Job Discussion Forums

[kimo]

That warm, summer Sunday of 1991 seemed normal for Tokyo. Scantily-clad, but fashionable, ladies patroled Omotesando, half the Iranian army bivouaced in conversation in one corner of Oyogikoen, and slick-haired Elvis Tanakas guarded the Park entrance with a slow twirl that I inferred we were to regard as dancing. Further inside the grounds, the weekly battle of the bands had begun. But it was no contest as the purple and green haired punk bands played mostly to themselves as even their road crews had deserted them and wandered down the alley of bands to more fertile grounds.

Jelly, a Chikan`s musical dream, was on stage -- and, oh, could those girls play -- and look good while doing it too. When I arrived they were finishing one number and gliding into another. The large crowd I noticed consisted mostly of males, normal perhaps for the music being played, but one thing struck me as peculiar, a good number of those men were middle-aged and they had all pushed themselves to the front of the crowd. An unusual age group I surmised for a group of people in Yoyogikoen Park, and Japan for that matter, gathered to hear a rock n roll band.

Ultimately, age didn`t matter as the girls jumped and gyrated and flung their hair into the air. Hormones, as well as notes, were flying off the homemade stage and the crowd was slinging them back just as hard. The band went through a few more numbers and I could feel the intensity growing as the band and crowd bonded. And then it was time to close, the last number was on:

"dum, dum, dum, Yeah, you show us everything you've got
You keep on dancin' and the room gets hot
You drive us wild, we'll drive you crazy.

You say you wanna go for a spin
The party's just begun, we'll let you in
You drive us wild, we'll drive you crazy
You keep on shoutin', you keep on shoutin', clap your hands

I wanna rock and roll all nite and party every day
I wanna rock and roll all nite and party every day"

The crowd roared with delight. Jelly wiggled even harder. The intensity grew stronger as the band reached higher and higher to finish us off. We were all conquered and surely each girl in the band could have had a hundred men to lap at her feet. And the lead guitarist could have ruled the world that day. She wore her guitar low and the cutoff football jersey which exposed a fleshy roll could aptly have served as the inspiration for the band`s name.

Jelly was on a roll. We all partook and it tasted pretty good!

I wonder if anyone else here ever got to see them.