Masahiro Taniguchi -- Wakakusa no Moeru koro（若草の萌える頃）

 

Welcome to another end of the business week. It's been balmy here in the Greater Toronto Area for the past few days and I don't think anyone is complaining although the streets are slightly slippery due to the thaw.

The other thing that's been slipping is my memory since the fellow that I am about to write about is someone that I'd thought was appearing on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" for the first time. However, I'm a tad embarrassed to admit that bassist/singer Masahiro Taniguchi（谷口雅洋）has had his debut on our humble blog since last August as a songwriter for MIO's "Mr. Monday Morning". In the article, I even made some reference to the song that is getting its just dues right here right now. Will need a Gibbs slap.

Anyways, this is "Wakakusa no Moeru koro" (When Young Grass Sprouts) which is an odd title for what I think is a very pure City Pop song. The third track from his 1980 debut album "Communication"（コミュニケーション）, I don't know the botanical significance of the song but it is a classy hotel bar-friendly tune that was composed by Taniguchi, written by Keisuke Yamakawa（山川啓介）and arranged by Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）. Perhaps the botanicals are the herbs in his cocktail that he's sipping in the bar.

I love the Fender Rhodes, the silky strings, and Taniguchi's vocals which remind me of the voice of Junichi Inagaki（稲垣潤一）, another City Pop veteran (for that matter, I also get shades of Hideaki Tokunaga). Just like that setting that I mentioned in the previous paragraph, there is something nice and downtown classy about Hagita's arrangement. And before I forget, I would love to know who's helping with the backup chorus.

Some final trivia about Taniguchi is that he not only hails from Kyoto but he's been going by a different name over the years: Mamoru Taniguchi（谷口守）. Not sure if Mamoru is his real name or not but you can take a look at his website to check his credentials out. Also over the decades, along with MIO, he's provided tunes for Hiromi Go（郷ひろみ）, Kaori Momoi（桃井かおり）and Mariko Nagai（永井真理子）among other singers.