Friday, September 4, 2026

Fruitcake -- I Like the Way

By the Mighty Grog via Wikimedia Commons

A couple of years ago, I introduced a Dutch jazz-fusion band called Fruitcake through their song "A Little Place in My Heart". Now, this is a Japanese music blog as we all have known for almost a decade and a half, but bass player Jan-Paul Driessen and guitarist Rob Taekema and the rest of his band have become so popular in Japan that perhaps talks on permanent residency probably did come up sometime over the past forty years or so.

Well, "A Little Place in My Heart" was the second track on their 1983 debut album "Fruitcake". The first track was "I Like the Way" and the way it rolls off the player, it is as one commenter put it, "This is perfect music for a television weather forecast". I would also add "...in Japan". However, I can also analogize this first track as being fine accompaniment for a shopping trip through Tokyo or a sit-down at a stylish cafe somewhere in the megalopolis. There's just something about the tripping on those keys that has me thinking Japan in the Economic Bubble...although that wouldn't start officially for another couple of years.

2 comments:

  1. I have to say that I like tune a lot more than I like the typical fruit cake that was usually given out for free. Now, there is some good quality fruit cake out there, but that my friend is a story for another day.

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    1. Yes, I can understand your quandary regarding fruitcake. I've had the infamous variety which could be used as a lethal weapon. But there are also some really nice and tasty ones.

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