The Hit Parade II

The Hit Parade II is an upcoming covers album by Tak Matsumoto in conjunction with several guest artists inside and outside of recording label. It is scheduled to release on 28 August 2003 through Vermillion Records, more than 20 years after the previous same titled cover album The Hit Parade.

Background
In May 2024, the album announcement was made during his live-tour Here Comes the Bluesman, with the official statement written few days later.

The album features cover songs from the late Showa Period from artists such as Off Course, Hideki Saijo and Ann Lewis.

The album has been performed by young artists from Giza Studio such as Aoi Garnet, Z, Daishi Uehara from Wands, Leon Niihama and well-known by public artist such as Teru from Glay and LiSA. Koshi Inaba and Mai Kuraki were the only ones, who reprised their previous roles in the album.

The album will be released in three formats: regular edition, first-press edition and special limited edition. The special edition will include Blu-ray Disc with partial live footage of the concert "Here Comes the Bluesman" with the guest vocals of Kuraki and Niihama.

Singles
The first promotional cover single was Blue Light Yokohama, originally performed by Ayumi Ishida and covered by Mai Kuraki. The single was released on 15 June 2024. One week before, Matsumoto performed together with Kuraki on the music television program Music Fair.

The second promotional single will be "Kizudarake no Roller", originally performed by Hideki Saijo and covered by Leon Niihama. The single was released on 13 July. The third promotional cover single will be "Roppongi Shinju", originally performed by Ann Lewis, covered by LiSA. The single is scheduled to release on 25 July. All of the singles received only digital release.