Tomoko Saito -- Watashi wa, Ima...（私は、今...）

 

It was a little over five years ago that I started the Tomoko Saito（斎藤とも子）file on KKP thanks to an inquiry by commenter Misha. That led to me covering the actress and (briefly) singer's 1979 debut single "Kaze no You ni"（風のように）which was a breezy urban-esque tune along the lines of AOR.

Saito only released three singles and a couple of albums throughout 1979 and 1980. And that third and final single to date is "Watashi wa, Ima..." (Now, I am...) which came out in October 1980. Written by Kaoru Asagi（麻木かおる）and composed/arranged by Kensuke Kyou（京建輔）, this last single has a far more kayo kyoku feeling, almost bordering on enka. The interesting thing about this particular tune is the tempo. The verses go at a pretty languid pace but then the chorus suddenly steps on the gas and "Watashi wa, Ima..." goes from 0 to 100 with some rapidly slicing strings as if the song opted to become a tokusatsu theme instead. The one constant though is Saito's vocals which basically maintain their pace and breathiness.

Hiroki Miyano -- Let's Make Merry

 

For both Japan and Canada, long holiday weekends are occurring right now with the former celebrating Sports Day on Monday and the latter doing Thanksgiving Day on the same day. Perhaps folks from both nations are making migrations outside of the big cities to hometowns to spend time with family and friends, although I can see PTAs and schools in Japan setting up Sports Day activities as well.

Maybe some months before and some months later, people will be hitting the tropics for their holiday vacation travel as shown through Vyacheslav Argenberg's photo of a beach of the Andaman Islands at the very top. It also makes for a nice visual vista for the song of note here, "Let's Make Merry" by guitarist Hiroki Miyano（宮野弘紀）. It's the launching song for his debut album "Manhattan Skyline" from 1981 which was actually produced in the Big Apple. But instead of New York City, Miyano takes us to warmer climes with lots of palm trees, sandy beaches and huge cocktails with this very amiable tropical tune.

Miyano was born in Shibuya, Tokyo but raised in Sapporo, Hokkaido. He began strumming the guitar in his teens when he first listened to the works of John McLaughlin and Djano Reinhardt after which he decided that he would become a professional guitarist. Collaborating with jazz bassist Eiji Nakayama（中山英二）, Miyano played gigs at jazz cafes throughout Hokkaido and the Tohoku region. His first time on record came when he appeared on Nakayama's 1979 LP "My Present Song"（マイプレゼントソング）through an Iwate Prefecture local independent record label Johnny's Disk. Soon after, Miyano and Nakayama headed to Tokyo.

Kei Marimura -- Final Flight

 

We come to the end of another KKP Urban Contemporary Friday. Hope you've had a good time and to finish off, let's see if I can come up with something nice and nocturnal and soothing.

Looks like we've been scouring through Kei Marimura's（真梨邑ケイ）1985 "Tiempo de Amor" album over the past few years, so why not coax out another track? This one pops up just before my favourite song on the original LP, "Etranger Break"（エトランゼ・ブレイク）. There are also "Shiseikatsu"（私生活）and "Watashi dake no Le Mans"（私だけのル・マン）.

"Final Flight" sounds like it's a final track for the album but it may actually begin Side B instead. No matter. It's still a dreamy nighttime tonic for all that fatigues the listener with its laidback tempo, that Fender Rhodes, the lone trumpet, and Marimura's cooing vocals. We can give thanks to lyricist Masako Arikawa（有川正沙子）and composer Makoto Matsushita（松下誠）. "Final Flight" could be referring to that final flight out of Haneda for the night, but I like to envisage a taxi ride away from the airport into Tokyo toward that lonely hotel room. Good night to you all!💤

Penthouse -- Doukeshi（道化師）

 

Although I never watched an episode of "Takeshi's Castle", the infamous TBS game show where folks had to go through a lot of arduous, painful and hilarious obstacle courses for fame and glory, I've seen enough variety shows in Japan where similar things would happen although the contestants consisted of the huge numbers of tarento that were part and parcel of Japanese entertainment on TV. One American tarento, Thane Camus, once noted in an interview that if one wasn't willing to make an entire fool out of oneself on camera, then Japanese television wasn't the place for that person. Yup, I can believe that.

This song, the latest rambunctious single by the City Soul band Penthouse from last month, "Doukeshi" (Play the Fool) struck me as being the perfect music description for the whole thing of risking body and soul on a Japanese game show. And what a cool song to accompany a tarento on his/her journey through a crazy career. Band bassist Takuma Ohara（大原拓真）and vocalist Shintaro Namioka（浪岡真太郎）took care of the lyrics while the latter composed "Doukeshi", a tour de force of swing jazz and funk that trumpets the entertainers that take all the pies and bottles thrown at them and yet refuse to crumple and skitter away. They keep coming back for more. 

PANTA -- Laser Shock（レーザー・ショック）

 

To be honest, I'd never heard of this rock singer and songwriter by the stage name of PANTA before. Hailing from Tokorozawa City, Saitama Prefecture, his early career in the late 1960s included a stint in the Group Sounds band Peanut Butter（ピーナツバター）and then in the 1970s, he helped found the folk-rock band Zunou Keisatsu（頭脳警察...Brain Police）, a group that became notorious for their antics on stage, including mastering one's own domain (that's a "Seinfeld" reference, by the way). In the latter half of the decade, after a time of going solo, PANTA became one half of a duo known as PANTA & HAL. 

Once PANTA & HAL broke up in 1981, PANTA resumed his solo career and released an album in 1982 titled "Kuchibiru ni Spark"（唇にスパーク...Spark on Your Lips）. One track there is "Laser Shock" which was written and composed by the singer under his real name, Haruo Nakamura（中村治雄）. Considering what I've read of his past, "Laser Shock" sounds remarkably comfortable and subdued as a conventional New Wave rock tune. As well, PANTA's vocals emerge rather precisely and languidly. "Laser Shock" was also released the same year as a 7" EP.

Aside from the EP, PANTA supposedly only put out albums rather than singles up to 2007. In July 2023, the singer passed away from respiratory failure at the age of 73.

Ami Ozaki -- Hatsukoi no Toori Ame（初恋の通り雨）

 

I'd just like to reassure folks that the above is a shot of an Ami Ozaki（尾崎亜美）CD single from the 1990s. However, for today, I'd like to return to her 1970s roots since I hadn't been to that part of her early discography in a couple of years.

Call me an old New Music wonk but the piano that begins Ozaki's 4th single "Hatsukoi no Toori Ame" (A Passing Shower of First Love) had me at "Hello!". After that, the singer-songwriter from Kyoto goes full steam ahead into an optimistic contemporized version of a 1950s/1960s girl pop song about a couple sharing that umbrella during some meteorological spritzing. Of course, the tradition of sharing that umbrella in Japan is one serious sign when it comes to the subject of romance. No wonder it's so softly upbeat thanks to Masataka Matsutoya's（松任谷正隆）arrangement of Ozaki's words and music. 

It's a bit of a shame though that after "Hatsukoi no Toori Ame" had been released in July 1977, it got no higher than No. 100 on Oricon. The song shares track space on Ozaki's（尾崎亜美）2nd original album, "Mind Drops" with "Taiyo no Hitorigoto"（太陽のひとりごと）.

Original Love -- Deep French Kiss

 

It was a few months ago that I posted "J-Canuck's Four Favourite Songs by Original Love" after seeing singer and songwriter Takao Tajima（田島貴男）perform live on "Asaichi"（あさイチ）one Friday morning. His amazing performance was such that I just had to put up something by the band.

Well, one of the songs that Tajima performed that day was "Deep French Kiss" which I realized was Original Love's debut single from June 1991. I hadn't heard it before and found it really cool. Of course, the "Asaichi" performance was a veteran Tajima with that characteristic growl in his voice and so I wanted to hear it way back when more than three decades ago.

Indeed, Tajima's voice sounded downright angelic and soulful in the original 1991 recording, although the lyrics hinted at some raunchy stuff happening starting with the titular act (hope the couple brushed beforehand). The music is jazzy and funky and it feels as if I were having the pleasure of hearing it at a small live house where the entire venue is suffused with good vibes. There's the hearty sax and organ along with some punchy percussion all over. Good times were about to be had by Original Love.