Sara Hamamoto -- Futari（ふたり）

 

I've seen the veteran Kansai comedic duo Downtown（ダウンタウン）for years and years as they hosted a lot of variety shows including "HEY!HEY!HEY! Music Champ". However, I never heard of this one called "Hatsumei Shogun Downtown"（発明将軍ダウンタウン...Invention Shogun Downtown） which was on NTV between 1993 and 1996 (the show lasted one more year without Downtown with different hosts). Apparently, Downtown invited a lot of amateur inventors to the studio to show off their wares and see if they could get some prize money. Of course, Hamada and Matsumoto were there to snark off as usual. I could see that this was a show from over thirty years ago since Hitoshi Matsumoto (on the left side in the above video) still had a full head of hair and no bristly moustache and beard.

Knowing Downtown and their brand of chaotic energy, I had assumed that the ending theme for "Hatsumei Shogun Downtown" would be a rockin' number. Instead though, it's a cuddly mid-tempo pop song by Sara Hamamoto（浜本沙良）titled "Futari" (Two People). Usually I've covered her material as City Pop tunes of the 1990s but I think "Futari" is fine as a pop tune although it's urbane enough that I could include it here on Friday. Released as her 4th single in November 1995, it managed to reach No. 48 on Oricon which was Hamamoto's first recorded rank-in there. Keiko Moon（けいこmoon）was the lyricist while Masaki Iwamoto（岩本正樹） took care of the melody and arrangement.

99.99 -- Brain Damage

 

I never saw this 1988 film "Brain Damage" since I'm not a horror fan. But it looks like some cheesy fun. Some people say that everyone from the last Baby Boomers forward has some form of brain damage because of all of the mind-numbing TV shows, movies and video games that have been inflicted well into the 21st century. 

(31:05)

But lest we go off into a totally different tangent that is alien to what we usually discuss about here on this blog, let's get to this sort of "Brain Damage" which happens to be the last track on eclectic band 99.99's self-titled debut album from April 1982. I've already written about some of the songs on "99.99" including the first track "Amazin' & Amusin'", and unlike the threatening title of that final track, "Brain Damage" is actually quite stimulating with the undulating Latin beats, fusion, jazz and even some hints of technopop. It sounds as if the members of 99.99 decided to throw everything but the kitchen sink into this one to finish things up.

EPO -- Nagisa no Monument（渚のモニュメント）

 

This upbeat, breezy and typically EPO-tastic number by singer-songwriter EPO has been categorized on J-Wiki as New Music and City Pop. I'd probably go more with the former than the latter but hey, I'm more than glad to post it on Urban Contemporary Friday.

"Nagisa no Monument' (Monument on the Beach), which was created by the singer and arranged by Nobuyuki Shimizu（清水信之）, is EPO's 10th single from March 1986. A spritely song about moving on from the last romance as she somehow sees her former boyfriend with a new lady, I'm gathering that the monument that is mentioned in the song consists of old memories that she would like buried in the sand of the beach that used to be their haven way back when. 

The song was used as the commercial jingle for the Japan Victor series of Dynarec videotapes...because of course, a happy upbeat tune is just the thing for selling videotapes. I think what the dinosaurs are looking at is that Kawasaki Industrial Site that I mentioned back in my "Night Drive" article back on September 11th.

Announcement from Jme

 

Earlier today, I received an announcement from the Japanese streaming service Jme that took over from Japan TV back the spring of 2024. I'm not sure if any of out there are Jme subscribers but I thought I should relay the following to you.

Thank you for being a valued customer.

We regret to announce that Jme, the video streaming service operated by NHK Cosmomedia America, Inc., headquartered in New York, USA, will be discontinued on March 31, 2027.

Jme was launched in March 2024 as the successor to TV JAPAN, which had delivered Japanese-language news and entertainment programs to audiences across North America for more than 30 years. Since Jme’s launch, we have worked to enhance the service by offering 24-hour streaming of NHK WORLD PREMIUM, on-demand programming including Japanese dramas and movies, time-shifted programming tailored to viewing hours in North America, catch-up streaming of news programs, English-subtitled content, and original Jme programming.

However, due to subscriber decline and changes in the media environment, it has become increasingly difficult to sustain the service. It is with great regret that we have therefore decided to discontinue Jme at the end of March 2027. We would like to express our deepest gratitude to our valued customers and to all those who have supported the service over the years.

Please note that Jme will remain available through the end of March 2027. 

We will share additional details about the subscription charges for March 2027 once they have been finalized.  For customers with annual plans, please note that refunds will not be available for customers whose current annual subscription period ends on or before March 31, 2027. We appreciate your understanding.

As for NHK WORLD PREMIUM, it is also available through the following video streaming services as of September 30, 2026. As these services are provided by third-party companies and are separate from NHK Cosmomedia America, Inc., we are unable to provide information regarding subscription procedures, fees, or other details. Please refer to the following websites for further information.

As of April 2027, NHK World Premium will be available through two other streaming services: Toober in Canada and Sling in the United States. To be honest, I'm not that surprised by the news. In any case, we can still enjoy Jme for another several months.

Eri Hiramatsu -- La La, Smile

 

On last night's edition of "Asaichi" (remember that I see it live at 7:15 pm EDT via Jme), I found out that October 1st is International Coffee Day. Well, I did have my morning cup of joe but then again, I've been having that mug for decades now. Unfortunately, that's about as much of a celebration that I can do in terms of imbibing.

I'd thought about dedicating an Author's Picks to the wonders of coffee-themed kayo kyoku, but it turns out that I had already come out with something similar over a year ago. Please enjoy "Coffee, Tea or Milk?". 

Well, what to do? Thankfully, I was able to find something coffee-themed. Back in October 2014, so about a dozen years ago, singer-songwriter Eri Hiramatsu（平松愛理 ）released her album "La La, Smile". The title track was actually used as a jingle for Nescafe, one of the more famous producers of coffee. And so we get this happy-happy-joy-joy pop song with a hint of Jackson 5 Motown as a video literally rolls by with a whole bunch of regular people doing a little song and dance...maybe slightly hopped up on the caffeine there. 

Laurence Rosenthal -- Logan's Run (TV series)

Wikimedia Commons

Welcome to Reminiscings of Youth for this October 1st 2026. Once again, we come to the realm of TV theme songs, but this time, I'm not going to write about a theme that has been as iconic as the ones for "Star Trek", "Mission: Impossible" and even "Green Acres". The theme here is the one for the TV version of "Logan's Run" which lasted all of fourteen episodes going from September 1977 to February 1978.

I did read the novel "Logan's Run" and eventually saw the original 1976 cinematic adaptation starring Michael York years after the TV series, and both made me realize that it had a lot more skin exposed than what I'd seen in the relatively innocuous show. The trailer looked really cool and mysterious as it showed a future city set that looked like something the richest boy in the neighbourhood had set up while the whole thing about Carousel and Sanctuary had me scratching my head. The TV show starred future "Trapper John MD" actor Gregory Harrison and past "The Sound of Music" Von Trapp sister Heather Menzies. Plus, they had a new character in the form of friendly android Rem performed by the late veteran actor Donald Moffatt who I've often seen portraying grandfatherly types and corrupt executives.

To be honest, I don't remember much from the conventionally established series aside from one plot line where Rem fell in love with another android played by Mariette Hartley. I also can't remember much of the music from the eerie and icy original movie; considering that it had been made by the legendary Jerry Goldsmith left me a bit perplexed. However, the reason that I'm writing about a failed TV series here at all is due to Laurence Rosenthal's theme for the TV "Logan's Run". Yup, the cheesy and synthy "pew, pew, pew" which sounds like something from a bowling alley video game may be hilarious to some but it has helped me keep the theme under permanent residency in my head for almost half a century rent-free. The "pew, pew, pew" is also paired with a far more memorable orchestral theme that sounds epic, elegant and hopeful if a bit uncertain.

The series came out on September 16th 1977 and the closest Oricon Top 10 list is the one for September 19th. What were the top three entries?

1. Pink Lady -- Wanted

2. Hiromi Go & Kirin Kiki -- Obake no Rock （お化けのロック）

3. Kenji Sawada -- Nikumi Kirenai Rokudenashi（憎みきれないろくでなし）

J-Canuck's Five Favourite Iruka（イルカ）Songs

 

It was nice to see the 75-year-old singer-songwriter Iruka（イルカ）back on "Uta Con"（うたコン）again after a while. She's still very genki and I was happy that she didn't just do her "Nagori Yuki". Basically, that's her go-to song whenever she appears on television, and I have nothing against the song or her performing it. It's just that she's not just a one-hit wonder; she's got plenty of other wonderful songs that she's crafted. In fact, I was surprised and delighted that her three-song medley included "Ame no Monogatari" which I had never heard performed on the tube before and as I said in that article, it's the first Iruka song that I had ever had the pleasure of listening to and it's one of the songs that taught me that Japanese pop music wasn't all aidoru and technopop.

Well, I've also discovered that I have yet to provide a Favourites list for Iruka so without further ado, here are my favourite tunes by the lady whose real name is Toshie Hosaka（保坂としえ）.

(1975)  Nagori Yuki (なごり雪）

(1977) Ame no Monogatari （雨の物語）

(1980) Yoake no Goodbye （夜明けのグッドバイ）

(1981) Follow Me

(1985) Mou Umi ni wa Kaerenai （もう海には帰れない）