Musics from Japan

Junk 45s #1: Masahiro Kuwana - 3rd Lady (1978)

2008-04-16T05:27:00.000-07:00

The first in doubtless a lengthy line of 7" records bought very cheaply from junk stores solely because the cover made me laugh, hopefully you can get an impression of the musical content solely from the cover:

The medallion...the jheri-curls...the sweatiness...the tracksuit jacket...the pose...the moose knuckle...how could this not be good? And the slab of cheesy, sleazy disco-rock that graces side A doesn't disappoint. Just to give you a vague idea of the deep poetic forces at work here, the lyrics of the first verse can be translated as something like:

"I draw a figure of the pale moon upon your naked back
Fragile woman, with weak shoulders
Even at the cost of my life, I want to protect you"

(I think I'm off the mark, please correct me...)

The disco fever is tuned down somewhat for side B's "Tequila Moon", kickin' out the jams in a 1970s AOR stylee.

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Junk 45s

2008-04-16T05:06:00.000-07:00

...being a hopefully ongoing series in which I post cheap 7-inch singles I've found in recycle shops and bought because they looked interesting, or the cover made me laugh. I'm especially interested in stuff from the 1960s and 70s.

The artistes presented herein may be familiar to the more discerning listener, but I'm no expert and I had never heard of them at the time of purchase.

Hello world

2008-04-15T06:02:00.001-07:00

So here's a blog about Japanese music. I'm not only interested in Japanese music by any means; but it is something I've long been interested in (for reasons I can't quite fathom) and since I live here it seems like a good opportunity to present my perspective on it to anyone who cares to read and unleash the frustrated music journalist dwelling within me.

Visit my personal blog here if you are so inclined.