Rob Price
Gutbrain Records
rob + gutbrain.com = email


2025 July 28 • Monday

Yuzo Kayama made a whole lot of "Young Guy" or "Young Captain" ("Wakadaisho") movies. This single of songs from Young Guy in the Alps is the 867th Soundtrack of the Week.

Each side has two songs. Interestingly, this 7" is a 33 1/3, not a 45.

First up is "Blue Stardust" ("蒼い星くず"), which has some great surf guitar playing on it. This isn't a surprise because the band is the amazing Terauchi Takeshi & Blue Jeans. The sung melody is good enough but this song is really about the guitar.

The second song, "Bright Horm" (Maybe? It's "ブライト・ホーン" in Japanese) is an easygoing pop vocal performed by Kayama Yuzo and his band, The Launchers.

The first song on the B side, "走れドンキー" ("Run Donkey") brings back Terauchi Takershi and Blue Jeans for a brisk gallop of a song which has some country influences.

Then it's Kayama Yuzo and The Launchers again for "Monte Rosa" ("モンテ・ローザ"), which is a beautiful and atmospheric number with touches of exotica as well as what sounds like some classical Japanese percussion touches.