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:	3700604736868

Album Credits

Performance Credits

New Generation Company   Primary Artist
Miyuki Maki   Primary Artist
Midori Hara   Primary Artist
Arakawa Band   Primary Artist
Mitsuko Horie   Primary Artist
Kiyohiko Ozaki   Primary Artist
Sumiko Yamagata   Primary Artist
Hatsumi Shibata   Primary Artist,Vocals
Hitomi "Penny" Tohyama   Primary Artist
Mizuki Koyama   Primary Artist
Kengo Kurozumi   Primary Artist
Haruo Chikada＆Vibra-Tones   Primary Artist
Haruyoshi Yamashina   Primary Artist
Jadoes   Primary Artist
Ken Nishizaki   Primary Artist,Vocals
Kumi Nakamura   Primary Artist
Makoto Iwabuchi   Primary Artist,Vocals,Choir/Chorus
Hiroshi Sato   Primary Artist,Solina,Piano (Electric),Vocals,Synthesizer
Terry Harrington   Sax (Tenor)
Rick Shlosser   Drums
Tommy Shepard   Trombone
Chuck Findley   Trumpet,Flugelhorn
Freddy Young   Choir/Chorus
Jun Sato   Synthesizer,Piano (Electric)
Yutaka Fukuoka   Vocals,Percussion
Masamichi Yano   Keyboards
Lew McCreary   Trombone
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
Akihiro Tanaka   Bass
Haruo Kubota   Guitar,Vocals
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)
Yoshikazu Kishi   Trumpet
Hiroyuki Nanba   Vocoder,Keyboards,Electronic Piano,Korg Synthesizer,Synthesizer Bass
Akihiko Hirama   Synthesizer
Ron Hicklin Singers   Choir/Chorus
Time Five   Choir/Chorus
Kenji Takamizu   Bass (Electric)
Tatsuji Deguchi   Vibraphone
Kenji Sato   Piano,Synthesizer,Piano (Electric)
Kazuo Shiina   Guitar (Electric)
Hitoshi Okano   Trumpet,Electric Trumpet
Hirofumi Tokutake   Guitar (Electric)
Yosuke Okada   Guitar
Yutaka Uehara   Drums
Kazuaki Misago   Drums
Tomato Strings Ensemble   Strings
Junichi Kanezaki   Trumpet
Pecker   Percussion
Atsunobu Yakabe   Drums
Hideki Fujisawa   Choir/Chorus,Bass,Vocals
Hiroko Fukuda   Keyboards
James D. Lewis   Choir/Chorus
Kanichiroh Kubo   Synthesizer
Akihiro Miyaura   Piano,Synthesizer,Piano (Electric)
Akira Tsubota   Fretless Bass,Bass (Electric)
Chuji Nagaoka   Guitar (Electric)
Drumulator   Drums
Kazuhiko Saito   Guitar (Electric)
Koji Yoshida   Drums
Naoya Tamura   Bass
Shoji Maeda   Flute,Saxophone,Electric Saxophone
Koji Takeda   Drums

Technical Credits

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