Showa Boogie, Nishi-Shinjuku

One Saturday night, my friends and I were wandering around Shinjuku and stumbled upon this small quirky bar where they only play Japanese pop music from the 70s and the 80s under the disturbingly dreamy red light. We were such misfits that we only awkwardly made fun of the tacky costumes of the bands that were playing on the big screen, while the rest of the crowd maniacally sang along the songs, clapping, cheering and stuff. It was weird to pee in the co-ed bathroom whose were entirely covered with half-naked pictures of girls from the 70s and the 80s. The whole time I was wondeing how these women would look like now.

Basically the name, Showa Boogie (昭和ブギ), means the Boogie dance music that were popular during the reign of the Showa Emperor (1926-1989). It seems like it had quite a decent following that the bar, which is located entirely in a basement, expands to the 2nd, the 3rd underground floors. We finally stopped curiously staring at the people there and began requesting songs and reacting to the songs we recognized. I wish I knew more of the songs they played but instead I learned some new ones below.

「おニャン子クラブ ーセーラー服を脱がさないで」

Onyanko Club(Kitty Club) - Please don't pull off my school uniform 

This bizarre title prevails throughout the entire song along with lyrics like "I want to lose my virginity before my friends do" Apparently songs with some obscene lyrics sung by a truck load of these cute innocent looking girls were a huge hit during the 80s and the success of Kitty Club gave birth to other massive girl groups throughout the 90s. 

「尾崎紀世彦　ーまた逢う日まで」

Ozaki Kiyohiko - Till the Day we meet again 

At the end, we flipped out at the bill we got, 1400 yen for a beer + seating charge! GAAAAHH, but no regrets. It was a very confusing Shinjuku-like Saturday night.