Yuki Kato -- Black Jack

Scott Nazelrod via Wikimedia Commons

 

Yep, as a high schooler, three of my high school friends and I played gin, poker and blackjack for penny ante stuff. I don't recall making it big even with the chips and pennies...which has also informed my luck on lotteries.

Strangely enough, I find this "Black Jack" a whole lot more soul-satisfying. Sung by Yuki Kato（加藤有紀）, for one thing, it's got a great rumble of a rhythm...like taking a good ol' strut around Shinjuku or Roppongi. This was a 1983 single for the singer although I'm not sure whether it preceded or followed her other single "Nazo wa To-ka-na-i-de"（謎はと・か・な・い・で）from that same year. For some reason, there's also something oddly 60s about "Black Jack", as if a potential protagonist could be an adventurous spy who doesn't take himself too seriously like Matt Helm or Derek Flint. Well, Las Vegas had quite the scene back in that decade.

Kato herself was responsible for the lyrics which she delivers in quite the coquettish purr. Meanwhile, Tsunehiro Izumi（和泉常弘）took care of the cool City Pop melody. And according to Hip Tank Records, the fusion band Parachute was backing Kato up in the recording booth.