I've been a fan of Japanese popular music for 40 years, and have managed to collect a lot of material during that time. So I decided I wanted to talk about Showa Era music with like-minded fans. My particular era is the 70s and 80s (thus the "kayo kyoku"). The plus part includes a number of songs and artists from the last 30 years and also the early kayo. So, let's talk about New Music, aidoru, City Pop and enka.
Credits
I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.
Showing posts with label Takashi Matsumoto. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Takashi Matsumoto. Show all posts
Have you ever thought about Steely Dan covering Seiko Matsuda's（松田聖子）iconic ballad "Sweet Memories"?
Nope, neither have I. And yet, here we are. Indeed, back in 2019 when singer-songwriter Yoshitaka Minami（南佳孝）came up with his 2019 album of covers"Radio na Kyoku-tachi Ⅱ"（ラジオな曲たちⅡ...Radio Songs 2）, he included one of "Sweet Memories" as the final track. Yup, the jazziness and meticulous chords are there in lyricist Takashi Matsumoto's（松本隆）and composer Masaaki Omura's（大村雅朗）tune for Seiko-chan. The original 50s or 60s girl pop stylings have been turned into urban and urbane radio-friendly grooviness for your evening pleasure.
When it comes to veteran actor-singer Yutaka Mizutani（水谷豊）, I will always think of him as the refined and cultured detective on "Aibou"（相棒）or as a rarin-to-go rookie cop in his younger days. Certainly, the song here would tend to emphasize my opinion.
Ironically, "Futsu no Love Song"(Just a Regular Love Song) wasn't used for a cop show. It was actually used for a 1982 NTV series titled "An-chan"（あんちゃん）which dealt with Mizutani's character who had been a pro wrestling manager and trainer before becoming a head priest and a counselor for troubled youth. But there's no doubting that the theme song sounds quite urban and urbane as crooned by the actor himself; it would sound just as fine as a theme for a regular detective show set in Tokyo. "Futsu no Love Song" was created by the golden duo of lyricist Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）and composer Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）.
One interesting tidbit of trivia is that Mizutani had just gotten married to his first wife, actress Miki McKenzie, in early 1982 but were soon separated within half a year, when he co-starred in "An-chan" with former Candies' member Ran Ito（伊藤蘭）. Some years later after the divorce had been finalized in 1986, Mizutani and Ito would get married following a long courtship in 1989.
For the first number of times that I saw Akemi Ishii（石井明美）on television and heard her on the cassette player, she seemed to be that young singer who loved some of that spicy Latin sauce in her music through songs like "Cha-Cha-Cha". Then a few singles in, I heard her "JOY" from July 1987 and figured that she could do the straight-up pop song as well.
Well, now I've just heard the B-side from "JOY" and now it's been affirmed that Ishii was able to come up with the odd City Pop song. "Yasashii Hito"(Nice Guy) was written by Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）and composed by Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）, quite the golden duo of songwriting, and it's a smoky nocturnal number which includes a bluesy sax solo. I gather that the title is meant to be an ironic one since Ishii keeps singing "You are cruel!" at the end of each chorus. Betrayal in the big city can be a City Pop trope.
Hiromi Ohta's（太田裕美）trademark song will forever be "Momen no Handkerchief"(木綿のハンカチーフ）. It has that fresh countryside feeling of innocence and hope emanating from a young lady. Written by Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）, composed by Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）and arranged by Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）, one couldn't have asked for a steadier trio of song creators to weave this hit.
But guess what? I guess that young lady simply couldn't resist that pull from Tokyo or whatever huge metropolis was close to her small town. She finally relented and took the train and ran into the disco to dance out her passions. And that's where we are with "Unlimited" which is represented by the "∞" on Ohta's source album"Umi ga Naiteiru"（海が泣いている...The Sea is Crying） from December 1978. It also happens to be the final track on the album, so I guess Ohta wanted us to continue all of the nocturnal dancing.
The crazy and wonderful thing is that Matsumoto, Tsutsumi and Hagita were also all in on this number as well which had me thinking mirror ball, Bee Gees and flashing floor panels. But then again, back in those 1970s, when it came to disco stuff, Tsutsumi was the go-to guy for the melodies. That piano instrumental break followed by the electric guitar is absolutely sublime to me. Enjoy boogeying the night away!
Welcome to another KKP weekend. It's a little chillier if also a little humid, so I'm more than happy to be typing this while the windows are open.
1980s aidoru Nami Shimada（島田奈美）hit her peak in terms of Oricon when she released her May 1987 single "Uchiki na Cupid"（内気なキューピッド）. It hit No. 7 and so did the follow-up single "Pastel Blue no Tameiki" (Pastel Blue Sighes) which came out a few months later in August. Written by Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）, composed by Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）and arranged by Motoki Funayama（船山基紀）, it's a soaring aidoru tune with Shimada's high-toned vocals and it feels like it's describing a fantastical scene involving the lass herself. Couldn't ask anymore from songwriters when it comes to an aidoru song, and heck, she even looks like a chiffon cake in the video below.😁
I visited Jamaica only once and that was during our cruise several years ago. It was plenty sunny in the town of Falmouth and we had a nice walk around the area. No hint of rain at all.
That brings us to the late jazz singer Tamaki Sawa（沢たまき）. I first mentioned her back in 2023 when I introduced her 1966 "Bed de Tabako wo Suwanai de"（ベッドで煙草を吸わないで）which was her first single for Victor. It was quite the comfortable Latin-tinged Mood Kayo.
Well, cue ahead the better part of two decades and here I have Sawa's final single for Victor which was her December 1984"Ame no Jamaica" (Rainy Jamaica). The Latin is there but the Mood Kayo has been replaced by a more down-home and classy City Pop arrangement although the vocals by the singer here are very much in the jazz chanteuse vein. And I don't really hear anything of Jamaica here; this sounds more like a calm cruise down the Riviera via Tokyo.Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）was responsible for the lyrics while Yoshitaka Minami（南佳孝）took care of the music.
Ah, yes...Vachon's Half-Moon Cakes...which have nothing to do with the sweets during the Moon Festival in September. Actually, these were a part of my youth during lunchtime. When I got together with the guys for lunch at high school in front of our lockers, my mother would usually put one of these into my brown bag as the dessert segment. They came in lemon and chocolate versions and were (and still are) so sweet that they were responsible for the sugar crashes in the afternoon classes.
The above makes for a Canadian treat segue into this 20th single by Hiromi Ohta（太田裕美）"Koi no Half-Moon"(Half-Moon of Love) which was released back in March 1981. This was also the follow-up to Ohta's "Saraba Siberia Tetsudo"(さらばシベリア鉄道）that had come out in December 1980, and it was basically the same songwriting lineup for that one that was responsible for "Koi no Half-Moon", lyricist Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）and composer/arranger Eiichi Ohtaki（大滝詠一）with Masataka Matsutoya（松任谷正隆）helping on the arrangement of the strings and horns.
"Koi no Half-Moon" is an interesting one. It didn't impress me on first listen but it has started to grow on me. The notable thing is that it doesn't sound like a typical Ohtaki arrangement with that overall 50s and/or country-western twang that has become a staple of his melody work ("Saraba Siberia Tetsudo" is a classic in that way). In fact, I'd say that with some of the disco feeling in there, it sounds a bit more Electric Light Orchestra without the heavy synths. As for Matsumoto, he wove a story about a couple enjoying a night ride in the convertible and stopping off at their version of Inspiration Point in Japan, and if any of you have watched the old American sitcom "Happy Days", you'll know the significance of Inspiration Point. Hopefully, the only thing looking down at the soon-to-be very happy pair is the half-moon itself.
Although "Saraba Siberia Tetsudo" has become one of Ohta's trademark songs, it only scored a No. 70 ranking initially on Oricon, and looking through her discography on J-Wiki, it was evident that her big days (outside of what her most dedicated fans thought) were receding. "Koi no Half-Moon" peaked at No. 81.
The B-side, "Blue Baby Blue", was also created by Ohtaki and Matsumoto with Yasuo Arakawa（荒川康男）helping the former out on arrangement. Now, this sounds more like an Ohtaki production...yup, Richie and Mary Beth out on the porch swing in the 1950s. However, the lyrics are a whole lot sadder as someone is having some major regrets about breaking up with that special lass. Post-breakup blues never sounded more sweet and nostalgic.
I've been to the neighbourhood of Daikanyama, Tokyo on a few occasions, all due to the fact that my friend was living in the area at the time. My impression of this very stylish area is that it was filled with college students dressed all in black (and perhaps reading stuff like Sartre). I probably stuck out like a hillbilly in Beverly Hills (I think there was an old TV show about that😊) and perhaps not surprisingly, I don't have any photographs of Daikanyama, as if someone from the great beyond (but a spirit who could afford an apartment in Daikanyama) whispered in my ear "YOU ARE FORBIDDEN FROM TAKING ANY PHOTOS IN THIS VICINITY! YOU ARE NOT DAIKANYAMA ENOUGH!". Ahem...regardless, enjoy the above video by Tokyo Weekender.
Perhaps then, this song by the cool fraternal duo Kirinji (before they exploded into a full-fledged band some years later) can be considered to be a contemporary form of a go-touchi（ご当地）song. "Daikanyama Elegy" hails from the Horigome brothers' November 2002 self-cover album"Omnibus". I also read that the smooth-as-silk song was actually first sung by actor-comedian-singer Takashi Fujii（藤井隆）but I can't seem to find hide nor hair of his original version.
However, I am not complaining at all at this self-cover which says Kirinji（キリンジ）all over. It was a combination of the brothers along with Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）coming up with the result, and this "Omnibus" version sounds like the type of music that customers in a Daikanyama cafe would hear. It's such a kakkoii and laidback song that would make Tomita Lab（富田ラボ）weep for joy and envy. I can talk on the music to a certain extent but as I've mentioned in past articles, I'm not so much of an expert on lyrics. However, I have to state that one person's Japanese blog entry that covers the song is absolutely enraptured by the words in "Daikanyama Elegy" so that I felt I had to say something about it. Feel free to use Google Translate to find out what he's saying.
Pretty moody music video for such a relaxing song. You may recognize the two actors in there. As for "Omnibus", it reached No. 42 on Oricon.
Of course, it all depends on where you live, but earlier this morning, Torontonians had another opportunity to catch the latest blood moon up in the sky. Sleep was more of a priority for me so I was happy enough to witness the phenomenon via television.
In keeping with the lunar theme, I would like to introduce "Tsuki no Muse" (Moon Muse) by 80s aidoruand actress Narumi Yasuda（安田成美）. Some days ago, I received a comment from someone underneath the article I provided for her April 1984 sophomore single"Tropical Mystery"（トロピカル・ミステリー）and they told me about the Ryuichi Sakamoto-esque（坂本龍一） feeling imbued in the B-side which is "Tsuki no Muse".
Well, whenever anyone tells me about a song that I had never heard that has a Sakamoto-esque feeling, I do listen. And indeed, "Tsuki no Muse" is different from the Fashion Music-ish"Tropical Mystery" in that there is a whimsical technopop arrangement that reminds me of what the late great Professor did back in those days with synthesizers, but the crazy thing is that it was the same three fellows behind the A-side that were responsible for the B-side: lyricist Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）, composer Masaaki Omura（大村雅朗）and arranger Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）. Many thanks to that commenter.
The weather here has been improving although the temperature is set to plummet again for Sunday, but the feeling is that spring is just around the corner. And it couldn't come fast enough.
Several years ago, I posted an article on actress/aidoru Nana Okada's（岡田奈々）biggest hit, her 4th single"Seishun no Sakamichi"（青春の坂道）from March 1976. The wistful song of youth created from lyrics by contest winner Aiko Nakaji（中司愛子）and then whipped into shape by lyricist Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）before getting laid onto a melody by Koichi Morita（森田公一）under Ichizo Seo's（瀬尾一三）arrangement must have touched a lot of people's memories and current feelings. It did pretty well by hitting No. 23 on Oricon.
Well, the follow-up single, released in June of that year, "Wakai Kisetsu"(Young Season), was created by almost everyone involved with "Seishun no Sakamichi", except that the composer this time was Ken Sato（佐藤健）. If anything, "Wakai Kisetsu" is even jauntier with a boss saxophone and jangly guitar giving a hint of Motown pop. Matsumoto's lyrics here were based on Okada's recurring role in the popular NTV drama at the time, "Ore-tachi no Tabi"（俺たちの旅...Our Journey）, where her character introduces a guy living in the boarding house next door. The producers for the program knew what they were doing by also having "Seishun no Sakamichi" show up as an insert song.
"Wakai Kisetsu" didn't do as well as "Seishun no Sakamichi" but it was a moderate success by scoring a No. 36 ranking. Both songs ended up on her 3rd album"Akushu Shiyouyo"（握手しようよ...Let's Shake Hands） which was released in August 1976.
Gotta have singer-songwriter Yasuhiro Abe（安部康弘）back on Urban Contemporary Friday. When you're talking about a drive on an evening leading into the weekend in Tokyo and thinking about what to put onto the radio, one of his songs usually fits the bill.
Managed to come across the B-side for Abe's November 1982 debut single"We Got It!" which is definitely car stereo-worthy. Mind you, "Hadashi no Ballerina"(Barefoot Ballerina) can also be put into the dashboard slot although it's a little more melancholy as a ballad. Written by Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）and composed by Abe, it looks like one guy and his "prima ballerina" have come to the end of their relationship so the night is spent with one last meal before the inevitable goodbye. It is indeed another song of broken hearts but it also feels like a true Abe creation.
Because we've been writing "Kayo Kyoku Plus" for fourteen years now, I've been getting interested in seeing some of those B-sides for those famous singles by various kayo performers. To think that it's taken this long just to start plumbing the depths of "the other side" is somewhat astonishing although we have managed to take a look at some of them even before last week's anniversary.
One of the earliest posts that I put up on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" was for Hiromi Ohta's（太田裕美）classic "Momen no Handkerchief"(木綿のハンカチーフ）which was released back in December 1975 as the Tokyo-born singer's 4th single. The cheery kayo kyoku has stuck with Ohta all these decades so that basically whenever she shows up nowadays on some TV show, it's to sing either "Momen no Handkerchief" or "Saraba Siberia Tetsudo"(さらばシベリア鉄道）.
The plot of the A-side involved the relationship between a couple of smalltown lovers in which the guy is now working in the big city while the gal is still in the hometown. Well, the somewhat more melancholy "Yureru Aijou" (Wavering Love), the B-side, seems to be a sequel of sorts for "Momen no Handkerchief". I've only listened to it a few times but the impression I'm getting is that the couple have met up again during the boyfriend's semi-regular visits back home, and maybe, just maybe, things are a little unsteady on the romance front, at least according to what I've gleaned from the title. Perhaps the guy is worried that his girlfriend is losing interest due to the distance and passage of time but she keeps reassuring him that she doesn't need to see a ring or that small house built for her and him...just that occasional but regular "I love you" is fine enough for now.
The same team behind "Momen no Handkerchief" was also taking care of 'Yureru Aijou": lyricist Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）, composer Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）and arranger Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）. Methinks that if a 2026 single based on the fate of the couple were produced, I would think that the couple are celebrating their 45th anniversary, still in that small house in their hometown, with grandchildren.
Wow! All this time knowing the song "Akai Sweet Pea"(Red Sweet Pea) by Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）and the above 1910 painting is the first time I get to see a real red sweet pea. This is by Edward H. Mitchell (1867–1932) and it's in the public domain according to Wikimedia Commons.
One other thing that I found out on the first episode of "Uta Con"（うたコン）in 2026 last night was that "Akai Sweet Pea" is celebrating its 44th anniversary today since its release in 1982. Well, of course, I wrote up an article on one of Seiko-chan's evergreen hits all the way back in 2012 so I can't really repeat myself. However, I did look up the many cover versions of "Akai Sweet Pea" via J-Wiki and found this one.
It is indeed a very sweet version via the December 2020 album "VOICE ~ Seiyuu-tachi ga Utau Matsuda Seiko Song ~ Female Edition"（VOICE〜声優たちが歌う松田聖子ソング〜 Female Edition...Voice Actresses Sing the Songs of Seiko Matsuda）. As the title says, a whole bunch of the big guns in the anime voice actress industry came together to provide their own versions of Matsuda's music. Their take on "Akai Sweet Pea" is the 12th and final track on the album and it is an appropriately stately but adorable cover sung by all of the seiyuu involved in the project to wrap things up: Aki Toyosaki（豊崎愛生）, Maaya Uchida（内田真礼）, Ayane Sakura（佐倉綾音）, Miku Ito（伊藤美来）and Momo Asakura（麻倉もも）. Probably not a dry eye in the house.
Anyways, all hail "Akai Sweet Pea"! All hail Seiko-chan!
I've read that Yutaka Mizutani's（水谷豊）long-running detective series "Aibou"（相棒）just entered its 25th season last month. It might be rather difficult to distinguish between Mizutani and his famed character of Ukyo Sugishita at this point.
But let's get back to his early career as a singer. Of course, kayo veterans will remember his "California Connection"（カリフォルニア・コネクション）from 1979. This time, though, I have his April 1981 single "Mayonaka no Swing" (Midnight Swing) which was released two years to the day that "California Connection" had come out.
To be honest, "Mayonaka no Swing" sounds so bright and uppity that I probably would consider it more "Mahiru no Swing" (High Noon Swing), and that's thanks to Ryohei Yamanashi's（山梨鐐平）melody and Takahiko Ishikawa's（石川鷹彦）arrangement. Actually, when I saw Yamanashi's name in there, I kinda went "Ahh...naruhodo" since his works as a singer and songwriter have also shown a certain ebullient flair drawing in a number of genre influences such as jazz. From "Mayonaka no Swing", I get some of that good-time rock n' roll, jazz, disco and musical elegance. Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）provided the lyrics.
Erghh...trying to get accustomed to the positioning of a new laptop. Yep, I've moved things from the desktop, where I was for about a couple of years, to a new setup with my latest acquisition. I guess I'm a little ultra-sensitive when it comes to things like how my fingers hit the keyboard.
Anyways, I'm running a little later than usual but I am going ahead with the usual Friday Urban Contemporary list of songs. Up first is the B-side to Hideko Hara's（原日出子）"Aoi Rhapsody"（青いラプソディー）from 1982 which I wrote about almost exactly a year previously. This is "Mufuu Toshi"(Windless City), a slightly less breezy (as the title would indicate) and more melancholy summer's-end song by the same folks behind "Aoi Rhapsody": lyricist Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）, composer Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）and arranger Kazuo Otani（大谷和夫）with Off-Course's（オフコース）Yasuhiro Suzuki（鈴木康博）helping out with the chorus. The overall arrangement of both sides makes it feel even more like the two sides were meant to be part of a whole.
Still gonna need that old desktop since all of my bookmarked videos for posting are there and not here.
I've known about 80s aidoru Masahiko Kondo（近藤真彦）ever since I started getting into Japanese pop music as a teen myself, and so I got to know some of his big hits such as "Blue Jeans Memory"（ブルー・ジーンズ・メモリー）and "Gingiragin ni Sarigenaku"（ギンギラギンにさりげなく）through the usual sources of videotaped music shows and karaoke outings. However, this particular song kinda fell through the cracks although I kept seeing it in ranking lists and Matchy's long discography.
So, I'm talking about his 7th single from June 1982, "Highteen Boogie". Strangely enough, I never saw him perform it on videotaped editions of "The Best 10" or hear anyone at Kuri, our old karaoke hangout here in Toronto, perform it. Up until recently, it was simply a title on the Matchy list. Well, I finally listened to it and found it to be the typically Matchy rumbly rock n' roll song although I think perhaps one observation is that the kid sounded perhaps a little more high-tone and slightly softer despite the shark-powered driving arrangement.
And speaking of the creation, Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）was behind the lyrics while Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）took care of music and arrangement. In fact, Matchy also had some additional help from other Tats associates in the form of Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）and EPO as the backing chorus. It hit No. 1 for a few weeks after its release and ended up as the 7th-ranked single of 1982. Apparently, Yamashita has covered the song live in concerts himself although no official recorded version of the song exists.
The song was the theme song for "Highteen Boogie" the movie which was released in early August 1982 with the Tanokin Trio: Matchy, Toshihiko Tahara（田原俊彦）and Yoshio Nomura（野村義男） starring. Matchy plays a high school-age motorcycle-riding street tough who wants to go straight due to the charms of an orphaned teen girl but fate apparently has other purposes for him. Matsumoto's lyrics talk about young Sho's redemption through love and perhaps the aforementioned softer vocal approach reflects that.
Yeah, it's been tropical here for the past several days but we might get a break within the next several hours in the form of a thunderstorm which might bring some much-needed rain. Meanwhile, the air conditioner is going full tilt and I'm hoping that we won't be suffering any more micro outages or even worse due to an overload of the electrical system.
Speaking of tropical, I have a Narumi Yasuda（安田成美）song here for the first time in a couple of years on the blog. "Tropical Mystery" was the actress-singer's 2nd single from April 1984 and it was also included on her debut album"Yasuda Narumi" which was released on the same day as the single.
The first time that I heard this one, I swore that the song had been created by singer-songwriter Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）just because of that bouncy whimsical arrangement that weaves between Fashion Music and regular pop. Ironically, Ohnuki's first time as an album producer was for Yasuda's 2nd album"Ginger"（ジィンジャー）in 1988. Another reason for the assumption is that "Tropical Mystery" sounds rather similar to Ohnuki's "Natsu ni Koi Suru Onna Tachi"（夏に恋する女たち....The Women Who Love In Summer) which came out the previous year.
However, the melody was actually composed by Masaaki Omura（大村雅朗）and arranged by Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）with Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）supplying the lyrics. Yasuda isn't the steadiest of singers but it seems as if her vocals match the whimsy and fantastical romantic feeling emanating from "Tropical Mystery" perhaps even more here than was the case with her most famous song "Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa" (風の谷のナウシカ), which is also available on "Yasuda Narumi".
The first time I heard Yasuhiro Abe's（安部恭弘）"Rainy Day Girl", I swore that this must have been used for one of the original anime vignettes on Seizo Watase's（わたせせいぞう）"Heart Cocktail"（ハートカクテル）series in the 1980s. I mean, it just had that gloss perfect to adorn some three-minute romantic interlude between the beautiful people there.
But strangely enough, "Rainy Day Girl" was the fifth single in Abe's discography that was released in June 1984. I think what got me getting all Watase in the head was that bouncy keyboard intro that I've heard in at least a few of those "Heart Cocktail" episodes. Still, it's all Abe's melody with his joy of City Pop and J-AOR (especially that guitar solo) and Takashi Matsumoto's（松本隆）lyrics. The song was also included in the singer-songwriter's second album"Moderato" from March 1984. How about a drive down the Ventura?
NHK's"Uta Con"（うたコン）had its final episode today before going on summer hiatus for the next month, and it was one of their quieter ones with just the hosts and a few guests sitting in a virtual living room. One of the guests, though, was one of Japan's most prolific lyricists Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）, and the theme was on his songs since he's celebrating his 55th anniversary in songwriting this year.
It was almost a decade ago that I posted a Creator article on Matsumoto so you can take a look at some of the songs that he wrote for other singers there. He's supposedly written more than 2,000 songs, so what I have of his creations here on KKP is barely a little over 10%, and to add onto that 10%, I have here a Matsumoto-penned song for Kiyoshi Hikawa（氷川きよし）...his 41st single from this month, to be precise.
Hikawa did perform "Shiro Suiren" (White Water Lilies) on "Uta Con", and listening to that performance and the above YouTube video, it's quite the different animal from the enka that the singer has usually done. Yes, I know that he has fully plunged into other genres such as rock over the past several years, but "Shiro Suiren" might come off as the most purely pop song that I've ever heard from him; in fact, I'm wondering if it could even be a form of new New Music. The composer for the song is TAKURO, the leader of the rock band GLAY.
Happy Easter! I posted up the latest Yutaka Kimura Speaks a couple of days ago, and it was about singer-songwriter and musician Shigeru Suzuki（鈴木茂）. In doing so, I was able to listen to what I am realizing is one of the seminal albums for City Pop and New Music, his "Lagoon" from 1976.
I've already posted on a couple of tracks from "Lagoon": the charming "Lady Pink Panther" and the jazzy "Hachibu Onpu no Uta"（８分音符の詩）, but seeing that this is Easter, I've decided to take a riff on the holiday's official animal, and post yet another track from the album called "Hashire Rabbit"(Run Rabbit). Of course, this has nothing to do with Miharu Koshi's（コシミハル）1985 "Hashire Usagi" （走れウサギ）though the translation is the same.
"Hashire Rabbit" was written by his old Happy End bandmate Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）and composed by Suzuki as this very welcoming Caribbean tune that greets you as you disembark from the cruise ship. Apparently on this island of rabbits, it's all about the jazz, the tropical and the dancing/hopping around. Enjoy the rum punch!🍹
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