Once again, I bid you welcome to the weekly Reminiscings of Youth where I post an article on an old song from outside of Japan that I have cherished since my days as a young lad in Toronto. It's been a while, so I wanted to write something on one of my favourite pop groups, The Manhattan Transfer.
I actually saw the guys perform this on an episode of that music show "Solid Gold" decades ago, and thought it was a pretty darn cool tune. This would be "Mystery", straight from The Manhattan Transfer's September 1983 album "Bodies and Souls" which also has one of their biggest hits, "Spice of Life" that I've covered in a past ROY article. And as with "Spice of Life", the late great Rod Temperton took care of this urbane and soulful ballad. Both songs were the many examples of the Transfer's urban contemporary phase spanning from the late 1970s going into the 1980s.
Now, it was just a couple of weeks ago that I devoted the ROY that time to Anita Baker's scintillating "Rapture" album. It was there that I mentioned that there was especially one track on the album that I wanted to focus upon, and indeed, it's this one, the Queen of Quiet Storm's own cover of "Mystery". Her take fits very well with the overall mood of the album and she handles it with absolute aplomb. If I had to make a choice between the two, though, I would have to go with The Manhattan Transfer's original because of those wonderful harmonies elicited from the group.
Going with the September 1983 release of "Bodies and Souls", what were some Japanese singles being released that month?
Naoko Kawai -- Unbalance （ＵＮバランス）
Checkers -- Gizagiza Heart no Komori Uta （ギザギザハートの子守唄）
Yu Hayami -- Lucky Lips (ラッキィ・リップス)
That video of Naoko Kawai you posted was very satisfying! It had her introduction, performance, and a short interview, too!
ReplyDeleteHi, Brian! After getting videos that have blocked you, I'm glad that you finally got one that has a lot of information.
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