Several years ago in "Kayo Kyoku Plus", I featured a rather distinct song-and-dance group that seemed to be a mix of Harajuku Takenozoku and the Jets from "West Side Story".
I knew Issei Fuubi Sepia（一世風靡セピア...The Incredible Sepia） for just one song: "Zenryaku, Michi no Ue Yori" （前略、道の上より）, released as their debut single in June 1984. And yep, future actors Toshiro Yanagiba（柳葉敏郎）and Sho Aikawa（哀川翔）who were part of this troupe from the streets and the rest of The Incredible Sepia looked like the most stylish bad boys ambling down the pavement while singing macho man rhetoric. Still, "Zenryaku" also sounded like the guys were also at home pounding those koto drums at a summer festival.
The B-side of the single is "Sepia Colour" which is a bit more introspective, relatively speaking, as the troupe continues to sing and talk about what makes a man a man, even giving a couple of shoutouts to Ernest Hemingway and "The Old Man and the Sea" along with James Dean in "Rebel Without a Cause". Lone wolf, I bet they be talking about. As for the music video...well, I don't know...perhaps the stoic performance has aged a bit and some of the younger generation may remark "Uh...really, Dad?". However, I can still imagine any of the current Johnny's boy groups using some of the choreography licks that are shown here. And I know one thing...I certainly couldn't do what they did. I wouldn't be shaking my booty, I'd probably be breaking my hip even back then.
Issei Fuubi Sepia were responsible for the lyrics while GOTO took care of the music.
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