Bay Bridge Blues by Yoshiaki Ohuchi

One of the anime series I grew up watching — and was definitely too young for — was MD Geist. It was a pretty typical post-apocalyptic, hyper-violent sci-fi OVA from the ’80s and '90s. One thing I can always count on with OVAs is a killer soundtrack, and MD Geist was no different.

As it turns out, the soundtrack for MD Geist 2 was composed by Yoshiaki Ohuchi（大内義昭）, who not only worked on other anime soundtracks like City Hunter, but also composed songs for other artists. Unsurprisingly, he also has his fair share of solo albums. I first recognized his voice on his 1989 solo debut, Back Seat, whose album cover appears to be an homage to Tetsuji Hayashi’s Back Mirror. But where I was truly impressed was his second album from 1990, Remember Blues.

Hotdamn, this guy cooked.

You can definitely feel the blues in this album, intertwined with some good old-fashioned AOR. It helps that Ohuchi himself has that unmistakable ’90s anime opening-theme voice that instantly gives every song a sense of drama, momentum, and presence. It’s hard to pinpoint my favorite song on this record, but it’s a tie between Bay Bridge Blues and Trouble Maker. Trouble Maker has a great danceable beat and strikes the perfect balance between funky and rockin’. Bay Bridge Blues has that classic ’80s kayō ballad feel. I can envision Kazuma Kiryu — for all my Yakuza fans — sitting at a bar, reminiscing about his life over a few shots of whiskey. It helps that Yoshiaki himself has that 90s anime OP voice that brings a presence to each song. 

I know J-Canuck has written about Ohuchi in the past, especially since he composed music for Kahoru Kohiruimaki (小比類巻かほる), but Remember Blues is a great starting point for exploring his solo career.