pas de chat -- Stop it!

 

Last fall, I introduced another group that singer-songwriter Miho Fujiwara（藤原美穂）had been associated with in the 1990s, and that was pas de chat which put out a couple of albums in 1993 and 1994. That second album "pas de chat 2 ~ Deux" contained "Nijuu-ni-ban-me no Kuchibeni"（22番目の口紅）, a bouncy urban contemporary number with a bit of New Jack Swing.

This time though, I'm diving into pas de chat's 1993 album "pas de chat" and I found "Stop it!". In comparison with "Nijuu-ni-ban-me no Kuchibeni", "Stop it!", which resides on Fujiwara's own YouTube channel, is a little more esoteric in its influences. With lyrics by Fujiwara and music by her partner Masahito Nakano（中野雅仁）, I pick up on the airier and odder choices of sophisticated pop groups such as The Style Council and Swingout Sister, and for some reason, I get tingles of Japanese synthpop duo PSY-S. Maybe to stretch out the analogies to breaking point, "Stop it!" could be the duo's efforts in making a beatnik tone poem and then filtering it through 1990s dance beats.

pas de chat -- Nijuu-ni-ban-me no Kuchibeni（22番目の口紅）

 

Yesterday, I wrote up an article on Miho Fujiwara's（藤原美穂）"California Crisis"（カリフォルニア・クライシス）and mentioned in passing about another group (to add to Chocolate Lips and PAZZ) that she formed later in the 1990s. Well, I guess that I couldn't really wait that long to talk about that one either.

I've still yet to listen to the whole album "pas de chat 2 ~ Deux" from October 1994. However, after hearing the funk during her time with Chocolate Lips in the early 1980s and then the AOR of PAZZ's one and only "Bananafish" from 1987, I'm gathering that Fujiwara and her partner, composer Masahito Nakano（中野雅仁）, in the duo of pas de chat wanted to bring R&B and AOR together during their time. And sure enough, the Japanese-language site "90s City Pop Record Book" mentions that pas de chat was indeed an R&B/AOR unit, although the focus there was on their debut album "pas de chat" in 1993. Incidentally, pas de chat refers to a basic ballet step that translates into "cat step".

As I'm writing this, I'm gotten as far as Track 3 of "Deux" and it seems like the album has incorporated the above two genres as well as some sophisti-pop (the album cover hints at that), Latin and just generally upbeat pop. My thanks, by the way, to KKP's HRLE92, aka Island Fantasia on YouTube, for putting this album up for our hungry ears. However, my target for today is the first track, "Nijuu-ni-ban-me no Kuchibeni" (Lipstick No. 22). It's got that sparkly 90s City Pop and a rhythm that suggests New Jack Swing while Fujiwara's lithe and nimble vocals lead the way. I especially like her scatting in the chorus.

Unfortunately, I don't know whether pas de chat went beyond their two albums or whether they even released singles. But judging from what I've heard so far, I wouldn't mind investing some yen into either or both of the albums. The fellow on "90s City Pop Record Book" did remark at the end of the article that the first album has been found for less than 280 yen, so scour those sites and if you're in Japan right now, scour those bargain bins.