Kyohei Nishida -- Sunday Morning

 

I don't usually see sunrises this deeply red. Was this a warning? 

Anyways, I'm starting Urban Contemporary Fridays on KKP with singer-songwriter Kyohei Nishida（西田恭平）. I first mentioned him back in 2022 with his 1981 "No Return My Love"（ノーリターン・マイラブ）, a downright downtown City Pop number of the evening.

Well, from his album  "Kyohei ~ Medium Star"（恭平・ミディアム スター）, I have another track titled "Sunday Morning" (and thank you, Marty, for putting this one up) which stands somewhat opposite from "No Return My Love" in terms of overall tone. As the title shows, it sounds like a morning brunch-friendly City Pop tune with a hint of bossa nova/Margaritaville melody and satisfying morning-after wooziness, thanks to the Fender Rhodes and the languid strings. Time for that Eggs Benedict!  

The same folks from "No Return My Love" were also responsible for "Sunday Morning": lyricist Keisuke Yamakawa（山川啓介）and composer Nishida. I also found out that Tadashige Matsui（松井忠重） was responsible for overall arrangement. Looking at that cover of Nishida and the statuesque young lady beside him, I'm reminded of one thing that Jedi Master Yoda may have said: "Size matters not".

Kyohei Nishida -- No Return My Love（ノーリターン・マイラブ）

 

I managed to find another rather obscure singer-songwriter in the annals of kayo recently. Kyohei Nishida（西田恭平）hails from Fukuoka, which has apparently been dubbed the Liverpool of Japan for its plethora of musical artists such as Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi（長渕剛）and Chage & Aska. In fact, Nagabuchi is a very close friend of Nishida, with the former even writing a song for the latter when Nishida decided to come home to Fukuoka after deciding to give up on the singing.

From what little I could dig up on Nishida, he was apparently connected with a couple of bands, White House II（ホワイトハウスII）and Crystal（クリスタル）. It was with the latter band that he entered the 1979 edition of Yamaha's Popular Song Contest.

Nishida also had his time as a solo singer. His career at that time resulted in at least one single, "No Return My Love" and one 1981 album, "Kyohei ~ Medium Star"（恭平・ミディアム スター）. "No Return My Love" is a pretty bluesy/folksy City Pop tune with lyrics by Keisuke Yamakawa（山川啓介）and melody by Nishida, and I like it for its downtown rhythm and the silky strings accompanying it. The singer also reminds me a tad of the late Kozo Murashita（村下孝蔵）who was another singer with experience in both folk and City Pop.