Moonglow (Tatsuro Yamashita album)

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Moonglow
Moonglow (Tatsuro Yamashita album).jpg
Studio album by
Tatsuro Yamashita
ReleasedOctober 21, 1979
Studio •Canyon Studio(ja)
 • Onkio Haus
 •Media Studio
 •Sound City Studio
 •RCA Studio
Genre
Length46:31
58:45 (2002 reissue)
Label AIR/RVC
AIR/BMG Funhouse (2002 reissue)
Producer Tatsuro Yamashita, Ryuzo Kosugi
Tatsuro Yamashita chronology
Go Ahead!
(1978)		Moonglow
(1979)		 Ride on Time
(1980)
Singles from Moonglow
  1. "Let's Kiss The Sun"
    Released: April 5, 1979
  2. "永遠のFull Moon"
    Released: October 21, 1979

Moonglow is the fourth studio album by Japanese singer-songwriter Tatsuro Yamashita, released in October 1979.

Contents

This was his first LP under the AIR label and was also the first studio album released by AIR.

Overview

Moonglow was one of Tatsuro Yamashita's studio albums that stayed the most weeks in the Oricon charts, staying in for fifty weeks. Most of the songs included in this album were written by Minako Yoshida and composed by Tatsuro Yamashita.

Before the album came out, "Let's Kiss The Sun" was released as a lead single. The song was used as a commercial song for Japan Airlines Okinawa campaign.

At this time, Yamashita's director Ryuzo Kosugi launched an independent label "AIR" within the RVC he belonged to because of his desire to take a more free production stance without being controlled by the company's restrictions. This work "Moonglow" was released in the fall of 1979 as the first new record of this new label AIR. It became a stepping stone to the next work "Ride on Time". [1]

When the album finally came out, "Eien no Full Moon" (永遠のFull Moon) was released as a single at the same time as the album. Its B-side would include the song "Funky Flushin'" which was also included on the Moonglow album. Though both of the singles failed to enter the Oricon Singles Chart.

In 1980, the album would win in the 22nd Japan Record Awards for "Best Album Award". [2]

2002 remastered edition

In 2002, a remastered reissue (BVCR-17016) was released as part of The RCA/AIR Years 1976-1982 series. The reissue would include three additional tracks that were previously unreleased before. It would enter the Oricon charts, peaking in at twenty-six for two weeks.

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Minako Yoshida (ja); all music is composed by Tatsuro Yamashita, except where noted [3]

Side A
No.TitleLyricsLength
1."夜の翼 (Nightwing)"Tatsuro Yamashita1:30
2."永遠のFull Moon (Eien no Full Moon)" 4:25
3."Rainy Walk" 5:08
4."Storm" 6:22
5."Funky Flushin'" 5:40
Total length:23:05
Side B
No.TitleLyricsLength
1."Hot Shot" 5:55
2."Touch Me Lightly" Chris Mosdell 4:23
3."Sunshine −愛の金色−" 4:20
4."Yellow Cab" 4:48
5."愛を描いて (Let's Kiss The Sun)" 4:00
Total length:23:26

2002 remastered edition

No.TitleLyricsLength
1."夜の翼"Tatsuro Yamashita1:30
2."永遠のFull Moon" 4:27
3."Rainy Walk" 5:09
4."Storm" 6:24
5."Funky Flushin'" 5:43
6."Hot Shot" 5:53
7."Touch Me Lightly" Chris Mosdell 4:24
8."Sunshine −愛の金色−" 4:21
9."Yellow Cab" 4:49
10."愛を描いて (Let's Kiss The Sun)" 4:04
11."夜の翼 [ Karaoke ] (Unreleased -Previously Unreleased)" N/A 1:39
12."永遠のFull Moon [-Live Version-] (Unreleased -Previously Unreleased)" 5:14
13."Funky Flushin' [-Alternate Version-]" 5:08
Total length:58:45

Personnel

"Taken from the inner sleeve notes of the 1979 album (AIR-8001)."

Musicians

Drums

Yutaka Uehara (A-2, 5, B-1, 3, 4, 5)
Shuichi "Ponta" Murakami (A-4, B-2)
Yukihiro Takahashi (A-3)

Bass

Akihiro Tanaka (A-2, 5, B-1, 3, 4, 5)
Akira Okazawa (A-4, B-2)
Haruomi Hosono

Guitars

Kazuo Shiina (A-2, 5, B-1, 3, 4, 5) solo on "Funky Flushin'" & "Hot Shot"
Tsunehide Matsuki (A-4, B-2) solo on "Storm"
Masaki Matsubara (A-3)
Tatsuro Yamashita (A-2, 5, B-1, 3, 4, 5) solo on "Yellow Cab"

Keyboards

Hiroyuki Nanba (A-2, 5, B-1, 3, 4, 5) solo on "Sunshine"
Hiroshi Satoh
Tatsuro Yamashita
Percussion — Nov Saitoh, Pecker
Synthesizer — Ryuichi Sakamoto (B-4)
Background Vocals –
  • Minako Yoshida
  • by the courtesy of ALFA RECORDS
  • Tatsuro Yamashita
Trumpet — Shin Kazuhara, Yoshikazu Kishi
Trombone — Shigeharu Mukai, Tadanori Konakawa
Tennor Sax — Kazuo Suzuki
Alto Sax –
  • Hidefumi Toki solo on "Full Moon", "Storm" & "Touch Me Lightly"
Baritone Sax — Shunzo Sunahara
Strings Concert Master — Tadaaki Ohno
Conductor — Koji Haijima
Harp — Keiko Yamakawa

Chart positions

YearAlbumCountryChartPositionWeeksSales
1979MoonglowJapanOricon Weekly LP Albums Chart (top 100)2050146,000 [4]
Oricon Weekly CT Albums Chart (top 100)332845,000 [4]
2002Moonglow [Remastered edition]Oricon Weekly Albums Chart26213,000 [4]

Awards

22nd Japan Record Awards
DateTitleCategoryWinner
December 31, 1980Moonglow [2] Best Album AwardTatsuro Yamashita

Release history

CountryDateLabelFormatCatalog number [3]
JapanOctober 21, 1979AIR/RVC LP AIR-8001
CT ART-8001
June 21, 1984 CD RACD-8
August 15, 1986R32A-1018
March 15, 1987R28H-2804
August 21, 1990RCA/BMG Victor BVCR-7004
September 21, 1990BVCR-2502
June 4, 1997RCA/BMG Japan BVCR-1031
May 21, 1999BVCK-37009
February 14, 2002RCA/BMG Funhouse BVCR-17016
February 20, 2002 LP BVJR-17006

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References

  1. ↑ (2002) Tatsuro Yamashita's "Moonglow" album booklet notes. RCA/BMG Funhouse (BVCR-17016).
  2. 1 2 "List of the 22nd Japan Record Awards Winners" (in Japanese). Retrieved March 23, 2022.
  3. 1 2 "MOONGLOW" (in Japanese). Retrieved March 23, 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 "Tatsuro Yamashita" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on November 11, 2007. Retrieved March 19, 2008.
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