JUJU -- Bet On Me

 

I'm not sure whether it was the pandemic that did it in or it's just reached its natural end, but I still miss the NHK information variety program "Sekai wa Hoshiimono ni Afureteru"（世界はほしいモノにあるふれてる...This World is Filled With Wants） that used to show up on Tuesday nights following "Uta Con"（うたコン）via TV Japan. It used to be a regular weekly program but it switched to occasional specials from May 2021 so I'll take what I can get. The show about Japanese buyers scouring the globe for certain commodities was so gorgeously and glamorously shot that even though I couldn't quite understand some of the talk, I was still able to enjoy the cinematography of the marketplaces in countries such as Morocco and Spain. 

One of the co-hosts of the show is jazz and R&B singer JUJU, and frankly from my vantage point, I usually only see her in her position on "Sekai wa Hoshiimono ni Afureteru" and not as a singer all that much, although she does sing the snazzy show tune-friendly opening theme, "Remember (The Good Times)". However, earlier this year, JUJU provided a theme song for a drama on Fuji-TV called "Stand Up Start"（スタンドUPスタート）, a live-action adaptation of a 2020 business-based manga.

"Bet On Me" was written by singer-songwriter Sachiko Aoyama（蒼山幸子）and composed by Kai Shiono（塩野海）as a fairly high-octane tune with some 1960s go-go jazz flavour. Fans can get their Watusi on for this one and I get some of that feeling of a spy caper movie when I listen to it (the flute definitely helps). The song was released as JUJU's 43rd single in March 2023.