I enjoy getting a little surprise in the form of yet another new discovery from a singer that I've always liked. Actor-singer Akira Terao（寺尾聡）has been someone that I've covered since the earliest days of the blog starting with his No. 1 "Reflections" album and his City Pop entries are very much cherished by me.
Well, whaddaya know? I found this one for the first time in his discography. "Long Distance Call" just happened to be Terao's 6th single from December 1982, and the same team who was helping out the singer-songwriter on "Reflections" gave their contributions here, too: lyricist Masako Arikawa（有川正沙子）and arranger Akira Inoue（井上鑑）. "Long Distance Call", a song about getting that unexpected midnight ring in the dark metropolis, is quite the rambunctious AOR tune most likely reflecting the tumultuous feelings roiling about the protagonist's mind and soul about this call from far away. The horns coming in near the end are a nice touch, too.
I remember placing my first long-distance calls while abroad in Japan. They weren't nearly as dramatic as Terao's phone calls but I had to figure out things such as collect calls, person-to-person, and station-to-station. Still not too sure about the difference between those last two.
I may have to break to you the sad news that last August 9, Nobuo Yamada aka NoB, lead singer of Make-Up and the voice of theme songs for anime and tokusatsu has passed away. He was 61. He will be missed so much in the anison community.
ReplyDeleteYes, I read the J-Wiki and Wikipedia articles which have now included news of his untimely death. I knew him from the duo MAKE-UP which did a "Saint Seiya" theme song.
DeleteShould amend one thing in my previous comment. MAKE-UP was a full rock band!
DeleteHey, Akira Terao performed at Link Station Hall in Aomori on April 20th. My wife and mother in-law went to his concert and he performed "Long Distance Call".
ReplyDeleteYour wife and mother-in-law are very fortunate people to have seen him in person. It's probably very difficult for most foreign fans of Japanese singers to get to see them at a concert since the singers' fan clubs gobble the tickets up very quickly.
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