Tatsuro's first four years of his solo career were a rough path due to the many criticisms he received, the almost non-existent attention from the mainstream, and the label losing hope on his music across many different points from 1976 to 1978. From his participation with Sugar Babe to all of his solo work, Tatsuro had slowly proven himself as a prolific and talented pop artist, but there were choices that simply lead to his career not moving forward on the reception it received. This was mainly due to him nor the label not putting out any singles in promotion of his work, leading to him getting frustrated and almost considering on quitting his solo career, something which was expressed on his Go Ahead!, his third studio album, which was treated as his last. However, Bomber, a single from the album released in early 1979, can be credited as being the one track that revived, or more like properly started, his solo career, while at the same time reigniting the flame of his creativity and passion. This polyrhythmic funk driven track would find some considerable success on dance clubs, and would slowly lead to Tatsuro having much more focus on a concrete tone and atmosphere for his future albums, with a first glance at this new era of Tatsuro being present in the form of 1979's Moonglow.
The album turned out to be one of his most consistent and coherent projects up to that point (even though it still contained some loose moments on the second side), holding a considerable amount of some of his best material, and including a number of singles that would slowly put him as a rising name on the Japanese charts (with singles like Let's Kiss The Sun being used along side other previous songs from his catalog as promotion material that worked wonders to attract audiences to his new work). But Tatsuro's slow evolution wouldn't stop there, with the success of Moonglow allowing him to have more budget and more freedom for the recording of his fifth studio project. His live shows would start proving as incredibly popular, expanding to national tours, contrary to the limited Tokyo shows he was used to giving, presenting new ideas and tracks that would receive a great reception, hinting at a more effective and powerful new project. This would culminate on the release of both the single Ride On Time and the album of the same title in 1980, with these releases jumping straight the #1 position on the charts, catapulting his career to the place it always deserved. Ride On Time presented his most focused work up to that point, holding some of the best, and most memorable and timeless works of his entire catalog, showing both a very stable and promising lineup that met his artistic expectations, as well as Tatsuro finally finding a songwriting and recording process that truly worked wonders for him. It allowed him to be loose with what he wanted to do in studio, as well as being very effective by debuting ideas onstage and improving them with every show until their final studio version.
Ride On Time would be the culmination of years of hard work, and it would finally allowed him to get rid of all the limitations that he had on his creative projects, letting him stand on a position where he was free to do what he wanted on studio. 1980 was finally Yamashita finding success on his work, so he decided to take a break from studio until 1982, but before that he got to release one more project that tackled a style that he had showed interest in since very early on in his career. It is no secret that the man's biggest influence were always US pop songs from the 50's-60's, mostly inclining to the surf rock /pop spectrum, but also Doo Woop and Acapella music. Yamashita already had a knack at both of these style into one album with his unofficial project with friends in 1972, Add Some Music To Your Day, but that major influence never really seemed to wear off. All of these influences would be complemented with other ones, but they would eventually evolve into their own thing, and they would always make a presence on Tatsuro's albums. Spacy had somewhat more surf rock/pop inspired arrangements and atmosphere, specially on its second half, and this would eventually come in full form with the release of Big Wave in 1984. As for the acapella arrangements, these would first appear on a very focused aspect on the "It's A Poppin Time" album with the track Marie being a proper attempt at creating this particular style of music, while the appearances on studio records would manifest in the form of Overture and Nightwing, the short openers for Go Ahead! and Moonglow (as well as having a presence being combined with a mellow piano in Ride On Time's closer おやすみ), but a full record tackling this style of music was something yet to be seen from the artist.
It was obvious that the artist aspired for more on that small world that seemed somewhat distant from his usual material, but that at the same time had managed to become a staple on his records, something that added an extra layer of personality to something that already had a lot of attitude on its own. Of course, it was a well known fact that these solo acapella tracks were a hobby for Tatsuro, but they had also managed to become part of his live shows, be it as small interludes and then becoming full fleshed covers that offered variety within one show. With time, the amount of these tracks started to grow, and with the success of Ride On Time, Yamashita simply felt like making a full Doo Woop covers album just for the fun of it, as something that sort of symbolized the union between old and new styles and fans into one small and charming project, leading to the release of On The Street Corner on 1980. In many ways, this was a very special record for Japan at the time. Mainstream audiences had little to no knowledge about musical styles that were popular on the west, so a full acapella/doo-woop focused project was almost like a breath of fresh air (even leading to Yamashita needing to explain what it actually was on several interviews), and a more than novel introduction to the genre. The album received a small, yet still considerable, amount of attention, which would lead to sequels being released in 1986 and 1999, with this first entry being re-released and complemented with each new entry in the series. The 2000 edition of the album, rightfully titled On The Street Corner 1, can be considered as the most complete and proper experience (with the inclusion of two bonus tracks that make up for the full original tracklist that was intended for the album, being placed right at the middle), and it is accepted as such by Tatsuro himself.
All that being clarified, what exactly is the value in On The Street Corner? Is it an essential listen for any Tatsuro fan? Well, the record itself was just a collection of small and silly covers that Tatsuro himself did as a hobby on the side of his main career. It is the most literal "solo" album from the man, mainly because he is the one that performs most vocal duties, with some small exceptions in tracks like Close Your Eyes (where Minako Yoshida appears in background vocals in order to add some flavor the experience and even then, the 2000 reissue includes a different version of the track itself, titled All Tatsuro Version, where Tatsuro just fulfills Minako's roles himself, and simply making up for a more charming version of the track), and other small duties like the finger snapping and the feet tapping being fulfilled by all the members from the main Ride On Time lineup, as well as presenting the first official collaboration with Mariya Takeuchi. There are no original tracks to be found here, just a simply collection of love letters to the influences that lead Tatsuro to start with his musical career, ranging from Chuck Willis, Phil Spector, Nolan Strong, and even composers like Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. The entire album carries one consistent atmosphere and tone from beginning to end, and Tatsuro doesn't really go wild on the vocals, it all stays in spirit of the calm and laid back acapella/doo-woop approach to the songs. All that being said, this album simply doesn't have anything else going to its favor.
Once you've heard the opener, you've heard every single track that can be found on the record. Some tracks are pulled off on a better way (with the main highlights being the bonus version of Close Your Eyes and the more upbeat and charming Remember Me Baby), others simply fall on a very forgettable middle ground (mainly due to some aspects of the song not being executed all that well, with tracks like Gee and Drip Drop being examples of some somewhat awkward approaches to the acapella arrangements), but overall it all stays on practically the same spirit. The production and mixing are somewhat off, but really intriguing, with some sort of echo effect being applied to the vocals while other elements stay clear at the same time, making up for a particular sound that honestly just fits the experience on a very nice way. It is not a polished or completely well throughout experience, but that was not the intention, this really wasn't a proper studio album from the man (and in any case, with the original length and approach it would fall more into being cataloged as an EP). It was simply a way for Tatsuro to take a break and just enjoy himself doing what he liked to do as a way of passing time on a more professional way, and that laid back and relaxed feeling is expressed on the album.
Unessential? Definitely, it is one of the absolute definitions of "for big fans only".
Pointless? From an outsider's perspective, yes. But Tatsuro really earned the chance and possibility to make these sort of projects possible. It is certainly a well deserved break from years of looking to have this sort of freedom, with all the hard work finally paying off, allowing the man to release a record such as this, sharing his love for music with the world. The man would keep on delivering amazing music throughout his entire career, and he would keep earning the right to take breaks the way he saw fit, and the On The Street Corner series is the definition of that.
If there was one word to define this project with, it would be "charming". It is not mediocre or terrible, but rather sweet, and extremely charming, making up for a record that may not be as memorable as most of his material, but that works really well for what it is. It offers a very enjoyable experience that just bleeds of love and respect towards the influences that shaped Tatsuro into what he would end up becoming on his own. Just a pleasant experience that finished before one expects it to.
Overall Rating: 6/10
Favorite Tracks: Remember Me Baby / Close Your Eyes [All Tatsuro Version]
No comments:
Post a Comment