VA – Lovin’ Mighty Fire – Nippon Funk Soul Disco 1973-1983 – 2 LP import

Description

Artist:Various Artists |Label:BGP |Format:2x LP |Genre:Funk / Soul / DIsco | Album Condition: New | Cover Condition: Sealed

Various Artists
Lovin’ Mighty Fire – Nippon Funk Soul Disco 1973-1983
BGP XXQLP2 046- import 2 LP set in a thick gatefold jacket

The first official collection of Japanese soul, funk and disco in the West. LP version is a double, pressed on 180g rocket red vinyl in heavy duty gatefold jacket.

Talk of Japanese soul often refers toenka,the sentimental ballad emanating from downhome bars and karaoke boxes. From the late 1960s, however, reverberations from across the Pacific would lead to the nations own take on soul music as we know it in the West. Some of the artists showcased on this compilation may not have been commercially successful but their legacy stands the test of time.

Lilys uptempo funk-rock gem By By Session Band features a pre-Yellow Magic Orchestra Ryuichi Sakamoto on keyboards. Also from YMO, Haruomi Hosonos Bara To Yajuu (Rose And Beast) rocks to a hypnotic high hat, charting a course between slow disco and cumbia.

Two western covers here: Yasuko Agawas version of Gene McDaniels Why Dont You Move In With Me and Yuko Asanos Summer Champion a reworking of Sergio Mendes Summer Dream. Memphis funk band Ebonee Webb reversed the role and stormed the Japanese charts with Disco Otomisan. They followed with the album Memphis Soul Meets Japanese Folk Songs, from which Yashow Macashow comes.

Razzamatazz is provided by vocal duo Pink Lady, one of the countrys most successful teen pop/disco acts and the first Japanese artists to chart in the US since Kyu Sakamotos Sukiyaki way back in 1963. Junko Ohashis Dancin, recorded in New York, was produced by keyboard player Ken Sato (her husband) and jazz bassist Teruo Nakamura. Naoya Matsuokas Lovin Mighty Fire graced by soul diva Minako Yoshida, was released in 1979 as a blue vinyl 12-inch single, just before Matsuoka got his big break with the fusion boom.

Masaaki Hirao was one of a small group of artists who led the Japanese rockabilly boom in the late 1950s (as highlighted on our Nippon RocknRoll collection). He became a force in the music industry, as a writer and producer, and is a major player to this day. He released Funky! Miyo Chan under the alias Sexy Rhythm Sections. An update of one of his early songs, it was arranged by jazz keyboardist Jun Fukamachi.

There is a semi-mythical creature in the West: the Japanese record dealer, who, turning up unannounced in a record shop in America or Europe makes an offer on the whole stock. The hunger of Japanese collectors for soul, funk and disco is world-renowned, with many rarities ending up there. But there was a groove obscured from the West, until now. Coiled, like a sleeping dragon, it was there all this time, in the land of Japan. – HOWARD WILLIAMS

Includes:
By By Session Band – Lily
Sentimental Hotel – Rie Nakahara
Bara to Yajuu – Haruomi Hosono
Why Don’t You Move In With Me – Yasuko Agawa
Jiken Ga Okitara Bell Ga Naru – Pink Lady
Summer Champion – Yuko Asano
Dancin’ – Junko Ohashi
Rainbow Paradise – Masayoshi Takanaka
Uragiri – Mari Natsuki
Maboroshi No Hito – Miyako Chaki
Banana – Kay Ishiguro
Funky! “Miyo” Chan – Masaaki Hirao
Yashow Macashow – Ebonee Webb
Lovin’ Mighty Fire – Naoya Matsuoka & Minako Yoshida

NEW SEALED import 2 LP set