Kaoru Sudo -- DROPS (Part 2)

From Sony Music

 

Carrying on from last Wednesday, I'm continuing with the second and final part for my article on the late Kaoru Sudo's（須藤薫）"DROPS" album from November 1983. We're taking a look at Side B of the original LP today.

R&B singer-songwriter and drummer Hiro Tsunoda（つのだ☆ひろ）comes in for a duet with Sudo for "Uwasa no Futari"（噂のふたり...That Couple）. It's a Motown-inflected City Pop tune that was composed by Tsunoda himself and arranged by Masataka Matsutoya（松任谷正隆）with Masako Arikawa（有川正沙子）on the lyrics. As the title says, it's all about a couple having their time on the town and if folks notice their carousing, so be it. Jake H. Concepcion is on the sax solo.

"Hirusagari No Yuuwaku"（昼下がりの誘惑...Afternoon Temptation） is another Arikawa-penned song, and it may feature the same couple from "Uwasa no Futari". The lovey-dovey stuff continues as the two of them in their respective companies despite their usual busy schedules still try to keep in contact by the old-fashioned landline telephone. Matsutoya is also behind the old-style pop arrangement but this time, it's Kiyonori Matsuo（松尾清憲）who composed the jaunty melody.

The upbeat Motown comes back with "LITTLE SHORT ON LOVE", a happy-sounding ditty surrounding a bittersweet story of a woman with a bit of a chip on her shoulder as the man she has in her sights doesn't have her in his sights. And the frustration and jealousy (he's talking with another woman during the song) begin swelling. Arikawa is once again the lyricist here but it's Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）on both melody and arrangement. Jake H. is back along with Shin Kazuhara（数原晋）on trumpet and EVE as the back chorus.

The final track on the LP is "Ame no Naka no Funsui"（雨の中の噴水）with Shun Taguchi（田口俊）as the lyricist. A lady is in the rain, perhaps in her floaty delusion waiting for a Prince Charming who may never come to her assistance with his own umbrella. Maybe he's just a friend to see her for a lunch date or something, with the walk under two umbrellas, but someday she'll get to share his. Regardless of the happy/sad situation, the music and arrangement, once again by Hayashi, is top-notch mellow City Pop or J-AOR, if you wish. Sudo's vocals flow wonderfully with the music as Kazuhara handles the fluegelhorn this time, and on backup, there is Hayashi himself along with Yasuhiro Kido（木戶泰弘）and Yurie Kokubu（国分友里恵）. For some reason, the dreamy sax solo isn't mentioned in the liner notes, but I'm pretty sure that it's Jake H. once more.

I know that "DROPS" wasn't the final album by Sudo by any means, but there's a certain poignancy listening to "Ame no Naka no Funsui" as the original final track (bonus tracks were added onto the remastered version in later years) considering her untimely passing nearly ten years ago. "DROPS" reached No. 49 on Oricon. As we've seen and heard, the album is a mix of pleasing styles evoking the old days.