Toshinobu Kubota -- Somebody's Sorrow

As much as Toshinobu Kubota（久保田利伸）was really funking it up in the 1990s, I think that I prefer his earlier years in the mid-1980s when he was mixing the R&B and the City Pop. In addition, there was also that wonderful voice of his.

The intro to his "Somebody's Sorrow" hit me right there and then as it goes into some light funk and soul provided by Kubota himself. Masumi Kawamura's（川村真澄）lyrics seem to throw out some tough love about not feeling sorry about oneself since at least one person will not give them the time of day if self-pity's their thing. They have to punch their own way out of the gloom. I guess in a way that this would have been the ideal sort of song for a Japanese trendy drama in the big city back then.

"Somebody's Sorrow" was a track on Kubota's debut album "Shake It Paradise" from September 1986. The album hit No. 11 on Oricon. That background chorus sounds awfully familiar and they should for Japanese pop fans of the 1980s since it is the Amazons.