Yutaka Mizutani -- Mayonaka no Swing（真夜中のスウィング）

 

I've read that Yutaka Mizutani's（水谷豊）long-running detective series "Aibou"（相棒）just entered its 25th season last month. It might be rather difficult to distinguish between Mizutani and his famed character of Ukyo Sugishita at this point. 

But let's get back to his early career as a singer. Of course, kayo veterans will remember his "California Connection"（カリフォルニア・コネクション）from 1979. This time, though, I have his April 1981 single "Mayonaka no Swing" (Midnight Swing) which was released two years to the day that "California Connection" had come out. 

To be honest, "Mayonaka no Swing" sounds so bright and uppity that I probably would consider it more "Mahiru no Swing" (High Noon Swing), and that's thanks to Ryohei Yamanashi's（山梨鐐平）melody and Takahiko Ishikawa's（石川鷹彦）arrangement. Actually, when I saw Yamanashi's name in there, I kinda went "Ahh...naruhodo" since his works as a singer and songwriter have also shown a certain ebullient flair drawing in a number of genre influences such as jazz. From "Mayonaka no Swing", I get some of that good-time rock n' roll, jazz, disco and musical elegance. Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）provided the lyrics.