The Manhattan Transfer/Depeche Mode -- (Get Your Kicks on) Route 66

 

It's time for a special holiday edition of Reminiscings of Youth and it's a bit of a doozy this time. I was hoping that I would get a scene of a particular character on an old program that I used to watch as a kid, "Emergency!", which involved the life of a Los Angeles fire station and a hospital. The character that I wanted to show was Dr. Joe Early, played by the late Bobby Troup, but instead of the usual scenes, I've had to settle for bloopers.

What I wouldn't realize for some years after "Emergency!" had finished its five-year run in 1977 is that Troup and co-star and wife Julie London had been jazz and standard singers from way back when. What actually felled me was that Troup was the guy behind this famous standard.

"(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66" was a song that I got acquainted with over the radio and various music-variety shows on the telly for years and years, but I had no idea that Troup was the guy who created this standard that has been covered by so many other singers and bands. One of the most famous versions was the 1946 version by Nat King Cole.

However, the gold standard for me will always be the cover by The Manhattan Transfer which got its time in the sun in 1982 as a single. Just that arrangement and the usual scintillating harmonies by the guys will always do it for me. It didn't get too high on the Billboard rankings, scoring in at No. 78, but it won a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Duo or Group. And it will always be one of my favourites among favourites by the group. 

I knew that I would be talking about "Route 66" sooner or later on Reminiscings of Youth so the byline would have both The Manhattan Transfer and Depeche Mode. Still, I get quite a kick (ha, ha) on seeing those two groups side by side. Depeche Mode is another one of my beloved bands from the 1980s as you know, and I was surprised back then to find out that even these guys were willing to take on "Route 66" as a rollicking part of their "Behind the Wheel" single when it was released on December 28th 1987. With The Manhattan Transfer's version, I think of sophistication and class within a top-floor hotel party room, but regarding Depeche Mode's grinding and rocking take, I imagine this fronting the soundtrack of a David Lynch or Quentin Tarentino movie. I think I may have even been dancing to this at one of the JCSA parties back then.

So, what was at the top of the December 28th 1987 Oricon chart when Depeche Mode's "Route 66" was released? I have Nos. 1 and 2.

1. Hikaru Genji -- Glass no Juu-dai （ガラスの十代）

2. Yukari Morikawa -- SHOW ME

Thank You Songs for Thanksgiving

 

In keeping with the Canadian Thanksgiving theme for today, and after having done last week's ROY on Styx's "Mr. Roboto" which has plenty of this special expression, I decided to write up this Author's Pick with the theme of songs that contain words of thanks in the title and/or the lyrics. On this holiday, I'm certainly thankful for my health and the health of my family and friends. As well, I'm thankful that I've had this blog along with my fellow contributors and commenters for the past decade plus. Without further ado, then:

(1971) Jun Inoue -- Osewa ni Narimashita（お世話になりました）

(1975) Momoe Yamaguchi -- Arigato, Anata （ありがとう、あなた）

(1989) Kaori Kuno -- Thank You for You

(1995) Dreams Come True -- Thank You.（サンキュ.）

(1997) Yosui Inoue & Tamio Okuda -- Arigato （ありがとう）

Zunou Keisatsu -- Ochiba no Sasayaki（落葉のささやき）

 

Well, it's Canadian Thanksgiving so I hope everyone in the Great White North is enjoying the holiday Monday with loved ones over the usual turkey and pumpkin pie. Won't be having that here since I'm practically the only one who likes turkey in my family. Meanwhile, I hope that folks in Japan enjoyed their Sports Day through the appropriate activities, and for those who participated in the school Sports Day events, maybe they had their fun at the drinking parties afterwards.

A few days ago on Urban Contemporary Fridays on KKP, I posted an article regarding PANTA's "Laser Shock"（レーザー・ショック）from 1982 which was this New Wave rock tune. I also mentioned that PANTA had been one-half of a folk-rock duo (plus others) called Zunou Keisatsu（頭脳警察...Brain Police） in the early 1970s. He and partner Toshiaki TOSHI Ishizuka（石塚俊明）apparently gained some notoriety during their stage performances (I'll probably have to see whether I can see some of that via YouTube).

Furthermore, their band name had first struck me as something rather psychedelic but this particular song, "Ochiba no Sasayaki" (Whispers of Fallen Leaves), from their 6th album released in November 1974, "Akutare Kouzou"（悪たれ小僧...Mischievous Brat） is anything but. Sounding like their band description with perhaps more emphasis on the folk part, it's a very calming tune that comes across as something very seasonal and singalong during October...maybe something to be performed around the campfire on a cool night with s'mores being the dessert of choice. According to JASRAC, the songwriter was Pantax's World which I assume is just another name for Zunou Keisatsu.

The Seven Wonders -- Ai no Apron（愛のエプロン）

 

I tried to find out some information regarding this band called The Seven Wonders（ザ７ワンダース）. During my search, I made a wrong turn into the J-Wiki article for The Wonders（ザ・ワンダース）which was actually a vocal group-turned-1960s Group Sounds band which included the late great Kiyohiko Ozaki（尾崎紀世彦）. The Seven Wonders was a different entity entirely and apparently belonged in the 1970s although the long hair and the fashion on their cover in the thumbnail above were obvious sartorial signs.

The YouTube uploader that has introduced me to The Seven Wonders, SHOWA KAYO THE ☆ NOW, put up this song by them only within the last five weeks and even this uploader couldn't find all that much information. I also tried but the Yahoo Japan search engine kept giving me red herrings. Just to reiterate what Showa Kayo had written underneath the video:

"The Seven Wonders" is a group shrouded in mystery, with almost no detailed information available about them. While two singles and one album have been confirmed to date, there is also a theory that a third single exists. The cover photo for this track—presumably their debut—depicts a seven-member lineup that includes one woman, yet subsequent photos show only the remaining six members after her departure. "Ai no Apron" features lyrics and music in a somewhat understated folk-rock kayō style typical of the mid-1970s. In contrast, their follow-up release, "Nikui Aitsu" (SN-1464), took a sharp turn toward a relatively hard-edged pop-rock sound.

Just to give my own take on "Ai no Apron" (Apron of Love), the single was produced and released in 1975. Fumiko Okada（岡田冨美子）was the lyricist here while Kunihiko Kase（加瀬邦彦）and Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）were the composer and arranger respectively. The song soberly tells the story of a man taking stock of a romantic relationship which is now in the past as he remembers his old flame working in the kitchen and waiting for him at home while wearing that lovely apron. There is a fairly jaunty if melancholy and serious vibe in the arrangement as if Hagita had meant to erase any risks of wistfulness getting into the listeners' minds; the now-single-again man is currently in the lamenting phase, post-relationship. The strings and a Santana-friendly guitar lend a certain gravitas to the situation. One commenter mentioned that the song is reminiscent of what Steely Dan had been doing at the time, although I think there is more Al Stewart in there thanks to that lovely piano and maybe even the lead vocalist's delivery.

Megumi Asaoka -- Mebae（芽生え）

Wikimedia Commons

Hope you are enjoying your weekend whether they be long (as in Canada and Japan) or regular. Heck of a time to be introducing a song titled "Mebae" (Young Buds) when we in the Northern Hemisphere are now fully into autumn, but at least folks south of the Equator are going through spring.

"Mebae" was the debut single of aidoru and actress Megumi Asaoka（麻丘めぐみ）, released in June 1972. Considering that Asaoka has been mostly known for her hit the following year, "Watashi no Kare wa Hidarikiki"（わたしの彼は左きき）, I thought it would be nice to hear how she started out in her music career. Plus, most of her KKP entries involve either Reminiscings of Youth or Author's Picks, so I should at least punch in a few more of her songs with her name on the byline.

Anyways, "Mebae", a love song of gratitude about a young lady who was lucky enough to have met her Mr. Right, was written by Kazuya Senke（千家和也）and composed by Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）as this very sweet aidoru tune of the 1970s amidst a background of glorious strings and a helpful harmonica. The cover for the single was apparently shot inside Tokyo's famous Inokashira Park and I have a feeling that the music video as seen above was also filmed there, too.

The J-Wiki article for "Mebae" also gave some information on the production of the single which encountered some growing pains...not surprising for a budding young aidoru star. The director for the recording of the single was frustrated that Asaoka's voice didn't sound cute at all. Asaoka, who had a bit of a complex regarding her naturally lower speaking voice, was so upset at the criticism that she went home crying, thinking that her singing career would end up stillborn. Well, here comes composer Tsutsumi to the rescue. At a later session, he advised her that when she hit the higher notes, her voice took on a more tearful quality so she should take advantage and go full forward into the higher registers. She took his advice and everyone was satisfied. As a result, "Mebae" would not only reach No. 3 on the Oricon weeklies and end up as the No. 17 single of the year but it would also earn Asaoka a Brand New Artist prize at the Japan Record Awards.

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.