Yuji Mitsuya -- New York in the Rain

 

It was about in late winter of 2021 when I wrote up an article featuring seiyuu and music producer Yuji Mitsuya（三ツ矢雄二）and his City Pop/R&B "After Five At Café Bar" from his 1984 album "Hi-Touch". At the time, I never made much of a connection between anime voice actors and City Pop, but Mitsuya proved me wrong. The fact that "After Five At Café Bar" borrowed liberally from Lionel Richie's "Love Will Find a Way" and Patrice Rushen's "Forget-Me-Nots" didn't bother me too much. It was still some funky fun for me.

Although this is only the second song by Mitsuya that I've put up onto the blog, I've gotten the impression that the lad did like his urban contemporary of the times. From his 1983 album "Half-Boiled Story", I give you his "New York in the Rain". Composed by jazz guitarist Takao Naoe（直居隆雄）, the song really does give the musical imprint that a lot of Japanese folks get whenever the Big Apple is mentioned: big, bold and jazzy/brassy. That is some fine music backing up Mitsuya who also wrote the lyrics under the name Momotsugu Hanamakura（花枕桃次）...sorry, I went full kun-reading on that family name but since I'm still not sure about the pronunciation, I opted for that one. To be honest, I don't think folks like Al Jarreau and George Benson had anything to worry about from Mitsuya's vocals but the singer sure sounded earnest.