Chiharu Iwamoto -- Kiss

From viewrecordshop.com

 

Welcome to June! Perhaps though I should sarcastically say something like "Welcome to November!" because the temperatures don't really reflect late spring or early summer. Yup, it's chilly out there.

A few years ago, I put up this article for the Les 5-4-3-2-1 cover of the immortal "Bond Street", originally created by Burt Bacharach in 1967, and it was a track on the 1996 compilation "Sushi 3003 - A Spectacular Collection Of Japanese Clubpop". I don't know much about what Japanese club pop is, but hey, Shibuya-kei is something I know a little about.

Regardless, the final track on "Sushi 3003" is a pretty hip-swiveling number called "Kiss" by now-retired actress/singer Chiharu Iwamoto（岩本千春）who was active in the geinokai between 1986 and 2015. In 1990, she released her one-and-only album "Kagami"（かがみ...Mirrors） and that's where "Kiss" originated. Written and composed by Pizzicato Five's Yasuharu Konishi（小西康陽）, "Kiss" is a martini-friendly lounge number with a nice dollop of Latin here and a spritzer of jazz trumpet there. Plus, Iwamoto provides the nearly de rigueur kittenish voice popular in Shibuya-kei. Also, what about those irresistible bongo drums at one point? It's almost enough to get me up to cut a rug.

Masamichi Sugi -- Vacance wa Itsumo Rain（バカンスはいつも雨）

 

Well, I guess this is a bit of a reversal of the usual Yutaka Kimura Speaks session. It was usually the case that I'd already written about a particular song before good ol' Kimura gives his two cents on the song via the YKS article. But as regular readers know from last night, the last edition of YKS provided the music specialist's take on Masamichi Sugi's（杉真理）"Vacance wa Itsumo Rain" (It's Always Raining on My Vacation） although I had yet to write an article on it. That changes here and now.

To be frank, I'm still not an expert on Sugi's discography which is why I had never realized that his 8th single from October 1982 became such a turning point and revelation for the singer-songwriter according to Kimura. Still, I have heard some of his earlier material such as his third single "Catch Your Way" from October 1980 and it's perfectly fine. But perhaps Sugi himself had been gradually approaching a certain crisis of faith up to that point just before "Vacance wa Itsumo Rain" which led to that important piece of advice that Eiichi Ohtaki（大滝詠一）had given him.

So I gather that Sugi was probably a faithful Beatles fan deep inside so he brought some of that into the song right from the get-go with that harmonica and the familiar melody. It's a happy-go-lucky song about a guy who just seems to be rather unlucky in the love department but remains ever hopeful. Certainly, Sugi felt as if a rather huge existential knot was massaged out of his shoulders via this hit judging from how cheerful it sounds. Incidentally, "Vacance wa Itsumo Rain" was also used for a Glico commercial.

Momoe Yamaguchi -- Club Sandwich wa Ikaga? （クラブ・サンドウイッチはいかが？）

 

The whole family went out last night for dinner and we had it at a Swiss Chalet not too far away. As a bit of a change from my usual choice, I ordered a Hot Chicken Sandwich. It turned out to be somewhat less than the sum of its parts, however, since although there was plenty of bread and gravy slathered on, there wasn't a whole lot of chicken. I think the saltiness and the volume of gravy were meant to cover up for the deficiency. It just seemed like this restaurant's equivalent of the cheap Chinese takeout version of Deep Fried Shrimp...90% fried batter and 10% shrimp.

However, a club sandwich has never let me down no matter where I've eaten it. Most of the time, it's been at the diner franchise Eggsmart. I will always be a sucker for the bacon and chicken combo with generous smearings of mayonnaise. Found some good information on the famous dish at Wikipedia, too.

Last Wednesday, when I put up those two burger kayo, commenter AL replied that he actually found a club sandwich kayo and it was performed by none other than aidoru of the 1970s, Momoe Yamaguchi（山口百恵）. "Club Sandwich wa Ikaga?" (How About a Club Sandwich?). It's truly an unusual tune since this whimsical ditty actually sounds like something from a century back with its playful jazz arrangement by Motoki Funayama（船山基紀）. Even Momoe-chan herself gets in on the act by sounding like she was recorded via an old-fashioned gramophone. 

"Club Sandwich wa Ikaga?" was also one track on Yamaguchi's successful August 1976 album "Yokosuka Story"（横須賀ストーリー）with that famous trademark title tune, and indeed all of the tracks, including "Club Sandwich wa Ikaga?", were written and composed by husband-and-wife team Yoko Aki and Ryudo Uzaki（阿木耀子・宇崎竜童）. Usually when I hear those two names and Yamaguchi's in the same breath, my mind will usually go to one of the singer's more world-weary and rough-and-tumble hits such as "Imitation Gold"（イミテイション・ゴールド）, so it is pretty revelatory when I hear something as comical as this particular song by the three. Heck, Momoe even predicted my drink of choice with my beloved club sandwich: hot coffee!🥪☕

Yutaka Kimura Speaks: Masamichi Sugi（杉真理）

 

The lead single from his 1983 album "Stargazer" and his first smash hit as a commercial jingle, "Vacance wa Itsumo Rain"（バカンスはいつも雨...It's Always Raining on My Vacation） was an important number and a turning point in Masamichi Sugi's career.

The previous year, Sugi had participated in the collaboration album "Niagara Triangle Vol. 2" with Motoharu Sano（佐野元春）and Eiichi Ohtaki（大滝詠一）. Advice that he had received from Ohtaki was the spark behind the creation of "Vacance wa Itsumo Rain" and that advice was to appeal to people by bringing more of himself into his music. From there, he rediscovered himself and developed a catchy chord progression which featured a harmonica intro with a beloved Beatles' rhythm. It was from this that clearly showed his own roots, something that he had never shown before.

And then, with his famous "Stargazer" completed and filled with all of this passion, he successively came out with the fulfilling albums "Mistone" and "Symphony #10", and managed to stake an unshakeable position in the Japanese pop scene.

I can only tip my hat in admiration to his sense as a melody maker which has had him dubbed as Japan's Paul McCartney and his talent in churning out song after song. After all, so many of his trademark songs in any of his albums come across as tunes that grab the listener's heart and don't let go.

By the way, I wonder how many people there are who remember the joint concert "Wonder Full Moon" with Sugi, Yumi Matsutoya（松任谷由実）and Kaoru Sudo（須藤薫）in 1982. I have rarely seen such a dreamy and exciting stage performance since then and I would have loved to have seen a reprise of the three of them getting together again.

The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised" (2020).

Misia -- Love Never Dies

 

Well, I gotta say that as a Misia fan along with tons of other people, I was rather surprised and delighted to see the famed singer-songwriter show up on two NHK shows within as many nights. First off, she appeared on the morning information variety program "Asaichi"（あさイチ）as a guest on the Premium Talk segment and then earlier tonight, she was even one of the panelists on the popular "Chiko-chan" quiz show. And in both cases, she was talking up a storm. The "Asaichi" appearance alone was the most that I had ever seen her converse with anyone. 

My history with Misia has been long and has had its ups and downs. When I first heard about her in the late 1990s, I considered her to be one of the biggest vocal powerhouses and pioneers of J-R&B going into the turn of the century, mixing in soul, hip-hop and dance music into an intoxicating blend. Of course, she came through with some heartrending ballads and for a number of years, I lost touch with her because I just thought that she was overdoing it with the love songs. I also enjoyed her upbeat and danceworthy tunes, too.

Well, somebody has got to update the J-Wiki article for Misia's discography because the R&B diva has just released a new single in the last few days titled "Love Never Dies". Of course, she introduced it on "Asaichi" and one YouTube commenter noted that it sounds like some of her old dance stuff, and that person is right and doesn't mind at all. I certainly don't mind at all. Created by Toshiaki Matsumoto（松本俊明）and Misia, the above has gotten a remix by Eric Kupper.

A considerably shorter version of "Love Never Dies" is the soundtrack for the official music video starring the vivacious Naomi Watanabe（渡辺直美）in a Cinderella-esque role.

Masaki Matsubara -- I Remember

 

Man, all this song is missing a mullet and a view of the California coast. I'm talking about a track from the late guitarist Masaki Matsubara's（松原正樹）3rd album from January 1983, "Sniper". 

I mean, "I Remember" is so American AOR, it just hurts. Although Matsubara is manning the guitar, it was Terry Shaddick and Jesse Barish behind words and music respectively with Barish also singing the song. Going into the last third of "I Remember", a melancholy tune about remembering a past romance, the key changes are so sublime that any City Pop songwriter can only turn green in envy. 

It's been a good long while since Matsubara's name has gotten onto the byline although he's still popped up in Labels in later songs as a songwriter. But my last article with him is "Shining Star", a track from his "Painted Woman" album which was released later that year in November.

Masayuki Suzuki -- Sayonara Itoshi no Baby Blues（さよならいとしのBaby Blues）

 

Yes, Martin. Do please contemplate about life...because you look so cool doing so!

Strangely enough, I did cover "Sayonara Itoshi no Baby Blues" (Farewell, My Beloved Baby Blues) when I wrote that 2019 article on Masayuki Suzuki's（鈴木雅之）BEST compilation "MARTINI II" but I'm OK with another go-round of this slow-cooking banger. Along with its inclusion in his original 1992 album "Fair Affair" and "MARTINI II", it was also the coupling song to Martin's 14th single in May 1992, the splendid "Mou Namida wa Iranai"（もう涙はいらない）, and my opinion on B-sides on those old 45"s also applies to the coupling songs for those tiny CD singles. They should be checked out as well.

And certainly "Sayonara Itoshi no Baby Blues" is one soulful cool-down tune after "Mou Namida wa Iranai" which can sound good on the stereo at home or in the car while rumbling down those Tokyo highways. Written and composed by Hideki Andoh（安藤秀樹）and arranged by the late Nobuo Ariga（有賀啓雄）, the song was also performed by Suzuki in its entirety sometime during the third season of the cop show "Deka Kizoku"（刑事貴族...The Detective Aristocrats） on NTV which used "Mou Namida wa Iranai" as the theme song.