Kye Eunsook -- Yoidorete（酔いどれて）

 

For all of the scenes I've seen on shows such as "Enka no Hanamichi"（演歌の花道）and all of those karaoke videos, I'm not sure whether there are actually a fair number of people who hit the fancy bars and izakaya to drown their sorrows in drink. It just seems rather depressing to see and it may not be all that good for business according to the bartender/owner.

But the trope happily exists in music...specifically, enka, Mood Kayo and New Adult Music. And we have another example with Kye Eunsook's（ 桂銀淑）5th single "Yoidorete" (Drunkenly). Released in April 1989, the South Korean singer grandly invites alcohol to take her away from all that is currently ailing her, which probably means heartbreak (her lover's wife finally found out). 

Written by Osamu Yoshioka（吉岡治）and composed by Keisuke Hama（浜圭介）, I would have labeled this as European enka back in the very early days of the blog but perhaps I can tag this now as enka and/or New Adult Music because there is something in the arrangement that gives "Yoidorete" that extra urban kick although I wouldn't say it was City Pop. Peaking at No. 28 on Oricon, the song also won the singer a slew of awards including a Gold prize at the Japan Record Awards. She even got that invitation to appear on the 1989 edition of NHK's Kohaku Utagassen.

Well, speaking of "Enka no Hanamichi", here is Kye Eunsook singing "Yoidorete" right on that legendary show.

Keisuke Kuwata -- Kanashii Kimochi （悲しい気持ち）

 

Commenter Fireminer thankfully and recently reminded me of a song that I hadn't heard in a few decades...basically since I used to watch rental videotapes of "The Best 10"（ザ・ベストテン）.

The chorus is what got the memory engrams going. I'm talking about Keisuke Kuwata's（桑田佳祐）"Kanashii Kimochi" (Sad Feelings) or the official English title of "Just a Man in Love". Released in October 1987 as Kuwata's debut single as a solo singer, this comes some time after putting a hold on Southern All Stars（サザンオールスターズ）and Kuwata Band activities, so I'm sure that there was a lot of attention on the leader of those two bands about what he would come up with.

Although Kuwata's lyrics are about heartbreak, his melody is supremely upbeat Motown, something, according to a couple of interviews via the J-Wiki article on "Kanashii Kimochi", where he had wanted be a little more personal. 

"I wanted to do something more personal, both musically and spiritually. Specifically, I wanted to revisit the feelings and music from when we were in high school. It wasn't about imitating the sound of that era, but rather returning to that state of mind." 

In that way, I think Kuwata was perhaps following folks like Billy Joel ("An Innocent Man") and Donald Fagen ("The Nightfly"). At the same time, he seemed to be following the usual kayo line of happy melody and sad lyrics.

One would think that "Just a Man in Love" was used for some trendy drama back in those 1980s. However, it was actually used for a number of different commercials over the years. The hit for Kuwata reached No. 2 on Oricon and ended up as the No. 46-ranked single of 1987 and then went even higher the following year, when it reached No. 38. It was also a track on the singer's July 1988 solo debut album "Keisuke Kuwata" which resided at the top of the charts for two weeks in a row.

Speaking of Kuwata and Fagen in the same breath, I recall seeing a video on YouTube featuring the former in concert as he sings the latter's classic "I.G.Y.". Alas, the video has disappeared.

Atsuko Nina -- Apple Tea to Peanuts（アップルティーとピーナッツ）

 

I have to admit that I've not come across the combination of apple tea and peanuts before although I've enjoyed both of them separately. Maybe they make a good remedy toward improved blood circulation. Hard to say.

But that combination is indeed the title of singer-songwriter Atsuko Nina's（二名敦子）track from her 1987 album "Teibou"（堤防）. I wrote on the title track back in 2018 and compared to the late 80s sophisticated pop of that one, "Apple Tea to Peanuts" (Apple Tea and Peanuts) is a samba-driven tune written and composed by Nina that goes at a pretty fast clip...and during a bright sunny and breezy day. The singer definitely sings the praises of apple tea and peanuts (her personal favourite, perhaps?). Motoki Funayama（船山基紀 ）took care of the arrangement which also involved guitarist Makoto Matsushita（松下誠）and percussionist Pecker（ ペッカー）.

Lucky Kilimanjaro -- Burning Friday Night

 

It's indeed a Friday night as I type this so I'm sure younger and more energetic folks than I are enjoying their time dining, dancing and drinking somewhere out there. Temperatures are more reasonable and seasonable in the evenings now.

A few years ago, I posted an article regarding the band Lucky Kilimanjaro and their 2021 "Ame ga Furu nara Odoreba Ii ja nai"（雨が降るなら踊ればいいじゃない）, noting that vocalist and songwriter Yukimaru Kumaki（熊木幸丸）and his guys love to bring in the Neo-City Pop and disco. Well, one of their earlier songs from their one and only mini-album as an indies act, the July 2015 "FULLCOLOR", can be said to the ideal mix of those two styles. "Burning Friday Night" which was written by Kumaki and composed by the entire band has a hint of an old song by The Emotions but through the gauzy filter of Sakanaction（サカナクション）. So, maybe no disco strings per se but the beat is certainly disco-friendly.

Satoko Shibata -- Pool

Swimming_Pool_Grundarfjordur_Kirkjufell

 

Ahhh...the community swimming pool, an environment of chlorinated intrigue, romance and strategy. (Young) People are conglomerating in different cliques within or without the water admiring from afar or, if they are brave enough, communicating up close and personal. And once in a while, there may be some actual swimming taking place. But always beware of the "chocolate bar"!

But to get away from that horrifying scene, I can introduce you to singer-songwriter Satoko Shibata（柴田聡子）and her June 2026 "Pool". With those Latin dance beats and conspiratorially whispery vocals in there, there is plenty of fun and intrigue as a saucy young lady is enjoying the facilities of the pool (especially the shower) while driving her boyfriend up the wall by ignoring him. In a way, she reminds me of another songstress, bird.

Hailing from Sapporo, Shibata is also a musician and poet who started her career in 2010 with at least a dozen digital download singles and seven albums under her belt.

Anna Banana -- Himitsu（秘密）

 

A little over four years ago, I introduced singer Anna Banana（アンナ・バナナ）to the pages of KKP, a lovely lady with some golden vocals. Just from what I've heard thus far, it seems like she inhabited some of the more urbane genres such as City Pop and jazz. My first article on her "Smile" from her 1993 album "High Dive" revealed a breezy pop sense somewhat akin to some of the works of actress-singer Miki Imai（今井美樹）.

From the same album, here is "Himitsu" (Secrets) and perhaps the secret that I envisage as I listen to this one is the secret but oh-so-desirable club in a city alley where this might be playing. Written by Yukinojo Mori（森雪之丞）and composed by Tsutomu Nakayama（中山努）, it comes across as a nice slice of sophisti-pop or British blue-eyed soul especially with that muted trumpet solo. I think of Swingout Sister and Basia when I listen to that refined and funky arrangement.

Kaze/Ichizo Seo -- Hoozue wo Tsuku Onna（ほおづえをつく女）

J. Robinson and Sons from Wikimedia Commons

Y'know...try as I might, I always confuse the heck out of myself with the singer-songwriters Ichizo Seo（瀬尾一三）and Shozo Ise（伊勢正三）. It sure doesn't help that they are contemporaries and that they not only worked basically within the same sphere of music from the 1970s but they have collaborated together. Plus, there's something about the pronunciation of both of those names. One commenter even caught me on that when he noticed that I'd mistaken one for the other on one article. But let's not get all scrambly about this on Urban Contemporary Fridays, shall we?

Let's start with the cool song "Koozue wo Tsuku Onna" (The Woman Resting Her Hand on Her Cheek) which was folk duo Kaze's（風）4th single from December 1976. The aforementioned Shozo Ise, who was one-half of the duo along with Kazuhisa Okubo（大久保一久）, wrote and composed this one with the urban boogie-like rhythm and the languid rock guitar...definitely not folk. Meanwhile, the aforementioned Ichizo Seo arranged the song into something that I'd like to use as a temporal touchstone to what City Pop was like back in the early days when it felt like it could accompany anyone walking among the skyscrapers of Tokyo. The single reached No. 40 on Oricon and was included as a track on Kaze's November 1976 album "Windless Blue" which hit No. 3 on the charts and ended up as the 17th-ranked album of 1977.

Arranger Seo, who has been involved with just about everyone and anyone including Anri（杏里） and Michiru Kojima（児島未散）, came up with the second of his own solo albums "The Golden Section ~ Kaze Instrumental Album" in 1978. This particular one is an instrumental tribute with includes his take on Kaze's "Hoozue wo Tsuku Onna" right from the top. It has a much more laidback, more romantic and jazzier feeling as if the walking is over and it's now straight to drinking in one of the bars located inside one of those skyscrapers. I would say that it could even find a spot in a soundtrack of one of those Japanese cop shows.