Along with his contribution of a Ken Hirai（平井堅）article a few days ago to the blog, commenter and writer Fireminer asked me about a song that the dream duo of Tomoyasu Hotei（布袋寅泰）and Brian Setzer (of the rockabilly group The Stray Cats) did almost twenty years ago. He also mentioned that he didn't know anything about rockabilly. Well, rockabilly can be found out easily enough at Wikipedia.
Hotei and Setzer under the moniker of BRIAN SETZER vs. HOTEI released their "Back Streets of Tokyo" in August 2006, and nope, this isn't rockabilly (possibly aside from a riff or two). It's just good ol' rock...and a (probably necessarily general) summarization of the two guitarists/vocalists' genuine adventures on the side streets of Roppongi within Tokyo. I've got the impression that they've been good buddies for a long time inside and outside the studio. Certainly inside it, Hotei and Setzer are just having a grand ol' time singing and playing away.
Roppongi Hills and Tokyo Midtown might be the modern and family-friendly commercial complexes in the area but there was the original main drag which has its seedy nature, and I'm pretty sure that the guys are singing about this part. I've walked along this area but it was only to dine at the much tamer restaurant Hard Rock Café. Mind you, there is also the infamous Gas Panic that I've heard tons about but never entered.
Setzer himself wrote and composed "Back Streets of Tokyo" which was used for a Sapporo Beer commercial as the single peaked at No. 19 on Oricon. It's also available on Hotei's 11th album "Soul Sessions" which was released in December 2006 and went up to No. 15.
The back streets of Tokyo can be a bit of an adventure, but I am not sure the alleyways of Tokyo are as cool as this song, or at least I imagine a different genre of music when I roam around Tokyo.
ReplyDeleteI think the alleyways of Shinjuku can be scary depending on the time of day. I don't want to meet any rats in there...the human kind, that is.
DeleteThis is true, although it probably safer than dangerous places in the big cities of my home country.
DeleteGenerally, I think Tokyo is safer than any of the other G7 countries' capitals (maybe even Ottawa) but I think some of the deeper enclaves in Shinjuku and areas between it and Shin-Okubo should be avoided at night.
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