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 Yuiko Tsubokura. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yuiko Tsubokura. Show all posts
In the relevant J-Wiki article for this particular song by chanteuse Yuiko Tsubokura（坪倉唯子）, she sang this on TV Asahi's "Music Station" while still in her wild costume as the squeaky-voiced singer for B.B. Queens. Maybe they were reprising their hit song "Odoru Ponpokorin"（おどるポンポコリン）. Anyways, I would have loved to have seen the expressions on everyone's faces while she was creamily singing it. Well, we can all check the video below out.
No squeaky voice here for her 4th solo single"Je t'aime" which came out in January 1993 and definitely no hint of "Odoru Ponpokorin". This is a classy urban ballad that sounds as if it should have been the ending theme for a drama. Guess what? It was...it finished each episode of the NTV drama "Jealousy"（ジェラシー）. Written by Akira Ohtsu（大津あきら）and composed by Tetsuro Oda（織田哲郎）, this sophisticated pop song was Tsubokura's highest-ranking single when it hit No. 25 on Oricon.
It's been over a year since we've had Yuiko Tsubokura（坪倉惟子）back on the blog, but she's here now. This time, it's for the B-side of her November 1985 debut single, "Cry for the Moon". The A-side is a smoldering power pop ballad but the nocturnal "Kuchibiru Yuugi" (Lip Play) has some more kick in the City Pop department. Written by Yoshimasa Shibayama（柴山好正）and composed by Tsubokura herself, "Kuchibiru Yuugi" still has plenty of sex appeal thanks to the singer's delivery.
Although "Cry for the Moon" got onto Tsubokura's debut album"Always in Love", I'm not sure whether "Kuchibiru Yuugi" ever made it onto any original album. Her J-Wiki file doesn't even show any BEST compilations at this point, but if anyone here knows if "Kuchibiru Yuugi" resides anywhere outside of the B-side, please let me know.
It's a good Good Friday Friday! I'm gonna be beginning with something more whimsical today, starting with an old and popular American sitcom that was broadcast on ABC from the late 1970s into the early 1980s. "Taxi" was a show that I dipped into now and then, although I never became a dedicated fan. Being one of the classic ensemble TV comedies, I marvel at the cast since almost all of them have gone onto even bigger and perhaps better projects including sci-fi phenomena such as "Star Trek", "Babylon 5" and "Independence Day".
However, one of the things associated with "Taxi" that has stuck with me all these years is that theme song "Angela" by jazz keyboardist and record producer Bob James (according to Wikipedia, a lot of the material on his first several albums were sampled, leading to the formation of hip hop). I mean, my impression was that a theme for a New York-based show called "Taxi" would be all brassy and/or funky and in-your-face, but instead the producers opted for this much slower and calming fusion tune featuring sax, Fender Rhodes and what sounds like an innocent ocarina. I gather that it was this juxtaposition that has enabled me to remember and cherish the sitcom a lot better.
Well, I've decided then that I would come up with this article on the various taxi-based Japanese pop songs that I had already written about over the decade of "Kayo Kyoku Plus", just as a summary and a reflection of how there are probably plenty of other cab kayoout there (including ones that I've completely forgotten about but exist on the blog).
Getting this one up onto the blog a few nights ago was the impetus for this particular article. As I mentioned in that one, Tsubokura's cover of the Aran original is a fair bit mellower, although of course, Night Tempo's version jazzes it up some more. Good for that night time drive home.
When I was thinking about putting up this list, I knew that I had to get Miporin's "Midnight Taxi" up here because of its overall sophisti-pop feeling. This is the night taxi ride with class.
Along with Nakayama's "Midnight Taxi", Kiyomi Suzuki's"TAXI" with her brother's group also has its class but it comes with some additional soulful goodness.
As with Aran's "Taxi Driver", "Tobashite Taxi Man" has more of that feeling of heading giddily into Party Central rather than sleepily heading home in the metal chariot.
I would consider Arai's classic "Chuo Freeway" more of an honourary member of the taxi list since according to her lyrics, it's pretty obvious that the ride home is a personal one with a couple of lovers in the front of the car. But the whole idea for "Chuo Freeway" came from Yuming's feeling of freedom and quiet satisfaction of being driven home when work got a little too late...something that I can relate to as well. Perhaps it was a staffer driving her back or even that cab.
Because when compared to the usual more inexpensive subway or train fare, I didn't take the taxi all that frequently during my time in the Tokyo area. It was only when I missed that last train home that I would brave the lineup to catch a cab. I never had a particularly thrilling or terrifying taxi ride home but that was due to the fact that taxi service was extremely professional with the uniformed drivers providing the same reassuring ride anywhere in town. Maybe that's why the songs that I've mentioned on the taxi list here have that seemingly extra-thick layer of romanticism and anticipation swaddling listeners/riders. However with the relatively recent rise in the love for Japanese City Pop around the planet, I can imagine that tourists may come with that layer as they ride from Haneda or Narita into Tokyo, although the price might turn them off if they arrive at the latter airport. Meanwhile, the drivers might end up wondering why their fares are so excited over a simple taxi ride.😁
Back in January 2020, when I wrote up an article involving Tomoko Aran's（亜蘭知子）percolating City Pop number "Taxi Driver" from her 1985 "Imitation Lonely" album, I'd openly wondered about whether the song had been covered by other fellow genre artists including Yurie Kokubu（国分友里恵）or Yuiko Tsubokura（坪倉惟子）.
I can now happily say that the winner of the "Taxi Driver" sweepstakes is Tsubokura. Specifically, she covered the Aran song in her 2nd original album "Loving You" released in March 1990. Comparison-wise, it's pretty interesting since the first version from 1985 has that sense of heading into the big city to whoop it up big. But Tsubokura's cover can either sound like heading home from that exciting night or driving into Tokyo but to some place a little more chill and not so crazy.
Aran came up with the lyrics while Casiopea's（カシオペア）Akira Jimbo（神保彰）composed the song but for Tsubokura, it was bassist and arranger Masao Akashi（明石昌夫）who came up with the more groove-heavy and soulful take (with some added jazz) on "Taxi Driver". I also have to remind ourselves that the title is indeed "Taxi Driver" so it isn't as if we or a romantic partner is behind the wheel here. Still, we can still enjoy the evening journey with the cool breeze flying in through the backseat windows while our uniformed untenshu sweeps us to our eventual destination.
Maybe it's just my opinion but one of the cornerstone City Pop tunes that appeared when the genre became known to ears outside of Japan was Yuiko Tsubokura's（坪倉唯子）"Tsukanoma Yotogi Bito"（一瞬夜伽伴侶）. Funky to the max, it is for any genre fan in the car, at home or at your local City Pop party, and it was a part of the singer's debut album"Always In Love" from June 1986.
Some of that great bass can also be found in the title track for the album; the Japanese part of the title basically means the same as the English part. "Always In Love" isn't quite as spectacular as "Tsukanoma Yotogi Bito" but I don't think that this is meant to hit the dance floor and stomp up a cloud. It's got its own groove but there is more of that feeling of a cool-down tune and what helps is that keyboard work which could have some of those Vaporwave fans swooning.
Tsubokura was responsible for the lyrics while bassist and prolific songwriter Tsugutoshi Goto（後藤次利）took care of the melody. Looking at the J-Wiki article for the singer, the album finished outside of the Top 100 on Oricon back in the day which might surprise some people, but then again, a lot of City Pop albums didn't get their appreciation until many years later.
For the general public, Yuiko Tsubokura（坪倉唯子）is probably best known as the squeaky-voiced vocalist of B.B. Queens responsible for the No. 1 hit of 1990,"Odoru Ponpokorin"（おどるポンポコリン）, the ending theme song for Season 1 of "Chibi Maruko-chan"（ちびまる子ちゃん）. But then, for fans who knew of her soulful self back in the 1980s and those decades-later City Pop enthusiasts such as myself, "Tsukanoma Yotogi Bito"（一瞬夜伽伴侶）was just the introductory catnip from her 1986 debut album"Always in Love". My first reaction on hearing this gem after knowing her days with B.B. Queens was "She really sounds like this?!". Wow!
But even before "Always in Love", she did release a debut single in November 1985. Titled "Cry for the Moon", it's an 80s power pop ballad that also showcases that wonderful voice of hers. I mean, it's so 80s, it hurts. With those strings and the electric guitar/synth combination in there, "Cry for the Moon" straddles between the sophisti-pop and rock sides of the urban contemporary. Classy with an edge, I guess.
Lyricist Asato Izumi（泉麻人）took care of the words while Daisuke Inoue（井上大輔）and Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）worked on the melody and arrangement. "Cry for the Moon" peaked at No. 50 on Oricon and it's also part of "Always in Love".
Man, when I saw that this particular song didn't even chart on Oricon, I just reacted "What an absolute pity!"
Now, Yuiko Tsubokura's（坪倉唯子）2nd single"Nettaiya"(Tropical Night) also known as "Dancin' in the Middle of Night", which was released in June 1986, was also a track on her debut album"Always in Love" (also released on the same day). There is also that song on there that will forever be my definitive Yuiko number.
However, "Dancin' in the Middle of Night" is also a great number which can happily fit into City Pop, but it has those dynamic West Coast dance-pop beats of the time. The arrangement by Yuji Toriyama（鳥山雄司）is such that this could be something in the background of a soundtrack for a movie starring Arnie or Sly. And it isn't just the pedigree of Toriyama. The lyrics were written by Etsuko Kisugi（来生えつこ）and the music was by Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）...some pretty big wigs here. But everything is cemented together with Tsubokura's amazing voice....include her and the song at your next City Pop dance party!
This may just be the thing for a classy Saturday night.
Not sure how much of a fan following singer-songwriter Yuiko Tsubokura（坪倉唯子）has had in the past 30 years or so, but I think she's an underrated treasure. You may have come for "Chibi Maruko-chan"（ちびまる子ちゃん）, but you will stay for some of her urban contemporary material such as the cool "Tsukanoma Yotogi Bito"（一瞬夜伽伴侶）.
And here is her "Woman From The Moon" from her July 1991 mini-album "I Wanna Be Myself". "Tsukanoma Yotogi Bito" may be on the City Pop side of things, but I think "Woman From The Moon" is a nice slice of American R&B and pop. I envision Los Angeles more than Tokyo when I listen to this soulful tune. Tsubokura composed it while Amy took care of the lyrics. My previous article introduced this album by a woman named Amy but I'm not sure whether that mysterious singer there and the lyricist here are one and the same.
I had finished my first full year on the JET Programme, and the No. 1 single of 1990 was "Odoru Ponpokorin"（おどるポンポコリン）, the eternal theme song for the long-running "Chibi Maruko-chan"（ちびまる子ちゃん）. Sung by novelty band B.B. Queens, I wouldn't find out until later that the squeaky-voiced female vocalist was Yuiko Tsubokura（坪倉唯子） a singer who actually has had a powerhouse voice and has sung one of the best City Pop numbers that I had ever heard of, "Tsukanoma Yotogi Bito"（一瞬夜伽伴侶）.
But "Chibi Maruko-chan" wasn't the only anime that Tsubokura was associated with, I think she also added a few tunes to the "Kimagure Orange Road"（きまぐれオレンジ☆ロード）franchise as well. Case in point: there was the opening theme for the 1991 3rd OVA for "KOR", "Choose Me".
I'm sure that there are folks who may be hearing "Odoru Ponpokorin" and "Choose Me" for the first time, and are doing a double-take. This is the same singer?! Oh, yeah. She is cute in the former and sultry and sexy in the latter.
Written by SHOW and composed by Kazuya Izumi（和泉一弥）, despite the release year, "Choose Me" definitely has that 80s pop/rock feeling, and when I first heard it, I couldn't help but be reminded of those montages in those action films where the protagonist is training for some major fight in the ring or a battle on the street. Let's see Arnie and Sly and Bruce getting pumped up to this one, eh! In any case, some of my nostalgia alarms were going off at the arrangement. And man, what a voice by Tsubokura.
The above photo is one I took on Tokyo's Yurikamome Line going through the bayside Odaiba district back in 2014. Odaiba has remained one of my favourite places in the capital and I'm proud to say that I was one of the earliest visitors to the area when it was being built in the mid to late 1990s. The Yurikamome was already running but the only thing that was erected at the time was the humongous Meccano set that would become the new headquarters for Fuji-TV. Everything else was sand quarry.
Now the area is just chock-filled with shopping malls, hotels, convention facilities, restaurants and a Gundam robot with the Yurikamome coursing through the area like an aorta. Plus, it will be getting the Olympic Village constructed nearby in the next year (I hope). All of it is on a combination of reclaimed land and garbage which, as signs everywhere tell visitors, will liquefy in the event of a major earthquake. Basically, the government is telling us that we have been warned. Lovely.
Anyways, I just want to devote this space to the lovely vocals of Yuiko Tsubokura（坪倉唯子）via "San-byaku-rokujuu-go no Yoru to Hiru" (365 Nights & Days). It's not the cool City Pop that a lot of us have heard her sing on "Tsukanoma Yotogi Bito"（一瞬夜伽伴侶）which has garnered a lot of popularity on YouTube, but it is reflective of the urban contemporary music which was coming out during the turn of the decade from the 80s into the 90s. Perhaps it can be an example of that Quiet Storm that I was talking about last night.
"365 no Yoru to Hiru" was used as one of the many ending themes for the TV Asahi midnight news and information show, "Tonight"（トゥナイト）. From my more-than-occasional viewings of the show from my futon, it seemed to enjoy placing these mellow numbers at the end, I guess, to act as a lullaby for those late sleepers. The song was also the coupling tune for her 3rd single"Koufuku Game"（幸福ゲーム）which came out in June 1990. As with that song, "365 no Yoru to Hiru" was composed by Hiroshi Terao（寺尾広）but the lyrics were provided by none other than Miyuki Nakajima（中島みゆき）. I realize that Nakajima didn't have anything to do with the melody but still the song struck me as being of a type that I wouldn't have usually imagined as one of hers.
If you like, you can enjoy this before you head off for slumberland yourself.
According to Oricon via J-Wiki, the top five lyricists in terms of singles sold are Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）, Yu Aku（阿久悠）, Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆...the rankings are in his article）, Tetsuya Komuro（小室哲哉）and Tsunku（つんく♂）as of December 2015. I've got a feeling that since then Akimoto has further left Aku and Matsumoto in the dust considering all those songs that he's created for his alphabet girl groups, and he was already in the hundreds of millions.
Lyricist Toyohisa Araki is not within that august group and I don't know where he ranks but considering the breadth of who he has provided words for over the past few decades, he can't be that far behind. I decided to write a Creator article about him one night when I took a look at his file on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" and noticed the wide variety of singers that he has collaborated with.
Araki was born in what is now Dalian, China in 1943. He attended the Nihon University College of Art in Tokyo where he was also a member of the ski club. Starting out as a writer, he broke his leg one time while skiing and ended up in a hospital. In gratitude to the nurses who helped him, Araki came up with a tune about a Niigata Prefectureonsen. The popularity of the song then started to spread around although the author behind it had remained unknown at the time until Araki finally admitted his participation.
That song turned out to be "Shiki no Uta"（四季の歌...Song of the Four Seasons）which was officially released as a single in February 1972 by Yumi Inui（いぬいゆみ）. Listening to this original version, I wasn't quite sure whether it wanted to be a gentle folk tune or something with a bit of urban pizzazz. Not sure how it did on Oricon but the fact that it didn't seem to make a huge splash was perhaps not that surprising.
However, "Shiki no Uta" has been heavily covered over the years by folks such as Yujiro Ishihara（石原裕次郎）, Chieko Baisho（倍賞千恵子）and the Dark Ducks（ダーク・ダックス）, but the most successful cover was by singer Yoko Seri（芹洋子）as a 1976 single. Her version broke the Top 10 by hitting No. 8 and it even became a million-seller. Seri's take was a uniformly innocent pop ballad which most likely was more pleasant on listeners.
Since then, Araki has provided lyrics for many singers. In fact, the reason that I finally pulled the trigger to devote an article for him was re-discovering that he had written the City Pop classic "Fly-Day Chinatown"（フライディ・チャイナタウン）for singer and composer Yasuha（泰葉）in 1981. I've also discovered recently that "Fly-Day Chinatown" has also become another favourite one for all those Japanese Future Funk/Vaporwave enthusiasts (Round One, indeed).
He's also provided some pretty refined material for aidoru such as Yoshie Kashiwabara（柏原芳恵）. The song here is the classy "Machikutabirete Yokohama"（待ちくたびれてヨコハマ）from 1985.
I think, though, Araki has tended to hover in the enka/Mood Kayo field. He wrote a number of songs for the late Teresa Teng（テレサテン）including one of my favourites by her, "Tsugunai"（つぐない）. For me, it was one of the great examples of what I've called European enka.
The above songs have all been covered in the blog but I also found some new entries. "Nageki no Melody"（嘆きのメロディー...Melody of Grief） was sung by Yujiro Ishihara as a 1984 release. Takashi Miki（三木たかし）, a frequent songwriting partner for Araki, came up with the melody so Mood Kayo that the record probably smelled of cigarette smoke and scotch as soon as it was taken out of the sleeve.
In 1990, Araki wrote the lyrics for this contemporary ballad sung by Yuiko Tsubokura（坪倉唯子）titled "Koufuku Game"（幸福ゲーム...The Happiness Game） as her 3rd single. Hiroshi Terao（寺尾広）composed the ballad which was used as the theme song for the TV Asahi drama "Utsukushii Uso Tsukemasuka"（美しい嘘つけますか...Can You Make A Beautiful Lie?）. Love lost and gained seems to be a favourite topic especially for Araki and surrounded by a classy melody.
Another example of that theory also popped up in 1990 through Yoko Minamino's（南野陽子）"Double Game"（ダブルゲーム）which was also another collaboration between Araki and Miki. This was Nanno's 17th single from June 1990 and it peaked at No. 3.
Now, the last couple of Creator articles that I've written for the blog have been on songwriters who unfortunately left this mortal coil recently. Happily, though, it seems like Araki is still quite happy and kicking. Although it's not listed on his own J-Wiki entry, Araki, who is also a bassist, came up with his own release in 2015 titled "Sha Ba Da Ba Da"（シャバダバダ）, a jolly song of party-hearty with the video showing the man himself enjoying the good things in life. I can only hope to be that lucky at his current age of 73. I just hope to be alive at 73.
As I said, Araki has written for a wide group of singers since 1972 so you can take a look at the rest of his works listed under his name in the Labels.
I saw this video last night as someone's YouTube collection of Japanese Funk...and boy, does the song have plenty of funk. Fell in love with it immediately because of that thrumming bass synth and Yuiko Tsubokura's（坪倉唯子）sultry vocals. As I did my second listening to "Tsukanoma Yotogi Bito", I started tracking down when and where it was released via J-Wiki. I could peg the sound to mid-1980s and since the song didn't show up on the J-Wiki articles on the albums that were featured which went into the 90s, I figured it had to be on her debut album, "Always In Love" from 1986.
Sure enough, checking at Amazon.jp and the Japanese music blog "Music Avenue", that cool-as-peppermint song with the long title was indeed the 2nd track on "Always In Love". It has quite a different sound when compared to the other song that I've written about by her, "Shooting Star" which came out in 1990. I was also intrigued by the title; it was only written in romaji at YouTube. When I tracked it down on "Music Avenue", that string of kanji came on out, and the best I could do in terms of translation was "Sudden Bed Partner". Well, it IS a nighttime urban contemporary song.
Given the opportunity, I'd like to get a copy of "Always In Love" myself. I tried looking it up on at CD Japan and Tower Records, but no dice there. No worries, though...it'll pop up somewhere eventually. Ah, did forget the usual information. The lyrics were provided by Kumiko Aoki（青木久美子）and the funky music was by Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）...man, I gotta get that retrospective album about him!
I've been wanting to write up an article on Yuiko Tsubokura（坪倉唯子）for a while now. And the reason for that lies behind what she's arguably been most famous for. She is the female lead singer of the B.B. Queens, that quirky musical unit responsible for the No. 1 song of 1990, "Odoru Ponpokorin"（おどるポンポコリン）, the first ending theme (and later eternal theme tune) for "Chibi Maruko-chan"（ちびまる子ちゃん）. But as that co-vocal with blues singer Fusanosuke Kondo（近藤房之助）, she was heavily disguised (as I once put it in that article for that song) as a combination of Mrs. Doubtfire and a former First Lady of Japan.
However, underneath all of that makeup, costuming and squeaky voice, there is a gorgeous lady who has some soulful vocals. Tsubokura has been active since 1980 as a singer and also as a backup singer. In the same year that "Odoru Ponpokorin" came out, she released her 2nd album, "Loving You", in March 1990 and one of the tracks is "Shooting Star". I've sampled some of her other songs out on YouTube, and it seems like she's solidly in the urban contemporary category. "Shooting Star" has that melody of snappy drums and chiming synths which not only had me thinking of the turn of the decade between the 80s and 90s but also of downtown glasses of champagne and the high life in Shinjuku. Perhaps after giving those performances as part of B.B. Queens, that's maybe where she wanted to head for to unwind.
"Shooting Star" was written by Shun Taguchi（田口俊）and composed by Hitoshi Haba（羽場仁志...I hope I got that last name right）. Tsubokura would be another singer that I would like to find out more about just from what I've heard so far. As for her backup work, she was involved in Maki Ohguro's（大黒摩季）Olympic theme "Atsukunare"（熱くなれ）and TUBE's "Summer Dream" among the many other songs she's participated in.
People know when the weekend is almost up when the 6 p.m. hour arrives on Fuji-TV on Sunday night, and the twin anime of "Chibi Maruko-chan"（ちびまる子ちゃん）and "Sazae-san"（サザエさん）start up.
"Chibi Maruko-chan"(Tiny Little Maruko) was a shojo manga first created in 1986 by Momoko Sakura（さくらももこ）, and depicts the life of a young and slightly cheeky girl named Maruko Sakura in suburban Japan of the mid-1970s. It was basically a semi-autobiographical account of the author's life as a girl back in those days. As with the much older "Sazae-san" series, it gained its popularity due to its nostalgic, down-home style. In 1990, Fuji-TV picked "Chibi Maruko-chan"up as an anime series for an initial run of 2 years, and then started it up again in 1995. In terms of ratings, the show attained a whopping 39.9% of the audience, the highest ratings ever garnered by an anime at that time.
The original ending theme of the show also enjoyed similar fame. "Odoru Ponpokorin"(Dancing Ponpokorin) was composed by singer Tetsuro Oda（織田哲郎） (known for composing hits for rocker Nanase Aikawa and summer band TUBE) and written by Momoko Sakura herself. And the band making their first single all come alive was the unit B.B Queens, a happy-go-lucky amalgam of otherwise serious musicians.
The band name was a riff on the blues singer B.B. King. The main vocal is Osaka-born Yuiko Tsubokura（坪倉唯子）who has had a career since 1979 as a studio musician and backup vocal (Miyuki Nakajima, Misato Watanabe) but also has had her own solo career as a pop singer. For "Odoru Ponpokorin", Tsubokura sings it as if she were Chibi Maruko-chan, and looks like a combination of Mrs. Doubtfire and former First Lady of Japan Miyuki Hatoyama.
Her partner is Fusanosuke Kondo（近藤房之助）, a blues-and-rock singer who hails from Aichi Prefecture and has been in the music business since 1976 when he started with the band BREAK DOWN. He barks his vocals in a loud rasp and looks like a psychedelic Snidely Whiplash. The trio of backup vocals for B.B. Queens ended up becoming the neo-retro group Mi-ke a couple of years later. Both Kondo and Tsubokura have their own songs on YouTube, and they sound very, very different.
Here are the ending credits to the original run of "Chibi Maruko-chan" in 1990. As I said, "Odoru Ponpokorin" became a huge hit when it was released in April. It was the No. 1 song for July and September, and eventually became the No. 1 song of the year, staying on the charts for 54 straight weeks. The creators of the song, Oda and Sakura earned Japan Music Awards, and of course, an appearance on the Kohaku Utagassen was a foregone conclusion. It sold close to 2 million discs as a single and is included on the band's debut album, "We are B.B. Queens" which got as high as No. 32 on the Oricon weeklies. And of course, I'm sure karaoke box and bar owners were also very grateful to the band.
