JAGATARA -- Last Tango in Juku

 

I'm not a punk rock fan by any means but I do know that it arose from around the mid-1970s and was perhaps one antidote to all that disco (which I just wrote about in my previous article). 

This has been hanging around in the backlog for some time, but I'm finally getting to JAGATARA's "Last Tango in Juku". This band that dabbled in a number of genres including punk rock, funk-rock, Afrobeat and post-punk got its start in 1979 touring the live houses beginning with the Kamiuma Gasoline Alley in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo. Led by vocalist Akemi Edo（江戸アケミ）, "Last Tango in Juku" was the band's debut single released in April 1981 (at the time, they were calling themselves Zaidan Houjin Jagatara/財団法人じゃがたら [Judicial Foundation Jagatara]), and though it sounds like a mix of rock and Eastern European tango music, I can pick up the punk attitude f rom Edo's singing and his lyrics of getting into the muck of some dark corner in the urban neighbourhood for some dancing and fine dining (sucking up a piece of hamburger that his dance partner dropped onto the ground). Not sure whether the "Juku" in the title refers to Shinjuku or Harajuku, although I'm leaning toward the former.

According to the J-Wiki article on the band, JAGATARA did a Kansai tour to promote "Last Tango in Juku". However, despite the goodly amount of fans showing up, Edo still felt the music was being unappreciated so once the tour was done, he decided to just focus on the music rather than concerts.

Five singles and six albums would be released by JAGATARA up to 2020 and a lot of members would come and go (along with some variations on the name of the band). Edo himself took a respite between 1983 and 1985 due to a deteriorating mental situation but did come back. Unfortunately, he would pass away in early 1990 due to an accident in the bathtub after which JAGATARA would break up.

A Taste of Honey -- Boogie Oogie Oogie

 

The disco/R&B band A Taste of Honey has had residency on KKP since the blog was three weeks old. I was tackling one of the great kayo classics in "Ue wo Muite Arukou" (上を向いて歩こう）, aka "Sukiyaki", when I also mentioned that A Taste of Honey provided their own cover on the song in the early 1980s...which proved to be their second and final hit in their career thus far.

However, as commendable as their elegant cover of the iconic Kyu Sakamoto（坂本九）song was, their first big hit has been the one that has been usually recognized when it comes to A Taste of Honey. The strange thing is that when I first heard their 1978 debut single "Boogie Oogie Oogie", it was through a TV performance of this song by then-teen sibling stars Kristy and Jimmy McNichol on some sort of nighttime special. With the whole mainstream disco craze, the McNichols' popularity at the time, and the novelty song-esque nature of that title, I actually did assume that this was the McNichols' tune, front and centre.

And yes, the above has Kristy and Jimmy, but no, it isn't for "Boogie Oogie Oogie".

So, it was actually many years later that I found out the truth that "Boogie Oogie Oogie" was by A Taste of Honey, and yeah as performed by Janice-Marie Johnson (and Hazel Payne) while slapping that bass hard and wearing those heels, maybe even the folks who were thinking that disco started to suck would have been willing to give a reprieve to this one. Heck, if I had been born a decade earlier, I probably would have been rarin' to run to my nearest disco and hit the dance floor. My dancing would have sucked for sure but I would have had oodles of fun doing so.

"Boogie Oogie Oogie" was not only a hit on the dance floor but also a hit outside of it as well. It hit No. 1 on Billboard's pop, disco and soul charts in September 1978, and according to the Wikipedia article for the song, it also became the first certified Platinum single in the history of Capitol Records by selling over 2 million records. I would probably posit that the chairman's office became a disco dance floor in celebration. 

So, we've got one of the primo disco songs coming out in 1978. What else was winning at the Japan Record Awards that year? 

Grand Prize: Pink Lady -- UFO

Best New Artist: Machiko Watanabe -- Kamome ga Tonda Hi （かもめが翔んだ日）

Gold Prize: Naoko Ken -- Kamome wa Kamome （かもめはかもめ）

Toshihiko Tahara -- Kimi ni Barabara...to Iu Kanji（君に薔薇薔薇…という感じ）

 

Geez...looking at the Toshihiko Tahara（田原俊彦）file, the lad's been showing up on a lot of ROY articles over the past year or so but his last bona fide article was back in February 2025 for his "Shower na Kibun"（シャワーな気分）.

Well, Toshi-chan's back on board today. Here he is with his January 1982 8th single "Kimi ni Barabara...to Iu Kanji" which is another one of those punny titles which can mean "It's Like...a Ton of Roses for You" or "I'm Falling to Pieces Over You". Yep, it's pretty far-reaching.

As soon as I heard this one, I felt like this was kinda special in the arrangement, and sure enough, it was arranged by Motoki Funayama（船山基紀）with Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）responsible for the original melody. In fact, this was Tsutsumi's first Toshi-chan assignment, and the master composer came up with this strut-worthy and snazzy tune for walking on the concrete as Toshi thinks about what to do with this girl he's gone gaga over. "Kimi ni Barabara...to Iu Kanji" reached No. 3 on Oricon and finished the year as the 27th-ranked single. Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子）was the lyricist here.

Mikuni Shimokawa/MINMI/Nao Toyama -- Omoide ga Ippai（思い出がいっぱい）

 

I remember when I first heard "Omoide ga Ippai" (Full of Memories) by the folk-pop duo H2O on an episode of "Sounds of Japan" on CHIN-FM decades ago. Not having known about its status as the first ending theme for the 1983 anime "Miyuki"（みゆき）, I found it a splendid wistful ballad. Years later, the 3rd-year homeroom teachers of the school that I had taught during my time on the JET Programme sang the song for the soon-to-be graduates. Not a dry eye in the room. And I've learned that "Omoide ga Ippai" has been a stalwart song for Japanese graduations.

Well, commenter Brian Mitchell asked me earlier about some of the cover versions and not surprisingly, considering how beloved and sentimental "Omoide ga Ippai" has become since the early 1980s, the list of singers who have given their own versions of the ballad reads like a Santa Claus list. At Brian's request, I went over three of those covers.

The first one here is by actress and singer Mikuni Shimokawa（下川みくに）, and although she's only had one role as an anime seiyuu, she often sings her fair share of anison. But in this case, she did cover "Omoide ga Ippai" via her December 2003 "Review ~ Shimokawa Mikuni Seishun Anison Cover Album"（Review 〜下川みくに青春アニソンカバーアルバム〜）. Her take is an even breezier and languid take on the anison classic.

MINMI is a singer that I have mentioned on KKP before when she collaborated with m-flo for the dance hall-friendly "Lotta Love". However, she's regularly a reggae singer and that's the genre which is powering her cover of "Omoide ga Ippai" which is a track on her August 2011 album "The Heart Song Collection" which is filled with tunes that she enjoyed as a teenager. 

Nao Toyama（東山奈央）is a seiyuu and singer who's shown up on the blog a number of times in the past and she sings "Omoide ga Ippai" for the second in the series of anime character albums for the anime "Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai"（神のみぞ知るセカイ...The World God Only Knows） which was released in 2014. Under her character of Kanon Nakagawa（中川かのん）, she sings the song under a shoegaze and pop arrangement. 

Sonny Rollins -- St. Thomas

Wikimedia Commons

I only heard about jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins' (1930-2026) passing early this morning when the scroll on the local news channel reported it. His classic 1956 "St. Thomas" is a song that I heard a number of times when I was a child but never knew the title or who it was played by. 

But then when I started getting into jazz during my time in Japan, I was picking up various compilations of the genre at the music stores such as Tower Records. When I put one CD into the stereo, I finally got my identification on "St. Thomas". 😁Not only do I think it's one of those pieces that can celebrate the summer months, Rollins' magnum opus can also bring light and warmth into any season (especially love the opening percussion), and as such, it has been one song that I like to put on heavy rotation when it's time for some jazz in the home. My condolences to Rollins' family, friends and many fans around the world.

HANDS Down!☹️

 

It's been almost a decade since I mentioned through my article on Akina Nakamori's（中森明菜）album "Crimson" that Jaws, my tape recorder, made a meal out of my audiotape of the album. It died rather gruesomely, kinda like Ben Gardner in "Jaws". Well, around this time yesterday, I realized that my home printer Sam breathed its last. It was 14 years old and from what I've read of life expectancies of such devices, ol' Sam lived an unusually long life so I'm not mourning too badly and I've got a new one on the way.

However, I have to state that another beloved thing from my memories is now in its last months. That would be the very first branch of the iconic Japanese DIY and hobbyist store Tokyu Hands (now known as Hands) in Shibuya. The doors will close at the end of this November and unfortunately, I will not be there to say goodbye. As usual for the fate of such emporia, the cause is the whole online thing and declining of foot traffic which is hard for me to imagine because the last time I was there was many years ago when the store was packed with customers.

During my years in Tokyo, next to Tower Records a few blocks over, Tokyu Hands was my regular go-to place in Shibuya. It was always the case of walking on one particular street from Tower and then eventually coming down the hill to see good ol' Hands to my left. I used to visit this ivory tower filled with mezzanines to purchase calendars and other examples of stationery along with other sundry items that I can't remember. I do remember the incense area on one floor where I picked up a lost-lasting box of incense cones. I lit up a cone with a match and quickly waved out the flame after which the smoke basically coated my living room in very heavy herbal scents for several days at a time. Basically, if there was something I wanted to buy for the home or make in the home, Tokyu Hands was the place. Now, Hands will go on throughout its other branches but Branch No. 1 has been given its terminal diagnosis and I will miss it.

By DeepSkyBlue via Wikimedia Commons

Now, I couldn't find any sort of music or singer that was attached to Tokyu Hands so I was at a quandary about how to pay tribute to the store. But then, I figured that I'll just provide a list of songs whose titles' first words begin with the letters in HANDS. So, here's my Author's Picks on the shop.

(1982) Minako Yoshida -- Hoho ni Yoru no Akari（頬に夜の灯）

(1977) Iruka -- Ame no Monogatari （雨の物語）

(1983) Yu Hayami -- Natsu Iro no Nancy (夏色のナンシー）

(1983) Yumi Matsutoya -- Dandelion ~ Osozaki no Tanpopo （ダンデライオン〜遅咲きのたんぽぽ）

(1983) Anri -- Surf City

Hibari Misora -- Uramachi Paradise（裏町パラダイス）

 

I haven't seen "Uta Con"（うたコン）today but according to what I heard last week and seen on their schedule, this week's episode will be the annual tribute to the Queen of Kayo Kyoku, Hibari Misora（美空ひばり）, who would have been 89 years old on May 29th. Just looking at the lineup, it appears that I've already covered the songs to be performed such as the triumphant "Yawara"（柔）, so I've opted to find one of my own from her vast discography to pay a KKP tribute.

This time, I'm going way back into her career. In fact, I'll be focusing on her 8th single from September 1950, "Uramachi Paradise" (Back Street Paradise). Written by Toshio Nomura（野村俊夫）and composed/arranged by Hideo Hirakawa（平川英夫）, it's a pretty jaunty kayo kyoku about meeting that significant other and realizing that everything...even the dark and ominous streets of the city...can be filled with light and hope as a result. It's a stroll-worthy tune and let's remember that Misora was all of thirteen years of age when she recorded this.