Mayumi Shinozuka -- Papa wa Mouretsu（パパはもうれつ）

 

When I first heard this song, I thought about one fellow especially, and that was Kogoro Mouri（毛利小五郎）from the "Detective Conan" manga and anime franchise. Being the father of the pretty Ran Mouri（毛利蘭）, girlfriend of genius teen sleuth Shinichi Kudo (before he got miniaturized into Conan), I've found him to be a comically boorish braggart with a volcanic temper who may not be the sharpest private eye but will do anything to protect his daughter, although with her judo skills, she can take care of herself and others well enough.

Back in late 2019, I wrote about singer/songwriter and impressionist Mayumi Shinozuka's（しのづかまゆみ）final single "Taiyo no Kakera"（太陽のかけら）from July 1981. Well, here is her first single from May 1974, "Papa wa Mouretsu" (Papa's Fierce), and from listening to that intro with the guitar, I thought the melody was lifting something from an old Blondie song, "Call Me", but of course that hit by Debbie Harry and company wouldn't come out for several more years.

At the same time, there is also something rather disco and Pink Lady with the arrangement but as well, that duo would be a couple of more years away from hitting the limelight. In any case, the booming melody by Taiji Nakamura（中村泰士）behind Shinozuka reflects Yu Aku's（阿久悠）lyrics about how fiercely strict a young girl's father is. For most of the song, the singer seems to weave a tale of woe regarding how Showa her Showa Era dad is, only for her to concede at the end that she still loves him and that Papa is showing his love, too.