Noriko Miyamoto -- Lovely City

Had to finish tonight's writings with one City Pop tune before turning in. And this will be Noriko Miyamoto's（宮本典子）"Lovely City" from her 1982 album "Noriko".

Good to hear day or night, I love that balance of light and husky in Miyamoto's vocals. Plus, the arrangement of "Lovely City" seems to embrace that sense of fully enjoying Tokyo or any of the major cities in Japan. Unfortunately, I couldn't track down who wrote and composed the song since I'd like to compliment them on creating such a relatively quiet paean to all that is urban. However, getting back to that idea of appreciating the big city, that is what I certainly did while I was living in one of the largest metropolises on Earth, whether it be looking for CDs in Shibuya, walking under the bright lights of Ginza or being the teacher in Asakusa, Ichigaya and Nakano-Sakaue all those years.

It kinda makes me wonder what Tokyo-themed songs will the organizers bring to the Opening Ceremonies at the Olympics next year. I'm unsure whether it will be "Lovely City" although the song is indeed lovely. Maybe something really uptempo in a City Pop vein would be nice.

Ah, wait a minute...on second thought, I could track down the lyricist and composer due to that blow-up photo of Side 1 of the original LP at Hip Tank Records (many thanks!). The former is Osami Okamoto（岡本おさみ）and the latter is Kisaburo Suzuki（鈴木キサブロー）.