With only a week left before summer officially leaves us for another year, I thought that this might be an appropriate song to post here. Actually, the article was spurred on by a fellow named Gregory who had contacted me a few days ago to ask about a group named BLUEW. And just to calm the nerves of the stricter linguists out there, it is pronounced "BLUE" so no need to worry about distorting the lips or any jaw muscles unduly.
Interestingly enough, I had read of BLUEW before (there really isn't any way that I could forget a band name like that) and perhaps one of the members such as vocalist Keiji Katayama（片山圭司）has popped up in another article as a songwriter but for the life of me, I can't quite remember. But first, let's take a gander at the first track from the band's June 1987 2nd album "Surfbreak", "Natsu, Kimi ni my Love" (Summer, My Love to You). I gather that just from this song alone, other summery surf-ready bands of the 1980s such as TUBE and Omega Tribe can move a little more to the side to allow BLUEW on board. Written by Tomoko Aran（亜蘭知子）, who also wrote for TUBE in their early years, and composed by Katayama, what stands out are Katayama's slightly gravelly vocals, that saxophone which sounds as if it migrated from a Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）summer tune, and the background harmonies that bring to mind the works of the band Spectrum and TUBE. Summer is definitely here to stay if this song has any say in it.
BLUEW first formed in 1986 with four singles and four albums coming out in 1987 and 1988, and although the band would break up in 1989, the members have continued to correspond with each other. In addition to Katayama, there was also Kazutomo Wakashima（鮫島一友）, the drummer who played on the first self-titled album before leaving the group, second drummer Michiaki Ishiwatari（石渡道明）, guitarist Takashi Masuzaki（増崎孝司）, bassist Kaoru Ohhori（大堀薫）and keyboardist Takanobu Masuda（増田隆宣）.
Thanks for putting up this article! I've been a really big fan of these guys ever since i first listened to them a few years ago. Even with their cult classic status over in Japan there's little information about them, and even finding their live vids or even their albums can be quite hard.
ReplyDeleteFortunately I was able to listen to all of them and I can proudly say there isn't a single bad song in all of their four albums.
Starting with their self titled debut in february of 87' you can notice a lot of the New Wave style of the era, along with their own spin on it by mixing it with the more mellow and sometimes melancholic sounds of the City Pop of the 80's, this album brought two of their most popular songs, Minami E Hashire (Run South), and Mr. Dandy which was used as the ending of the first ova of Bubblegum Crisis.
Their second album, Surfbreak, released on july of the same year, as the name indicates, focuses more on Summer sounds, and while it isn't bad at all you can notice a shift on them going for the more commercial style of the 80's Summer City Pop akin to Tatsuro Yamashita and Toshiki Kadomatsu at some extent, some notable pieces of it are Misty Summer Love and an extended version of Minami E Hashire featuring a killing guitar solo.
Their third album, and in my opinion their best work, Reason, was released on christmas of that year. And what a christmas gift it was. Featuring more complex compositions that showcase each member of the band at their creativy peak, making each song a standalone powerhouse that makes one think about it less than an album and more of a recollection of each member's soul pouring into each song. It's hard choosing a single one to consider as the best song on it, but some of it's most popular songs are Night&Day, which was featured in the anime Kimagure Orange Road, Bijin (美人), Shiny, and 君が恋したSeason. This album right here is a must listen for any City Pop fan in my opinion, and one that could be considered a top conteder for one of the best City Pop albums ever.
Sadly after that they went on to release what is, in my opinion, their weakest album, No Return, by july of 88'. This album is complicated to speak of since it isn't bad per say, but the shift to a more pop-rock oriented style, resembling a softer version of The Blue Hearts, didn't suit the band. One could ever consider the title a foreshadow of what would come to the band next since they disbanded shortly after and each member went to pursue other projects. Some notable songs on it are the self titled No Return, Precious Woman and Humanity.
After the band disbanded tracking each member's record is somewhat hard, most notably, vocalist Keiji Katayama went on to work on more Heavy Metal centered projects, like the band Spade, which released some great albums that are even harder to find than Bluew's works, that are also worth listening to and feel like a more refined version of what they were trying to head to with No Return.
I'd strongly recommend any City Pop fan looking for a not so well known band to give their whole discography a listen (which fortunately has been uploaded recently to Youtube and Spotify).
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChYflF3VvfVjvOXYGnhKE-w
My pleasure, Gregory. Glad that you enjoyed the article and thanks very much for the additional information and recommendation for BLUEW.
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