Japanese Tobacco Singers

Today mrguy bought me a present: my second Japanese LP whose cover features a smoking man.


Here's the first:


And in a nostalgic tip of the hat to the Fairness Doctrine, another lp from my collection:


The new record is very fabulous. Draw yourself an aural picture of mournful crooning with strings, cornet and clarinet that is almost eastern European, then take a left turn with Raymond Scott-style Bugs Bunny Ali Baba percussion. Add random arpeggios on clavioline, and stir well.

When this record was being produced, smoking in Japan was 6 years away from its peak. In 1966, 83% of Japanese men smoked.

I think my chances of increasing the Japanese Tobacco Singers collection are pretty good.