It won't be too long before the year-end season of parties takes place in Japan. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if some of them take place in the next couple of weeks at some izakaya or high-priced restaurant. Of course, over here, we've got the round of Xmas parties and then New Year's Eve parties to look forward to (or not). I don't really go to a lot of those anymore but there is the one with the anime buddy and our other friends which will probably be happening in the first half of December. A good time is usually had by all but we certainly don't do the hashigo (barhopping) anymore; a little too old on that front now.
Earlier in the year, I mentioned about this City Pop singer who may be even more mysterious than Takako Mamiya（間宮貴子）in terms of her current whereabouts. This would be Amy（エイミー）...just the single name known...who may have only put out one album and a couple of singles all in 1983. Idol.ne.jp mentions her lone album "Amy" and says that it is her first album, hinting that there may have been a follow-up effort but I have yet to come across such a second album.
In any case, here is another track from "Amy", and that is "Party Night", a perfectly good title for a song that straddles the line between AOR and City Pop. Written by Naoko Nishio（西尾尚子）and composed by singer-songwriter Yoichi Takizawa（滝沢洋一）with arrangement by Masaki Matsubara（松原正樹）, "Party Night" sounds more like a daytime tune but I'll let that observation go since I do like those horns and that jazzy guitar. The song was also the B-side to Amy's 2nd single "Mr. Cool", a song which is also included on the album.
Let's see whether there is a remastered version of "Amy" out there for Xmas.
Hello J-Canuck,
ReplyDeleteNow this is as “light mellow” as you can get! I have been listening to other tracks from this album and I wish I could get my hands on it.
This music is so good for nice spring days or cool summer evenings.
Unfortunately, you are right. This album is just that; only an album. It has never been re-issued (album, cassette, CD etc) and I don’t think it ever will be.
I even logged into my old Japanese iTunes account to see if it would be available for Apple Music streaming - nope!
According to the uploader it has gotten popular recently and the album is being sold second hand for outrageous prices. Of course by the usual suspects at the usual places.
And I no longer own a record player so it does me no good.
I also found out on Reddit that Amy was supposed to have a follow-up album through Philips (London) Records but that never panned out. And seeing that Philips, along with a slew of former famous record companies of that era (Casablanca, RSO et. al), getting gobbled up by Polygram (now UMG) I now know why it never happened.
However, thanks for letting me about this album.
Hi, Chasing Showa.
DeleteYup, at this point, I can only hope that someone at Tower Records reads this and decides that "Amy" is worth remastering and re-releasing as they have for other City Pop albums from the 1970s and 1980s. From the tracks I've heard so far, it's definitely worth purchasing.