Yoko Maeno -- Take A Chance

 

A night shot of Okachimachi, just on the cusp of Ameyoko, the famous street market in Ueno. Various types of dining establishments exist there including an Indian buffet restaurant, the usual doner kebab eateries and at least a few places where I can have some luscious kaisendon. Oh, and before I forget, there is the famous Niki confectionary and snack supermarket. 

If tourists from other countries can make the trip to Tokyo once again, then why not take a chance and try out some of the goodies in Ameyoko and for that matter, anywhere in the Ueno-Okachimachi area? And now that I've bludgeoned you with a really obvious segue, here is "Take A Chance" by the late great Yoko Maeno（前野曜子）.

Written by Fumiko Okada（岡田富美子）and composed/arranged by Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）, "Take A Chance" was the B-side to Maeno's 5th single from May 1980, "You Are Love"（ユー・アー・ラヴ）, and it fits that turn-of-the-decade City Pop aesthetic with that certain type of piano...kinda urban, kinda honky-tonk. I think that I've heard that piano sound from folks like Junko Yagami（八神純子）and Junko Ohashi（大橋純子）. I also love that combination of chords in the refrain as well, and it seems to be a cool and relatively low-key song of the genre, and so, I feel that it makes for a steady-on B-side. I almost forgot to add that the song was also a track on Maeno's 2nd album "Half Time" from August of that same year.

Niki in Ameyoko