PAZZ -- Minority

Back in the early 1980s, there was a quirky and catchy song by singer Matthew Wilder titled "Break My Stride" that tore in all the way from left field to climb up the charts to No. 5 on Billboard. It was probably one of the cutest earworms that I got to hear on radio over and over again, and I think it even made an appearance on an episode in the first season of the FOX show "Glee".

This particular tune's intro reminded me of that synth intro to "Break My Stride", and "Minority" is also a quirky and catchy number on the rare album "Bananafish" (1987) by the group PAZZ. Earlier last fall, I actually wrote about this release and marveled at the AOR-ness of it all. The album apparently is available on Amazon, but it costs a hefty 19,800 yen!

Strangely enough, though, "Minority" stands out from the songs that I did cover on "Bananafish" because it has more of that "Break My Stride" funk-pop strut than those mellow orange mimosa-friendly tracks that seem to dominate the album. I'm not sure if it's indeed Masayuki Iwata（岩田雅之）behind the mike here. Although he doesn't sound anything like Wilder, the vocalist definitely strikes me as being at least a bit closer to the tones of another 80s singer Zappacosta from Canada.