Finger Dancin'

Finger Dancin' is the eighth studio album by Japanese musician, producer, and composer Masayoshi Takanaka, released by Kitty Records on September 1, 1980. Often categorized as a mini-album, it features only four original tracks, making it one of the shortest standalone releases in Takanaka's discography.

Despite its brevity, Finger Dancin' offers a mix of jazz fusion infused with elements of city pop, smooth jazz, funk, and rock, highlighting Takanaka's signature melodic guitar work, colorful production, and rhythmic variety. The title track "Finger Dancin'" features intricate guitar lines and an upbeat feel that epitomizes the vibrant sound of Takanaka's early 1980s output.

Background

The album was initially issued on 12-inch 45rpm vinyl and cassette, with the cassette edition including bonus tracks sourced from previous albums. Finger Dancin' carries a space-themed concept, reflected in both the song titles and the album's visual design.

It was likely recorded during the T-Wave sessions or shortly afterward, which places the recording period around mid-1980 in Kitty Izu Studio (Shizuoka) and KRS Studio in Tokyo.

Production details are hard to come by, which has made Finger Dancin' something of a cult favorite among fans of Takanaka’s more obscure work.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits and personnel adapted from liner notes

*Masayoshi Takanaka — producer, music, arrangements, guitar

• Yuki Sugawara — percussion
• Susumu Ohno — engineer
• Teruaki Igarashi — engineer
• Tadao Tomita — cutting engineer
• Hidenori Taga — executive producer
• Mimi — music
• Satoshi Nakamura — horn arrangements, horn, tenor saxophone
• Shigeru Inoue — drums, percussion
• Yukari Uehara — drums
• Masahiro Miyazaki — drums
• Akihiro Tanaka — bass
• Getao Takahashi — bass
• Kiyosumi Ishikawa — keyboard, Hammond
• Izumi "Mimi" Kobayashi — keyboard
• Emiko Arai — chorus
• Kazumi Takeda — horn
• Toshio Araki — horn
• Shigeharu Mukai — horn
• Genji Sawai — horn
• Shunzo Sunahara — horn
• Kato Group — strings
• Choux Suzuki — lyrics*Arranged by [Horns] — Satoshi Nakamura (tracks: A1, B1)
• Bass — Akihiro Tanaka
• Conductor — Naochika Yamamoto
• Cover — K. Chigi
• Creative Director, A&R — Choux Suzuki
• Drums — Masahiro Miyazaki
• Engineer — Susumu Ohno
• Assistant Engineer — Izumi Marumo
• Executive Producer — Hidenori Taga
• Guitar, Producer, Composed by, Arranged by — Masayoshi Takanaka
• Horns — Genji Sawai, Hitoshi Okano, Kenji Nakazawa, Satoshi Nakamura, Shunzo Sunahara
• Image Editor — Moonie Ishiyama
• Keyboards, Chorus — Izumi Kobayashi
• Latin Percussion — Yuki Sugawara
• Photography — George Ide, Nov Kondow
• Strings — Kato Group, Ohno Group

Release history