Mari Kaneko -- Street Information

 

When we first found out about singing firebrand Mari Kaneko（金子マリ）from her "Aru Toki"（あるとき）which was released back in 1976, we all learned that she was dubbed the Shimo-Kitazawa Janis Joplin with that voice of rock and blues.

Several years later in September 1983, Kaneko put out her first solo album "MARI FIRST" away from her band Bux Bunny. I listened to the first track, "Street Information" and initially thought that the J-Janis had gone full New Wave considering the musical trends of the time. However, as the song went on, I came to the conclusion that Kaneko was still giving out her brand of rock. 

Methinks that "Street Information" has been a great rousing song to put on at any of her concerts. You got Kaneko and her backup singers going full out along with the guitars and the drums thwacking away like crazy. Words and music were provided by guitarist and singer-songwriter Char who used to work with Kaneko in the 1970s band Smoky Medicine. According to the explanation for the above video, her then-husband Johnny Yoshinaga（ジョニー吉長）was on those drums, Jake H. Concepcion and Shin Kazuhara（数原晋）were contributing in the brass section, and the late gospel singer Yuka Kamebuchi（亀渕友香）was backing her up on vocals.

And yup, "Street Information" is indeed a rouser.