I've been a fan of Japanese popular music for 40 years, and have managed to collect a lot of material during that time. So I decided I wanted to talk about Showa Era music with like-minded fans. My particular era is the 70s and 80s (thus the "kayo kyoku"). The plus part includes a number of songs and artists from the last 30 years and also the early kayo. So, let's talk about New Music, aidoru, City Pop and enka.
Credits
I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.
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 JamesBond 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.
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?
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.
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）.
When I came up with the article for Tommy february6's 80s synthpop cover of "I Only Want to Be with You", I thought that it would be the end of everything about the pop song vis-a-vis this blog. Oh, how wrong I was.
I found out while I was taking a look at the information for the Tommy february6 version that none other than the legendaryaidoru duo Pink Lady（ピンク・レディー）had their go at the song decades before. Recorded under the Japanese title of "Futari dake no Date" (A Date Just for Two), Mie and Kei's take was a track on the duo's first album "Pepper Keibu"（ペッパー警部）with the famous title track from January 1977. In fact, Side B of the original LP seems to consist of Pink Lady's covers of Western pop songs.
Having had a few listens to Pink Lady's version, I have to say that this is also quite appealing since this time, we have a disco cover of "I Only Want to Be with You" compared to the pop/rock and 80s synthpop takes. Sung totally in Japanese, we have lyricist Fumiko Okada（岡田富美子）to thank for that. Tachio Okano（あかのたちお）was responsible for the arrangement.
I remember posting the late Yukiji Asaoka's（朝丘雪路）1970 song"Ame ga Yandara"（雨がやんだら）back in May 2018, only a few weeks following the announcement of her passing at the age of 82. I did write one more post regarding her since then, but it's basically been several years of nothing on Asaoka up to today.
Well, allow me to remedy this. In August 1966, Asaoka did release her 57th single"Namida no Kakera"（涙のかけら...Fragments of a Tear） but I'm here today to talk about the B-side, "Wakare no Bossa Nova"(The Farewell Bossa Nova). Written and composed by Masao Yoneyama（米山正夫）, it doesn't sound anything like bossa nova; in fact, I'd say that it sounds more Latin jazz or cha-cha. But putting that aside, it is a snazzy kayo for folks to get out and shake those hips on the dance floor. And if folks are gonna be breaking up that night, then why not do so gloriously through some good old-fashioned moves in a classy saloon?
Kayo Grace and Mr. Calico have their own distinct way of picking apples and this time or perhaps last month was the ideal time to do so. However, the first week of November has been unseasonably warm for us here in Toronto; we've been getting into the low 20s Celsius as a high. Not that many of us are complaining, mind you.
Maybe those seasonal winds have been thrilling. Ah, yes...another sledge-hammered segue by me to get into today's song "Tokimeki Kisetsufuu"（Thrilling Seasonal Winds） by the obscure but cherished group NOVA from the 1970s and early 1980s.
Strange, though. I swore NOVA was a mere duo including songwriter Kazunari Kido（木戸一成）, and yet, I see four people on the cover of that 2nd single which is "Tokimeki Kisetsufuu" from January 1978 (maybe it was a union thing...I don't know). I couldn't find out who had been behind words and music although I am pretty sure that Kido was the composer. It's quite the bouncy number by NOVA, quite reflective of those strong refreshing winds blowing in. Before this one, I'd posted my last posting on the band back in 2023 for the B-side of the single "Ai Naki Sedai"（愛なき世代...Loveless Generation）.
I am hoping that some more NOVA tunes will eventually make their way known on YouTube in the next number of months or years.
