Kingo Hamada -- midnight cruisin' (album)

I think now that the world at large has gotten to know about Japanese City Pop, there is most likely a good number of veteran listeners who can guide the newbies to the genre. Perhaps the figurative Jedi Master will get that question from his/her Padawan: "What is Japanese City Pop all about?" I mean, if I got that question, I would readily point to a couple of albums right off the bat: Takako Mamiya's（間宮貴子）"Love Trip" and then Makoto Matsushita's（松下誠）"First Light". Every Master has gonna have ready references to help out their proteges, so to speak. As for kaz-shin, the blogger behind the Japanese-language "Music Avenue", his answer for that very question is Kingo Hamada's（濱田金吾）"midnight cruisin'".

Released in October 1982, "midnight cruisin'" was released as Hamada's 4th album, and I've already talked about a couple of tracks from there including the title track and the final track "Mayonaka no Tennis Court"（真夜中のテニスコート）. It's frankly a surprise that I've yet to grab this one since I've got his BEST compilation. Both tracks are great and hopefully when the current international situation settles down, maybe I can get back to my purchases of CDs including this one.

Allow me, then, to go over at least a few more tracks from "midnight cruisin'", starting with the opening track, "Dakare ni Kita Onna"（抱かれに来た女...The Lady Coming to Embrace Me）which both kaz-shin and I appreciate for that cornet opening by Shin Kazuhara（数原晋）. kaz-shin also mentions that the song automatically signals out the city and the night, and I can add that the opening can readily be used for any City Pop radio program. In fact, I could say that it could even adorn a "Lupin III" or "City Hunter" soundtrack. It sets up listeners for that titular midnight cruise on the streets. Hamada took care of the composition for all of the tracks and with "Dakare ni Kita Onna", it was Chinfa Kan（康珍化）as the lyricist.

Track 2 is "Yokogao no Taxi Driver"（横顔のタクシー・ドライバー・...Taxi Driver in Profile）which actually comes across as more of a Yuming-esque 70s AOR number. Maybe there is even some Carpenters in there with the addition of the flute. This doesn't strike me as being a nighttime tune; I'd posit that the latest this would be portrayed during the day would be twilight. It's a gentle romantic ballad that can be shared with a loved one on a park bench. Kazuko Kobayashi（小林和子）was responsible for the words here.

Next, we have "So, I Love You", also a collaboration between Hamada and Kobayashi, which takes things into a jazzier bent, perhaps in Shinjuku's famous club DUG. However, those lush strings and that faint oboe once again bring images of Richard and Karen Carpenter along with a lot of AOR balladry. When I was listening to Hamada's BEST album, I noticed that he liked to swing broadly between AOR/City Pop and jazz.

One more song that I'll cover is "Semete Karari to Harete kure"（せめてからりと晴れてくれ...At Least, Make It Fine and Sunny）, an intriguing gryphon of a tune with an innocent reggae beat here, some sharp and tight jazz via the horn section there, and that overall feeling of a fun night in a little section of the big city. With Etsuko Kisugi（来生えつこ）behind the lyrics, kaz-shin states that it's both Makoto Matsushita（松下誠）and Hamada performing on the guitars. Maybe the whole nature of the song is about checking some really fascinating corners of East Shinjuku during a major all-night pub crawl.

So it looks like "midnight cruisin'" isn't just about the usual Fender Rhodes and boppy bass-driven City Pop after all. It brings into play some nice touches of jazz and 70s AOR as well. All the better for the listener. One final point by kaz-shin that stuck with me comes at the end of his article on the album. He says that if taking a car drive down to the ocean, Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）and Toshiki Kadomatsu（角松敏生）are the go-to guys on the stereo, but when making that trip back home, some Yasuhiro Abe（安部恭弘）and Kingo Hamada are the way to go. I can agree with that since there are a number of tracks on "midnight cruisin'" that have that certain mellowness to go with a drive home after a happy day on the beach (although I hope that it's the passengers and not the driver that get sleepy). In any case, kaz-shin's final sentence is that listeners should pop this into the car stereo during that night drive. I can also state that it's also wonderful listening to it in the evening hours while lounging on some comfy furniture. I'll see if I can take care of the other tracks in the months to come.