Wiki
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Release Date
25 November 1982
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Length
10 tracks
Guitar master Masayoshi Takanaka (高中正義) and holder of many anime soundtrack licenses, were looking to expand their artist base to compete with the likes of RCA. They managed to get a hold of Takako after a session musician scouted her out from a club in Shinjuku, and began production on her debut solo album, Love Trip, April the 15th at KRS Recording Studio in Tokyo and finished August the 28th. Despite not being a big name, Takako Mamiya managed to get some pretty well-known names to help with the production for her album. The main sound producer was Genji Sawai (沢井原兒), a jazz saxophone player who led a fusion band called Bacon Egg. The bassist was Yoshihiro Naruse (鳴瀬喜博), who’s the current bass player for the jazz-fusion band Casiopea. The drummer was Uehara Hiroshi(上原浩), who’s performed for both Tatsuro Yamashita (Spacy, Moonglow, & For You) & Hiroshi Sato (Orient). The backing vocals were provided by Hiroshi Narumi (鳴海弘) and Etsuko Yamakawa (山川恵津子), who many know as the city pop duo Tohoku Shinkansen (東北新幹線).
There were also a number of big composers for this album; former rock artist Katsu Hoshi (星勝) who was the guitarist for 60's rock band, The Mops; Yoshiko Miura (三浦徳子) who has written songs for various anime (Cat’s Eye, Fist of the North Star, Project Ako) and other female singers (Junko Ohashi, Junko Yagami, and Anri) ; singer-songwriter Akira Inoue (井上鑑), who is mostly known for his album “Seaside Lovers”, was a composer and the keyboardists; and Kazuo Shiina (椎名和夫) who made his professional debut as one of Minako Yoshida's backing musicians (violinist). After that, served as the second guitarist/violinist of folk band はちみつぱい (Hachimitsu Pai) and the first guitarist of pop/rock band Moonriders.
Love Trip Single Vinyl
Despite having a well-experienced team backing the production, Love Trip obviously did not make the sales it needed to keep Takako Mamiya in the business as an artist. One of the main reasons it flopped was due to the poor commercial promotion, and thus not enough air time on the radio, which is a big deal because car radios & stereos were the most prevalent during the 80's economic boom. This was due to the label not being big enough, management discussions that left no one at fault but not good enough to get it out and the label not having the huge financial backing to push this new, unknown artist that had been part of a previous project that failed. There was a small following that helped the album become known in Tokyo. The company was looking for a cheaper way to promote the album so they played 真夜中のジョーク(Midnight Joke) in clubs, trying to promote the song as single which help stimulate sales of the album. Which would also explain why it didn't fall into complete obscurity.
Another reason the album flopped was the inconsistent thematic structure of the music made it less palatable for the Japanese consumers. Because there were so many different composers on the album, the second half of the album sort of breaks the musical aesthetic of the whole thing. The album lacked a true identity to set Mamiya apart from other well-known albums that were being sold that year like Tatsuro Yamashita’s For You (mellow summer AOR) or even Toshiki Kadomatsu’s Weekend Fly To The Sun (Day To Day City life disco & soul). Even the vague album cover, complete with random background cactus and racist memorabilia, is polarizing, which you can thank graphic artist & photo director, Teruhisa Tajima (田島照久ﾠ), which is odd because he's done better work in the past for other artists under the CBS/Sony Label**.**
As of today, there aren’t even any records of Love Trip on the Oricon Charts, which is a sign that it did quite poorly. It’s no surprise that Takako would choose to drop off the face of the earth, earning her the nickname "The Mystery Woman of City Pop". However, is that really what happened after the production of Love Trip? While it is still unknown where she is in the present time, my latest discovery has lead me to find that she didn't disappear entirely, but rather went into contracted commercial work (as many City Pop artist did between albums), continuing to work in the industry as a part of the never-ending sea of no-name voice actors and commercial stand-ins. One online account says there existed a commercial of Takako in a bikini advertising coffee vending machine, this commercial may or may not be lost to time, or it could be a false account, but with enough excavation, it could lead to more possible clues on her whereabouts.
THE MUSIC REVIEW
Love Trip: The opening smooth jazz number sets the mood and flow for the entire album with its rooftop bar at sunset vibe. While the song is quite mellow, the bass is quite pronounced throughout the song. The piano work is quite exemplary as well and it ends off on an awesome Saxophone solo.
Chinese Restaurant; While still retaining the smooth jazz vibe, this song carries a more oriental based melody. The lyrics have the singer wistfully wondering whether her old lover still remembers their first meeting at such a restaurant.
真夜中のジョーク (Midnight Joke): Possibly the most famous song on the album, and for good reason. Here Mamiya sings about driving alone by herself in the middle of the night, contemplating whether her love is one big joke. This song easily has the best horns in the album.
哀しみは夜の向こう(The Sadness Lingers well beyond into the Night): This song carries the same tone and theme as Midnight Joke but adds more samba elements to the mix. The lyrics tell the story of a young woman named Jenny, who’s awake at 3 in the morning, struggling to sleep because she can’t forget her former lover.
All Or Nothing: Despite having a very similar intro to Midnight Joke, the rest of the song is slightly more optimistic, with Takako singing about not letting her feelings or her vices get in the way of giving her all in a relationship.
渚でダンス (Dance At The Waterfront): This is the halfway point song that shifts the tone of the album from midnight melancholy, to night time boogie, in order to give us a mellow moonlight dance number.
One More Night: Has the same upbeat feeling as the previous song but with more samba elements thrown in. Has a rocking sax solo in the middle of the song.
モーニング・フライト(Morning Flight): Carrying the same samba vibe as the previous song, this is definitely the most upbeat song on the album. So much so that it feels like a song Meiko Nakahara might sing.
たそがれは銀箔の…(A Silver Leaf in The Twilight) : A slower skippy mid-tempo number with some light flute play a warm trombone, and some excellent dream backing vocals from Tohoku Shinkansen helping out.
What A Broken Heart Can Do; Instead of a song reprise, Takako decides to end off the album with a self-cover of the intro song, sung with decent English vocals written by Gregg Oldron .
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