Ken Tanaka -- Flash Back（フラッシュバック）

 

As was the case with my immediately preceding article regarding Dr. Dragon and Oriental Express（Dr.ドラゴン&オリエンタル・エクスプレス）and their "Carib no Yume"（カリブの夢）, I think the song of this article might have made for another exciting theme song for some law enforcement program on Japan's prime time schedule back in the day.

Ken Tanaka（田中健）is an actor, TV personality and a musician who plays the drums, bass and Andean quena. Born Kenichi Tanaka（田中研一）in Fukuoka Prefecture, he debuted in 1972 and went by a couple of other stage names: Ken Aoi（あおい健）and Kenny Taylor Jr. He also had a time as a singer under the former name with three singles and one album between 1972 and 1973. Then as Ken Tanaka, he released ten singles and three albums, mostly in the 70s and 80s. 

Looking at the cover of his September 1978 second album "Flash Back", I can't help but see Tanaka as a more serious-looking Jackie Chan, taking umbrage at his cigarette being criticized. Marlboro is a perfectly fine cigarette. In any case, the title track has that mix of Latin and disco with those silky strings, horns and chorus hinting at another exciting night in areas such as Roppongi and Shinjuku while Tanaka sings in his soft rasp. Keisuke Yamakawa（山川啓介）was the lyricist here while the exciting music was provided by Yuji Ohno（大野雄二）, who would also come up with an iconic anime theme in the same year.