I've never written anything Japanese music before. It's become something fundamentally important to me, something that allows me to feel a sense of euphoria. Well, it's always been there, even though I've barely been listening to it for two years.
It's always been there in the background- from my grandfather's love for enka to nursery rhymes I learnt as a child, and even the CDs in the car. It was only near the end of 2015 when my mother introduced me to a track from the CDs in the car: "Road" (ロード) by THE TRA-BRYU (THE 虎舞竜).
This track is number eight on the CD that my grandfather compiled. At first, I didn't even know the name of the song, and simply referred to it as "track eight". It was only later that I discovered the song's tragic backstory, about how it was written for a female fan that died in a car accident. It wasn't long before I had the song lyrics with me and the second (DEEN's "このまま君だけを奪い去りたい") and fourteenth track (沢田研二's "時の過ぎゆくままに") caught my attention.
Armed with my newfound appreciation of these three songs, I began to listen to recommendations from my grandparents- a mix of enka and kayoukyoku.
The CDs in the car were replayed over and over again, and I discovered Chage and Aska. In the span of two months I had accumulated a few songs that I liked- but they say growth is exponential. Indeed, it was only another month before I fell fully for kayo, VOCALOID, J-pop, and other genres of Japanese music.
Although I have no CDs (other than two Chage and Aska albums that belong to my mother), I have a proud collection of 7GB worth of music (I hope it'll one day equal my grandfather's cabinets of songs and records).
And that's how I fell into Japanese music- tentatively, and then head first.
And for reference :)
Disc 1
SAY YES（CHAGE AND ASKA）
このまま君だけを奪い去りたい（DEEN）
風姿花伝（谷村新司）
さよならをもう一度（尾崎紀世彦）
また逢う日まで（尾崎紀世彦）
万里の河（CHAGE AND ASKA）
今でも（ASKA）
ロード（THE 虎舞竜）
さらば恋人（堺正章）
昨日・今日・明日（井上順）
BIG TREE（CHAGE AND ASKA）
この恋おいらのからまわり（CHAGE AND ASKA）
乾杯（長渕剛）
時の過ぎゆくままに（沢田研二）
ロマンシング ヤード（CHAGE AND ASKA）
WALK（CHAGE AND ASKA）
新宿情話（細川たかし）
涙の酒（細川たかし）（オリジナル歌手: 大木伸夫）
Disc 2
いつかのメリークリスマス（B’z）
流恋情歌（CHAGE AND ASKA）
島唄（The Boom）
ROCKDOM（THE ALFEE）
1月の雨を忘れない（THE ALFEE）
明日があるさ（坂本九）
湘南 My Love（The TUBE）
夕焼けの歌（近藤真彦）
遠くで汽笛を聞きながら（アリス）
十六夜舟（森進一）
昭和最後の秋のこと（桂銀淑）
壊れかけのRadio（徳永英明）
花の時・愛の時（前川清）
惜春歌（瑞ゆかり）
母影（趙容弼）
クリスマスキャロルの頃には（稲垣潤一）
古里はいいもんだ（新沼謙治）
Disc 3（两心知）
Disc 4（SUPER BEST II）
Disc 5（RED HILL）
Good morning, karen.
ReplyDeleteThanks very much for your memories of how you got into Japanese pop music. It sounds like you entered through the more soulful of entrances in kayo. "Road" sounds especially good while literally being on the road.
Your introduction into kayo reads like how I was exposed to it as a child...through that mixture of enka and kayo kyoku on the stereo. BTW, that's a fine grouping of songs that you have there. In fact, I also have Chage & Aska's "Super Best II" and "Red Hill".
I know that my father still has bags and cases of records hidden somewhere in the locker room below. If he finally decides to uncover them someday, I will certainly be happy to explore. Thanks again for your article! Much appreciated!