Tomoko Aran -- Taxi Driver

The Holidays are over. Let's shake off some of the post-Holiday stupor with a bit of danceable City Pop here.

My last article regarding singer-songwriter Tomoko Aran（亜蘭知子）was "Busy City" from her "Imitation Lonely" album of 1985, and I've got another one from it called "Taxi Driver".

Unlike "Busy City" which I had heard for the first time only relatively recently, "Taxi Driver" is a tune that I've heard a few times before but for some reason never got around to writing about. That's my bad since "Taxi Driver" is quite the catchy City Pop tune with some great percussion leading the way while Aran's vocals smoothly fly over the streets.

This would be the kind of tune that would be nice to hear in a taxi while anywhere within the Shuto Expressway system of Tokyo...basically the footage that Van Paugam used to display on his old YouTube radio before it got tragically cut down several months ago. To be honest, though, I don't know of too many cab drivers who would be listening to City Pop radio...the ones that I've traveled on usually had the baseball game or the news on. So, have your own portable stereo system on in your ears when you take the cab to your hotel from Haneda Airport. You probably won't regret it.

I've got an impression that "Taxi Driver" has been covered by other City Pop singers, but for the life of me, I can't really remember who. Could it be Yuiko Tsubokura（坪倉唯子）or Yurie Kokubu（国分友里恵）? Perhaps I'm just imagining things. Anyways, while Aran provided lyrics, Casiopea drummer Akira Jimbo（神保彰）took care of the pulsating melody.