these were the guys (including Peter Cetera) who were probably responsible for all those love songs that played during various proms during that decade.
However, just in the last few days, my senses have been hit with this song from before all of that Chicago balladry in the 80s. Namely, I discovered "Street Player" from their 1979 album "Chicago 13" on YouTube, and it's been impossible to resist pushing Play on the various videos of the song on the site. And good golly, the album version is nearly 10 minutes long!
To be honest, another thing that was swirling in my mind was how I would be able to someday insert it into this blog since "Street Player" has been so irresistible with those damn fine horns, Cetera's vocals, and the fact that I knew the Japanese would probably have loved this tune as well since they have warmly welcomed Earth Wind & Fire all these years and of course, there is "Ai no Corrida".
I needn't have worried since it looks like the Japanese fusion band Spectrum（スペクトラム）took care of things very nicely with their own cover of "Street Player". I tried looking on J-Wiki whether the band actually recorded this on one of their early albums, but I couldn't find the song anywhere, so perhaps this video was a one-off extravaganza performance they put together on a TV show back in 1979.
And yowza, what an extravaganza! Not only did Spectrum get their brass in fine fettle for the song, but they had quite the trio of singers helping out: Hatsumi Shibata（しばたはつみ）, Yukari Ito（伊東ゆかり）and Marlene! Moreover, the performance went for those 9 minutes plus just like the first track from "Chicago 13". As for the choreography, though....I just kinda got that thought, "And now, here come the Solid Gold dancers!". Yup, it was indeed the 1970s, wasn't it? That aside, though, I would like to tip my beret to Spectrum.
Hello J-Canuck,
ReplyDeleteOh, this is glorious! Spectrum doing a tribute to Chicago’s most wonderful era?The horn section of both bands are to die for!
Also, more undiscovered Hatsumi Shibata is always good and I have found another rabbit hole to fall into - Yukari Ito’s discography must be explored!
And yes, we need more Solid Gold dancer type troupes in the modern era.
The Smashing Pumpkins had it right. The year 1979 was absolutely wonderful!
Thanks!
Hi, Chasing Showa!
DeleteYeah, I'm a big sucker for a great horn section. It just seems like the end of the 1970s was one of the best times for horns and R&B.
Ito's discography is definitely worth exploring since she's tried out a few genres since her beginnings as a teenybopper idol in the 1960s: cover songs, kayo, even City Pop.
Actually, I was being a bit sarcastic about the "Solid Gold" dancers in the video. The dancing seemed a bit cheesy there.:) The Street Player dancers looked really cool, though. Then again, I'm not sure what people in 30 years will say about them.
I wouldn't mind discovering more of these brass-powered fusion bands.:)
Hello J-Canuck!
ReplyDeleteI used to think dancing troupes like the Solid Gold dancers were cheesy too. But I’ve noticed recently that the art of dance itself has been erased in both entertainment and in popular culture - especially in North America. We seemed to be about the same age and you probably grew up at the tail end of the variety show era like I did. It still exists abroad (Europe, Central and South America, the Far East etc.) but what do we have that is an equivalent? Modern day shows like Dancing With The Stars, American Idol and others of its ilk are just pale modern day iterations of that format.
I would like to see dance as a format brought back into popular entertainment. Or maybe as a society we’re just too hip for that now?
Anyway that’s just my two cents.
Thanks
Hi, Chasing Showa!
DeleteIndeed, I was born in the tail end of the variety show era and remember shows including Red Skelton, Carol Burnett and Jackie Gleason along with all of the specials with Bob Hope and Dean Martin.
I've always wondered why the variety show format has basically died out here in North America while it has continued to thrive in Japan (I didn't know about its survival in the other parts of the world). Back when I was first researching about Japanese pop culture in the 1980s, I had assumed that it was just because Japan was merely lagging behind the States and that eventually TV there would shed the concept. Obviously, that hasn't come to pass...thankfully.
My feeling now is that I think the Japanese seem to have a higher tolerance of whimsy than us over here in North America, and that also extends to dancing and variety shows ("Saturday Night Live" may arguably be the final show that still follows that format). I watch NHK's "Uta Kon" every week, and some of that cheesy dancing still comes out but that's OK since I'm more focused on the singer and song anyways.
I've also had an affinity for the Turner Movie Classics films which includes the big musicals such as "Singin' In The Rain" and "White Christmas" (I think Danny Kaye could have given Fred Astaire a run for his money in that one). However, I've never gotten into any of the TV shows that you've mentioned such as "Dancing With The Stars" and "American Idol" but I think those are as much about the competition to win as it is the illustration of the pure joy in dancing.
I think dance still pops up in specials such as any of the awards shows such as the Oscars and the Tonys but the variety show format (the format that brought dancing onto TV) is pretty much dead and buried, although that actor from "Doogie Howser" tried to bring it back last summer, I believe. However, perhaps some day, dancing could be brought back as a TV genre unto itself. If it can be shown as a competition a la "Dancing With The Stars" or "World of Dance" and be popular, then maybe there's a chance for it to come back as pure entertainment.