Mitsuyoshi Azuma & The Swinging Boppers -- Yappari Niku wo Kuou（やっぱり肉を食おう）

 

Back on Urban Contemporary Friday on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", I mentioned about the history of hot dogs and Tokyo during my time there via Jun Fukamachi's（深町純）New York City-loving "On The Move". However, the fast food that really took off during the last several years of my life in the Kanto area was the hamburger. I mean, franchises such as McDonalds, Lotteria and Mosburger had always been there but it seems like going into the late 2000s, the independent burger joint was starting to pop here and there like the mushrooms that also popped up on the burgers themselves.

My friends and I checked out a number of those places and one such place was The Great Burger where I took this photo of a fairly sizable Bacon Cheeseburger. That was always the one that I ordered as the test subject for any burger joint. I can't quite remember let alone distinguish the differences in good taste among the burgers at this stage, but I don't ever recall having a bad time at any of them. Another commonality was that each burger came in a cute little paper sleeve so that none of the juices or condiments ended up on fingers which I think is a very Japanese thing; over here, we love getting our hands messy...all the more reason to lick them!😋

Indeed, I am an omnivore. I love my meat but I also learned to love the salad as well during my time in the Kanto. Still, I tend toward the carnivorous side so beef, chicken, pork and fish have always been welcome to drop in my mouth at any time. So, this is the reason that I've started this to segue into "Yappari Niku wo Kuou" (C'mon! Let's Eat Some Meat) by the jump blues and swing band Mitsuyoshi Azuma & The Swinging Boppers（吾妻光良 & The Swinging Boppers）.

Back in August last year, I introduced these guys born from an association between a music circle and a modern jazz club at Waseda University in the late 1970s. The topic of that article was the bluesy song devoted to Akihabara and that was found on their third album "Stompin' & Bouncin' ~ The Great Victor Masters 1990-1991" from October 1991. But it looks like over a decade passed before the band's next album came out, "Squeezin' & Blowin'" in February 2002 and "Yappari Niku wo Kuou" is the snazzy tune that starts things off here. Not surprisingly, Azuma gives his level best in expressing everyone's love for the protein in any form. It just all reminds me of that swing revival period that included bands like Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and the Squirrel Nut Zippers.

These are not The Swinging Boppers but the Manpuku Ryodan（満福旅団...The Manpuku Brigade） doing a smoking fun cover of "Yappari Niku wo Kuou" via uploader shion3627.

Mitsuyoshi Azuma & The Swinging Boppers -- Akihabara（秋葉原）

 

I've mentioned this before and I'll mention this again but summers are one of the very few things that I don't miss about the Tokyo area because of the oppressive heat and humidity. One place I do miss though is the electronics district of Akihabara although in recent years, people have wondered whether it's solely a place for the gadget geeks anymore and now just one of the many entertainment areas in the megalopolis. Whatever the opinion is, I remember relying on Akihabara during those hot summers for air-conditioned solace in any of the electronics shops such as Ishimaru, Laox or Yodobashi, especially when I could get a free massage in those souped-up massage chairs. Even outside, there have been plenty of vending machines to slake a very dry thirst although in the height of the summer, a lot of juices and milks were sold out.

Anyways, I am here tonight to present "Akihabara" by Mitsuyoshi Azuma（吾妻光良）& The Swinging Boppers. I never would have imagined that a blues song would ever be made for this particular neighbourhood. Ginza, Asakusa and Ueno have probably had their blues songs but Akihabara?

Yet, here one is and "Akihabara" is so bluesy that I just had to put in the Blues label for the first time on KKP (and so I'll have to hunt down any other kayo in the past that can fit the category). This song was created and performed by Azuma and his band as a track for their third album "Stompin' & Bouncin' ~ The Great Victor Masters 1990-1991" which was released in October 1991. There are some fine horns dancing about in the performance and Azuma himself has a nice mix of rasp and gloss in his vocals, and from what I can understand from the sung lyrics, he's describing what Akihabara was like back in those days: a huge square of electronic parts and appliance shops for the appropriate geeks to delight in.

Starting out in Shinjuku in 1979, Mitsuyoshi Azuma & The Swinging Boppers specialize in jump blues and swing jazz according to J-Wiki. When Azuma was a part of a music circle called Rock Climbing at Waseda University, he and his friend who had been involved in jazz music decided to hold a Big Band performance as a graduation memento event which led to the eventual formation of The Swinging Boppers. Their first album, "Swing Back With The Swinging' Boppers", came out in 1983, and it was only a couple of years ago that they released their most recent album "Scheduled by the Budget", and there has even been a single which came out last year in November, "Big Bug Boogie".