A mystery for me...and for anyone who reads this. I came across this album, "Love Trip" (1982) through the auspices of "Japanese City Pop". Furthermore, I found just one song by Takako Mamiya （間宮貴子）on YouTube, and I'm not even sure if it's been uploaded in its entirety. "Mayonaka no Joke"(真夜中のジョーク...Midnight Joke) is a pretty decent City Pop tune. But despite looking throughout the Net, I haven't been able to find any more information about this singer. Would like to track it down someday, but I've got a feeling that this could be one of the rarest of the rare. (April 15, 2017: Obviously since my original comments, things have improved on this front...as long as the powers-that-be don't take it down. And I hope they don't. I still consider the album a very rare find.)
"Mayonaka no Joke" was written by lyricist Ichiko Takehana（竹花いち子）and composed by Hiroyuki Nanba（難波弘之）. Takehana apparently has her own foodie blog. As for the title track, "Love Trip" is one smooth tonic that brings to mind folks like Al Jarreau and Gino Vannelli in the arrangement. Etsuko Kisugi（来生えつこ）and Kazuo Shiina（椎名和夫）were responsible for words and music respectively, and as with the album as a whole, "Love Trip" the song has all of the tropes that has made City Pop as delectable as it has for many a new fan, including what I call the Evian spring water keyboard riff. This is a must-get for any convert to the cause.
I have the album, and can tell you that the full version is approx 4:53 (longer than the Youtube clip)
ReplyDeleteIf you contact me via my Youtube channe (theytrebel) I will send you some more information.
Hi there, Mr. President. :)
DeleteThanks for posting. I'll give you a contact. BTW, how do you feel about "Love Trip" overall? Been surprised about the traffic coming here for such an obscure album.
Hi there, I am really glad to find this album on the net. Even though i am S.korean , There `s no way to find this album. Do u have any idea to get this album by files?
ReplyDeleteHi, Goldmund.
DeleteUnfortunately, I don't know about the files but I did come across the actual CD being sold on Amazon. Hope you can get it.
http://www.amazon.com/Takako-Mamiya-Love-Japan-PROT-1047/dp/B00AXVSKKI/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1389313420&sr=1-1&keywords=Takako+Mamiya
Cof cof...
ReplyDeletehttps://mega.co.nz/#!yFNwSQKJ!8XtgTaNX5dWLc1ZWfD863DT06Iymlecixy8IbCjKULw
Thanks kindly, Devadip. :)
Deletegracias!
DeleteUnfortunately the download link has expired but I'd really really love to grab a copy. Is there any way this could be made possible?
DeleteHi there.
DeleteUnfortunately I'm more of a purchaser but I did ask one of my friends about any download sites. He mentioned http://jpop80ss.blogspot.ca/. Perhaps you might be able to find something there. Best of luck!
I rip it trough the net and it is one of those albums that gives you goose bumps. I beyond love that woman and her voice. I play it in my iphone and my car. This album is pure gold.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI've never listened to a whole album in a different language before--- but this is so wonderful.
ReplyDeleteHello, Moses. Good to hear from you. As someone who's been accustomed to hearing the Japanese language since birth, I can only imagine the fun and joy that someone else who hasn't has on listening to an album that's lovely. Even though it's in Japanese, it still reminds me of some of the favourite radio songs that I used to hear in Canada.
DeleteI absolutely adore this album, but the obscurity of information is absolutely maddening. I can't find any relevant information oh the singer at all.
ReplyDeleteHi there. Join the club...the only information I found out about this album is pretty much up above. "Japanese City Pop". Reading your comments, I did another look on the Japanese Yahoo whether anything about the singer was put up. All I found was just accolades on the specific songs but nothing on Mamiya herself. One fellow mentioned as if any record of her online were scrubbed clean off the Net.
Deletehttps://youtu.be/ovcnIPL-CWs . Got it from youtube recommendation,yet so minimum information abkut the singer and the album.pure gold, such an ecstasy to hear she sings..
ReplyDeleteApologies on the late response, samsonite, but sometimes Blogger misses out on telling me these things. Yep, truly a mysterious and beguiling album.:)
DeleteI love this record's mix of romance and distance. i discovered as a YouTube recommendation via Junk Yagami and Miki Matsubara.
ReplyDeleteHello, Steven. Thanks for your comments. Yup, I've always appreciated the recommendations on the right side...managed to discover some other fine singers and bands there.
DeleteHello!
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know if the cd comes with the lyrics of the songs? Thank you so much.
Hi, L.H.O.N.
DeleteThe CD should have the inner booklet or foldout sheet with the lyrics.
All the best!
Are there any liner notes that come with the CD/LP?
ReplyDeleteHi again.
Delete"Love Trip" does come with liner notes that for the most part discuss the people surrounding Mamiya who helped create the album along with a background on AOR/City Pop in the 80s and a review of her voice by Toshikazu Kanazawa of www.lightmellow.com. But even he concedes there is very little information on the woman herself. I recollect that there was something similar about her and the album on the Tower Records Japan site but again only to say that she's basically a ghost.
However, seeing Kanazawa's website and his contact form, I'm now tempted to actually send him an e-mail and ask him if he knows whatever became of her.
Did you ever figure out what happened to her? I've been on the hunt for info since January
ReplyDeleteHi there!
DeleteMamiya has been the J-Pop equivalent of Greta Garbo. She basically disappeared right after she did the album, and some of the sites such as Tower Records have shrugged their shoulders on her whereabouts. Personally, I would like to know why she only did the one album.
im a studio bass player and i am OBSESED with tis album, its so good! the instruments are played so good that it almost sounds like midi. i have been trying to find the bass player that played on the record for years now. i wanted to ask if you could post a copy of the liner to get some more info?
ReplyDeleteHello there.
ReplyDeleteThere are probably a lot of us who are very fond of "Love Trip", and I think its value has increased even further because it was the only one recorded by Mamiya.
I looked through the liner but it just has the names of the session players. However, according to J-Wiki, the bassist is Yoshihiro "Naruchops" Naruse (鳴瀬喜博) who has helped out in a number of other bands, notably the fusion group Casiopeia, and has been a visiting scholar at the Tokyo College of Music. He's apparently well known for his slap bass technique.
His website seems to be under construction but he does have a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/naruchops. Hopefully, this information will give you a start in your exploration of his works.
very helpful information, thanks!
Deletebtw i think i found Mamiya on another record!
The band is called PAO, but the info on the record is vague, but i found a few helpful sites: http://lightmellow.livedoor.biz/archives/51923232.html#more and http://lightmellow.livedoor.biz/archives/52096537.html
the translation is not that good but i think it says that "YOU" was there second album and that she didn't sing on "YOU" but on their first single "Say Yes".
Personally I have 2 theories about what happened to her 1 Takako Mamiya is a pseudonym and she is still singing but under a different name or 2 she was an amazing singer that was convinced to sing on one album and had some sort of anxiety or just didn't want to be famous so never sang again.
but lemme know what you think.
You're welcome! Actually, for PAO, I wrote an article about them just a few days ago: https://kayokyokuplus.blogspot.com/2018/12/pao-well-celebrate-tonight.html, and yes, apparently Mamiya never participated in the album but on the first single only back in 1978.
DeleteFor me, I think it's probable that it is the 2nd theory. If she were still singing even under an alias, fans would probably have already identified her. At this point, I feel that Mamiya didn't particularly enjoy the recording business and quickly disappeared. She did a good job, too, since she has that mystery surrounding her.
nice article!
DeleteThe second theory is also the most likely because if she stopped singing because she didn't want to be famous or had some sort of social anxiety it would also explain why she is not on any social platform. There is also a bit of a moral question, if she just want to be left alone, are we in the right to contact her and have her info just because we want to know the answer? Or can we contact her to know what happened once and for all and then just lay it to rest? Because that's part of the albums charm “a singers only album!” and the disappearance ads to the mysticism because we never had the chance to ask or know more about her.
btw a more depressing explanation would be that she passed away after the album.
Hello again.
DeleteI think on one of the other Mamiya articles, someone was also wondering about using any of his/her connections in the Japanese music industry to find out where the singer is. My answer was that anyone who has been able to remain pretty much anonymous on the Net up to now most likely wants to stay that way, so I think it's best to respect her privacy. I don't think it will ever happen, but if some contact occurs, it will be from Mamiya herself.
I did hear the rumours about her death. Again, I have no particular additional insights into that.
just bought this album at tower record for 2300 yen, what a treasure..
ReplyDeleteHello, roum.
DeleteIndeed, what a treasure and a bargain! One of the most exemplary City Pop albums there ever has been.
Apparently the singer also had a blog too, as late as 2019.
ReplyDeleteShe took it down around May 2019.
Hello, SugarHill. By chance, did you get to see what this blog looked like?
DeleteDid you know the link? Maybe someone will search the archive
Delete