File 5: Music to Be Murdered by

A year ago, I came up with the corner Music to be Murdered by for this blog, where I introduced catchy tunes from various detective fiction productions (TV/film/games/etc). I had originally thought of it as an easy way to crank up the number of posts, but the last year, I've had no shortage of other review material, so I kinda forgot about the corner. But now it's back!

Title: The Theme of Lupin III '78
Composer: Oono Yuuji
Album: too many to mention.

Lupin III is one of the most beloved franchises of Japanese popculture. It has been around since 1967 and is even now in 2015 still going strong. The series is about the adventures of Lupin III (grandson of Arsène Lupin) and his little gang of thieves. An animated TV series of Lupin III was first broadcast in 1971, but really made it big in 1977 with the sequel series, Lupin III Part Two. It was the theme song of this series that most people nowadays associate with Lupin III. The song is often remixed but The Theme of Lupin III '78 is always the base.
 

And what a song it is! The speedy jazzy tune conjures up the image of fun adventures of a band of suave thieves in the seventies and eighties. I linked to a live performance of the theme, where the song comes even more alive because of the dynamic musicians. Sure, it's a rather loud song for a thief, but hey, it's stylish and catchy!

Music to be Murdered by is still an irregular corner though, so no idea when the next post will appear...

Original Japanese title(s): 大野雄二『ルパン三世のテーマ'80』