Cools Rockabilly Club -- Climax（クライマックス）

 

Over a couple of years ago, I wrote about a group of rockers that probably had as much intrigue in their origins as they had in their music. For one thing, the very first leader of Cools（クールス）was actor and singer Hiroshi Tachi（舘ひろし）and the group itself started more as an intimidating team of security guys for a final concert by the band Carol（キャロル）. After two years though, Tachi left the band in 1977 which would start a custom of changing the name of the group every few years. The second incarnation of Cools between 1977 and 1981 was known as Cools Rockabilly Club.

My first article on Cools was also focused on this period and interestingly enough, the song involved, the September 1979 single "Sentimental New York"（センチメンタル・ニューヨーク）, had a healthy dose of City Pop. This time, though, the follow-up single, "Climax" which came out in March 1979, matches my initial musical image of Cools Rockabilly Club as a group interested in the 50s rock-n-roll scene.

Cools Rockabilly Club has been compared to the American rock-n-roll band Sha-Na-Na, and I definitely get that vibe with "Climax". Written and composed by the two guitarists in the band, Kazuo Iida and James Fujiki（飯田和男・ジェームス藤木）, there is that dramatic rhythm that even includes a bit of James Bond and an image of hot rods from the era racing illegally down a deserted street. Meanwhile, the vocalist, whether it be Haruyuki "Pitpi" Mizuguchi（水口晴幸）or Kazuumi "Mura" Murayama（村山一海）, croons the verses like his old senpai Tachi and then leads the rest of the guys to scream out the title in a way that reminds me of other bands such as Chanels（シャネルズ）, Issei Fuubi Sepia（一世風靡セピア）and THE CRAZY RIDER Yokohama Ginbae ROLLING SPECIAL.