Thursday, January 19, 2023

Gemini & Dodo/Ritsuko Abe & Naoya Makoto -- Sapporo City Light(札幌City Light)

 

This Mood Kayo trio could very well come under the title of the most obscure group from that genre because as much as I tried, I couldn't find anything about Gemini & Dodo(ジェミニ&ドド), not even the names of the twin sisters and the man involved. All I could speculate was that the three of them could be natives of Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost main island.

It's a pity though since their perhaps one-and-only 1986 single "Sapporo City Light" is a pretty solid contemporary Mood Kayo. According to piero 1040, the YouTube uploader of the video, the song was a smash hit in Sapporo itself and given some more promotion, perhaps it could have even gone nationwide. With lyrics by Keisuke Kisaragi(きさらぎ圭介), "Sapporo City Light" is all about love in the big city and bright lights of Hokkaido's capital city, and probably centered in the nighttime district of Susukino. For those Junretsu(純烈)fans, the melody might sound quite familiar since it was composed by Kohei Miyuki(幸耕平)who's handled a number of the current group's songs.

A cover version was recorded under the title of "Sapporo City Light '87" the following year. This time, it was a conventional duet with singer Ritsuko Abe(安倍里葎子)and actor Naoya Makoto(誠直也).

3 comments:

  1. Oh, man! I do not know if I like Sapporo City Light or Sapporo City Light '87 better? The audio of the 1987 cover is much clearer and crisp but the original has a bit more flare or feeling to it. Both are good

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    Replies
    1. For me, I think the original was the better of the two although both were overall fine. Makoto did sound like an actor trying to be a singer.

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  2. Hmm, I think you are right about Makoto

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