Boz Scaggs -- Lowdown

Here's another one from my Reminiscings of Youth file and this time we're going to June 1976. Yes, the age when bell-bottoms and wide lapels were king! Yes, I was indeed alive back then and actually saw them being worn...since I was one of those people.😰

I had barely remembered Boz Scaggs' "Lowdown" which was released in that month and year. Before recently happily re-acquainting myself with this enormously cool and funky Scaggs' trademark number, what I had retained in my noggin was that blast of horns that came in twice during the song. In fact, I hadn't even been aware that it was Scaggs' tune. Up until recently, the one song that was still in my memory for him was his ballad "We're All Alone". Both songs were included on the B-side of his 1976 album "Silk Degrees", a hit release that peaked at No. 2 on US Billboard and the Canadian charts (via "RPM" magazine) and ended up on the respective year-end charts at No. 17.

Of course, getting to play it again over and over through YouTube, I realized (again) that there was some mighty wonderful funk and groove surrounding those appearances of the horns. "Lowdown" was my aural time machine heading back for a Saturday night on the town in downtown Toronto or New York City (it was mostly school nights back then for me...no disco!😭). Plus, backing up the singer were future members of the band Toto: David Paich, David Hungate and Jeff Porcaro. Now I rather wonder whether Scaggs and "Lowdown" were also influences on the Japanese City Pop scene along with Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers.

Up to now, in the ROY articles, I've brought in the kayo hits via Oricon or even those singers/bands that had their debut in the introductory month of the featured song. But this time, I've decided to go with three of the award winners at the Japan Record Awards for 1976. The connection among the three songs was that all of them were given lyrics by the late great Yu Aku（阿久悠）!

Grand Prize: Harumi Miyako -- Kita no Yado kara

Best New Artist: Kenji Niinuma -- Yome ni Konaika

Best New Artist: Pink Lady -- Pepper Keibu