Friday, January 14, 2022

The Eastern Gang -- Charlotte(シャーロット)

 

Continuing on with this small tribute to the works of Tetsuji Hayashi(林哲司)on City Pop/J-AOR Friday on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", we go from the very well-known Toshihiko Tahara(田原俊彦)in 1986 to this little-known unit in 1979

The Eastern Gang just happened to be a project that Hayashi had created to channel his disco tendencies between 1978 and 1980. I don't know who became part of this group but they apparently released at least two singles, "Dry Cat" in 1979 and "Magic Eyes" in 1980. I don't have either song here in this article, but there is the B-side to the former song, "Charlotte".

With Hayashi handling the melody and arrangement, Peter Shuey was responsible for the lyrics. Yep, the disco is there with the chorus and the strings but that dance club sharpness has been sanded down some more to become something that could accompany cocktails at sunset on a Friday night. Not sure whether the titular lass was a disco queen but it sure sounds as if she's been quite the belle of the ball, or at least how the singer puts it, "one foxy lady".

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