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.

Phil Collins/The Supremes -- You Can't Hurry Love

 

When I look back at Phil Collins, he's left the impression on me that he was one of the 1980s pop balladeers as well as the drummer/front man of the British band Genesis. And yet, when I was a teen back then, I hadn't known him much at all aside from his association with this band whose albums I used to see tons of at the various record stores without giving any of them a try.

But then one day, perhaps it was on "America's Top 10", I saw this video. I immediately liked it even though it was just a darkened stage with lights focused on Collins backed up by two other Collins; it looked rather old-timey TV. And the song itself "You Can't Hurry Love" was fun and fast-paced with the feeling of 1960s Motown and a killer percussive intro. I knew that Collins was also trying his hand at acting at the time...well, the three Collins were squeezing the thespian juice out of their performances. I've heard many of his other songs since "You Can't Hurry Love", which was released as a single in October 1982, and this one will go down as his breeziest and most joyful...and it doesn't even last three minutes!. If this had been televised back in the 1960s, I could imagine a lot of bobbysoxers bobbing their heads or twisting on their bedroom floor.

I've known Diana Ross and the Supremes since I was a baby. Their big hits such as "Stop in the Name of Love" and "Baby Love" will always live rent-free in my oldest memories. But I hadn't known that "You Can't Hurry Love" was one of theirs until a number of years following my introduction to the Collins cover. Created by the Motown team of Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier, the original was released in July 1966. And indeed it's the Supremes doing their usual wonderful sound here as they provide music's most congenial form of advice for the romantically inclined. "You Can't Hurry Love" hit No. 1 in both Canada and the United States. As for the version by Collins, it reached No. 9 in Canada while Stateside, it reached No. 10.

I had already meant to post "You Can't Hurry Love" many weeks ago but wasn't sure about the right time. However, yesterday, when I had to go to the local government office to get some paperwork done, as I was waiting for my turn in the sitting area, the Collins cover played over the speakers and as they say, "Music has charms to soothe a savage breast", and I'd say that for the folks waiting along with me, "You Can't Hurry Love" had a lot of breast-soothing charms. That was good enough to post it today.

So, what else was coming out as singles in Japan during October 1982?

Southern All Stars -- Ya Ya ~ Ano Toki wo Wasurenai（あの時代を忘れない）

Yu Hayami -- Answer Song wa Aishuu（アンサーソングは哀愁）

Anzen Chitai -- On My Way

Atarashii Gakko no Leaders feat. AiNA THE END -- Sweet Memories

 

Simply to set the record straight, this isn't a cover of the Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）classic ballad that she released back in 1983.

Nope, this is actually an original creation by Shingo Kubota（久保田真悟）who was behind both words and music while Kanata Okajima（岡嶋かな多）also helped out on the lyrics. Recorded by a collaboration of song-and-dance group Atarashii Gakko no Leaders（新しい学校のリーダーズ）and actress and former BiSH member AiNA THE END（アイナ・ジ・エンド）, this is actually quite the happy-go-lucky upbeat pop tune which came out in September 2026. Listening to the optimistic melody, I would have thought this would have been the ideal theme song for a slice-of-life anime, but actually it was created as a jingle for a Bourbon Fettucine Gummi（フェットチーネグミ）commercial. I'll have to give that a try the next time I'm in Tokyo although part of me is a bit concerned about a gummi containing cheese. The ad below though is actually from a few years ago.

Megumi Nakajima -- Anata ni Better Bore（あなたにBETTERぼれ）

 

First off, my apologies to the online music shop "Soul Respect Records" for borrowing their image but I couldn't find any footage of the actress (and brief singer) Megumi Nakajima（中島めぐみ）on YouTube, and I'd wanted to show more than a video thumbnail this time around.

Yes, I have included Nakajima on KKP before under the Label of Megumi Nakajima (80s) for her June 1981 City Pop debut single "Lamé-iro no Decameron"（ラメ色のデカメロン）to distinguish her from contemporary seiyuu Megumi Nakajima（中島愛）. And I also have to now add that there is another Megumi Nakajima who even has the exact name structure as Megumi Nakajima (80s) but she is in fact a former Kansai TV announcer.

Now that I've gotten that disclaimer paragraph out of the way, I can refer to Nakajima's final single from June 1982 (I did say that her music career was very brief), "Anata ni Better Bore" (Falling For You Even More). Compared to her brassy and bombastic Meiko Nakahara（中原めいこ）-similar debut single, this one is a straight-ahead bouncier and slightly speedier pop tune with a bit of 50s/60s vibe (sounds a bit like "The Loco-Motion")  that was written by Yu Aku（阿久悠）, and Aku handled the lyrics of all three singles, A and B sides, and composed/arranged by Katsuo Ono（大野克夫）.