Joey Mccoy - Summer Time Memories (1992)

Joey Mccoy is a former Omega Tribe member. He joined in the band's later years and worked as a vocalist in the Japanese music scene until the early 1990s

Tracklisting

1 Futari No Natsu Monogatari 

2 Riverside Hotel 

3 Silence Ga Ippai 

4 Mizu No Naka No Answer 

5 Saigo No Holy Night 

6 Summer Suspicion 

7 I Wanna Hold You 

8 Kaze No Lonely Way 

9 Alone Again 

Review

This album is just like those Tatsuro Yamashita cover albums, such as the releases by L.A. Unit and Nick Decaro's "Love Storm" album. It takes a nostalgic approach to covering popular songs initially sung by Kiyotaka Sugiyama. The difference is that the L.A. Unit and Nick Decaro albums sold very well when "Summer Time Memories" did not.

1992 is one of the last years Joey Mccoy would be seen in the Japanese music industry. After around the mid-1990s, he would move to Hawaii. Interestingly, Kiyotaka Sugiyama would also move to Hawaii eventually, a place depicted on Omega Tribe's album covers for so many times.

Music-wise, this album is one of a kind. I've been digging city pop for more than five years and have heard hundreds of different takes on the same genre of music. I can confirm that no other Japanese albums sound quite like this one. This album pushes the nostalgic side of city pop to a new height. The symphony of synth, guitar, and vocals all brings me into the picture, where I can see the members of Omega Tribe and Joey Mccoy standing on an evening beach. The sky and the sea were bleached purple by the setting sun, and so are everyone's faces and Hawaiian shirts. The purple fills the air with sorrowfulness and nostalgia. Joey Mccoy knows, that this will be the last time he meets some of the people standing in front of him, and this album is his goodbye gift and salute to his fellow band members and the legacy of Omega Tribe before he takes the flight to leave the music he created in Japan behind forever.

None of what I imagined probably happened, except for the last part. I do think this album is a salute to the Omega Tribe legacy and a gift for the band members as well as Joey Mccoy himself before he quits the music industry and leaves for Hawaii. None of us have a single idea why he left at all, but we all know that this "gift" is invaluable. Just listen to the album. Seriously, just listen. This album is the definition of nostalgia. It reminds me of that purple beach, of all the good times that I had and that were gone. It brings me back to those scenes where I part with my friends who I would never meet again, places that I never visited again. It brings me back to every beautiful afternoon sky I have seen. When I listened to this album, all of these memories became one. It made me want to cry, it made me want to go back, and it made me want to live in my memories forever. It is only when the album is over do I understand that these good times were forever gone, and so are Joey Mccoy and the Omega Tribe.