T.M.Revolution -- Thunderbird

 

Thunderbird...hmmm. Whenever I hear or see that word, I think of two things: 1) the famous Supermarionation show "Thunderbirds" by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson or 2) the running gag brand of cheap plonk known as Chez Thunderbird ("Would Monsieur care to smell le bottle cap?").

But I did notice that photo shot of the CD single in the folder of album shots, and as of this writing, it's occupying the weekly picture slot that you can see on the right under the Contact Form. Therefore, I've decided to take a gander at "Thunderbird", T.M. Revolution's 9th single released in October 1998. It was promoted as the singer's first ballad as a single.

Composed by frequent T.M. Revolution collaborator, Daisuke Asakura（浅倉大介）and written by Akio Inoue（井上秋緒）, a lot of my nostalgia for the 1990s came rushing back when I first listened to "Thunderbird" since of course I was fully into my life in Japan at the time of its release. As would be expected for a T.M. and Asakura collaboration, there is the thrumming rhythm along with that certain wailing electric guitar, and the familiar slight warble in the singer's vocals.

"Thunderbird" peaked at No. 3 on Oricon and ranked in at No. 56 for the yearly singles in 1998, going Double Platinum and selling at least half a million copies. The single earned T.M. Revolution another invitation to NHK's Kohaku Utagassen that year following his appearance on the New Year's Eve special the previous year for "White Breath". It also got onto his 4th album "The Force" from March 1999; that album hit No. 2 and ranked in as the No. 40 release for that year, becoming a million seller.