Ayumi Amano -- Kakueki Teisha（各駅停車）

 

Although I can't take credit for the photo itself (which is provided by nesnad via Wikimedia Commons), it is a shot of my old subway station on the Tozai Line, Minami-Gyotoku Station, in Ichikawa City, Chiba Prefecture. When I started living in the area, I quickly learned that my station could only be served by kakueki teisha or local subways which stopped at every station. The station just west of Minami-Gyotoku is Urayasu and it has both kakueki teisha and kaisoku（快速...rapid express）. It was often the case that on my way home, I took the kaisoku as far as Urayasu, got off and then waited for the kakueki teisha to take me to Minami-Gyotoku. If I ended up sleeping on the former train, well, I'd end up several stations east of my home, much to my chagrin.

Some of my salarymen students have fallen prey to the kaisoku trap due to drunkenness or fatigue. They ended up all the way in the countryside by failing to get off at the right stop. One guy ended up on the final kaisoku of the night and by the time the train reached the terminus out in the dark woods, even the last local train had shut down. That was one expensive taxi ride back to civilization and then a confrontation with an angry wife.

About a couple of months ago, I introduced singer Ayumi Amano（天野歩美）who had once been part of the duo Kilala & Ulala (キララとウララ) in the 1980s. Well, going solo in the following decade, she released her first album in 1992, "Okurimono ga Aru no"（贈り物があるの...I've Got a Present For You） from which I introduced the track "Suki na Mono wa Suki"（好きなものは好き）. I found out about the album through  kinuzure's blog "Tamaranaku, AOR Kayo"（たまらなく、AOR歌謡...Irresistible, AOR Kayo）.

Well, another track from "Okurimono ga Aru no" is "Kakueki Teisha". Although kinuzure had indicated that the album was a hidden City Pop treasure, I didn't particularly find "Suki na Mono wa Suki" to be from that particular genre, being more straight-ahead pop in my estimation. However, "Kakueki Teisha" is closer to urban form. It starts out with a nice fresh riff that to kinuzure sounds reminiscent of Christopher Cross although I think it's more Pat Metheny. Written by Kumiko Yoshizawa（吉澤久美子）and composed by Amano herself, it's a bright and light 90s tune that definitely doesn't sound anything like the unfortunate incidents involving my students by not transferring to the local train.

Uwanosora -- Koi Suru Dress（恋するドレス）/Matenro（摩天楼）

 

It's feeling refreshingly cool in my room since I've had the windows open, so why not finish this edition of Urban Contemporary Friday with something mellower but still good for a night out? I've got Uwanosora's（ウワノソラ）debut single from April 2015, "Koi Suru Dress" (The Dress I've Fallen In Love With). Written and composed by Uwanosora guitarist Hirohide Kadoya（角谷博栄）, I do love the Fender Rhodes, the laidback horns and the tender strings accompanying vocalist Megumi Iemoto（いえもとめぐみ）. It's interesting to see the music video awash in black and white although I especially enjoy the evening street scenes. Nice touch with the chorus sounding like a cold wind.

Now, "Koi Suru Dress" shares double billing on that 2015 CD with their song "Matenro" (Skyscraper) with the latter song being the "A-side". I figure that there are probably quite a few City Pop songs across the decades with "matenro" in the title since the tall office buildings are the architectural representatives of the uber-genre. So, why shouldn't Uwanosora come up with their own "Matenro"? The tempo picks up quite a bit here in a way that makes it feel like skyscraper-viewing should be an official urban hobby in Tokyo. Walking on the pavement or driving on the highway, this is another musical accompaniment for some high time in the metropolis. Kadoya was also responsible for words and music but he was joined on the composition side by former member Tomomichi Oketa（桶田知道）.

JADOES -- Natsu no Dubi Daba（夏のDU・BI DA・BA）

 

The temperatures became more seasonable today after several days of unseasonable warmth here in Toronto. But I heard through NHK that Tokyo was still getting hit with summer temperatures. Apparently in Ueno Park, there was supposed to be some sort of Christmas market with one person selling hot wine. Uh...almost no one was buying the hot wine with temperatures in the high 20s Celsius over there. Icy beer was more the thing.

I was going to put up "Stardust Night" by comic soul funk group JADOES, only to find out that I'd already done so five years ago. But I wasn't going to be put off by my failing memory, so I've gone back to the band's debut album from November 1986, "It's Friday" and plucked out another track. I already did one track from there even earlier, so here is another one, "Natsu no Dubi Daba" (Summer Dubi Daba), with a bit of nice scatting in the title and elsewhere.

Written by JADOES percussionist Kensaku Saito（斎藤謙策）and lyricist Yui Masaki（真沙木唯）, composed by bassist and vocalist Hideki Fujisawa（藤沢秀樹） and arranged by Toshiki Kadomatsu（角松敏生）, it does feel a bit like one particular Stevie Wonder song (with some Tats thrown in for good measure) with the percolating rhythm and zooming sax solo by Osamu Koike（小池修）. But the important thing is that it's an upbeat slice of summer fun and maybe that's what Tokyoites were feeling yesterday more than "Christmas Eve".

EPO -- Alley Cats（アレイ・キャッツ）

 

I knew that aidoru, male or female, once they hit their stride on their way to fame and fortune are heavily tasked to pump out the singles or albums although the contemporary versions may not have to work quite as hard as their 1980s sempai. So it was with some surprise that pop singer-songwriter EPO's J-Wiki discography had her putting out three to four singles a year during her peak in those 1980s.

The year 1986 was no different. My last EPO article was posted just a little over a month ago and it dealt with "Nagisa no Monument"（渚のモニュメント）, her 10th single from March that year. Well, her 12th single from November is the subject of this article and it's "Alley Cats". Written and composed by EPO with Saeko Suzuki（鈴木さえ子）providing a downtown boogie pop arrangement, I'd assumed that the song was about a woman and her best buds painting the town red and terrifying everyone else.

Actually, it's quite the inverse. EPO's protagonist is someone who has been declining or ignoring invitations right and left because she simply wants to be alone. Perhaps she was one of those party-hearty types in the past but now she wants to leave all that behind her and stay as solitary as she can be. She basically wants to be abandoned like an alley cat. Quite the declaration considering Japan was entering the Bubble Era but then again, perhaps EPO could already see the future and decided that it was really not for her.

SUKISHA -- Cherry

 

It was back in 2024 when I first put up an article regarding SUKISHA, aka track maker and singer-songwriter Hiroyuki Ikezawa（池澤寛行）, and his collaboration with jazz and soul guitarist Shingo Sekiguchi（関口シンゴ）, "Imaginary Trip" from 2020. Just like going out with buddies on a vacation, it was quite the soulful journey.

In that same year, SUKISHA also put out a digital single in March titled "Cherry". This one is a little more sultry and laidback and nocturnal with a bit of a Stevie Wonder vibe. Written and composed by the man himself, "Cherry" depicts a man's loving relationship with a young lady with those kissable cherry-red cheeks via a hip-hop sing-like-talking style. In a way, the whole song reminds me of the old jazz standard "My Funny Valentine", lyrically speaking, since although he doesn't describe her physically in the most glowing of ways, he still loves the heck out of her, beginning with those cheeks...on her face.

Masahiko Kondo -- TOKYO - L.A. - N.Y.

 

Usually when it comes to 80s teen idol Masahiko "Matchy" Kondo（近藤真彦）, good ol' high school rock-n'-roll and kick steps are the phrases that coalesce in my memories.

City Pop doesn't pop up though most of the time for this third of the Tanokin Trio. Mind you, he did record "Eien ni Himitsu sa"（永遠に秘密さ）in 1984 which was a Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）creation. And even earlier, he came up with the subject of this article, "TOKYO - L.A. - N.Y.", a track from his 4th original album "Rising" from April 1983. 

Just from reading the title, "TOKYO - L.A. - N.Y." sounds like a fine title in City Pop circles and that's what it is. It's a thick slice of urban sophisticated pop written by Hisashi Suzuki（すずきひさし）and composed/arranged by Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二）with a devil-may-care Doobie-ish rhythm, sharp horns, shimmering strings and wailing electric guitar. Those lyrics also fulfill another common theme of kayo kyoku: that of a fellow leaving everything behind in his native Japan including a now-former flame to head overseas for an unknown but exciting future. And this time, the final destination is clear: the amazing Big Apple! The lad doesn't intend to return and as they say, if one can make it in New York City, then he can make it anywhere. 

Susan Nozaki -- Onna no Jikan（おんなの時間）

 

I started the Susan file on KKP back in 2023 and thus far, three articles have been posted on the half-Japanese/half-French-American singer whose time behind the mike lasted until 1984. Those three articles with the most recent one being for her 1980 "Koi Se yo Otome"（恋せよおとめ）have shown her embracing the wonders of technopop and New Wave.

Well, let's go all the way back to her debut in 1971 when she was first introduced as Susan Nozaki（スーザン・ノザキ）. She released her first single "Onna no Jikan" (A Woman's Time), a typical pop ballad of the times arranged by Hiroshi Miyagawa（宮川泰）with Kunihiko Suzuki（鈴木邦彦）behind the melody and words provided by Kazumi Yasui（安井かずみ）. It's quite the elegant and dramatic kayo kyoku with the urban sax and electric guitar paired with the lofty strings. Knowing that it's Miyagawa behind the arrangement, there are some parts of "Onna no Jikan" that reminds me of a James Bond theme song and others that have me reminiscing of the soundtrack of "Uchuusenkan Yamato"（宇宙戦艦ヤマト）, another one of Miyagawa's legendary works.