Melodies (album)

Melodies (album)
Melodies
Studio album by Tatsuro Yamashita
Released June 8, 1983
Recorded at CBS/SONY Roppongi Studio A & B (Tokyo, Japan)
Genre J-pop (R&B/soul, pop, adult contemporary)
Length 39:57
Label Alfa/Moon
Producer Tatsuro Yamashita
Tatsuro Yamashita chronology
Greatest Hits! of Tatsuro Yamashita
(1982)
Ride on Time
(1983)
Big Wave
(1984)

Melodies is the studio album recorded by a Japanese singer-songwriter Tatsuro Yamashita, released in June 1983. It was his first LP issued under the Moon Label which was distributed by the Alfa Records at the time.

Unlike his previous albums that Minako Yoshida mostly wrote lyrics, majority of the songs heard on Melodies are penned by Yamashita alone, except for "Blue Midnight" (co-written by Yoshida) and a cover version of "Guess I'm Dumb" (composed by Brian Wilson and Russ Titelman and originally recorded by Glen Campbell in 1966).

Before the album came out, "Koukiatsu Girl" was released as a lead single. It features chorus by Mariya Takeuchi, who married Yamashita in 1982 and then temporarily suspended her recording career. The most well-known song appeared on Melodies is "Christmas Eve". The song was not gained attention when it was released on 12-inch single in December 1983, but it was widely recognized through a television advertisement by the Central Japan Railway Company aired during the late 1980s. CD single of "Christmas Eve" reissued in 1986 gained huge commercial success, topping the chart in December 1989. The song was repeatedly reissued in later years and became a hit throughout the decades, entering the Oricon chart for over 20 consecutive years with sales of more than 1.8 million copies in total.[1][2]

Because of the massive success "Christmas Eve" gained, the album also enjoyed the long-term commercial success. Melodies has been the best-selling studio album for Yamashita, retailing over 800,000 copies to date.

Contents

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Tatsuro Yamashita, except where noted

Side one

All songs arranged by Tatsuro Yamashita

  1. "Kanashimi no Jody (She Was Crying) (悲しみのJODY?)" – 3:50
  2. "Koukiatsu Girl (高気圧ガール Koukiatsu Gāru?)" – 4:20
  3. "Nightfly (夜翔?)" – 4:23
  4. "Guess I'm Dumb" (Brian Wilson, Russ Titelman) – 3:12
  5. "Hitotoki (ひととき?)" – 4:00

Side two

All songs arranged by Tatsuro Yamashita

  1. "Merry-Go-Round (メリー・ゴー・ラウンド Merī Gō Raundo?)" - 6:18
  2. "Blue Midnight" (Tatsuro Yamashita, Minako Yoshida) – 4:15
  3. "Ashioto (あしおと?)" - 3:54
  4. "Mokusou (黙想?)" - 1:30
  5. "Christmas Eve (クリスマス・イブ Kurisumasu Ibu?)" - 4:15

Personnel

  • Tatsuro Yamashita: Drums, bass guitar, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, 12-string guitar, electric sitar, celesta, electric piano, acoustic piano, vibe, Hammond organ, glocken, timpani, percussion, echoes, background vocals
  • Kohki Itoh - Bass guitar
  • Tsunehide Matsuki - Electric guitar
  • Hiroyuki Namba - Electric piano, acoustic piano, Hammond organ
  • Motoya Hamaguchi - Percussion
  • Jun Aoyama - Drums
  • Satoshi Nakamura - OBX-a
  • Hidefumi Toki - Alto sax
  • Susumu Kazuhara - Trumpet
  • Masahiro Kobayashi - Trumpet
  • Shigeharu Mukai - Trombone
  • Tadanori Konakawa - Trombone
  • Daisuke Inoue: Tenor sax
  • Takeru Muraoka - Tenor sax
  • Shunzo Sunahara - Baritone sax
  • Ohno Group - Strings
  • Keiko Yamakawa - Harp
  • Mariya Takeuchi - Chorus (credited to the Kokiatsu-Girls)
  • Kumi Sano - Chorus (credited to the Kokiatsu-Girls)
  • Manaho Mori - Chorus (credited to the Kokiatsu-Girls)
  • Kazuhito Murata - Chorus (credited to a Kokiatsu-Boy)

Production

  • Produced and arranged by Tatsuro Yamashita (for Smile Co.)
  • Mixed and Remixed by Tamotsu Yoshida
  • Associate producer: Nobumasa Uchida
  • Assistant engineer: Masato Ohmori
  • Recorded at CBS/Sony Roppongi Studio A & B
  • Remixed at CBS/Sony Roppongi Studio B
  • Mastering studio: CBS/Sony Shinanomachi Mastering Studio
  • CD Mastering Engineer: Teppei Kasai
  • Management office: Wild Honey
  • Assistant management: Kentaro Hattori, Masayuki Matsumoto & Kimmy Satoh
  • Copyright management: Kenichi Nomura
  • Masterright Owned by Smile Co.
  • Executive producer: Ryuzo "Junior" Kosugi
  • Art direction: Hiroshi Takahara
  • Design: Hiroshi Takahara, Akira Utsumi, Mayumi Oka
  • Photographer: Kaoru Iijima
  • Illustration for inner sleeve: Midori Murakami
  • Lettering: Tadashi Yokoshi

Chart positions

Year Album Country Chart Position Weeks Sales
1983 Melodies Japan Oricon Weekly LP Albums Chart (top 100) 1 33 367,000[3]
1992 Oricon Weekly Albums Chart (top 100) 8 39 477,000

Awards

Japan Record Awards
Year Title Category Winner
1983 (25th) Melodies[4] Best 10 Albums Tatsuro Yamashita

Release history

Country Date Label Format Catalog number
Japan June 8, 1983 Alfa/Moon LP MOON-28008
November 28, 1983 CD 38XM1
December 21, 1986 32XM27
November 10, 1992 MMG/Moon AMCM-4150
June 2, 1999 Warner/Moon WPCV-10020

References

Preceded by
Utopia by Seiko Matsuda
Japanese Oricon LP Chart number-one album
June 27-July 4, 1980 (2 consecutive weeks)
Succeeded by
Plumeria no Densetsu (Soundtrack)

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Melodies from Mars — Studio album (unreleased) by Aphex Twin Released Unreleased Recorded 1995 (redone in 2007) Genre …   Wikipedia

  • Melodies From Mars — Album par Aphex Twin (Richard D. James) Sortie 1995 Enregistrement 1995 Genre(s) Musique électronique Producteur(s) Richard D. James …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Melodies from mars — Album par Aphex Twin (Richard D. James) Sortie 1995 Enregistrement 1995 Genre(s) Musique électronique Producteur(s) Richard D. James …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Melodies of Love — Studio album by Bobby Vinton Released November 1974 …   Wikipedia

  • Melodies from Mars — Album par Aphex Twin (Richard D. James) Sortie 1995 Enregistrement 1995 Genre Musique électronique Producteur Richard D. James …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Melodies — Single par GAM extrait de l’album 1st GAM Amai Yūwaku Face A Melodies Face B Melodies (Piano Dokushō Version) Sortie 18 octobre 2006 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Melodies of Live (álbum Ailyn) — Melodies of live Álbum de Ailyn Publicación 6 de octubre de 2003 Género(s) Jpop Cronología de Ailyn …   Wikipedia Español

  • Album Sans Titre De Caustic Window — The Caustic Window Album est un album de Caustic Window et n existe qu en double vinyle Test pressing (2 x 12 ). Ce LP a été calalogué et produit chez Rephlex Records en 1994 seulement pour 4 personnes : Michael Paradinas (µ ziq), Chris… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Album sans titre de caustic window — The Caustic Window Album est un album de Caustic Window et n existe qu en double vinyle Test pressing (2 x 12 ). Ce LP a été calalogué et produit chez Rephlex Records en 1994 seulement pour 4 personnes : Michael Paradinas (µ ziq), Chris… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Melodies (song) — Melodies Single by GAM from the album 1st GAM: Amai Yuwaku Released October 18, 2006 ( …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”