J-Canuck's Favourite 6 Tatsuro Yamashita Songs

 

I missed it by three days but September 19th was the 40th anniversary of the release of Tatsuro Yamashita's（山下達郎）1980 "Ride On Time" album. You might say that I didn't ride on time with that one. Thanks for the round of indifference.

However, I've already written on both the album and the single with the same title along with some of the other tracks in there independently. What's a Tats fan armed with a blog to do? Well, as insane as it may sound, I realized that I have yet to do an Author's Pick for my own favourite songs by the famed singer-songwriter. That's rather galling to know especially when I provided an Author's Pick on my favourite Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）songs at the end of 2015. Must compensate and that time is now! So indeed, this is an opportunity.

No particular order to my favourites...I love them equally. And it was rather difficult to whittle down the choices to half a dozen, but basically almost all of them originate from "Ride On Time" and his 1982 album "For You".

1. Amaku Kiken na Kaori (あまく危険な香り）

Wouldn't you love to listen to this while riding in a red convertible down the Ventura Freeway? It's not just the City Pop/J-AOR but also an old-time 60s/70s lounge feeling with "Amaku Kiken na Kaori" that provides pure relaxation as I inhale some of that titular bewitching scent. The horns are just wonderful!

2. Your Eyes

Couldn't get any more David Foster 80s romantic ballad than this one. Still not sure if this was a tribute to Mariya but if a guy needs to propose to the love of his life and he knows that he/she is a Tats fan, well, the choice is fairly clear, isn't it? It's one of the great J-AOR sunset songs and only the man himself can get away with yelling "I LOVE YA!" over and over at the end.

3. Loveland, Island

I can always listen to this one and never get tired of it. Plus, if I'm in a bad or down mood, "Loveland, Island" makes for the ideal pick-me-up. I was never a fan of the Japanese summer (there's something about physically melting into a puddle that never quite appealed to me) but this is one of the tunes by Tats that can help me happily remember the hot season there without the need to sweat tons.

4. Someday

Another thing that I will never tire of...that boppy bass in the intro for "Someday", the opening track to "Ride on Time". Those wonderful lyrics of hope are carried on top of that remaining melody of sharp horns and gentle keyboard to create this happy shuffle down the city sidewalks. It must have been a wonderful time to stroll in Tokyo.

5. Christmas Eve

I have to thank Japan Railways for having the idea to put Yamashita's atypical song about being lonely on December 24th onto their late 1980s end-of-year commercials, thereby giving "Christmas Eve" another chance to make it big after having a rather soft opening in its originating year of 1983. Arguably, it's probably the most famous J-Xmas song even if it's not a favourite with everyone. I also would like to thank those critics from earlier in the decade who may have ticked off Tats by just brushing him off as merely that summer song guy since he opted to show them by creating a Xmas tune.

6. Ride On Time

Of course, I just had to finish the list off with "Ride On Time", now the City Pop song to hear when one is about to head out on a flight to climes hot and tropical. I've preferred the single version to the album take simply because of that baritone saxophone which butts right in as soon as Tats goes into the main chorus for the first time. The rest of the horns and piano, the sax solo, the backup vocals by frequent songwriting partner Minako Yoshida（吉田美奈子）, and last but not least, Tats' singing make "Ride On Time" one of the best songs of the genre.

In any case, congratulations are in order for the album "Ride On Time" on its 40th and I hope that the fans are still here in another decade when we celebrate its golden anniversary.