Chiaki Fujita with onda -- Nighty Night

 

The term "nighty night" was something that I had thought was relegated back decades in the 20th century as an expression to those sleepy heads. Maybe the first time I heard it was in the above video for a classic Bugs Bunny cartoon (you can hear the expression used at 4:00).

However, it's been used relatively recently when it was made into a title of a track from Sing Like Talking's Chiaki Fujita's（藤田千章）"un-categorized [Default]" album from April 2022. I posted about one of the other tracks, "I Want Your Love", back in that same year which was much different in style from this one. Instead of the urban contemporary synthpop stylings there, "Nighty Night" is much more grounded and earthier with the string instruments emitting such tender music that a fork can cut into it easily. And it's sung by onda who unfortunately I haven't been able to get any information about. But in any case, it is the type of song that you can softly give your nighty nights to.

Chiaki Fujita with Hiromi Ishizuka -- I Want Your Love

 

Ahhh...Shibuya Station. It's one of the primary meeting places in Tokyo with the area in front of the station absolutely teeming with humanity especially on Friday nights. Within that mass is the famous statue of Hachiko, the world's most loyal dog.

I do remember somehow surviving the crowds when my friends and I met up at Hachiko for dinner or a movie in Shibuya, and as you can see above, heading back into the station to head home was no small chore either.

This music video has Shibuya Station and Hachiko as the backdrop, and it's for a song featuring Chiaki Fujita（藤田千章）and singer-songwriter Hiromi Ishizuka（石塚裕美）titled "I Want Your Love". Now, if that first name sounds familiar, then you must be a Sing Like Talking fan. I've always seen that name alongside vocalist Chikuzen Sato（佐藤竹善）and guitarist Tomohiko Nishimura（西村智彦）for years as the trio came up with some of the smoothest pop songs making them the Princes of J-AOR. I actually discovered this tune while I was writing up the article for the band's "Find It (In Your Heart) ~ Shoka no Inshou"（初夏の印象）last week.

Fujita has been the keyboardist and synthesizer player for SLT, but in April 2022, he released a solo album with a title so non-descript that I thought initially that it was some sort of technical placeholder until the real title was settled upon. "un-categorized [Default]" has this "I Want Your Love", a mellow synthpop tune with a funky Neo-City Pop feel. As for Ishizuka, her website describes her also as a narrator and a chorus arranger who hails from Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, right beside Shibuya. She made her major debut in 1995.