Chakra -- Akogare（あこがれ）

 

I began the Chakra（チャクラ）file on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" almost a decade ago when I discovered their "Myun Myun"（ミュンミュン）which was this technopop treat that came from their 1981 second album "Satekoso"（さてこそ...As Expected）. And since any and all articles about them went into their stuff from that year forwards, I carried that impression of them being a New Wave band.

But a few weeks ago, I encountered one of their tracks from their 1980 debut album, "Chakra", for the very first time. I was stunned by "Akogare" (Desire) which was written by (not Chakra) bassist Hirobumi Suzuki（鈴木博文）and composed by Chakra guitarist Bun Itakura（板倉文）which is very much unlike what I'd heard before by the band. Where there has been quirkiness in my mind when I've listened to their later music, "Akogare" has some wonderfully sunset City Pop vibes entering my head and Mishio Ogawa's（小川美潮）dreamy vocals soar into the sky. I'd say that she sounds more like Minako Yoshida（吉田美奈子）or a particularly intense Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）from her early days as a solo artist. I'll have to look more into their first album now.

H2O -- Furimukeba Broken Heart（振り向けばBroken Heart）

 

Haven't seen the good guys of H2O for a couple of years, so it's time to revisit them. And this time, I'm taking of a B-side of one of their most-remembered hits, "Goodbye Season" （Goodbye シーズン）from October 1983.

Despite the sad title, "Furimukeba Broken Heart" (A Broken Heart Back There) is pretty upbeat and has a nice bouncy rhythm which feels like going on a pleasant ocean side drive, especially when those breezy strings come into the chorus. Written by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）, composed by Tsunehiro Izumi（和泉常寛）and arranged by Katsu Hoshi（星勝）, the song feels like it does belong to the West Coast AOR set.

Satellite Lovers -- How Much I Love You, Baby

 

There's a comment by Robert B. underneath my first article for a Satellite Lovers song, "Best Friend" (posted in July 2024) which said that the YouTube algorithm was pushing really hard. Yeah, I would agree with that assessment and I'm grateful that we've been able to encounter wonderful new discoveries like this supposedly Shibuya-kei soul unit that went into more hip-hop stuff.

"Best Friend" belonged to a 1996 mini-album by Satellite Lovers, "Sons of 1973". For my sophomore post on the band, here is its track mate, "Home Much I Love You, Baby", and it's another example of what sounds like a number of different genres collaborating like a bunch of Avengers. We've got vocalist Mika Ikeuchi's（池内美加）rap overlaying some City Pop groove and indies pop/rock jangliness. Maybe the Shibuya-kei part involves the horns but that's more into the background. Maybe this is the type of tune that would be great during a stroll somewhere summery...like how the band is doing on the front cover of the album.

Mai Yamane -- Out of the Night

 

Listening to the intro for this track from Mai Yamane's（山根麻以）1981 album "Sorry" (most Canadian-sounding City Pop album title), I got some mighty David Foster vibes. I mean, it starts out rather hazily as if we were coming out of sleep, but when the keyboards start up...

Anyways, I'm posting about "Out of the Night" which is a snazzy mid-tempo City Pop tune that was written by Funky Chick (would this be Yamane herself?) and composed by Minoru Mukaiya（向谷実）from the band Casiopea. (chef's kiss to him). Yes, this is a fine accompaniment to any evening drive into, through and out of the metropolis. Love the guitar solo as well; according to Discogs, it was handled by either Makoto Matsushita（松下誠）or Shigeru Suzuki（鈴木茂）. I'm betting that it's the former. Also on "Sorry", give "In Love" a try as well.

Harry Hosono & Tin Pan Alley -- Firecracker（ファイアークラッカー）

 

This is kinda like following the running KKP narrative of me finding out that a beloved 80s hit wasn't an original but a cover of a less well-known original version. Mind you, I did find out some years ago that Yellow Magic Orchestra's "Firecracker", the first YMO song for me to hear, had originally been made by Martin Denny, a man who loved his exotica music back in the 1950s.

And it was then that I realized that the early years of YMO were about Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）, Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）and Yukihiro Takahashi（高橋幸宏）among others in the band's collective filtering some of the old genres through the filter of synthesizers and other electronic equipment for fresh new takes. Well, some more revelatory stuff has come.

Case in point: it wasn't even the first time for Hosono to tackle "Firecracker". Last month, Hosono released an album "Yours Sincerely" where he supposedly ties up some melodic loose strings. But some months earlier in June, another album associated with him got out in public. Titled "Harry Hosono & Tin Pan Alley In Chinatown", this is a live performance album which was recorded all the way back in 1976 when they did a gig at the famous Tung Fat restaurant in Yokohama's Chinatown. One of the tracks is indeed "Firecracker" which is much closer to the 1959 Denny classic in terms of arrangement, and I have to give my compliments to Hosono's firecracking performance on the marimba. The album includes the covers but there are also some Hosono originals.

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu -- Pang Pang Pang

 

I mentioned this PBS show on last week's Reminiscings of Youth when I was talking about "Also sprach Zarathustra" and its frequent usage on "The Electric Company". This was the 1970s program for kids learning their phonics and amongst the cast were the already famous Rita Moreno and the future Hollywood legend Morgan Freeman. 

Then, I got to thinking that if a remake of "The Electric Company" were to ever emerge on the network again in the 21st century, it would have to have the electric Kyary Pamyu Pamyu（きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ）on at least in a guest star capacity...perhaps as Japanese Ambassador of Phonics. She's made hits out of songs such as "Ninjya Re Bang Bang" (にんじゃりばんばん), "PONPONPON" and "DODONPA"（どどんぱ）over the past decade and a half. The kids have been dancing and making those sounds.

Now, I had already decided that Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's latest onomatopoeic tonic would be going up onto the blog ever since I saw the music video a couple of days ago. Then, ironically, as I was watching tonight's "Asaichi"（あさイチ）on NHK, lo and behold, KPP herself popped up on the program to perform not only this song but also some of her past hits! And it was the first time that I had ever heard her speak in an interview strangely enough. Happily, she sounds very kind and grounded.

And now for your listening phonic pleasure, I present KPP's newest on KKP: "Pang Pang Pang" her latest single from this month. Just imagine kneading bread dough to dance club beats. Created by Yasutaka Nakata（中田ヤスタカ）, this is an alternately pounding and ethereal technopop piece to lose oneself in the miasma of baking.

What's more is that "Pang Pang Pang" is also the ending theme for NHK's anime "Pan Dorobo"（パンどろぼう...Bread Thief） which launched this month as well. I don't know much about the anime or its originating picture book, but I'm guessing the kids will be going crazy over the KPP song. From the sounds of it, the opening theme might be something to cover as well.

Laura Branigan -- Solitaire

 

It's been over a year since I posted my last Laura Branigan song as a ROY article and I have to include this one as one of my notable songs by her when I was a high school student. Hard to believe that it's been over twenty years since she left this mortal coil.

That last article I wrote about her was for "The Lucky One". There are the big hits by Branigan (I mention them in that article) and then there were the minor hits such as "The Lucky One". This is another minor hit that sits alongside that one and it's known as "Solitaire" which was her March 1983 single. I heard this one on fairly regular rotation on the radio and also the music video popped up here and there on the TV. It's another epic catchy tune, and I read that Branigan had missed a world record there by a couple of seconds for holding the longest note in a pop song by a female performer. My 80s nostalgia fully blossoms whenever I hear this one not only for the synths involved but also for the wailing electric guitar solo. In Canada, "Solitaire" managed to peak at No. 8 while down south in America, it hit No. 7.

Once again on Reminiscings of Youth, I realized that a beloved 80s song that I heard a lot was actually a cover by someone else. And indeed, "Solitaire" was originally sung by French singer Martine Clemenceau in 1981. 

With Branigan's "Solitaire" being released on March 23rd 1983, what was on the Oricon charts a couple of days earlier? Well, I have Nos. 10, 12 and 14 just for variety's sake.

10. EPO -- U, Fu, Fu, Fu, (う、ふ、ふ、ふ）

12. Yoshie Kashiwabara -- Haru Nanoni (春なのに）

14. Iyo Matsumoto -- Chinese Kiss（チャイニーズ･キッス）