Presents -- Feeling Like a Child (Part 2)

 

Last Friday, just before 2022 entered the history books, I gave my account on Part 1 of this one-and-only light and mellow album from 1980, "Feeling Like a Child" by a group of childhood and then university buddies known collectively as Presents. Just to remind folks, the lineup included keyboardist/percussionist Fumio Miura（三浦文夫）, guitarist Kiyoaki "Kiyo" Nakamura（中村清明）, guitarist/percussionist Shunya "Chabo" Hashimoto（橋本俊哉）, bassist Takeshi Nakajima（中島猛）, drummer/percussionist Tadashi Noguchi（野口匡）, backup singers Reiko Hibino（日比野礼子）and Yuriko "Yurippe" Yamazaki（山﨑有里子）. The "Feeling Like a Child" project was only ever meant as a labour of love and the thinking was that once the album was given out to family and friends, that would be all she wrote. However, 42 years later, there were some minds changed. The album is now out for City Pop fans everywhere and there's even an English-language website for the band.

Before we get into the next three tracks of "Feeling Like a Child", let me marvel at the fact that because the band couldn't afford renting any sort of studio at the time, the entire project from writing to recording was done in Miura's tiny one-room apartment measuring just 11 square meters or 118 square feet. Man, Miura and company, and for that matter, their neighbours, must have been an extremely patient lot. Go ahead and read the Production Story on their website.

Track 4 is "Hohoemi no Naka de"（ほほえみの中で...In Smiles） which was written and composed by Miura with our first listen to Hibino on main vocals and Yurippe on backup. If I've interpreted the lyrics correctly, the story behind the song is relating a woman's encouragement to her husband to get out there and get at 'em. And she actually likes his facial growth. There is the brief commentary for each track on Presents' website but I was even more attracted to the CD's liner notes in which it was mentioned that "Hohoemi no Naka de" has that tone of a "Grey Skies" Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）who had just begun her solo career in the mid-1970s.  I would certainly agree with that observation.

As mentioned in those liner notes, the title track "Feeling Like a Child" is groovy and soulful and it has that sunny 1970s vibe. Perhaps I may not be too amiss when I state that the song is reminiscent of the stuff that Ohnuki's old bandmate, Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）, was doing in the early part of his solo career in that decade. The website's assessment of the song describes the scene of a sports car heading to a chic café near Victor Aoyama Studio in Tokyo. I'm not sure whether any of the band actually did that (considering their tight budget, probably not), but it must have been nice for them to fantasize it. "Feeling Like a Child" is another Miura creation with Kiyo handling vocals this time. 

I believe Track 6 (and the final track for this week), "Dim" started off Side B on the original 1980 LP and Miura provides word and music here, too. There's some bossa nova and jazz infused into this bittersweet song which Hibino tackles with aplomb although at points, the instruments almost overwhelm her vocals. "Dim" is a lovely tune nonetheless as it relates the story of the memories of a love affair slowly dimming. Probably out of all of the tracks, this one really seems to fit the album cover illustrated by the Hiroshi Nagai（永井博）; indeed, it's good ol' Resort Pop. I was a tad surprised by the comment on the website comparing the synths at the end of the song being reminiscent of the early progressive rock by Genesis.

Next week, we'll wrap up "Feeling Like a Child" with the last few tracks.