Credits

I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.

Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Reiko Mari -- Psyche na Machi(サイケな街)


Combing through some of the funkier kayo of the 1960s, I became somewhat curious about all those go-go dances that I had always heard about back in the decade that I was born. I was obviously way too young to try them out although my mother once told me that I had done my fair share of intensely bouncing on the sofa whenever the opening credits for the original "Mission: Impossible" TV show came on (still a cool theme). In any case, I decided to take a look at the above video provided by Dusty Old Thing as a historical and cultural update on my knowledge. Was not aware of The Stroll or The Hully Gully.


The trigger for my curiosity was the above video containing the song "Psyche na Machi" (Psychedelic Town) by singer Reiko Mari(万里れい子). Although I've provided the translation of the title in the previous sentence, according to one site, the official English title was apparently "In The Town". Released back in October 1968, the number just dares folks not to try out one of those 60s dances. And looking at the cover, Mari looks like she's ready to paint the town red through The Frug or The Pony. "Psyche na Machi" was written by Hiroshi Mizuki(水木ひろし)and composed by Jun Sakurai(櫻井順).

There's not a whole lot of information on Mari except for what I found on the site "Ongaku no Aru Mura"(音楽のある村...A Village With Music). She was born in 1948, and at the age of 23 sometime during the mid-1960s, she entered a Nichigeki dance troupe called NDT (wow, so it wasn't Yasushi Akimoto who had started up the idea of all those alphabet girl groups 😉) in which there were a number of smaller sub-units with the one that Mari had entered being called The Eight Poppies(エイト・ポピーズ). She later left the troupe, auditioned for Columbia Records and took on the stage name of Reiko Mari. Her debut was in May 1967 with the single "Seishun no Nagisa"(青春の渚...Youth Beach).

Going into the 1970s, she would later join the vocal group Koichi Morita and The Top Gallants(森田公一とトップギャラン)under the name of Reiko Watabe(渡部玲子).

3 comments:

  1. Hello J-Canuck,

    I heard this artist through a compilation called Nippon Girl's created by a DJ named Sheila Burgel - a former resident of Tokyo.

    http://www.chachacharming.com/

    I bought it sound unheard and it was a great purchase. I heard the mighty voice of Jun Mayuzumi and I was hooked. I was also getting into the 60s Group Sounds and obscure pop, kayo, yeye and psychedelia sounds of that era thanks to another DJ called Evil Jay and his podcast Mystery Cut Radio - a current resident of Tokyo.

    https://www.mixcloud.com/jayholmes710/

    One day both of these DJs did a show for the aforementioned Mystery Cut Radio and brought out a lot of good obscure music that has been more or lost to time.

    https://www.mixcloud.com/jayholmes710/ep17-evil-jay-meets-sheila-b/

    Two great tastes that go great together. Needless to say I bought the second Nippon Girls and sound and unheard and I don't regret the second purchase either.

    There was another album full of Showa 60s/70s pop called Goodnight Tokyo. It's a little bit more obscure and not related to the above individuals but worth a purchase

    This was another recommendation from the late, lamented CKLN Full Moon Podcast.

    Thanks!

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    Replies
    1. Hello, Chasing Showa!

      Thanks very much for the tips on the 60s singers and songs. There seems to be a wealth of material for me to explore. Strangely enough, I think I found "Nippon Girls Vol. 1" on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZu34whk-uA&t=26s), as well as Goodnight Tokyo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6kG2VbgmDE&t=436s). It's interesting to see these singers that I had associated with regular kayo or Group Sounds getting into the fuzzy-guitar rock, especially Mie Nakao. Then again, there are a lot of later examples of bands and singers switching genres as well.

      As for Sheila Burgel, I always admire a fellow enthusiast in music, and from that one photo, she's definitely not going for IKEA furniture to house those albums. She also struck me as being someone rather familiar so I thought about it, and I think she looks like an actress on the superhero show "Arrow".

      Many thanks here and I think I will see about getting that Nakao song featured sometime over the weekend.

      Delete

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