Well, it was quite a time in Toronto over the past few weeks. This World Cup that had been talked about for years and years finally showed up and ended with one of the mighty showstopping games of the tournament between Portugal and Croatia last night. I'm not a big soccer fan but even I had known that Portugal and Croatia would be a huge spectacle and it was. And up until then, Toronto got to see some massive fan parades downtown in the afternoons including the one represented by Germany above. But now that my hometown has finished its contribution to World Cup 2026, Toronto Stadium is now losing its extra seats and being reconverted back to ol' BMO Field.
Coincidentally, speaking of afternoon parades, I have here singer-songwriter Shikao Suga's（スガシカオ）"Gogo no Parade" (Afternoon Parade). Suga was actually on yesterday's "Premium Talk" segment of NHK's "Asaichi"（あさイチ）morning information show and he got to perform what I had thought was some new material. As it turned out, it was more of his old hits including "Gogo no Parade".
When it comes to Suga's discography, I've known him primarily for "Progress", the theme song for NHK's long-running documentary series "Professional ~ Shigoto no Ryuugi"（プロフェッショナル 仕事の流儀...The Professionals ~ The Style of Work）, and the big hit that he provided SMAP with, "Yozora no Mukou"（夜空ノムコウ）. I'd had no idea that he did have a taste for disco (as do I) but he got that itch that he needed to scratch, so he whipped up the fun "Gogo no Parade".
Released as Suga's 21st single in September 2006, he wanted to go for the disco gusto, so he contacted former Simply Red drummer Gota Yashiki（屋敷豪太）. Of course, disco needs strings so Yashiki himself got in touch with the production team behind Jamiroquai with the result being that the London Session Orchestra lent a hand. Put up that disco ball! Not only was Yashiki on the drums but the late singer-songwriter Nobuo Ariga（有賀啓雄）was on the bass.
"Gogo no Parade" hit No. 23 on Oricon. It was also used as a theme song for a number of projects including a real estate firm commercial, a movie and a music variety show. As for the music video, it was filmed at a wedding reception hall in Atsugi City, Kanagawa Prefecture. Just the place for some group summer fun.
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