When introducing City Pop to people, I've often gotten the critique that it sounds like elevator music. While I can make a case against that for certain artists, one band that definitely fits that description would be Piper. Piper was a trio band that specialized in their own particular brand of synth-pop boogie music. The main trio consisted of Keisuke Yamamoto (山本圭右) on lead vocals & guitar, Takashi Shimamura (嶋村隆) on keyboards, and Wataru Ito (伊藤航) on bass.
The story of Piper begins in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture when Yamamoto formed the band, originally called Skunk. They later moved to Tokyo and signed with Yupiteru Records thanks to their original guitarist Yuji Suzuki ( 鈴木裕二) who also happened to be A&R personnel there, where they released their first single, Lovely Night. The band was later renamed "Piper", and they released their debut album, I'm Not in Love, in 1981, featuring numerous session musicians including Akira Inoue (井上鑑), Nobuo Saito (斉藤信男), and Tin Pan Alley drummer, Tatsuo Hayashi (林立男).
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It was around this time where Piper would meet singer-songwriter Kazuhito Murata (村田和人), who at the time was under the Moon Records label being produced by Shigeru Suzuki (鈴木茂) and Tatsuro Yamashita (山下達郎). Murata became a key contributor to the band's future efforts and together they would release two albums in '83: Summer Breeze and Gentle Breeze. The former of the two, Summer Breeze is considered to be Piper's defining album, featuring music with a nostalgic summer aesthetic akin to Tatsuro Yamashita.
Besides the main Piper trio, there was also Murata to provide backing vocals along with Hiroshi Koitabashi (小林宏). The album also features percussionist Tetsuaki Hoashi (帆足哲昭), who the previous year worked on Takako Mamiya's Love Trip. As well as drummer Takanori Umeno (梅野貴典), who would later go on to work on Yurie Kokubu's (国分友里恵) Steps in 1987.
THE MUSIC
1) Shine On: The album immediately sets the scene with the sounds of ocean waves crashing onto the beach, when suddenly we hear someone tuning the radio. We're then greeted to the opening track, a whimsical instrumental that's equal parts tropical and retro-futuristic with its excellent combination of mellow synths, Latin percussion, and funky guitar licks. All accompanied by ethereal background vocal harmonies.
2) Summer Breeze: The start track of the album greets us with a guitar riff that's almost as iconic as Yamsihita's Sparkle. Although the lyrics aren't much, Yamamoto's smooth vocal delivery shines through.
3) Hot Sand: Another tropical instrumental that doubles down on the synths and tight bass-line. Instead of singing, we're greeted by what sounds like synthesized whistling. We get a really awesome bongo solo towards the end.
4) Gentle Shower: The album changes the mood a bit with a slow jam, shifting between some melodic guitar riffs, and Yamamoto declaring that "When our love is over, I will never fall in love again". The track closes out with some very ambient synths, which is immediately followed up by.
5) Twilight: Some emotional piano playing accompanied by dreamy-sounding synths. The bass and guitar in this one have a calm and lonely feeling to them. The track ends with the sound of ringing, followed by waves crashing as if you just awoke from a dream while sleeping at the beach.
6) Samba Night: Samba Night brings the mood back up with some Latin boogie, accompanied by some groovy guitar riffs scattered throughout the song with the chorus chanting "Samba Night! Feeling Tight!". Another track where the vocals help add a dreamy atmosphere.
7) Starlight Love: An A Capella chorus opens up this track, followed by a reggae-inspired synth-pop track, complete with goofy percussion sound effects, and synthesized vocals. Definitely the most experimental track on the album.
8) Night Shore: Night Shore takes us on a cruise down the coast with its energetic drums and funky bassline, accompanied by more smooth & groovy, yet hyped-up guitar riffs.
9) Angel Smile: Piper brings back the resort pop feel from the beginning of the album for a much more standard City Pop song. Plus we get to hear more of Yamamoto on lead vocals.
10) Moonlight Beach: The last tack is a very surf rock-influenced synth-pop tune, complete with Beach Boys-style harmonies and a funky bass all wrapped up in dreamy-sounding synths. However, towards the end of the song, it fades out, then fades back into giving us a slower, almost doo-wop-sounding melody as it fades back out again to what almost sounds like seagulls at the beach.
THE VERDICT
Production: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Vocals:⭐⭐⭐
Arrangement:⭐⭐⭐
Aesthetic:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Memorability: ⭐⭐⭐
Composition:⭐⭐⭐⭐
It's clear that Piper was going for a background music approach to music production when producing this album, as most of it puts less emphasis on vocal work and more on creating atmospheric, easy listening melodies. It's easy for this type of sound to end up being forgettable, but Piper ends up pulling it off well. Each song is unique enough to appreciate on its own while still retaining the overall summer/resort motif. It has the best elements of the summery sound found in Tatsuro Yamashita's music, and combines it with synth-pop sensibilities found in early Hiroshi Sato (佐藤博) tracks, then throws in some groovy & rhythmic guitar playing that one might hear from Masayoshi Takanaka (高中正義). The title track, Summer Breeze, does a great job encompassing all those aspects in one 3 minute package, it's mellow enough to relax, yet has enough energy to be an opening track at a beach party. My second favorite track being Night Shore has that quintessential 80's synth-wave sound to it that makes it the perfect driving song for cruising down the highway. The record isn't heavy on the lead vocals, however, there's plenty of backing chorus harmonies scattered throughout the record to spice things up.
If you're looking for some nice background instrumentals that aren't your typical jazz fusion but also aren't as experimental as your typical YMO electro-pop, Piper's Summer Breeze provides a nice middle-ground. You can add it high on the list of essential summer City Pop records. If you want to purchase it, I'd recommend the new reissue done by Light In The Attic.
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