Masayoshi Takanaka/Izumi Kobayashi -- Palm St.

 

I started off today's batch of urban contemporary tunes with a sultry nocturnal song by Naomi Akimoto（秋本奈緒美）, so why not wrap up things with something conversely lighter and bouncier?

Here's something to go with your margarita. "Palm St." is a track on guitarist Masayoshi Takanaka's（高中正義）6th original album "T-Wave" from June 1980, an album that hit No. 7 on Oricon and ended the year as the 34th-ranked LP. It's quite the spritzer of a song that was composed by Izumi Kobayashi（小林泉美）as a tune to get folks into a conga line out at some Caribbean resort after dinner to shave off the calories. When Takanaka gets on a bender with his guitar, enjoy the ride!

Speaking of composer Mimi, the musician did a self-cover of "Palm St." the following year when she released her first solo album "Coconuts High" in December 1981. This slightly longer version has Kobayashi showing off some layered scatting, more steel pan and her own virtuoso performance on the keyboards in an arrangement that invites some good old jamming. Incidentally, I covered the final track on "Coconuts High" a few years ago, "Mr. Cool".