Western artists I kept secret that I was listening to in junior high school

What I kept secret

I touched on this a little in a previous article, but there have been several times when I liked a certain artist's music but kept it a secret from my friends.

Have you ever experienced that?
It's what you call being a "closet fan."
It might be common if the subject is an idol, but in my case, I actually kept it a secret even among regular Western artists.
This time, I'm going to "note" those Western artists I liked but didn't tell my friends about.

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I discovered Western music in junior high school, but at the time, Western music is rock! was such a strong image that there was a period when it was hard to bring up bands with a quieter style in front of my close friends.

I even avoided someone like Billy Joel, so our group was really burning with rock spirit.

But, but you see.

Actually, I also loved songs with a quiet feel.
Even if it seemed a bit soft, I was irresistibly drawn to comfortable, melodious types of songs.

Well, once I got to high school, I had more friends who liked Western music, and my range of interests expanded significantly, so the time I spent suffering in silence was limited to my junior high years, around the early 80s, but I will introduce three artists (or groups) I kept secret during those junior high days.

[Chicago]

A band formed in Chicago in 1969 that incorporated a brass section into rock, establishing a genre called brass rock.

First, the first band I kept secret is "Chicago."
No, thinking back now, "Chicago" from their debut through the 70s could never be called a group with melodious, quiet music, but in the early 80s when we started listening to Western music, they were a group with many hit love ballads.

With songs like "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" and "Love Me Tomorrow," it was a band with Peter Cetera's clear singing voice that left an impression, and the album "Chicago 16" was one I listened to quite a bit.

"Hard to Say I'm Sorry"

[Air Supply]

An Australian soft rock band.
They had hits in Japan in the early 80s with a summery image.

"Air Supply" that acts as a momentary refresher on a hot summer day.
I only just found out while researching this, but they were an Australian band, weren't they?
My music information during my junior high years came mostly from the radio, and I remember them being played an incredibly large amount.

"Even the Nights Are Better"

A cousin of mine had this album, so I immediately had him record it for me.
However, as is common with Japanese releases, the cover art is different, isn't it?
I think this was the jacket at the time... It's almost too refreshing, including the logo!

[Christopher Cross]

An American singer-songwriter.
His trademark is a flamingo.

And finally, Christopher Cross.
The song that was playing in a Japanese commercial was a very good song.
That was "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," and it was a quiet, mellow song that perfectly suited Christopher Cross's clear voice.
My cousin also had the single for this song and recorded it for me, and the jacket had a picture of him on it, but...
I also kept it a secret that I felt, "Huh? Is this the person singing?" (How rude of me!)

"Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)"

The original title was "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," so even though it was written in katakana to sound like that, it was a unique Japanese title.
Since it was the theme song for the movie "Arthur," the original title remained as is, but it was named "New York City Serenade" based on the imagery of the lyrics and became a hit, so perhaps that was a fine play in its own right.

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So, the artists above are the ones I kept secret, but thinking about it now, I wonder why.
It must have been the typical posturing and vanity of a junior high student.

Looking back, what I was keeping quiet from my friends was what is known as AOR, but it's strange that I was listening to City Pop in Japanese music while insisting on rock for Western music, isn't it?

Even now, I find the songs of these artists wonderful, and I think my nature and tastes really haven't changed.
I like rock, I like AOR, I can handle Latin music and reggae, and I don't dislike anime songs or classical music either... Such unprincipled musical tastes haven't changed since my junior high days.

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