Naoya Matsuoka -- Knock wo Shinakatta Santa Claus（ノックをしなかったサンタクロース）

 

Well, I guess today being a Sunday, it will be a cocktail-related instrumental day for "Kayo Kyoku Plus". My previous article was Nash Music Library's "Cocktail From Japan" and for this one, we go back to the wistful and sophisticated stylings of Seizo Watase's（わたせせいぞう）"Heart Cocktail"（ハートカクテル）given animated life in the 1980s.

Today's "Heart Cocktail" entry is titled "Knock wo Shinakatta Santa Claus" (The Santa Claus Who Didn't Knock) and it's about a fellow on the borderline between melancholy and pragmatic. He's had one final drink at Jesse's Bar during the Yuletide a week after having a major fight with his girlfriend who hasn't been seen since. The guy heads to his cold apartment (no central heating in Japan), probably even colder without his girlfriend and thinking that's the end of a beautiful relationship before hitting the hay in his clothes. He then has a dream involving a flying car and a Miffy-like rabbit behind the steering wheel (what was in that egg cocktail?!) before waking up and finding his girlfriend puttering away in the kitchen. Cold War resolved.

Of course, it wouldn't be a "Heart Cocktail" episode without the accompanying stylish soundtrack and sure enough, the late musician Naoya Matsuoka（松岡直也）comes up with the song, also titled "Knock wo Shinakatta Santa Claus". It's a classy slice of mellow Latin jazz that lightens the so-be-it moroseness of the protagonist's story of love lost and surprisingly regained. The song is the penultimate track on "Heart Cocktail Vol. 1" from 1986. I have a feeling that the entire album can be used as dinner music anytime during the year.