Cotton Time -- Baybridge Story

 

It was almost four years ago that I first posted an article featuring the band Cotton Time fronted by vocalist Yukiko Nagao（長尾由起子）. From what little I could find out about them, they were active from the late 1990s up to their breakup in 2006. However, I recently discovered that their history does go as far back as 1992.

The reason for that is that Cotton Time did release their first single or album in the form of "Baybridge Story" in that year. Written by drummer Naoki Iwata（岩田直樹）and composed by keyboardist Minako Yamashita（山下美奈子）, it's a pleasant pop song (although I wonder how it would have sounded with real horns instead of the synths) with a hint of that early 70s soul. And when it comes to that titular engineering structure, I can only think of Yokohama Bay Bridge. Of course, I've been to that area in Yokohama; just wished that I could have taken a better picture of the bridge, though. 

In a way, I think Cotton Time's sound was a harbinger of what bands such as paris match and Blue Peppers would bring some years later.