Tokyo Glow

by Tokyo Glow / Various

Overview

Tokyo Glow deepens an affiliation between the French reissue label Wewantsounds and the fathomless catalog of Japan's Nippon Columbia. In addition to reissuing Ryuichi Sakamoto's crucial Thousand Knives, Wewantsounds previously trawled the margins of the Nippon Columbia archive for Tokyo Dreaming. That compilation favored the esoteric side of the label's '70s and '80s catalog. This, selected by Tokyo native DJ Notoya, emphasizes what is loosely classified as city pop -- relatively commercial recordings across a vast, smooth, and bright landscape of post-disco R&B, adult contemporary pop and soul, soft rock, and even fusion. It therefore complements Light in the Attic's Pacific Breeze and Pacific Breeze 2 sets, making the material accessible far outside Japan and beyond hardcore record collectors. The one artist this has in common with Tokyo Dreaming is the charismatic and effervescent singer Hitomi "Penny" Tohyama, whose "Tuxedo Connection" is sophisticated dancefloor funk clearly influenced by Quincy Jones' early-'80s productions for the likes of the Brothers Johnson (with a bit of Skyy's "Here's to You" to it). A few hew closer to art pop, such as the crystalline "Aamar Jabar" by Midori Hara, the most distinctive vocalist here for the way she stretches notes while wrapping her voice around what sounds like the low end of a Yamaha DX7 held down by a skilled Chuckii Booker acolyte. The few '70s selections -- from Sumiko Yamagata, Hiroshi Sato, and Makoto Iwabuchi -- all take easy, pleasant strolls down the middle of the road. Among other more fascinating curiosities are Mizuki Koyama's vivacious pop-R&B hybrid "Oh! Daddy" (with all-English lyrics), Kumi Nakamura's capering "Kimagure" (somewhere between Michael Franks and Seawind), and Haruo Chikada & Vibra-Tones' Kid Creole-indebted "Sofa Bed Blues," the only one that whoops it up (if politely so). ~ Andy Kellman

Product Details

Release Date:	01/28/2022
Label:	Wewantsounds
UPC:	3700604736851
Rank:	78419

Tracks

1. Kimagure  - Fumiko Kikuchi  - Kumi Nakamura  - Machiko Ryu
2. Indo No Michibata  - Toyohisa Araki  - Miyuki Maki  - Takashi Miki  - Takao Naoi
3. Osake to Joke  - Sakae Fukamachi  -  Game  - Haruyoshi Yamashina
4. Natsu No Hikari Ni  - Makoto Kitajo  - Toshiyuki Watanabe  - Sumiko Yamagata
5. Party Is Over  - Toyohisa Araki  - Chuck Findley  - Mark Goldenberg  - Larry Hall  - Terry Harrington  -  Hicklin  - Tsunehiro Izumi  - Jackie Kelso  - Toshiyuki Kimori  - Abraham Sr. Laboriel  - Greg Mathieson  - Lew McCreary  - Bill Peterson  - Tommy Shepard  - Hatsumi Shibata  - Rick Shlosser  - Neil Stubenhaus
6. Moonlight Flight  - Tatsuo Hayashi  - Makoto Iwabuchi  - Nobu Saito  - Jun Sato  - Shigeru Suzuki  - Akihiro Tanaka  -  Tomato Strings Ensemble
7. Saigo No Tejina  - Takashi Matsumoto  - Nobu Saito  - Hiroshi Sato  - Kenji Takamizu  - Koji Takeda  -  Time Five  - Hirofumi Tokutake  - Chuei Yoshikawa
8. Paradise's Dream  -  Arakawa Band  - Tatsuhiko Arakawa  - Toshio Araki  - Tatsuji Deguchi  - Shigeru Inoue  - Shoji Maeda  - Teiji Mihata  - Kazuaki Misago  - Akihiro Miyaura  - Chuji Nagaoka  - Yoshinori Nomi  - Hitoshi Okano  - Kenji Sato  - Osamu Shiomura  - Akira Tsubota
9. I Wander All Alone, Pt. 3  - Katz Hoshi  - Hiroyuki Nanba  -  New Generation Company  - Kazuo Shiina  - Akihiro Tanaka  - Yutaka Uehara  - Hiromi Yasuda
10. Ojosan Oteyawarakani  - Yuji Ohno  - Kiyohiko Ozaki  - Keisuke Yamakawa
11. Juggler  - Kengo Kurozumi  - Naoko Nishio  - Satoshi Takebe
12. Koi No Paradigm  - Hiroko Fukuda  - Yoshikazu Miur  - Ken Nishizaki  - Kazuhiko Saito  - Naoya Tamura  - Koji Yoshida
13. Simply Another Love  - Hideki Fujisawa  - Akihiko Hirama  -  Jadoes  - Kanichiroh Kubo  - Kensaku Saito
14. Aamar Jabar  - Midori Hara  - Kazuo Nobuta
15. Tuxedo Connection  -  Drumulator  - Chinfa Kan  - Junichi Kanezaki  - Yoshikazu Kishi  - Seiichi Kyoda  - James D. Lewis  - Makoto Matsushita  - Hiroyuki Nanba  -  Pecker  - Haruo Togashi  - Hitomi "Penny" Tohyama  - Valerie Walker  - Yoshihiro Yonekura  - Freddy Young
16. Oh! Daddy  - Mizuki Koyama  - Toshinobu Kubota  - Casey Rankin  - Hiroshi Shinkawa
17. Sofa Bed Blues  - Haruo Chikada  -  Chikada  - Yutaka Fukuoka  - Haruo Kubota  - Yosuke Okada  -  Vibra Tones  - Atsunobu Yakabe  - Masamichi Yano  - Hidenori Yokoyama
18. Chigasaki Memory  - Mitsuko Horie  - Yasuhito Miyashita  - Ichiro Nitta

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Haruo Chikada＆Vibra-Tones   Primary Artist
Haruyoshi Yamashina   Primary Artist
Midori Hara   Primary Artist
Hiroshi Sato   Primary Artist,Solina,Vocals,Synthesizer,Piano (Electric)
Kiyohiko Ozaki   Primary Artist
Sumiko Yamagata   Primary Artist
Arakawa Band   Primary Artist
Mitsuko Horie   Primary Artist
Hatsumi Shibata   Primary Artist,Vocals
Hitomi "Penny" Tohyama   Primary Artist
Mizuki Koyama   Primary Artist
New Generation Company   Primary Artist
Miyuki Maki   Primary Artist
Makoto Iwabuchi   Primary Artist,Vocals,Choir/Chorus
Kumi Nakamura   Primary Artist
Kengo Kurozumi   Primary Artist
Jadoes   Primary Artist
Ken Nishizaki   Primary Artist,Vocals
Kenji Takamizu   Bass (Electric)
Tatsuji Deguchi   Vibraphone
Kenji Sato   Piano,Synthesizer,Piano (Electric)
Akihiro Miyaura   Piano,Synthesizer,Piano (Electric)
Akira Tsubota   Fretless Bass,Bass (Electric)
Chuji Nagaoka   Guitar (Electric)
Drumulator   Drums
Hideki Fujisawa   Bass,Vocals,Choir/Chorus
Akihiro Tanaka   Bass
Hiroko Fukuda   Keyboards
James D. Lewis   Choir/Chorus
Kanichiroh Kubo   Synthesizer
Kazuhiko Saito   Guitar (Electric)
Koji Takeda   Drums
Kazuaki Misago   Drums
Tomato Strings Ensemble   Strings
Junichi Kanezaki   Trumpet
Pecker   Percussion
Atsunobu Yakabe   Drums
Masamichi Yano   Keyboards
Greg Mathieson   Keyboards
Neil Stubenhaus   Bass
Chuei Yoshikawa   Guitar (Acoustic)
Abraham Laboriel, Sr.   Bass
Jackie Kelso   Sax (Baritone)
Larry Hall   Trumpet
Mark Goldenberg   Guitar
Osamu Shiomura   Trombone
Shigeru Inoue   Drums
Hiromi Yasuda   Guitar (Acoustic)
Nobu Saito   Cabasa,Triangle,Percussion
Yoshinori Nomi   Percussion
Toshio Araki   Trumpet,Flugelhorn
Haruo Kubota   Guitar,Vocals
Koji Yoshida   Drums
Naoya Tamura   Bass
Shoji Maeda   Flute,Saxophone,Electric Saxophone
Hiroyuki Nanba   Keyboards,Electronic Piano,Korg Synthesizer,Synthesizer Bass,Vocoder
Akihiko Hirama   Synthesizer
Ron Hicklin Singers   Choir/Chorus
Time Five   Choir/Chorus
Terry Harrington   Sax (Tenor)
Rick Shlosser   Drums
Tommy Shepard   Trombone
Chuck Findley   Trumpet,Flugelhorn
Lew McCreary   Trombone
Tatsuo Hayashi   Drums
Haruo Togashi   Synthesizer
Teiji Mihata   Guitar (Electric)
Valerie Walker   Choir/Chorus
Makoto Matsushita   Guitar
Haruo Chikada   Vocals,Keyboards
Shigeru Suzuki   Choir/Chorus,Guitar (Electric)
Bill Peterson   Trumpet
Hidenori Yokoyama   Bass
Tatsuhiko Arakawa   Clarinet,Saxophone,Flute (Alto)
Freddy Young   Choir/Chorus
Jun Sato   Synthesizer,Piano (Electric)
Yutaka Fukuoka   Vocals,Percussion
Yoshikazu Kishi   Trumpet
Kazuo Shiina   Guitar (Electric)
Hitoshi Okano   Trumpet,Electric Trumpet
Hirofumi Tokutake   Guitar (Electric)
Yosuke Okada   Guitar
Yutaka Uehara   Drums

Technical Credits

Toshiyuki Kimori   Arranger
Takashi Miki   Composer
Optigram   Artwork
Yoshihiro Yonekura   Composer
Chinfa Kan   Composer
Katz Hoshi   Arranger,Composer
Nick Luscombe   Liner Notes
Makoto Iwabuchi   Composer
DJ Notoya   Selection,Liner Notes
Fumiko Kikuchi   Arranger,Composer
Hiroshi Sato   Arranger,Composer
Hiroko Fukuda   Arranger
Kanichiroh Kubo   Digital Manipulation
Toyohisa Araki   Composer
Keisuke Yamakawa   Composer
Tsunehiro Izumi   Composer
Hideki Fujisawa   Composer,Programming
Machiko Ryu   Composer
Junko Kihara   Coordination
Ryosuke Endo   Producer
Toko Kobayashi   Coordination
Haruyoshi Yamashina   Composer
Jadoes   Arranger
Midori Hara   Composer
Yuji Ohno   Arranger,Composer
Seiichi Kyoda   Arranger
Hiroshi Shinkawa   Arranger
Kensaku Saito   Composer
Naoko Nishio   Composer
Yoshikazu Miur   Composer
Vibra Tones   Arranger
Akihiko Hirama   Programming
Satoshi Takebe   Arranger
Toshinobu Kubota   Composer
Sumiko Yamagata   Composer
Toshiyuki Watanabe   Arranger
The Game   Arranger
Masahiro Tabayashi   Mastering Engineer
Takashi Matsumoto   Composer
Casey Rankin   Composer
Haruo Chikada   Arranger,Composer
Shigeru Suzuki   Arranger
Tatsuhiko Arakawa   Arranger,Composer
Yutaka Fukuoka   Composer
Ichiro Nitta   Composer
Kazuo Nobuta   Arranger
Roger Bong   Photography
Sakae Fukamachi   Arranger
Makoto Kitajo   Composer
Kengo Kurozumi   Composer
Takao Naoi   Arranger
Yasuhito Miyashita   Composer