Strangely enough, that Asakusa building isn't a neon-lit cabaret or karaoke box but a sushi restaurant. Hey, if it brings in the customers, that's fine.
The phrase that I learned in Gunma, "Neon ga yonderu"（ネオンが呼んでいる...The neon is calling）, is something that comes to mind when I hear "Showa Paradise" by the Mood Kayo group that came up with the 1977 hit "Hoshi Furu Machikado" (星降る街角）. Toshi Ito and Happy & Blue （敏いとうとハッピー&ブルー）have had a slight name change over the past few years as they are now known as Shinsei Toshi Ito and Happy & Blue（新☆敏いとうとハッピー＆ブルー...New Star Toshi Ito and Happy & Blue）. Ito actually retired about a decade ago and the vocals are now being handled by new leader and main vocalist Masaru Shishido（宍戸マサル）.
But getting back to "Showa Paradise", which was released as their most recent single in November 2021, about six years following their last one, it has that classic Mood Kayo sound that I grew up with although I was a little worried about the Casio synthesizer intro, but then when the guitar and the chorus flowed in, everything was all good. Music and lyrics were provided by Shishido and with all of the whimsy of the titular era, the words basically consist of the famous Mood Kayo and other kayo song titles (including "Hoshi Furu Machikado"), so there's some tongue-in-cheek in "Showa Paradise". The style reminds me of Masaaki Hirano's（平野雅昭）"Enka Chanchakachan"（演歌チャンチャカチャン）from 1977 when the singer incorporated the most notable lyrics from famous kayo into his own cocktail kayo.
I actually heard the song for the first time on a "Uta Con"（うたコン）episode not too long ago. Let's hope that the Showa neon keeps on calling for the foreseeable future.
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