Ms.OOJA -- Fly-Day Chinatown (フライディ・チャイナタウン)

 

I'm uncertain about what the status of City Pop is around the world since "Plastic Love" exploded all over YouTube a few years ago. However, I can speculate that three groups have evolved: 1) those that have gotten off the bandwagon and moved on, 2) those whose ardor for the genre has gone down to simmer; they enjoy their favourites but can say that they are no longer breathlessly searching online for that next big City Pop discovery (that's been me with jazz nowadays), and 3) the true believers who are still in love with the genre (I guess that would be me, too).

Of course, the big City Pop songs are still there as pillars, and on the female side of things, there is naturally "Plastic Love" by Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）, "Tasogare no Bay City" （黄昏のBAY CITY） by Junko Yagami（八神純子）and then there is Yasuha's（泰葉）"Fly-Day Chinatown". All three get the blood coursing through the veins and although I have yet to attend my first City Pop dance party, I figure that folks might actually get on the dance floor at that event. No, no...not me, I will be merely observing. At my age, I am more prone to breaking hip instead of shaking it.😨

It's not too often that I do separate articles on cover versions of songs already discussed on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", but I felt that I had to give this one justice. In this case, Yasuha's "Fly-Day Chinatown" has been given a marvelous cover by R&B singer Ms.OOJA through her album of covers, "Nagashi no OOJA ~ Vintage Song Covers" （流しのOOJA ～VINTAGE SONG COVERS～）released in late August. The album peaked at No. 31 on Oricon.

Ms.OOJA's "Fly-Day Chinatown" starts the album off, and has more of a elegant 21st-century clubbing sort of feeling. The horns and wailing guitar aren't there but they've been replaced by some thrumming keyboards, while Ms.OOJA adds a layer of silkiness to her delivery. 

Have a gander at this summary of the entire album. You may be interested in Ms.OOJA's takes on the old Showa Era kayo. Also, I wrote my first article on the singer all the way back in early 2017 with "Baby Don't Know Why".