TIN PAN ALLEY JAPANESE SUPERGROUP SEALED REISSUE ORIGINALLY FROM 1975

TIN PAN ALLEY “CARAMEL MAMA” (LIFE GOES ON) 2024 SEALED

The chaos from which the sound of modern Japanese pop was born.
Like many New Music albums of the 70s, Tin Pan Alley serves as a sort of a sampler platter of all the different styles of music they have mastered throughout the years, all combined with the band’s signature “Yellow Magic ” production style and Hosono’s strange sense of humor. Caramel Rag is a comedic overture featuring a ragtime sound backed by weird sound effects of roosters crowning, alarms ringing, and… bombs dropping? Upbeat funky jam sessions like Chopper’s Boogie, highlight their knack for Jazz-rock fusion, with Takanaka’s epic style guitar-shredding giving the song a vibe that would fit right in with Jeff Beck’s Blow For Blow which came out a year prior. Choo Choo Gatta Goto ’75 is a great cover from Hosono’s own debut album, Hosono House, taking a folk-rock song and sending it to New Orleans with a much funkier ragtime number. We also get to hear rare instances of Matsutoya’s vocal chops in Jackson, a strange funky cover of a country classic by Billy Edd Wheeler. Of course, we also get to hear Hosono’s signature exotica sound with tracks like Yellow Magic Carnival and The Girl with the Freckles. The song that sticks out the most to me is She is Gone, with fantastic English lyrics sung by John Yamazaki, and a contemporary soft rock sound reminiscent of Pretzel Logic era Steely Dan.

Overall all of the songs on the album are really good, and truly represent each genre they emulate extremely well, sometimes subverting them in creative ways (I wasn’t expecting a funky cover of a country song lol). However, comparing this to their other work, this certainly isn’t their best. With a few exceptions, you won’t find anything as iconic as the works they’ve done for other artists, and many songs on this album would be covered later by their contemporaries to better effect. In spite of that, Caramel Mama does a good job of showcasing Tin Pan Alley’s versatility, fluidity, and discipline as a band.

Track listing
A1
Caramel Rag
A2
Chopper’s Boogie
A3
はあどぼいるど町
A4
月にてらされて
A5
Choo Choo Gatta Goto ’75
B1
She Is Gone
B2
ソバカスのある少女
B3
Jackson
B4
Yellow Magic Carnival
B5
Ballade of Aya