I've been a fan of Japanese popular music for 40 years, and have managed to collect a lot of material during that time. So I decided I wanted to talk about Showa Era music with like-minded fans. My particular era is the 70s and 80s (thus the "kayo kyoku"). The plus part includes a number of songs and artists from the last 30 years and also the early kayo. So, let's talk about New Music, aidoru, City Pop and enka.
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.
I've seen my fair share of shimmering mirages in the past including the one for a non-existent body of water. Nothing more exciting than that.
Looks like Kahimi Karie（カヒミ・カリィ）was in the middle of a Danny Thomas spit take in that cover photo for her October 2006 album"NUNKI". The track I'm covering here is "Mirage" which doesn't really come across as anything Shibuya-kei, the genre that I've always associated her with. The soft and kittenish French vocals are there but I think there's more of an intriguing indies pop feeling with some adventurous percussion blasting away. Karie took care of the lyrics while American musician and longtime Japanese resident Jim O'Rourke was the composer and arranger.
I bumped into this video purely by accident yesterday when it was released onto YouTube, and I know that the band Mrs. GREEN APPLE has been known for participating in some really snazzy music videos. However, although the song was another supremely upbeat tune by the guys, I was rather marveling at the very ambitious parkour the three were doing all over the city in their latest video.
And then I saw the title: "Brand New". Then, 2+2 started popping up in my head immediately after which I checked the relevant J-Wiki article and sure enough, my rushed suspicions were verified. Mrs. GREEN APPLE's latest digital download single from July 13th was indeed the theme song for the Japanese release of "Spider-Man: Brand New Day". Reading that all three members were big fans of the superhero, they must have had the time of their lives acting like the webslinger.
Written and composed by vocalist Motoki Ohmori（大森元貴）, "Brand New" isn't actually the first time that Mrs. GREEN APPLE has come up with a theme song for people with super powers. I recall writing about another song of theirs that fits the bill years ago. In any case, "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" has come out here and in Tokyo, so I gather that my old movie viewing buddies there are already planning their big outing to see it. I will be catching it myself pretty soon.
Over the past few years, it's become fairly regular for me to wait in hospitals and clinics while my folks and myself go through various medical procedures. And as such, I bring a book along to wile away the time. A few weeks ago, I brought the above tome called the April 2018 edition of "Record Collectors" which was focusing on the City Pop singles and albums from 1980 to 1989.
Well on Page 47, there was an article with the title "Cunimondo Takiguchi ga Erabu Shiteki Hachi-juu Nendai City Pop Best 10"（クニモンド瀧口が選ぶ私的80年代シティポップベスト10）which has been translated into the title on the above byline. Now, Takiguchi is the leader of the band Ryusenkei（流線形）, one of the groups that spearheaded a new version of City Pop going into the 21st century although he has gone on record to state that he doesn't particularly want that exact label applied to his work since City Pop is a musical phenomenon of past decades; he would prefer that his discography and those of other similarly-minded contemporary musicians be called urban contemporary. I respect his opinion but I also have my own on the reach of City Pop throughout the past few decades and I feel that City Pop never really died out even when the Bubble Era collapsed at the turn of the decade from the 80s into the 90s so I have continued to use the label to categorize songs by Ryusenkei, Kirinji（キリンジ）and Suchmos, etc.
But in any case, I have here Part 1 of his list of those City Pop albums from the 1980s that he has enjoyed starting from 1 to 5. The latter half of the selection will be posted next week. I have also included the comments that he stated in the article for each album. For the last couple of entries, I wasn't able to find a full album.
When I was a junior high school sophomore, one summer, my three buddies and I listened to "Futari" on the Walkman from the veranda of an Atami cottage while looking at the night sky. We were so moved as we each had a turn listening to it and the memory has lasted as a formative experience in City Pop for me.
For the wonderful keyboardist, Hiroshi Sato（佐藤博）, who had his input on that Yamashita album, I took another look at his "Awakening" in my thirties and it became one of my most favourite albums. He once gave me an interview and though I was nervous, he was kind enough to give me two hours of his time which was a happy memory.
Going back from Matsushita's（松下誠）days with AB's, the original jacket from "First Light" struck me as something that was so cool. The refined chord progressions and arrangement along with Matsushita's not-overly-polished vocals were very comfortable to hear.
I got into "Coconuts High" through the soundtrack she provided to "Urusei Yatsura"（うる星やつら）, and those tropical songs contained the Latin rhythms and her light and cute vocals which harmonized just right with those muscular synths.
I fell in love with "Tasogare My Love"（たそがれマイ・ラブ） when I was in elementary school. I got to know her cool and groovy side when I listened to "Point Zero" in my twenties.
Recently going over "Light Mellow ~ Beams", I've come across a few tracks on the compilation that I never thought to cover on the blog, so shame on me for that oversight.
One of those former neglected songs from "Beams" is Izumi Kobayashi（小林泉）& Flying Mimi Band's "My Beach Samba", originally from her March 1978 debut album"ORANGE SKY－Endless Summer". Written, composed and arranged by Kobayashi herself, it's a fun and perky and Latin jazzyCity Pop number of the 1970s with inclusion of that decade's aural symbol of the genre...the keyboard haze effect. Speaking of keyboards, I think that is indeed Kobayashi just going crazy on her instrument near the end. Not to be outdone, I have to mention the saxophone and guitar solos, too.
PS. Well, it looks like my memory is failing me. I did write up something on the album proper back in 2019 and that also included my comments on "My Beach Samba". But hey, any song is worth another look.
Ahhh...there's nothing like the pure hard-boiled escapism of a 1970s/1980s Japanese cop show. All those tough detectives firing shots in Tokyo as if an American Western had transplanted itself into Japan's capital city. In real life, if a Japanese cop actually fires a single bullet even in self defense, it becomes the top story on a news broadcast with lots of questions asked and lots of reports made.
The above video by Suna-chan TV has the three opening and ending credits scenes for the 1976-1979 cop series "Dai Tokai"（大都会...The Big City）, one of the big Ishihara Gundan shows starring Yujiro Ishihara（石原裕次郎）and Tetsuya Watari（渡哲也）. Admittedly, the third season has nearly the entire cast going all gun-happy while the first two seasons had opening credits which were far milder. I'll have to ask good friend and KKP contributor JTM about "Dai Tokai" since he's much more knowledgeable on Japanese cop shows than I am, but I'm a little confused since Ishihara seemed to be playing a sage reporter in Season 1 but then changed occupations in the last two seasons to become an intrepid surgeon! I mean, was cross-training education that thorough back then?
Anyways in 1979, the final year for "Dai Tokai", there was an LP for the series' background music called "Dai Tokai Soundtrack Soushuuhen"（大都会 サウンドトラック 総集編...The Big City Soundtrack Compilation）. One track there is the cool and calming "Tsuioku no Scat" (Reminiscing Scat) that is provided by Microcosmos II which I couldn't find anything about. I can only assume that it was just a group of studio musicians with a female vocalist providing all of the mournful scatting.
I've said cool and calming. I can also add wistful and slightly melancholy. I don't recall watching much of "Dai Tokai" but I can imagine that the scene which would include "Tsuioku no Scat" is one where Ishihara and Watari are commiserating at their favourite bar somewhere in Tokyo after a case gone bad or a cop gone dead. They are nursing their tumblers of Old Parr wondering aloud if the job is worth it anymore. However, by the end of the scene, it's back to work.
Within the many albums that the late great Junko Ohashi（大橋純子）had released, my impression is that her October 1983 album"Point Zero"stands out to me as the one where she really dove into the American funk-and-dance sphere. It wasn't just a City Pop thing but something that sounded as if Ohashi wanted to groove it up with folks like the Dazz Band.
Case in point: the track "Sensual Night". As the title says, it's a funky and writhing body on the dance floor inviting the listener to come and jump in (the water's fine!). And there's even a rapping interlude in there (even Ohashi takes part in the rapid patter). It feels more like disco-ing in Los Angeles rather than Tokyo. Short and sweet...there's a cigarette for the afterglow. 😋Ohashi provided the lyrics while Kazufumi Ohama（大浜和史）composed "Sensual Night". Ohama was once the musical director for Pink Lady and was the leader of the band NASA.
Welcome to the final day of July...pretty much halfway through summer. And hopefully, your entry into August and the latter half of the hot season will be a good fun one.
Despite the title of this sparkling Chiyono Yoshino（吉野千代乃）song, "1985-nen no Koibito"(Lovers in 1985) was actually something from 1987 when it and the rest of its track mates were released in the singer's June 1987 3rd album "Say Goodbye". Not sure about why the focus on lovers in that specific year but...and I say this tongue in cheek...with the signing of the Plaza Accords in 1985, perhaps lovers realized that they pretty much had carte blanche when it came to dating and having fun in Bubble Era Japan.😊
But I digress. "1985-nen no Koibito", which was written by Goro Matsui（松井五郎）and composed by Kyoko Matsumiya（松宮恭子）, is a very upbeat slice of sophisticated pop with a wedge of happy-happy samba on top which launches with some pounding bass and keyboard. It practically demands listeners to get into a conga line on the Lido Deck of some cruise liner. Strangely enough, the footage in the video above comes from the 1990 trendy drama "Sekai de Ichiban Kimi ga Suki"（世界で一番君が好き....I Love You The Most in the World), one of the first such dramas that I watched on Fuji-TV when I arrived on the JET Programme some months before. Its theme song is of a much different genre, though.
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