Some of the nightlife establishments in Roppongi above. I didn't really play there...never had the money or the bravery to attempt that. The only regular places I went in that area were the Hard Rock Café and Tony Roma's, and then a coffee shop nearby.
The types of imagery one gets when listening to City Pop are varied. Some of them have to do with night drives in the vast megalopolis of Tokyo. Perhaps one song could be ideal for that fast bomb down the freeway to some happening place within the 23 wards or it could be a much more languid midnight drive in a taxi while the neon still flashes all around you.
I envision the latter when I listen to Kei Marimura's（真梨邑ケイ）"Stardust Night" which was her 3rd of 4 singles. This came out sometime in 1984 and though the melody by Yoshitaka Minami（南佳孝）is urban contemporary of that time, Marimura's vocals sound as if she were tackling a song within her usual genre of jazz. It's all pleasingly woozy and relaxing (kinda like enjoying that drive after having a few Brown Cows), and perhaps I can consider it to be a form of sophisti-pop, especially with those shimmering strings. By the way, Masako Arikawa（有川正沙子）was behind the lyrics.
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