Minako Yoshida & Tatsuro Yamashita/Niteflyte -- If You Want It

 

If you want it...you can get it!

Yum!

I was going to have some leftover spaghetti with some butter, soy sauce and pepper. But then I discovered that my supermarket was selling fully cooked smoked bacon. Well, since I think that pasta without some sort of meat is just plain naked, I wanted it, I could get it, and I got it! Throw in a few hot pepper flakes and I've got my make-do Pasta Pepperoncino. 

Now this whole joke segue landed in a pile of fortuitous coincidence since I would come home to the blog to find a comment from Francois stating his discovery of a wonderful cover by the duo of Tatsuro Yamashita and Minako Yoshida（山下達郎・吉田美奈子）, and those two have been responsible for the creation of some of the more beloved City Pop songs from that original period of the late 1970s going well into the 1980s. 

I am talking about their rendition of Niteflyte's "If You Want It", and many thanks to Francois for the recommendation. Apparently, this was some 1980 studio recording of the original 1979 single by the American funk group, so perhaps Yamashita and Yoshida performed it during a radio show, but the two are full money on their cover, especially due to Yoshida's soaring vocals. It's a wonder that the two didn't do any more of these duets. By the way, listening to this, I can get an idea of how "Sparkle" came about.

I can't think of a better song to start off this edition of Urban Contemporary Fridays on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" than "If You Want It". It was love and not bacon that was the subject of the original Niteflyte song which peaked at No. 37 on Billboard, and I have to admit that I love the original even more thanks to those disco strings which have plucked my own heart strings. And the groove is mighty epic! "If You Want It" is also present on the band's self-titled debut album from 1979. By the way, I wrote about Niteflyte for the first time almost a year ago with their 1981 "You Are".

Now I'm going off to have my pasta!🍝

Niteflyte -- You Are

 

The duo Niteflyte has nothing to do with Japan, of course. Howard Johnson and Sandy Torano hail from the United States and during their initial time together between 1979 and 1981, they came up with their groovy brand of funk, soul and AOR. But considering how much AOR is beloved by the Japanese, I wouldn't be surprised if Niteflyte is more famous in that nation than they are in their native country.

Anyways, I'm using my "Free Parking" card that I've utilized with acts like Ole Børud and Young Gun Silver Fox, and bringing in Niteflyte without needing the Reminiscings of Youth label. And it's totally appropriate in this case because I only heard about their 1981 single "You Are" just within the last few months and not decades ago when I was a teen just getting into music. The funk, fusion and mellow Latin style brought into "You Are" goes down as well as the smoothest summer cocktail, and I have to thank the good folks at YouTube channel West Coast 99 for introducing this gem to me.