City Pop Is Going Viral—This Japanese College Band From the ’80s Comes Next
Shedding a light on hidden treasures as a DJ
Every time I hear about DJ Shadow’s DIGGING in the U.S. in the late ’90s, his anecdotes overwhelm me.
He searched through ’70s phone books in the library and literally called around to find record owners. After reaching out to the owners, he would drive for hours to visit them. His passion was truly amazing.
The DIGGING world has evolved dramatically, thanks to the internet. There are many positive aspects, needless to say, but I have to admit that I miss those old days when DIGGING was treasure hunting without technology. You may say I’m an old fart.
Today, we can google any information about rare and obscure records. However, we cannot discover records that have not been released to the public.
The budding City Pop trend around the world has shed a light on these forgotten records.
The name of the band is WINDY. Inspired by the J-POP maestro Tatsuro Yamashita, WINDY started as a college band in the mid-’80s. The band produced only 50 copies of one album on their own to commemorate their achievement. They didn’t distribute the album, splitting the 50 copies among the band members.
Fast forward to today, the internet and the music trend are working a miracle. After finding out that City Pop is booming, WINDY’s leader Mitani started uploading his audio files on YouTube.
While getting compliments online, Mitani also received an email from a man named DJ NOTOYA, who graduated from the same university. Although DJ NOTOYA is young, he has been at the heart of the City Pop movement in Japan with his DJ skills, record collection, and wide ranging knowledge.
DJ NOTOYA praised WINDY for fantastic music, and he offered to reissue it. “Why don’t you reissue your music? I’d like to recommend it to listeners.” At first, Mitani was skeptical because he was afraid it might be a scam.
However, as their emails went back and forth, Mitani realized that NOTOYA’s passion was genuine, and he decided to reissue two single cuts from the phantom LP.
They came out on Record Store Day 2020: “Dreamin’ Night / Magic Day” and “Everlastin’ Love / Let me see inside your heart.” Furthermore, this year, the reissued WINDY’s fantastic album will be available on Record Store Day in June.
Initially, Mitani uploaded the recordings on YouTube without any expectations. It ended up catching the attention of the passionate digger NOTOYA which led to the official reissue of the album.
I believe that this is equivalent to the DIGGING activities of DJ SHADOW in the ’90s. Mitani’s dream to bring WINDY’s music to the world has come true with the power of the internet and the City Pop trend.
Both NOTOYA and Mitani told me this story on my radio show, Jimmie Soul Radio, and that inspired me to take the next step.
I suggested to Mitani that I would like to produce a new song with WINDY by using my radio program. It was supposed to be the first song for the band in the past 36 years.
Mitani said yes without missing a beat. Still, inviting a different band to let them perform their arrangement of the song as a B-side seemed a great idea. I assumed that it would give the band an opportunity and WINDY could focus on the A-side with less burden. It was their reunion, and they needed to knock the rust off to get the feel.
So I asked Ichinomiya Big Band, which is based in Kagawa, to produce the B-side. They are an awesome reggae-oriented band from my hometown.
Mitani proposed some demo songs, and we all had a chance to listen to them and pick one. We chose “When I Can’t See You” because it was outstanding — the beautiful melody shows how talented Mitani is as a songwriter, and I’m sure you can sense it too.
With this lingering pandemic, the recording of the song was not easy. But everyone’s passion overcame all the difficulties. And that’s how the two songs were completed. Both tunes have unique characteristics. I highly recommend them, even if you’re not familiar with City Pop.
Both songs are now available for download at Bandcamp. Please buy and enjoy them.
We are also planning to release analog records as a label. Please look forward to them. I am proud to be involved in this new music scene after 36 years where WINDY was dormant.
It’s been a lot of fun over the past year. This is a perfect beginning for me to launch Jimmie Soul Records, and I’m going to organize enjoyable events for both listeners and musicians.
I want to create a label that connects Japanese musicians with singers and artists around the world. For example, it would be great if an overseas singer could join a Japanese band’s song as a vocalist. I get excited just imagining it.
Please feel free to contact me if you are interested in my label.
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