Credits

I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.

Tuesday, July 30, 2024

Fruitcake -- A Little Place in My Heart

 

Y'know...I do love to cook and bake although I don't really get the opportunities that I used to when I was living alone. I can make that old-fashioned classic Pineapple Upside-Down Cake but for some reason, I've never had the gumption to try a good ol' fruitcake like the ones they serve during Christmas. Perhaps one reason is the perhaps unfair reputation regarding the store-bought ones that can be used as doorstops or lethal weapons a few weeks down the line. Sometimes, I also wonder if attempting to make a fruitcake is akin to giving nuclear fission the college try. But hey, give the above video a look. It appears scrumptious and the background music is very reminiscent of Vince Guaraldi and Bill Evans.

I gather that Nash Music Library will no longer be alone on this blog as the maker of pleasant instrumental music for TV shows such as "Weathernews". And in fact, this fusion band from the Netherlands first formed all the way back in 1982. Known as Fruitcake, they were active from the 1980s into the 1990s, and apparently a lot of their music was used as BGM for radio and TV programs.

Japan was also one of their "clients", so to speak, and perhaps a lot of Fruitcake's tunes were also appropriated to adorn certain segments on shows. For example, the comments for the above "A Little Place in My Heart" from their first album "Fruitcake" in 1983 stated that it had been used for the weather segment on TBS' morning news show. Nothing like some soothing instrumental AOR with your hot coffee and croissant (or pickles, fish and rice) to help you on your way to work. No actual fruitcake, though, probably.

Oh, enjoy another making-of video for fruitcake. This one, though, has a bit more oomph near the end. 😆

2 comments:

  1. FWIW the one holiday fruitcake we got for years was from Assumption Abbey: https://www.trappistmonks.com/ It's the real deal!

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    Replies
    1. Hi, Saburo. Took a look at the website and that cake does look tasty. I always appreciate plenty of maraschino cherries. :)

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