Japan – Ponytone

Susan – Ah! Soka

Susan – Ah! Soka

(1980, Japan)

Do you believe in mazik? Susan Nozaki believed in all forms of mazik, and so did Yukihiro Takahashi of Yellow Magic Orchestra (by then he was over the whole Tammy Wynette fiasco). When Yuki met Susan at a TV studio in 1980 he was so impressed by her energetic personality he got the entire YMO crew together and convinced them to be the backing band and produce her mazical debut album.

As for Susan, she was the daughter of a Japanese woman and an American military man of French ancestry — the ultimate genetic smoothie according to Phil Donahue. Over the years she has starred in countless Japanese musicals, TV shows and commercials and is now trying to re-establish herself as a performer of techno music (let’s ignore that little detail, shall we?).

In the early 80s an attempt was made to launch Susan’s career in England, but as fate would have it, the trip coincided with the outbreak of hostilities between Britain and Argentina over the Falkland Islands (damn it Argentina!). Don’t cry for Susan, though: the following year she married a member of The Rokkets (every girl’s dream), got pregnant and has been blissfully happy ever since.

Tomoko Takada & Cosmos – Kung Fu Lady

Tomoko Takada & Cosmos – Kung Fu Lady

(Ponkickies, 1981)

Yara Families – Shirahama Blues

Yara Families – Shirahama Blues (1966)

Hiroshi “Monsieur” Kamayatsu – Have You Smoked Gauloise?

Hiroshi “Monsieur” Kamayatsu – Have You Smoked Gauloise? (1975)

Personally I never tried the brand, but apparently it was a favorite of Nick Drake, John Lennon, and John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Yukihiro Takahashi – Mood Indigo

Yukihiro Takahashi – Mood Indigo (Saravah, 1978)

In the summer of ’78 Yukihiro Takahashi went to Paris for two weeks, and he spent the entire time reading the newspaper. Tammy Wynette had just married George Richey, and the Boston College basketball team was in the midst of a point-shaving scandal.

Yuki worried obsessively whether that “gold-digging baka yarou” would treat Tammy right, unlike her previous four husbands, and if his favorite team could ever bounce back from disgrace.

After two agonizing weeks the blues ensued. Yuki washed the newsprint off his fingers and caught the next flight back to Tokyo.

Real Fish – Chojo No Getsuyobi

Real Fish – Chojo No Getsuyobi (1984)

Haruomi Hosono – Hurricane Dorothy

Haruomi Hosono – Hurricane Dorothy (Tropical Dandy, 1975)

Affectionately called Tropical Dandy by his closest friends because of his ostentatious weather-predicting abilities, Hosono warned of Dorothy’s inevitable wrath a full two years before it formed near Bermuda and fizzled near Newfoundland.