Marlene -- ESP

Well, it's the penultimate Friday of the year so let's get to some City Pop!

I'm not such a purveyor of Vaporwave or Future Funk that I've ended up writing my script L I K E T H I S or thinking about the A E S T H E T I C S of it all. But from time to time, I encounter videos by folks such as Macross 82-99 and man, they can introduce me to some fine music such as the one that begins the above video.

Found out that this lively tune belongs to Marlene（マリーン）and those horns (BOOM, BOOM!) just grabbed me by the ears and haven't let go even though I first heard this 24 hours ago. "ESP" is one of those songs that belong in the party area of City Pop. Written by Linda Hennrick and composed by Masanori Sasaji（笹路正徳）, "ESP" is a track on Marlene's September 1983 album "Magic", whose title track I've been well acquainted with for years.

I don't know whether Van Paugam has ever played "ESP" during one of his City Pop parties around the world, but if I had to make a request, I wouldn't mind putting this onto the playlist. Will always enjoy my exploration of the genre.