"Isn't It Always Love" - Two Tokyocht Covers

 

"Isn't It Always Love" is a song written by Karla Bonoff for her eponymous debut 1977 album. Perhaps its most famous cover was by country singer Lynn Anderson (in a decidedly non-country version replete with steel drums and horns in the chorus). Regardless, "Isn't It Always Love" is a song that always gelled with the spirit of yacht rock since its first recording.

Nicolette Larson's album In the Nick of Time, released in 1979, contained a cover of "Isn't It Always Love" that did in fact ascend into the pantheon of yacht rock, scoring a 64.50 on the Yachtski scale. Yacht rock personnel of vote on this version of the song included bassist Bob Glaub, drummer Rick Shlosser, percussionist Bobby LaKind of Doobie Brothers fame, multi-instrumentalist Victor Feldman on the marimba, and keyboardist Bill Payne and guitarist Paul Barrere, both formerly of Little Feat.

"Isn't It Always Love," in its Anderson and Larson forms, were actually preceded by a cover by Japanese singer Tan Tan (real name Taniguchi Taeko, and additionally performed under the name Haruomi Ohzori). Tan Tan's version, released on her 1978 album Bring Me Your Broken Heart, was recorded at ABC Studios in Los Angeles, and was produced by David Wolfert, then-nascent producer of Dusty Springfield's 1978 album Living Without Your Love, which contained Springfield's (currently) sole contribution to the boat, "Closet Man" (70.25).

Bring Me Your Broken Heart is an album bursting at the seams with certified yacht rock personnel. For a start, none other than Toto's Steve Lukather takes on the guitar work across the album (along with Wolfert).  

The rhythm section is laid down by a couple studio musician heavyweights. Drummer Ed Greene, the one-time Steely Dan drummer ("I Got the News," 76.75) who also appeared in 1978 as the drummer on Dane Donohue's "Can't Be Seen" (85); Percussionist Lenny Castro, future member of Larsen-Feiten band and Full Moon ("Who'll Be the Fool Tonight," 91, and "Phantom of the Footlights,"79) would hit the yacht rock-bonanza the next year as percussionist for Christopher Cross' debut album. Bassist Cooker Lopreste, with a total of 32 credits recorded on Discogs, has yet to get on the boat, but had played earlier in the 70s for Melissa Manchester and David Pomeranz, two artists who would eventually make it onto the boat.

Keyboardist Jai Winding, having previously played on Terence Boylan's "Hey Papa" (61.5), and also contributed to Dane Donohue's "Can't Be Seen," as well as Eric Carmen's "Change of Heart" (70.75) just in 1978, and Horn Dogs Mike Carnahan, Dick "Slide" Hyde, David Luell, Steve Madaio, and Tom Saviano round out our backing band. 

One of the few city pop singers that has regained prominence in recent years, and mild success and notoriety outside of Japan, is Mariya Takeuchi. Her 1984 song "Plastic Love," as seen above, surged in popularity on Youtube as a facet of the vaporwave genre, beginning in July 2017. The cover for the "single" as uploaded first on Youtube and then officially as a vinyl re-release in November 2021 is actually taken from the cover of her 1982 single "Sweetest Music," a duet with Bill Champlin (which will certainly be its own post at some point in the future).

But let's turn the clock back a bit on Takeuchi's career. In 1979, her second album, University Street, was released. It was recorded in Japan in a number of Tokyo-based studios (Onkio Haus, Sound City Studio, RVC Studio, Hitokuchizaka Studio, and Rockwell Studio) and was produced by Kenichi Makimura and Shigeki Miyata. "Isn't It Always Love" is the only song on the album not to feature any Japanese personnel (barring, of course, Mariya Takeuchi.)

The band assembled from across the Pacific and flown to Tokyo by Makimura and Miyata consisted of a decidedly lesser yacht-credible pool of musicians than Tan Tan's 1978 band. The rhythm section consisted of bassist Kenny Edwards (closest approach to the boat (CAB): Andrew Gold's "Thank You For Being A Friend," 34.75) and drummer Russ Kunkel (Terence Boylan's previously-mentioned "Hey Papa," 61.5, Bill Withers' "Lovely Day," 59.25, and Stephen Bishop's "Save It For A Rainy Day," 59). 

On guitars: Dan Dugmore (CAB: "Hurts So Bad" by Linda Ronstadt, 42.75), and Waddy Wachtel (Attitudes' "Change," 74.25). Casey Rankin (American vocalist and resident of Japan since 1971) and Pamela Stonebrook (complete unknown, as this is one of her only three credit on Discogs) provide the backing vocals to Takeuchi's cover. 

Takeuchi's arranger, keyboardist, and only yacht-rock heavyweight is Don Grolnick: a constant Steely Dan collaborator (previously on "Peg," 92, and soon-to-be "Babylon Sisters," 89).

This is hardly the last time we'll be discussing Mariya Takeuchi, but Bring Me Your Broken Heart is, sadly, the only album of Tan Tan's to qualify as Tokyocht. As such, I would recommend the title track "Bring Me Your Broken Heart" as another song from the album that has that yacht rock sound to it. "Don't Ever Say Goodbye," a song written by Paul Anka, David Foster, and David Wolfert (originally released earlier in 1978 by Anka) is another good shout.