TOM★CAT -- Summer Time Graffiti（サマータイム グラフィティ）

663highland via Wikimedia Commons

 

I regret that I never took the opportunity to visit Okinawa during my years in Japan. I have a friend who lives in Naha and we've exchanged correspondence and Christmas cards once a year for many years now. Maybe I'll get that chance someday. Certainly would love to try Okinawan cuisine such as goya champloo and their distinct brand of soba.

One reason that I mentioned the above is that this particular song was used as the campaign jingle for Japan Air Lines' 1985 campaign for Okinawa. "Summer Time Graffiti" was the second single released by the band TOM★CAT. I wrote about these guys back in 2022 with their November 1984 debut song "Furare Kibun de Rock 'n' Roll"（ふられ気分でRock'n' Roll） and they stood out for their main vocalist TOM, aka Atsumi Matsuzaki（松崎淳美）with her distinct look of J-Roy Orbison in hair and sunglasses as she manned the keyboards.

"Summer Time Graffiti" was written and composed by TOM and released in April 1985. It's definitely got that 80s sound with those orchestra hits launching the song off and TOM's keyboard work which almost had me sprouting a mullet from the back of my head. I think that JAL was quite happy with this one for their campaign since it's dynamic enough to make tourists think about parting with their money for a trip down to Japan's southernmost prefecture. "Summer Time Graffiti" made it to No. 13 on Oricon.

TOM★CAT -- Furare Kibun de Rock 'n' Roll（ふられ気分でRock'n' Roll）

 

Some weeks ago, I was watching one of the episodes of that 80s music ranking show "The Best 10"（ザ・ベストテン）when one act that came in sparked a memory. It was of a short young lady with a mop of dark hair and what looked to be dark wraparound sunglasses (kinda like a female Roy Orbison) thrashing away on a Yamaha DX-7. And I remarked internally that I have seen this group before.

The song is "Furare Kibun de Rock 'n' Roll" (Rock n Roll for a Broken Heart) and the group is TOM★CAT, a band that had its start in 1978 at Tokyo Zokei University when a bunch of friends got together to form the band Funky Noise (1978-1981) and then transform into Noise Maker (1982-1983) before finally settling upon TOM★CAT from 1984.

Although guitarist Keiji* Sasaki（佐々木敬治）was the leader of TOM★CAT, front and centre behind the Yamaha was vocalist and songwriter TOM, who was really Atsumi Matsuzaki（松崎淳美）. For one of the 1984 Yamaha Popular Song Contests, the keyboardist came up with what would become their official debut song "Furare Kibun de Rock 'n' Roll" that won the band a Grand Prize, and even another Grand Prize at the World Popular Song Festival which was also sponsored by Yamaha. The single itself was released in November 1984.

TOM's appearance in those huge sunglasses made for quite an impact and "Furare Kibun de Rock 'n' Roll" with the vocalist, melody and lyrics acting in concert as a well-oiled Yamaha motorcycle zooming on the road was just the thing to get rid of the post-breakup blues. As the singer exhorts "Don't stop the music!" since it's the music that is helping to get up and over the depression. With the synthesizer going through a rock music vein, I wonder if TOM★CAT and the song were somewhat like an ancestor for techno rock bands such as Polysics.

The song peaked at No. 4 and it ended up as the No. 18 single for 1985. TOM★CAT would release another six singles along with three original albums with the first one "TOM★CAT" containing "Furare Kibun de Rock 'n' Roll". That album was released in June 1985, peaking at No. 17. The band would break up in 1988 with the members going into their own companies and starting up families. TOM herself would provide singers such as Fumina Hisamatsu（久松史奈）and Miho Morikawa（森川美穂） with songs but she basically decided to become a permanent employee of Marutetsu Kobo which looks to be a steelworks company, although she has continued to write songs and still be involved in the music industry.

*「敬冶」has a few readings but I went with the first one that I saw at Jisho.org. If anyone knows the correct reading for the band leader's name, let me know.