Kyosuke Kusunoki -- Sugar Dance

We've been having newscasters all day reassuring the lot of us that just because today is Labour Day, it doesn't mean the summer is over. There are still 19 days before autumn officially turns the corner. Yet, there are children heading to school as of tomorrow so for some of them who got interviewed on television, it may as well be September 20th already. They were appropriately rather glum at the prospect, and I do feel their pain since I've been in the same head space.

Not sure if those kids would appreciate my offer of a song to help them relax before getting their knapsacks ready and school clothes ironed, but perhaps some of the more City Pop-oriented fans out there may enjoy this one before heading back to work on Tuesday.

I bring Kyosuke Kusunoki's（楠木恭介）"Sugar Dance" from his 1985 album "Just Tonight". Just to confirm, all of his songs on the blog thus far since "Come To Me Again" earlier this February have been from this solo debut LP, so I gather that his folder here may be like the Takako Mamiya（間宮貴子）file. But not to complain at all..."Just Tonight" is that good. Ironically, despite "Sugar Dance" implying a major need to do a frenetic jig on the floor after imbibing several Cokes, the actual song is a far mellower sunset affair with any hint at dancing probably restricted to a slow one cheek-to-cheek.

Kusunoki composed this pleasant mid-tempo tune with Kyoko Utsumi（内海鏡子）providing lyrics, and Hiroshi Narumi（鳴海寛）behind the overall arrangement. I especially love the mid-song trumpet insertion by Shin Kazuhara（数原晋）with the temporary key shift. Now if only "Sugar Dance" can be released on CD instead of just having only the LP available.