Last Friday, when I put up Iruka's（イルカ）"NYC wa Toosugite"（NYCは遠すぎて）, I realized that there have been a number of New York-themed tunes posted up here on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" over the years. And since we have those "America" tunes that I posted as an Author's Picks back in 2023, why not become even more localized and go straight to the Big Apple? A couple of them on that list ("Kennedy Airport" and "Purpletown") could comfortably belong on this list but since they're already up there, it wasn't too difficult to find two more. But without further ado, here are my five New York tunes.
(1978) Akiko Wada -- Park Avenue 7 PM
(1978) Jun Fukamachi -- Letter to New York
(1978) Cools Rockabilly Club -- Sentimental New York（センチメンタル・ニューヨーク）
(1983) Yasuhiro Abe -- Manhattan
(1985) Naoko Kawai – Manhattan Joke
New York probably has the best PR in the world. The idealized NY I hear about in music is way better than the real place nowadays.
ReplyDeleteI've got a feeling that the idealized NY heard in 70s and 80s City Pop was probably way better than the real place back then. I think NYC was on the verge of economic collapse in the late 70s. Still, I was delightfully surprised when I finally made my first visit there in 1993.
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ReplyDeleteI know it does not have New York in the title, but whenever I think of the Big Apple, the following song comes to mind: Christopher Cross - Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)
Few more notable mentions:
Pet Shop Boys (New York City Boy) - 1999
Sting (Englishman in New York) - 1987
Yup, I have "Arthur's Theme" up here as a ROY.
Deletehttps://kayokyokuplus.blogspot.com/2022/06/christopher-cross-arthurs-theme-best.html
Hello J-Canuck!
ReplyDeleteLong time no see...
As you wrote an article about one of my favorite singer, Yuko Tomita (とみたゆう子), last month and now reading this very article, I was wondering if you had ever listened to her song "New York Heroine" (ニューヨーク・ヒロイン) from her 1983 album "Shampoo". Probably in my Top 3 songs from her; the way it slowly builds up always gets me. Definitely worth a listen I think.
Hello, Daemonskald. It's been a long time. How have you been? Of course, we're still plugging away here.
DeleteThanks for the tip on "New York Heroine". I'll check it out especially because it is Tomita. 😊