TOKYO: Episode III

The third day, October 21st, 2005, I went to visit another friend of mine, Greg, in Chiba (where “Tokyo” Disneyland is located). Greg met this crazy “cat” at the Tokyo Immigration office. Jimmy Angel is apparently a living legend that is living in Japan. He is a 50’s rocker, and a former high school classmate of Elvis Presley! One of the oddest things about him is that he can’t stop saying the word “cat”. Cat, cat, cat, cat, cat. Every time he is talking to anyone, he calls them “cat”. It’s really not very attractive. It’s such an old slang word cobwebs flew out of his mouth every time he says it.

He invited Greg to a show where he was performing, and I went along too. The show was in a small bar in Narita (near the Tokyo international airport) and it was, like him, a little odd. Jimmy’s performance was classic 50s style rock, with one exception. I don't play guitar, so I didn't notice it at first, but as he was singing his ass off and strumming his guitar to pieces, Greg leaned over to me. “Did you notice that his guitar isn’t plugged in?” he asked.

I wasn't looking at his fingers, but they weren’t actually holding down any strings. Then I looked and sure enough, his guitar wasn't connected to anything. It was convincing to a non-guitar player, but it was certainly strange once I realized it. I wasn't sure if he was just using it to dance, like playing air-guitar to with an actual guitar, or if he REALLY thought he was playing and no one in the band bothered to tell him that his guitar wasn't turned on. Makes me think that all of us musician types may finally go senile this way someday. Here is another link about him in The Japan Times. Pretty interesting, even if he is loosing his mind.

That concludes the weirdness of my trip to Tokyo.

Ta ta
Erich von Meatleg