As I was walking out of Rare Records this weekend with a George Harrison “What is Life” / Apple Scruffs” 7”, walking in were three of the most colorful record shoppers I’ve ever seen. I immediately called my 3:30 rendezvous and said I’d be late, and that three fur-coated, kinky-booted, and Vivienne Westwood-ed, could-be-models had just walked into Rare, and if they wanted to come to potentially see some Tokyo Record Style in action, to rush my way. Then, admittedly, I waited outside the shop, spying to see if these three attention-arresting-fashioned women would walk out with any records.
One by one, I could see them through the window each holding records for purchase in their hands, and after a full-fledge stake-out, during which my pals Aiden and Chris showed up (see next post), finally these 3 lovely creatures, respectfully, came out each with a record or two in hand. I approached them and started in with a mix of Japanese and English but it didn’t take but a few seconds to realize by the expressions on their faces that my Japanese wasn’t quite landing, and asked if they were, in fact, Japanese. “No,” they introduced themselves, “I’m Shin”, “I’m Hachi” and “I’m XiaoXiao, we’re from China.” …NOTED… “Well, I’m Brian from USA, nice to meet you! You three look amazingly cool, could I take your photo for Tokyo Record Style?” “Sure, Sure.” …and that’s how we got going. They told me they were students studying international relations, fashion design, and styling, love J-Pop, especially virtual idol Hatsune Miku, and chose these various records cuz they simply either looked interesting or they liked the color or design (Now I’m SUPER curious to hear them all.)
As dumb luck would have it, right as I started to photograph them, despite there being a recently emptied memory card in my camera, an unexpected error popped up, “No card in camera!” NOOO! “Ladies, just a sec.” I dashed over to my 10-year-old record-collecting pal and fellow photographer, Aiden who had just showed up with his digital Fujifilm and immediately lent me his SD card, saving the day, lest these photos would have never been made. Can you believe it? Thanks, Adien, I owe you one.
More TRS to come!
Takako Shirai & Crazy Boys* – Next Gate Live
Label: CBS/Sony – 40AH 2106~7
Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: Japan
Released: Nov 1, 1986
Genre: Rock, Pop
https://www.discogs.com/release/6873687-Takako-Shirai-Crazy-Boys-Next-Gate-Live
Totos – Curiosity
Label: Thistime Records – TTR-458VL
Format: Vinyl, 10″
Country: Japan
Released: Apr 22, 2017
Genre: Rock, Pop
Style: Indie Pop, Power Pop
https://www.discogs.com/release/12336742-Totos-Curiosity
J-Walk – Jaywalk/J-Walk
Label: Bourbon Records (2) – BMD-1008
Format: Vinyl, LP
Country: Japan
Released: 1981
Genre: Rock, Pop
https://www.discogs.com/release/12859962-J-Walk-JaywalkJ-Walk
渡辺岳夫 (Takeo Watanabe ) / 松山祐士 – 機動戦士ガンダムGundam III アムロよ…
Label: King Records – SKK(H)-2136～7Ⓜ
Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP
Country: Japan
Released: Mar 21, 1980
Genre: Non-Music, Stage & Screen
Style: Dialogue, Story, Soundtrack
https://www.discogs.com/release/4752009-%E6%B8%A1%E8%BE%BA%E5%B2%B3%E5%A4%AB-%E6%9D%BE%E5%B1%B1%E7%A5%90%E5%A3%AB-%E6%A9%9F%E5%8B%95%E6%88%A6%E5%A3%AB%E3%82%AC%E3%83%B3%E3%83%80%E3%83%A0Gundam-III-%E3%82%A2%E3%83%A0%E3%83%AD%E3%82%88
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