CHAKA -- Call Me ~ Oboeteite Hoshii（覚えていてほしい）

 

Well, by this point on Saturday night, I would have already had my two articles up on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" and perhaps watching the NHL playoffs or doing something else. But weirdly, earlier this afternoon, for some reason, Blogger had a technical issue which didn't allow me to edit or create new postings, so I was left wondering whether after doing twelve years of KKP and the years of the earlier blog while I had been  living in Japan actually filled up all the space I could within the platform. However, I think an email with a screenshot sent to the Blogger administrators took care of things, so I'm back here now.

What I had been planning to post and what I am posting right now is something different from singer-songwriter and English teacher CHAKA (aka Mami Yasunori). Of course, fans including me remember her as the vocalist for the quirky 80s technopop duo PSY-S. With her partner Masaya Matsuura（松浦雅也）, they came up with some great songs that had more hooks than a fisherman's tackle box. 

However, once PSY-S' day was done in the early 1990s, I knew that CHAKA had gone the jazz route as part of her musical odyssey, but I only found out about this album and the opening track just a few short months ago. Her 1999 "I Found Love" begins with "Call Me ~ Oboeteite Hoshii" (I Want You To Remember Me), a tenderhearted piano pop ballad fronted by the familiar and sweet vocals of CHAKA. The arrangement was handled by keyboardist Satoru Shionoya（塩谷哲）, formerly of Japanese salsa band extraordinaire Orquesta De La Luz and an artist who has helped other singers such as Chikuzen Sato（佐藤竹善）. Basically, Shionoya is one of the few names that I see in the details of a song that would immediately get my attention., and he's done it once again here.

"Call Me" could be tear-inducing. I haven't gone into CHAKA's lyrics but the tone of the ballad is reminiscent of a woman whose relationship with another has unfortunately ended but she still pines for her now-former significant other and asks kindly that she be contacted again once in a while. It's rather ironic that I had been planning to go with this song even before the Blogger issue occurred since I felt just like the title. Anyways, thank you Blogger for resolving the problem.

Satoru Shionoya -- Chase for Truth

 

With the added burden of COVID-19, I gather that there are a lot of folks out there who really want to flee like scampering antelope away from winter as far and as fast as possible. Someday, they can head off to warmer climes such as Florida or Hawaii.

Apologies but I cannot help you with your travel logistics. However, perhaps what I can do is provide some appropriate music to assist in your imaginings of those heavenly areas. As I did with my last Satoru Shionoya（塩谷哲）article, I've got another track from his "SALT III" album of 1997.

Unfortunately, I keep thinking of bilateral missile treaties when I see that title, but otherwise, there is some comfortable music with the pianist's album. "Chase for Truth" has oodles of heat and refreshing summery cocktails within Shionoya's virtuoso playing and Latin beat. I've said it at least once before and I'll say it again, but whenever I see his name in liner notes, I automatically take notice and look forward to the arrangement.

Satoru Shionoya -- Side By Side (We Go)

 

Writing about Sing Like Talking last night, I can't help but remember pianist Satoru Shionoya（塩谷哲） because he and SLT vocalist Chikuzen Sato（佐藤竹善）have collaborated together on songs. For example, there is his work with the band and then Sato's contribution to Shionoya's own works such as the 1995 "Salt II". Basically whenever I see Shionoya's name attached to any song, I automatically get interested in what is to be performed.

(great cover by Moulin Café)

In 1997, "Salt III" came out and one of the tracks is the short-but-sweet "Side By Side (We Go)". It's a charming and fairly fizzy number kinda like one of those carbonated cocktails at poolside. There is also something seemingly lighthearted and comical about the arrangement as if it had been meant to accompany a modern-day Charlie Chaplin.

The other thing is about the title or at least part of it. As an English teacher for many years, I used to use a textbook series called "Side By Side" which went down to the nitty-gritty in terms of grammar practice with some humourous pictures. It was pretty useful since the series was just perfect for pair work.

Satoru Shionoya -- Let Love Lead Me feat. Chikuzen Sato

The making of this article takes me back to a very long time ago...probably over 20 years ago. I once had a friend who was such a fan of Barry Manilow that whenever she heard him singing something like "Mandy" or "I Write The Songs", she would just curl into a ball and perhaps mew. It was like watching a cat reacting to catnip. Now I wouldn't be so extroverted in my reaction to the R&B family DeBarge but I can certainly relate to it when I hear the oh-so-delectable "All This Love" which is one of my all-time favourite songs from the genre, hands down.

I'm getting the same reaction from pianist Satoru Shionoya's（塩谷哲）"Let Love Lead Me" which is a track from his 1995 "Salt II" (too bad it kinda reads like an old international defense treaty).

Ever since first hearing Shionoya's piano work on Sing Like Talking's fantastic "Mitsumeru Ai de"（みつめる愛で）on their "Discovery" album and then realizing that he was also a member of the Japanese salsa band Orquesta De La Luz, I've kept an eye (and ear) on him. I should actually reward myself by purchasing some of his solo albums such as "Salt II".

However, getting back to the song at hand, "Let Love Lead Me" gave me those oh-so-wonderful soul ballad vibes (or perhaps it could be Quiet Storm), thanks to Shionoya's mellow jazz and R&B piano tones and the soaring vocals of Chikuzen Sato（佐藤竹善）from SLT. The first time I heard this, something just shot up and down my back, and memories of the aforementioned DeBarge and Anita Baker came rushing back to me from the 1980s. And I realized once more how much I loved some of the mellower side of R&B from that decade. Shionoya and Sato make a great duo and in fact, the duo has gone to work a number of times through one single and a few albums as the unit Salt & Sugar.

It's hearing music such as "Let Love Lead Me" that has had me hoping that someday there might be a resurgence of Quiet Storm-type of music on both sides of the Pacific. Incidentally, along with Shionoya coming up with the marvelous melody, Cat Gray, who has been heavily involved with Sing Like Talking, provided the lyrics. A nice way to finish a Saturday night.