[Bright & spirited]
No.185 "Tambourine-wo tatakou" by Mariko Nagai
Hi. Today's song is "Tambourine-wo tatakou" (Let's Play the Tambourine) by "Mariko Nagai".
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Today's track,"Tambourine-wo tatakou" is a bright & spirited, march-like pop song, performed by a popular pop-rock singer, "Mariko Nagai".
It's bouncy rhythm, and straight-forward cheerful melody might simply make you happy.
If you like, please listen.
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Cover art today
Song data
| Title | Tambourine-wo tatakou |
|---|---|
| Artist | Mariko Nagai |
| Album Title | |
| Catalog Number | FHCF-2168 |
| Track No. | 12 |
| Duration | 5:40 |
| Released | 1994 |
| Publisher | |
| Lyricist | |
| Composer | |
| Arranger |
About the creators
Mariko Nagai Lyricist & composer
The lyricist & composer, "Mariko Nagai" is also a performer of this song.
So, we would like to come back to her later in "About the artist" section.
Kōji Hirota Composer & Arranger
"Kōji Hirota" is a guitarist, music producer, used to be a member of Nagai's backing band, "Hysteric Mama", and has been a partner of Nagai.
Short Bio.
According to some references, "Kōji Hirota" was a known guitarist in his hometown, "Hakata".
In the mid '80s, "Hirota" was scouted by a super drummer, "Ponta, Shuichi Mrakami", and began to work as a studio musician after he moved to Tokyo.
In 1985, "Hirota" participated in a fusion instrumental album, "Fine Weather" released by "Hiroshi Kubota" who is known as a masterly player of "Electone" (A brand of Yamaha Electronic organ).
For a short period of time in the late '80s, "Hirota" also formed a 3-piece Fusion instrumental group "Wonderland club" with a drummer, "Hiroyuki Noritake", and bassist, "Mitsuru Sutoh" who both are known as core members of "T-Square".
With Mariko Nagai
In 1992, pop singer "Mariko Nagai" made a drastic change on the direction of her music.
She stopped singing as a solo singer, but began to perform as a vocalist of her band, "Hysteric Mama".
"Kōji Hirota" took part in this band as a guitarist, composer, and arranger. And soon became a key person for "Mariko Nagai"'s music.'
In 1993, "Hirota" & "Nagai" announced their engagement during a concert in Yokohama. And soon in October, they were married.
Since then, "Hirota" has been a music & life partner of "Nagai".
Song image & Lyrics
Open
Link to the lyrics
Copyright notice on the lyrics link
Sound impression
Bright & rhythmic
This is a bright, cheerful & rhythmic pop song in a bouncy 4-beat rhythm.
Sound of the tambourine
The bass, drums, acoustic guitar, electric piano, and soprano saxophone create bright, brave, and dynamic introduction.
In the main melody, spirited, but gentle "Mariko Nagai"'s vocal sings a warm and encouraging lyrics.
As we can expect from the song title, there is a shiny & joyful sound of the tambourine throughout the song, and adding cheerful atmosphere to the ensemble.
Reference
Reference
About Google translate
About the artist
Mariko NagaiBoyish charm
"Mariko Nagai" is a rock & pop singer, lyricist, and radio personality active since 1987.
She has been popular by her sparky live performance, and a charming & boyish short hair.
And, has just celebrated the 30 years anniversary of her debut in 2017.
Mariko Nagai debuted in 1987 with a single, "Oh! Moonlight". Since then, 35 singles, and 15 original, 9 Videos live, and 10 best albums have been released until now.
(Ref: Wikipedia-en, Mariko Nagai)
Early days
"Mariko Nagai" developed an interest in music when she was an elementary school child.
She began to play her brother's guitar, and learnt it on her own.
In a middle-school, "Nagai" organized the first "light music circle" in school history, and teamed up an amateur band with friends.
In high school, she stopped her music activity, since the school she studied was not a place for such.
But interestingly, such strict environment actually intensified her thirst for music.
After entering college, she resumed music, by successfully became a vocalist of a high-level amateur pop-rock group.
The group was popular enough, and "Nagai" was hoping to debut with this band.
But for some reasons, the members of band could not go on the group, and "Nagai" couldn't carried out her plan.
Debut
"Nagai" made up her mind to exert every possible effort to become a professional singer.
She asked her peers to play backing music for her to record demo-tapes.
"Nagai" then brought them to a record company, and appealed her passion to a music producer of that company.
After listening the tapes, and the appeal from "Nagai", the music producer thought that "Nagai" could be interesting.
The female producer then suggested to "Nagai" that she is happy to visit "Nagai"'s next live stage if she is holding, and the producer will see "Nagai"s performance, and examine the possibility for debuting.
After went back to the college, "Mariko Nagai" soon asked her music friends to team up a instant band for her, and a requested live show.
Eventually, the producer was impressed by "Nagai"'s performance, and she decided to make her debut.
And in July 1987, "Mariko Nagai" was finally debuted as a pop singer, by releasing her first single, "Oh, Moonlight" from "Fun House" record.
Hit songs
Since after debut, "Mariko Nagai" gained her popularity slowly, but steadily month by month.
The charm of her rare boyish short hair, and cheerful & lively character might appealed a lot to the fans.
In 1989, her 9th single, "Miracle Girl" was selected for a main theme of a popular TV anime series, "Yawara!".
Thanks to the popularity of "Yawara!", "Miracle Girl" became a smash hit, and ranked in the top 10 for the first time in her career.
Then in 1990, her 12th single, "Zutto" (forever) was also selected as a ending theme of a popular TV variety show.
This melodious slow ballad became a hit. And not just ranked 2nd in the chart, but also remained in top 10 for 12 weeks in total.
Thanks to this hit, "Mariko Nagai" was chosen as a performer for an NHK's honorable year-end special music program, "Kōhaku Uta Gassen" in 1991.
It seems that she was recognized as a national class pop-rock singer by this accomplishment.
Marriage & settling in overseas
In 1993, during a big scale live concert in Yokohama, "Mariko Nagai" announced her engagement to "Kōji Hirota" (COZZi), the guitarist & composer of her backing band, "Hysteric Mama".
And they married in October, the same year.
The couple was blessed with a baby boy in 1996. Since then, "Mariko Nagai" began to share more time for her family.
And in 2003, the family settled in overseas to have more time for family, while founding a new private label to create music under their control.
Restart
In 2013, the family returned to Japan. And in 2017, "Mariko Nagai"
And in 2017, "Mariko Nagai" restarted her music activity by utilizing her 30 years anniversary as a good opportunity.
Since then, she is frequently holding gigs in various venues throughout the year.
If you have a chance, please join.
-
(Ref: www.marikonagai.com,
profile)🇯🇵 -
(Ref: ameblo.jp,
marikonagai)🇯🇵
Video clip
Finally, here is a small promotion video clip from "Mariko Nagai"'s latest album, "Aete yokatta" (Good to see you.) released in March 2020.
The title of the song is, "Haru-kaze no kotoba" (Words of spring breeze).
This is a warm, gentle, and fairly straight-forward pop rock. And to our ears, It sounds like that she is going back to basics.
This is a kind of soft rock, and not so heavy, then,
If you like, please listen.
Music Samples
12
(試聴する)
Amazon JP(en)
Tower records online
hmv.co.jp
Japanese Letters
| Song Title | タンバリンをたたこう(Tambourine-wo tatakou) |
|---|---|
| Artist | 永井真理子(Mariko Nagai) |
| Album Title | LOVE EATER |
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