I've been a fan of Japanese popular music for 40 years, and have managed to collect a lot of material during that time. So I decided I wanted to talk about Showa Era music with like-minded fans. My particular era is the 70s and 80s (thus the "kayo kyoku"). The plus part includes a number of songs and artists from the last 30 years and also the early kayo. So, let's talk about New Music, aidoru, City Pop and enka.
Credits
I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.
There is some cool air wafting into my room and I'm gratefully taking it all in. Summer 2024 is now one for the history books but I think there is still plenty of summer dreaming and enjoyment.
Listening to this Especia song certainly helps. "Twinkle Emotion" is a track from the aidoru group's 1st EP"DULCE" released in November 2012. The release month may not be summery but at least "Twinkle Emotion" feels like a summer party on the beach as created by mirco and Schtein & Longer. There's some of that Neo-City Pop along with the funkiness, and it still feels nice and fresh to me to the extent that I marvel at the fact that the video below is eleven years old!
This will be my final entry for this month; just wanted to bump up the monthly number. I'm still feeling rather ambitious about beating the yearly total we had last year.
It's rather intriguing about the thumbnail for the video above since this had been uploaded back in 2020, and yep, it's by the official Especia channel. That looks like an ideal poster for last year's sci-fi/horror flick "NOPE".
Anyways, I wanted to feature "Danger", Especia's final single from December 2016. Words (all in English) and music were supplied by LUCKY TAPES' Kai Takahashi（高橋海）, and though both aidoru group Especia and LUCKY TAPES have dabbled into the Neo-City Pop, "Danger" is more of a straight bass-driven funk disco number as one of the members sings about salvaging a relationship in a chaotic time although the currently lost lover may be the danger.
City Pop revivalist aidoru group Especia may not be around anymore, but their legacy of groovy aidoru pop tunes remains with us. Aside their great “GUSTO” album, my favourite ‘Especia moment’, if I can call it that way, is their major debut with the single “Aviator / Boogie Aroma”, which was released in July 2015.
“Aviator” is easily the song I listen to the most from these girls nowadays. While “Boogie Aroma” sounds cool and slick, “Aviator” is just cheesy and straight in your face with the bouncy and relentless synth bass line, which, by the way, is very reminiscent of some of Rick Astley's hits created by Stock, Aitken and Waterman circa 1987 and 1988 (and the origin of this particular bass line seems to be Colonel Abram’s club hit “Trapped”, but that’s another story), and some loud flourishes here and there. Also, the vocals, while still not great or pleasant most of the times, are full of personality, which is always a given in the group’s songs. Personally, I prefer the cheesy and bubbly “Aviator”, obviously, since I like dated and “wrong” music a lot more, but “Boogie Aroma” has plenty of charms itself, starting with what sounds like an organic bass line, the groovy chorus and some funky synth flute interludes. Both songs are great, in my opinion, and I was sad when the album that came after this single was nowhere near as fun and colorful.
To finish, here’s a video uploaded by their old label featuring a mashup of the two songs. The video is very pretty, but, unfortunately, we can only listen to bits of both “Aviator” and “Boogie Aroma”. It was surely done in a creative way to resemble 80s VHS tapes, but I’d still prefer to listen to the songs in their full versions, accompanied of their videos, since they are so good.
Lyrics
for “Aviator” were written by mirco and Paul Moriya (ポウル守谷),
while music and arrangement were composed by Schtein&Longer. As for “Boogie
Aroma”, lyrics were written by UKO, while music and arrangement were composed
by PellyColo.
I've made some wonderful discoveries on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" over the 6+ years, a number of them through my fellow collaborators and commenters. Through Marcos V., one band which caught my fancy was Especia, which is sadly no longer around.
When I was first introduced to "Kurukana"（くるかな）back in 2014, I just thought Especia was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Yes, I am exaggerating a tad here, but at the time, I couldn't even imagine a contemporary aidoru group singing songs inspired by the groovier side of City Pop of the 1980s. And yet, "Kurukana" had me at the opening riff.
Its trackmate, "L'elisir d'amore" (Elixir of Love) from their 2014 album"GUSTO", has even included some soul and rap into the groove. Written by mirco and Hitoshi Nambu（ナンブヒトシ）and composed by Schtein & Longer, Especia's singing may be on the aidoru level of things but the melody has got that intoxicating nighttime urban flavour. It's definitely the type of song that I enjoyed listening during the wee hours when I was cramming for exams or furiously trying to complete that essay during high school and university. Groove will always be gold for me.
The above was taken not too far away from home during a heavy snowstorm. It's about as February as February can get in my city. And then we hit the deep freeze in the beginning of the week.
But nothing can be taken for granted when it comes to weather in Toronto. As I've continued to say, it's predictably unpredictable. It's Saturday today and yep, we are hitting 11 degrees Celsius. Time to break out the flip-flops and sunblock lotion!
So, let me bring in some premature summery times via the good ladies at Especia. This is "Twilight Palm Beach" from their 2013 EP "Amarga - Tarde".
In Marcos V's recent articles in the last couple of months, it seems like the niche aidoru group that had been trying to corner the neo-City Pop/80s market was moving on and perhaps passing on the baton to groups such as Dance for philosophy. However, back then, Especia was bringing back the urban contemporary groove of yesteryear.
With a title like "Twilight Palm Beach", you couldn't get more City Pop/Resort Pop. There's also that nice slow beat just like lapping waves on the sunset shore. It's about as relaxed a ballad as I've heard from Especia. Heck, the cover for the EP also fairly screams the genre.
Along with the laidback music by Schtein and Longer, the lyrics by mirco and Paul Moriya（ポウル守屋）relate the bittersweet ending of a romance to go along with the cooling of the seasons. One would expect a cool basso profundo DJ to introduce and give a finishing narration to the song. "Amarga - Tarde" reached a peak ranking of No. 52 on Oricon.
Speaking of cooling of the seasons, our balmy weather will probably go into the week but rest assured, there will be at least a few more weeks of frosty times before spring finally comes into view.
The picture has nothing to do with the post itself, being just one of the random photos I took while walking around in Rio de Janeiro at night (I'm not a good photographer, though).
This year, my Author’s Pick list is comprised solely by songs released
in the past 12 months. They’re all new entries, so I’m not repeating songs I
covered through the year. Also, most of them were a big part of my year, just
to make obvious how personal this list is in the first place. I can only hope
you guys like some of the songs I’ve chosen.
10)
AKB48 -- High Tension (ハイテンション)
This one was a last-second addition – by the way, dethroning a
Dempagumi.inc (でんぱ組.inc) single –, and I
feel somewhat guilty for liking it so much right now... but AKB48’s“High
Tension” conquered its spot in this list fair and square. Probably due to the
fact I started watching the drama it’s related to with my best friend very
recently (it’s the theme song for AKB48’s drama “Cabasuka Gakuen” [キャバすか学園]), the song’s catchy factor just impregnated in
my mind – the chorus, albeit full of silly repetition, is engaging, and the
brass section in the background just helps it standout. In the end, even though
it’s AKB48 in safe mode – they recorded similar disco songs in the form of “Koi
Suru Fortune Cookie” (恋するフォーチュンクッキー) in 2013 and
“Halloween Night” (ハロウィン・ナイト) in 2015 –, I liked
its straightforward approach very much. Easily the funniest AKB48 single this
year, hands down!
NAOMiRUSTY’s “La Niña Night” (released in January) is that type of exciting
hyper processed Hi-NRG song that was so common in mainstream pop music during
the late 80s. I don’t know why she chose to record this straightorward
80s-sounding thing – with all the "cheese factor" involved – in 2016, but it
easily works for me. Also, kudos to the amazing instrumental breakdown with the
screeching synth playing alongside the relentless bass line right before the
final chorus. In some way, it reminded me of Tommy February6’s songs, and
that’s not a bad thing at all.
Okay! By now, after almost 25 years of watching Namie Amuro’s (安室奈美恵) evolution in the J-Pop landscape, it’s obvious
that she’s only worried about following Western trends and recording unashamedly
in-your-face pop hits. Is there a problem with it? No, not at all. Especially
when Amuro really commits to it, and this catchy dance number called “Fighter”
(released in October), while far from being something revolutionary – and that
was never her proposal, after all –, showcases very well how she can still
mantain her relevance in the industry after so many years.
Released in November, “In The City” is Monari Wakita’s (脇田もなり) solo debut after parting ways with aidoru
group Especia earlier this year. The song, while a little bit more mature and
far from the quirky sounds charmingly explored by Especia during their prime
days, is still close to the overall 80s-inspired City Pop sound from the group.
In the end, even though I was sad when I read the news about her departure from
the group, it’s great to follow both the renewed group’s trajectory and Monari Wakita's solo efforts as well. After all, it’s more modern City Pop and 80s fun to us.
This year, Especia lost some members and changed their sound a little
bit, trying to be more mature and laidback. With this in mind, I must say that “Danger”
(released in December) and its great combination of groovy bass line with
Philly strings is Especia’s best song in a while (last year’s “Aviator” turned
out to be my favorite Especia song), even if the choice to sing in English may
sound a little bit odd at first.
When I received my copy of Perfume’s latest album “COSMIC EXPLORER” from
the post office and put in the stereo, my father quickly asked if the Perfume
girls’ were now recording Progressive Rock-inspired songs... and I couldn’t answer
him properly at the time. However, Yasutaka Nakata (中田ヤスタカ)
undeniably embraced past sounds while creating “COSMIC EXPLORER”, and even a
whole mentality of retrofuturism that was so alive around the 70s and 80s. In
the end, even though the album itself was below the expectations (it’s nice and
fun, but not as good as past works), the title track alone – with its
futuristic arrangement coupled by Perfume’s airy yet sad vocals, or even the
mishmash of influences that ranges from Italo Disco to the aforementioned
Progressive Rock – stands out as a very strong song that showcases a more
mature group still capable of interesting things in the Technopop soundscape.
It’s a pity Nakata didn’t stick with this sound for the whole album, but I
understand he had some commercial obligations to fulfil...
Few things are more escapist than dreaming about Tokyo in the 80s/90s.
Based on that, indie producer Boogie Idol’s aptly named “Kinmyaku Rettou” is a
true ode to that space and time – with a video full of footages of urban life
in one of the world’s biggest metropolis. However, if the video wasn’t enough,
there’s also the exciting Eurobeat-esque piece of retro electronic music, which
makes for a full futuristic yet nostalgic trip.
Veteran anison singer Minami Kuribayashi (栗林みな実)
returned to the spotlight last August after two years of absence (she put the
career on hold for a little bit because of her pregnancy) with a strong number
called “Patria”. The song is not that different from what she’s been doing for
some years now – a mishmash of hyper-speed rock and electronic music with classical touches –, but the celtic (I think it can be called that way)
flourishes were very nice additions. Also, the vocals are strong as ever, even
if her pitch is still a little bit high (it’s an old characterist of her,
though). The only difference is that, right now, she’s just called Minami, as,
somehow, the Kuribayashi “surname” got lost in the way (I think it has
something to do with record labels, but I’m not sure). Anyway, it's good to see her back.
02)
Rena Matsui with SHARAN-PO-RANTAN – Shabon (シャボン)
Ex-SKE48 Rena Matsui (松井玲奈) teamed up with
cabaret-styled duo CHARAN-PO-RANTAN (チャラン・ポ・ランタン) for this little
number called “Shabon”, which was released in March. Even though I find it hard
to classify, I assume it brought some inspiration from Showa Era Kayo Kyoku –
but with some quirky twists here and there. The arrangement is quite rich with
all the accordion – courtesy from Koharu, one of the CHARAN-PO-RANTAN sisters
–, but Rena Matsui was able to shine on her own as well. It was nice to see the
famous aidoru out of her confort zone for a bit – releasing music with one of
the wackiest acts of nowadays –, and I hope she continue to do so in the near
future.
My number one position goes to a collaboration between AKB48 and
Nogizaka46 (乃木坂46), called Nogizaka
AKB (乃木坂AKB). A very unusual
song for AKB, but maybe not so much for Nogizaka, “Mazariau Mono’s” power
relies in how beautiful the melody in the chorus is. Also, it’s not a hot dance
number, not a proper ballad, but I like how classy it sounds – even if the
video seems a little odd. For me, it’s one of the rare moments when one – or
two, in this case – of the infamous “48 family” groups truly shines.
October has definitely come in like an autumn lion. There's no doubt about how chilly it's gotten in the evenings...makes for a nice brisk walk downtown in the big city on a Friday night.
I've found another soulful song to accompany that walk over to the bar, Especia's "Bay Blues". Written by mirco and composed by miifuu, it's got that fine 80s slow groove that almost demands a velvet-voiced radio DJ from the decade to introduce. Granted that the vocals won't have singers like Anita Baker or Luther Vandross shaking in their shoes, but as a tune by an aidoru group that has that nifty niche of the old City Pop and the R&B I used to know back in my high school and university days, it's alright by me.
"Bay Blues" was Track No. 2 on Especia's album"Gusto" from 2014 which peaked at No. 42 on Oricon. The title itself reminded me of the vacation that I took exactly a year ago when one Thursday night, we went down to the Odaiba district (aka Rainbow Town) on Tokyo Bay. One area has become a good night spot for photography with the Tokyo skyline and Rainbow Bridge against the night sky.
Man, I really had a major craving for salad after watching this video! I thought it was the opening credits for a TV show starring the most impossibly cool vegetables on the planet. Carter McBroccoli...that would be the lead's name.
After Marcos V. introduced me to the good ladies of Especia last year, I was pretty fascinated by a 21st-century aidoru group doing some very niche late 20th-century music...namely Japanese City Pop....or Japanese Funk, as I've seen it labeled on YouTube recently. Then, talking with commenter Ryan Miller, I found out about this genre known as Vaporwave which, and I quote, "...serves as both a critique and a parody of consumerist society, '80s yuppie culture, and New Age music, while sonically and aesthetically showcasing a curious nostalgic fascination with their artifacts." (Thank you, Wikipedia) In other words, it's poking a little good-natured fun at the decade that I started discovering music and movies....and there's plenty to make fun of (big hair, skinny ties, mullets...need I say more?).
And perhaps Especia's "No. 1 Sweeper" is an example of this Vaporwave, even more than City Pop. It just reminds me of some of the glorious bubble-era music from the late 80s. After listening to Toshiki Kadomatsu's（角松敏生）"Sea Line Rie" the other day, I think the veteran singer-songwriter could be the ancestor of this shiny-new genre. In any case, my hat is off to the composers of Schtein & Longer, especially with the addition of that pumping sax.
With that above quote about what Vaporwave is all about, I wonder if I could add the expression, "urban anarchy". Listening and reading through the Japanese lyrics by mirco, my take-away was just going nuts and having it all in Tokyo while painting the whole town red. I couldn't quite do that in The Big Sushi (since I already got too old) but I had my own time of that stuff back in the 80s as a university student in good ol' Toronto. However, a blog dedicated to Especia by the name of "Especia va Bien en EL MUNDO" has provided a pretty fine translation of the words for "No. 1 Sweeper", and it seems that there is also a mix of pep talk, philosophy and sexy come-ons buried in there as well.
"No. 1 Sweeper" is a track on Especia's first album, "Gusto" from May 2014 which peaked at No. 42 on the charts. I love the video but I think I'm still going to go with "Kurukana"（くるかな）as my favourite by the band. And I'm still scratching my head about the title. Instead of some stud in Shibuya, my mind gets filled with images of the best athlete in curling.
I gotta say that Especia does have some pretty retro-slick videos. After falling for the charms for their "Kurukana"（くるかな）from their "GUSTO" album due to the 80s-style tribute to television signoffs and the City Poppy sound, I wanted to learn a bit more about this 21st-century aidoru group with a sound that has taken me back 2 or 3 decades. Then, I came across an earlier song, the catchy "Umibe no Sati"（海辺のサティ）, and that was it. I needed to track down their discs.
So, thanks to the good folks at CD Japan, I was able to get a couple of them for Xmas. One was their maxi-single, "Midnight Confusion" (2013) which has "Umibe no Sati", and then their first full-fledged album, the aforementioned "GUSTO". I listened to both discs and a few of the new tunes stood out. One was "Aventure wa Gin'iro ni" (Adventure in Silver) from the latter album which was created by Maserati Nagisa（マセラティ渚）, who also took care of "Kurukana".
The top YouTube video has the original version of "Aventure"....the coupling song to Especia's 2nd single, "YA-ME-TE!" from January 2014. As with "Kurukana", both the song and the video brought back some of the funky images and sounds from my high school days....the folks who were responsible for the video must have really done their homework for the visual effects of that time. The above video has the version from "GUSTO" which has more of a late 80s/early 90s R&B beat somewhat reminiscent of CeCe Peniston, and is the one I prefer.
As Marcos V. stated in the very first article for Especia, the girls' vocals aren't exactly supremely polished. However, I guess as someone who has been listening to unpolished aidoru for over 30 years, I don't particularly mind as long as the music has got a pretty darn good hook, and as a lot of you readers know, I never paid all that much attention to the lyrics until my reading ability began improving during my years in Japan. For me, it was fascinating enough to listen to these off-tune aidoru tackling a genre whose heyday was back in the late 70s and early 80s.
Considering those slick music videos, their live performances seem to go into the other direction. Sometimes, I've wondered if Especia invited their fans to come to the basement of one of the girls' houses (Coke and Pringles are complementary over there in the corner by the hot water heater!), and the group suddenly whipped up their choreography.
"GUSTO" was released back in May 2014 and peaked at No. 42 on the album charts, while the single "YA-ME-TE!" did a bit better by reaching No. 34.
Especia -- GUSTO
P.S. I think I'd be rather remiss if I didn't introduce the members of Especia.
Haruka Tominaga（冨永悠香）from Takarazuka City, Hyogo Prefecture Chika Sannomiya（三ノ宮ちか）from Ikeda City, Metropolitan Osaka Chihiro Mise（三瀬ちひろ）from Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture Monari Wakita（脇田もなり）from the Goto Islands, Nagasaki Prefecture Erika Mori（森絵莉加）from Uji City, Metropolitan Kyoto Akane Sugimoto（杉本暁音）left in 2014
Marcos V. provided the first full article on Especia through their contagious melding of 80s City Pop and aidoru vocal stylings in "Kurukana"（くるかな）, and being a fan of both genres from 30 years back, I thought it was a fascinating fusion of sorts. Even before that article, he had also given a brief introduction of the group via his playlist of underground aidoru. The song he highlighted there was the remix of Especia's "Umibe no Sati" (Seaside Sati...I personally think the translated title sounds niftier), and I'm now following up with the original version.
"Umibe no Sati" is a track from the aidoru unit's first maxi-single, "Midnight Confusion" which was released in September 2013. Created by mirco and PellyColo, I was able to find a copy of the original track from the site music.163.com and it has different versions of this song along with the title track which according to Marcos' article is also pretty formidable. But take a look at that cover above....it doesn't really look like something belonging to an aidoru group, does it? It seems to more befit an album of City Pop night tunes with crooners like Yasuhiro Abe（安部恭弘）or Junichi Inagaki（稲垣潤一）.
But then "Umibe no Sati" matches that picture of a cocktail being poured in what looks to be a fairly pricey bar. As Marcos indicated in his description of "Kurukana", the vocals by the ladies won't unduly terrify Miwa Yoshida（吉田美和）or Misia (hey, they are known as aidoru after all) but the music backing them up has a really cool 80s vibe. I love those syn-drums and the persistent ringing phrase by what sounds like the Celesta setting on my old CASIO keyboard...that latter hook especially was going through my head even when I finally hit the hay; I even ended up whistling it in the dark last night as the song tunneled into my cerebrum.
There are various remixes of "Umibe no Sati". Marcos included the Vexation Edit for his article, and he was also talking about the Greeen Linez version (which is on "Midnight Confusion"). Well, some good fellow uploaded it just last month, so here it is now.
And this is Especia actually performing the song in concert. "Midnight Confusion" did fairly decently on the charts, peaking at No. 49. The unit may have yet to reach superstar status but I think the group has carved out a good niche for itself with this mix of aidoru and City Pop. The word especia means "spice" in Spanish, and Especia (along with the other new genre aidoru groups) has certainly provided its fair share of spice into this area of J-Pop. Of course, I'm biased here (being a City Pop fan)...and perhaps somewhat greedy since I'm hoping that there will be at least one more unit ready to bring a bit of AOR/City Pop sensibility to the table.
Especia
is easily my favorite aidoru group of 2014. Even though the girls are far from
being great vocalists, their musicians team is absurdly great, as they’re
responsible for the decadent and retro "City Pop meets disco" sound that the group keep
implementing with each new release. Crowning this concept, last month, in May
2014, Especia released “GUSTO”, their first full lenght album with lots of
interesting songs. The one that first caught my attention was “Kurukana”, one
of the songs chosen to promote the album.
“Kurukana” is a very unique song that showcases Especia’s nostalgic factor very
well. The laidback groove, typical of a lonely night in a Tokyo apartment
during the 80s, is the most charming point of the song, but the vocals are also
very likeable. Although the song, per se, is great, if combined with the video
it makes an even more outstanding result. Full of dated visual effects and an
aesthetic that resembles Japanese early morning shows mixed with world weather reports,
“Kurukana’s” video is just an explicit ode to the bubble era. In a very simple
way, it’s pure genious!
Especia’s “GUSTO” album reached #42 on the Oricon charts, selling around 2097 copies. Lyrics, music and arrangement for "Kurukana" were all done by Maserati Nagisa (マセラティ渚).
Inspired by my own post about Greeen Linez’s “HibiscusPacific”, I came up with a small playlist of retro inspired songs focusing mostly
in late night grooves and some underground aidoru-pop
gems that also flirts with a retro style. As always, I had a lot of fun “building”
this entry, and I hope you guys enjoy the songs presented here. Also, different
from my other lists, there's no preference order here.
I consider Hitomitoi’s (一十三十一) “Dive” to be Greeen Linez’s “Hibiscus Pacific” sister track. They’re not directly related, but both songs were released around the same time (summer of 2012) and featured a City Pop inspiration. Based on that, “Dive” is a lovely light disco song that would not be out of place in a late night walk around the city. It was included in Hitomitoi’s 2012 City Pop album, “City Dive”. Also, the video portrays a beautiful and sexy Hitomitoi. It’s worth a watch.
Especia is quite an underground aidoru group with a gimmick focused on a retro 80s style. Unfortunately (or fortunately), I couldn’t find the original version of “Umibe no Sati” (海辺のサティ), which is not as lengthy as this one. On the other hand, this "Vexation Edit" remix is amazing for people that, just like me, love extended versions of these types of grooves. As for the song, it’s a nice late-night funky gem with a warm melody. Also, the arrangement is incredibly rich with lots of synths and catchy electronic drums. Finally, “Umibe no Sati” can be found in Especia’s “Midnight Confusion” (ミッドナイトConfusion) single ("Midnight Confusion", the title track, is also a killer synthpop aidoru song).
As a side note, a Greeen Linez remix of "Umibe no Sati" was also included in the "Midnight Confusion" single, but I couldn't find it on YouTube.
Negicco’s shibuya-key styled “Aidoru Bakari Kikanaide” (アイドルばかり聴かないで) is a bright aidoru song about a girl who wants her boyfriend to pay more attention to her instead of keep listening to aidoru songs. It’s a fun critique that reveals the self-awareness of this aidoru group. The song, which was released in 2013, features strong and tense strings, courtesy of Pizzicato Five’s Konishi Yasuharu (小西康陽). As for the video, while not very complex, features an interesting retro and classy style.
NOTE: If the link above gets deleted, here's an alternative link featuring half of the song (click here). Since this alternative link is from the label's official YouTube channel, it probably won't go away.
saori@destiny was an electro-pop artist that
started singing around 2007, when Perfume and a bunch of other auto-tuned
artists were trying to conquer the Oricon charts. Also, as everybody knows,
only Perfume reached stardom while the others faded after a couple of good
releases. In the case of “OFF THE WALL”, it’s an album track that was included in
saori@destiny’s 2011 mini-album “Domestic domain”. Alongside the laid-back funky
vibe, I dig the synth melody that comes along in the 1:07 mark. It also makes a
second appearance in a filtered form after the 2:29 mark. As for saori, her
vocals, although auto-tuned to death, are kind of wispy and sexy in a way that matches
the song’s vibe very well.
The now disbanded Tomato n’ Pine released the glittery disco “Captain wa Kimi da!” (キャプテンは君だ!) as their first "indies" single back in 2010. The song is quite something and I remember that it was the only “new” thing that caught my eyes when I watched the DVD featuring performances of the first Tokyo Idol Festival at the time. Although not a laidback groovy song like some of the others it has a nice throwback sound and a bright aidoru vibe. Bass, strings, horns, cute girls and a good melody… what more could I ask?
