Melodies is the eighth studio album recorded by Japanese singer-songwriter Tatsuro Yamashita, released in June 1983. It was his first LP issued under the Moon Label which was distributed by Alfa Records at the time.
Unlike his previous albums, where Minako Yoshida wrote most of the lyrics, most 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 in this album is "Christmas Eve". Since the album was released in June 1983, not during the Christmas season, the song was re-released as a 12-inch colored picture disc single in December 1983. In 1986, it was re-released as a 7-inch single. The song did not receive much attention when it was released on 12-inch single in December 1983, but it was widely recognized through a series of television advertisements by the Central Japan Railway Company aired during the late 1980s and early 1990s. "Christmas Eve" was selected from a pool of 300 songs to serve as the theme song for the commercial. The CD single of "Christmas Eve" reissued in 1986 subsequently became a 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.List of number-one singles on the Japan's Oricon Weekly Charts (1968–)
Because of the massive success "Christmas Eve" gained, the album also enjoyed long-term commercial success. Melodies is Yamashita's best selling studio album, retailing over 992,000 copies during its two first chart runs. In 2013 the 30th anniversary reissue sold 28,000 more copies, pushing the album total to 1 million and 20,000 copies.
Track listing
Personnel Kanashimi no Jody (She Was Crying) (悲しみのJody) Tatsuro Yamashita: Drums, Bass, Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, 12-String Guitar, Electric Piano, Acoustic Piano, Vibraphone, Hammond Organ, Percussion, Backing Vocals Daisuke Inoue: Tenor Saxophone Koukiatsu Girl (高気圧ガール) Tatsuro Yamashita: Electric Guitar, Backing Vocals Kazuhito Murata, Kumi Sano, Manaho Mori, Mariya Takeuchi: Backing Vocals (Kokiatsu-Girls & A Boy) Kohki Itoh: Bass Jun Aoyama - Drums Hiroyuki Namba: Electric Piano, Acoustic Piano Keiko Yamakawa: Harp Motoya Hamaguchi: Percussion Satoshi Nakamura: Oberheim OBX-a Synthesizer Unknown (possibly Hidefumi Toki): Alto Saxophone Night Fly (夜翔) Tatsuro Yamashita: Electric Guitar, Percussion, Glockenspiel Hidefumi Toki: Alto Saxophone Shunzo Sunahara: Baritone Saxophone Kohki Itoh: Bass Jun Aoyama: Drums Hiroshi Satoh: Electric Piano, Acoustic Piano Keiko Yamakawa: Harp Motoya Hamaguchi: Percussion Ohno Group: Strings Takeru Muraoka: Tenor Saxophone Shigeharu Mukai, Tadanori Konakawa: Trombone Masahiro Kobayashi, Susumu Kazuhara: Trumpet Guess I'm Dumb Tatsuro Yamashita: Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Acoustic Piano, Electric Grand Piano, Drums, Percussion, Vibraphone, Timpani, Backing Vocals Shunzo Sunahara: Baritone Saxophone Kohki Itoh: Bass Ohno Group: Strings Takeru Muraoka: Tenor Saxophone Shigeharu Mukai, Tadanori Konakawa: Trombone Masahiro Kobayashi, Susumu Kazuhara: Trumpet Hitotoki (ひととき) Tatsuro Yamashita: Electric Guitar, Electric Piano, Percussion, Backing Vocals Kohki Itoh: Bass Jun Aoyama: Drums Motoya Hamaguchi: Percussion Merry-Go-Round (メリー・ゴー・ラウンド) Tatsuro Yamashita: Electric Guitar, Celesta, Electric Piano, Percussion, Backing Vocals Kohki Itoh: Bass Jun Aoyama: Drums, Percussion Satoshi Nakamura: Oberheim OBX-a Synthesizer Blue Midnight Tatsuro Yamashita: Electric Sitar, Vibraphone, Backing Vocals Hidefumi Toki: Alto Saxophone Akira Okazawa: Bass Yuichi Togashiki: Drums Tsunehide Matsuki: Electric Guitar Keiko Yamakawa: Harp Hiroshi Satoh: Acoustic Piano, Electric Piano Ohno Group - Strings Ashioto (あしおと) Tatsuro Yamashita: Electric Guitar, Electric Piano, Percussion, Backing Vocals Kohki Itoh: Bass Jun Aoyama: Drums Hiroyuki Namba: Hammond Organ Motoya Hamaguchi: Percussion Mokusou (黙想) Tatsuro Yamashita: Acoustic Piano, SFX, Backing Vocals Christmas Eve (クリスマス・イブ) Tatsuro Yamashita: Electric Guitar, Percussion, Backing Vocals Kohki Itoh: Bass Jun Aoyama: Drums Hiroyuki Namba: Acoustic Piano, Electric Piano Satoshi Nakamura: Oberheim OBX-a Synthesizer
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 Weekly charts YearCountryChartPositionSales1983JapanOricon Weekly LP Albums Chart (top 100)1367,0001992Oricon Weekly Albums Chart (top 100)8477,000
Year-end charts YearCountryChartPositionSales1983JapanOricon Yearly Albums Chart (top 50)7515,000
Awards Japan Record AwardsYearTitleCategoryWinner1983 (25th)MelodiesBest 10 AlbumsTatsuro Yamashita
Release history Country Date Label Format Catalog numberJapanJune 8, 1983Alfa/MoonLPMOON-28008November 28, 1983CD38XM1December 21, 198632XM27November 10, 1992MMG/MoonAMCM-4150June 2, 1999Warner/MoonWPCV-10020
See also 1983 in Japanese music
References