Jimmy Buffett -- Margaritaville

 

Saw it on the news crawl on CP24 this morning, but yep, unfortunately singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett passed away at the age of 76 yesterday due to lymphoma. The man was the paean to good old-fashioned tropical beachfront living and such was the fame and popularity of his magnum opus, "Margaritaville" that I think it did have at least some influence on the Resort Pop subset within the New Music, City Pop and AOR realm in Japan. The folk-turned-AOR duo Bread & Butter might be one example. In any case, I've mentioned his name and the song enough times over the years on KKP that I have to mention this today.

"Margaritaville" was released in February 1977, and I can imagine here in Canada at that time, listeners really got that desperate feeling about flying to Florida on hearing this song of tropical paradise. But strangely enough, what I only discovered just in the last hour or so is that "Margaritaville" is really about a hedonistic beach bum who has come to the gradual realization that he's lost the love of his life due to his own actions, especially after a few instances of bad luck. Margaritaville may really be now the bum's soft prison and his margaritas are the crutch to keep him going.

I used to hear "Margaritaville" all the time on radio as a kid and all this time, I'd just assumed that it was the song to advertise a potential retirement in perpetually summery ecstasy. It certainly sounds inviting enough. And I've drunk enough margaritas to get that nice comfortable buzz. 

The song hit No. 4 in Canada and No. 8 in the United States but it went all the way to the top of the Adult Contemporary charts in both nations. It was even inducted into the 2016 Grammy Hall of Fame and in the United States National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress this year. My condolences to Buffett's family, friends and fans through this special ROY article.

So, what were some of the Best New Artists at the Japan Record Awards that year?

Karyudo -- Azusa Ni-go （あずさ２号）

Ikue Sakakibara -- Al Pacino Tasu Alain Delon Yori Anata (アル・パシーノ＋アラン・ドロン＜あなた)

Yosuke Tagawa -- Lui-Lui