We have talked about City Pop and its proximity to Jheri Curl Music before with Hitomi Tohyama’s “Wanna Kiss”. Today we are featuring Masayoshi Takanaka, a jazz fusion legend, guitarist, composer, and producer who is influential in the City Pop genre. He is also known for playing with outrageous, custom guitars. Here’s a picture of him playing a huge red surfboard-shaped guitar:
“Chill Me Out” from 1982’s Saudade is a perfect way to cool down on a hot summer evening, with the tinkling synthesizer that hits like ice cubes in a drink on a hot, balmy day. I also love the spoken word part that’s a conversation between Takanaka and session bassist T.M. Stevens, culminating in Takanaka shouting “CHECK IT OUT” and then ripping into a guitar solo.
Oh, by the way, Randy Jackson also appears on this album. You know. THE Randy Jackson of Journey and “it’s a no from me dawg” fame. Unfortunately, I did not figure out which songs he appears on, but Discogs lists him as a background singer on the album.
“Chill Me Out” definitely deserves a spot on your cookout playlist this summer. If you don’t have one yet, may we suggest our own here: