Record Review #2: In Search of Lost Legends/Blue Rain (Victor Records KV-3045)
One of my favorite discoveries when I first started to explore original un-cut Japanese editions of anime was watching the opening themes for the first time and listening to the soundtrack music. I have always been a TV theme nut since I was a kid and I even purchased and enjoyed nearly all the volumes of T.V.T.’s Televisions Greatest Hits CD’s when they were released and available back in the ’80s and ’90s.
With the exception of instrumental themes, a good TV theme should capture the essence of the TV show, explain the premise of the show, and get viewers excited about watching the program and accomplish all those objectives under 1 minute. As great as they may be, I do believe most TV themes are musically underappreciated and are taken for granted by the general public.
Although I write many toy reviews for Collection DX, first and foremost I am a record collector and have been for many years. I always dreamed about locating original anime vinyl but they were very difficult to locate and expensive when I did. But due to the magic of the Internet, I have finally been able to locate a few Japanese record stores that ship to the USA and deal in Anime OST as well. After all these years it has been great to finally build up a collection of original anime vinyl.
Some reasons why I like to locate the original vinyl is that sometimes they have different master recording mixes and are usually longer with extra verses than the TV versions. And nearly 30 years after the fact the vinyl versions also tend to be forgotten as most people do not have record players to play them anymore.
I mostly collect 7-inch 45rpm singles and when it came to collecting anime vinyl the first records I purchased were 45rpms of my top anime shows. One of the best anime TV opening and closing themes ever are the songs In Search of Lost Legends and Blue Rain from the classic 1983 anime Genesis Climber Mospeada. Although four albums of music were released from Mospeada only one 45rpm 7-inch single, In Search of Lost Legends / Blue Rain on Victor Records KV-3045, was ever released.
The picture sleeve is a beautiful fold-out sleeve that features the art of principle Mospeada character designer Yoshitaka Amano’s paintings of the characters Ray and Mint on the back of Ray’s Mospeada motorcycle. The sleeve opens up with more pictures of the Mospeada crew and lyrics to both songs
The a-side In Search of Lost Legends is the rousing opening theme sung by the cryptic one named singer named “Andy.” In Search of Lost Legends has got to be one of the most energetic opening theme songs ever. A nice blend of explosive soul and rock with Andy’s deep soul voice thrown in, you cannot help but want to jump on your own Mospeada and locate Reflex Point yourself. The song has a few lyrics sung in English including the line Lonely Soldier Boy, a line that has since become the unofficial new title of the Mospeada theme for fans of the show. I am sure it was also the lyrics that led songwriter Michael Bradley to write his own great song with the same name for Robotech: The New Generation.
Mospeada also lucked out with also having an equally good closing theme with the blues-inspired Blue Rain, the b-side of the this single. A beautiful male/female duet between Andy and the female voice actress for the Mospeada character Yellow Belmont, singer Mine Matsuki, the song has some standout soulful Japanese singing with a melancholy softness that represents the tragic past but hopeful future the characters are burdened with throughout Mospeada.
When I found out the Mospeada themes were released as a single, the record became the first anime 45rpm record I purchased for the collection. Even if you do not own a record player it is a must pick up for the Mospeada collector. Personally, I am looking forward to blasting it at the next event I D.J.
©2008 Article by Leonardo Flores and Collection DX. Music and artwork owned by Victor Records of Japan and used here for review purposes only.