bridge -- He, She & I

 

Earlier this afternoon, Come Along Radio's Rocket Brown and I were taping the latest podcast based on my article on the arranger Nobuyuki Shimizu（清水信之）. Once editing is done, it'll go up but you can check out some of the other podcasts that are already up on Mixcloud.

During the podcast, the trendy bohemian Tokyo neighbourhood of Shimo-Kitazawa（下北沢）came up in conversation. Just a bit west of Shibuya, it's kinda like the place for university students and those cool folks in their twenties. Although I was neither cool nor in my twenties, I've been in the area a few times and noticed the restaurants, live houses, bars and eclectic fashion shops. Strangely enough, it was also where I got to each Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki for the first time (you'll believe that a huge head of cabbage can be compressed down into an okonomiyaki).

Anyways in late August, I posted an article on a band called bridge which had its time between 1989 and 1995, and noted that it was the ideal group for Shimo-Kitazawa. Through their 1994 album "Preppy Kicks", they were able to cover pop, City Pop and Shibuya-kei. On their J-Wiki profile, they've also been categorized as a Neo-Acoustic band, and I gather that perhaps this particular song "He, She & I" would fit this label.

I would probably treat "He, She & I" as an indies pop tune although that intro had me thinking The Beatles' "Day Tripper". The song was actually a track on a December 1990 compilation album under the Polystar label titled "Fab Gear". It also included Fancy Face Groovy Name's "Love Is Yé-Yé (Looking For My Idol)" which I've considered to be a mix of pop and Shibuya-kei. However, "He, She & I" is a bopping and sunny pop tune which could accompany a couple on a Sunday stroll in good ol' Shimo. The song was written by vocalist Mami Otomo（大友真美）and composed by bassist Hideki Kaji（加地秀基）.

To wrap up, you can enjoy this video on Shimo-Kitazawa by Rosery Apparel.