Subject: April In Tokyo
Date: Thur, 29 Apr 1999
From: Alan
Goziamas, and Stomu Yamashta from the ancient Samurai village of Edo,
now probably better known to you all as Tokyo, the venture capital
of this thronging island nation just off the coast of Asia, where
w.o.r.k. is the religion of the masses and p.l.a.y. is a dirty four
- letter word, unless when used to describe what we are here to do
by way of amusing the locals in their nocturnal hours of need. And
what needs they have.
This may be the only place on Earth where you can see four well -
dressed businessmen, who were earnestly and vociferously discussing
some very important matter relating to the day's business, suddenly
all rise from the table and proceed to perform what I can only describe
as a "starburst" of synchronised falling backwards on their
arses, due to copious amounts of alcohol having reached the parts
of their beings which control all large motor activities, then pick
themselves up in ragged fashion and proceed to continue the addled
ritual of bowing and making all the proper motions of necessary Japanese
protocol in ending an evening with each other, before bouncing their
separate ways into the night. Fascinating culture, and all due to
the quest to relieve the six - letter word, s.t.r.e.s.s, which seems
to be their other accompaniing deity permanently attached to the first
one we mentioned.
No matter, a liberal dose of funk n' soul seems to work wonders too,
and we have been getting a warm and wonderful reception to our particular
brand here at the new "Sweet Basil" club in the heart of
Roppongi, which is the equivalent of London's West End, or New York's
Times Square, or maybe Sydney's King's Cross even. Feel free to add
your own local analogies to this short list of examples, and submit
them to me personally, written on
crisp new banknotes - only one entry per note, please - but make as
many entries as you feel necessary. All will be treated in the strictest
confidence, reserved usually for the accused and his lawyer, or the
sinner and his confessor - after all, we wouldn't want people to know
that you're all so rich (or so bored and friendless) that you'd be
spending your time and money on things such as this, now - would we?
Which brings me to the subject of our next adventure after this Oriental
week of noodles, rice, and raw fish n' chips. Pretty soon we'll be
on that long flight back to the land of the setting sun (I refer to
the Americas) for a brief "hit" in Philadelphia, and New
Haven, where we get a chance to trade war tales with our buddies Tower
Of Power for two nights, before getting the next available intercontinental
airbus for England, and some throbbing nights in
London (four), Manchester, and Birmingham (six there). I think the
guys were a bit taken aback by the tightly - packed itinerary at first,
but the thought of all those frequent-flyer miles going virtually
round the globe had them all salivating into their cocktails..........or
in Fred's case, his lemonade. (As you are no doubt aware, we do this
strictly and purely for the love of music and the joy of travel..............and
pigs can, in fact fly) However, since Heathrow doesn't as yet allow
our porky little friends, unless as rashers of bacon in the terminal
caff, we won't be flying any over with us.
So do come and visit us at the Jazz Cafe in London, or Ronnie Scotts
in Birming-ham, or the Band-On-The-Wall in Manchester (where we even
get a night off to play cards or read) and we guarantee to play some
new and different things from last visit, and hopefully you'll furnish
us in return with some new jokes or other tokens of appreciation in
lieu of the filthy lucre which only the young and greedy, or the old
and over-knighted accept for this vocational endeavour. Yes, we really
DO do this for you - and to keep fit. Otherwise, we'd be pub - owners,
or food critics, run a young ladies' finishing school, be film censors,
or something absolutely riveting such as that, and obviously be thoroughly
over - weight and underachieved.
Still, there's always that option if YOU don't show up.................................................
Sayonara from the East
(To be continued some time soon)
