When talking about Yoshitaka Minami, it's probably good to face the fact of his charm as a singer. His unique vocals with their presence and depth evoke a certain machismo. From 1973 when he debuted with a Takashi Matsumoto-produced（松本隆）song, "Matenrou no Heroine"（摩天楼のヒロイン）, to the present day, his excellent expressivity from his masterful singing of everything ranging from bright sambas to jazzy ballads hasn't changed one iota.
In the case of all of the City Pop artists listed in this book, when it comes to mentioning Minami in that one phrase as a singer-songwriter, I get the impression from many of his songs that it is his abilities as a songwriter that raises his expressivity as a singer. Namely, there is no small number of artists in the City Pop scene who don't have their own hits, although they have provided hits to other singers and aidoru, but Minami is the one first-class singer who can boast his own hits such as "Monroe Walk" and "Slow na Boogie ni Shite Kure"（スローなブギにしてくれ）.
As a songwriter, maybe it was because he performed jazz in his music circle, but Minami has been incredibly good at incorporating not just jazz but bossa nova and other Latin genres into his original compositions. It's through these sophisticated songs that his albums "South of the Border" (above) and "Seventh Avenue South" under the splendid arrangements by Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）and Nick DeCaro respectively not only became Minami's masterpieces but two of the best works that City Pop has had to offer. No matter how much the times change, Minami's world of urban and refined music will never change. Even in these uncertain times, people would love to learn how adults truly live the stylish life through his music.
The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised" (2020).
I find this tune to be very cool and very sexy!
ReplyDelete