Yuko Kawai -- 1959 Omoide no Dance Hall（1959 想い出のダンス・ホール）

 

It was a dozen years ago when I posted my first article on footloose-and-fancy-free singer-songwriter Yuko Kawai（河合夕子）with her "Tokyo-tique Girl"（東京チーク・ガール）from 1981. It was quite the summery and nostalgic pop tune from way back when in my kayo kyoku memories.

"Tokyo-tique Girl" was also a track in Kawai's May 1981 debut album "Little Tokyo"（リトル・トウキョウ）and also from there, I give you another song "1959 Omoide no Dance Hall" (The 1959 Dance Hall of My Memories). Written and composed by the singer with Masao Urino（売野雅勇）helping out with the lyrics, it's quite the interesting mix of reggae and Dixieland jazz within a matrix of New Music that had me thinking of Tin Pan Alley from the 1970s. Maybe it can also be considered to be an exotic kayo as well due to the mention of Singapore in there.