Yuko Kawai -- Fujiyama Paradise（フジヤマパラダイス）

 

OK, first off, for my fellow Canadians, Happy Victoria Day today! Because of the current COVID restrictions, there won't be any officially-sanctioned fireworks displays this year as well but I did hear some of those rascals being fired off near my home last night.

I've heard and read the word Fujiyama a number of times. There is the Kome Kome Club (米米クラブ) song "Funk Fujiyama" and of course, there is the late singer Ichiro Fujiyama（藤山一郎）who sang a number of the old kayo chestnuts including "Aoi Sanmyaku" （青い山脈）. Then, there is the roller coaster called Fujiyama at the famous amusement park, Fuji-Q Highland in Yamanashi Prefecture; I do remember all of those commercials for the place.

Now, I can add a new entry and that would be "Fujiyama Paradise", a song by singer-songwriter Yuko Kawai（河合夕子）. A 1982 single that was also the title track on her album of the same year, it does hit all those nostalgia nerve clusters because of that rumbling guitar and keyboard work which reminds me slightly of Blondie's "Call Me" (I wonder what Richard Gere has been up to recently). This song written by both Kawai and Masao Urino（売野政男）and composed by the singer won't enter my list of Top 10 favourite songs per se but it still does have some of that old sparkle. 

Strangely enough, before I looked up the songwriters for "Fujiyama Paradise", I did wonder whether Urino had something to do with the song, and it turned out that he did. Usually when there is a good ol' rock n' roll-sounding tune from the 1980s, his name often shows up.