Herb Alpert -- Rise

 

A few years ago, I posted another Reminiscings of Youth article regarding Joe Jackson's classy "Steppin' Out" from 1982 and how I first heard it when I was walking through a Hudson's Bay department store (which is now extinct, by the way) near its record album department. The same thing had happened to me perhaps a few years earlier with a totally different song. There was all this groove and funk surrounding a lone and perhaps lonely trumpet with such a sharp presence.

I couldn't identify it back then but I would gradually find out that this was the one and only Herb Alpert behind his July 1979 "Rise". You could have knocked me down with a feather at that realization; I'd had no idea it was the same guy behind his iconic 1960s Tijuana Brass sound and the man behind the jolly "Casino Royale" theme. "Rise" sounded so sexy and urban (so I guess it was well titled, eh?😈) and quite different from what had come before. Apparently, Alpert had once been asked to come up with disco versions of his old hits such as "Tijuana Taxi" and "A Taste of Honey" but he (and I) didn't feel too comfortable with that and so a new song was crafted. Good choice!

"Rise" hit No. 1 on US Billboard while on Canada's RPM, it hit No. 5. Back in March, Alpert celebrated his 90th birthday and so there was a feature celebrating his life and career as shown below. Still on the trumpet, I see!

So, what was in the Top 3 of Oricon when "Rise" had been released a few days prior?. 

1. Sachiko Kobayashi -- Omoide Zake （おもいで酒）

2. Satoshi Kishida -- Kimi no Asa （君の朝）

3. Masashi Sada -- Kanpaku Sengen （関白宣言）