Although the ending credits for "Seibu Keisatsu"didn't go this way, I could've imagined seeing the end of each episode with The Big Man himself as the veteran seen-it-all, done-it-all cop, walking down the cold lonely evening streets of Tokyo wrapped up in his trench coat just heading over to his favourite watering hole for a slug of whiskey and a comforting chat with the Mama-san. As for my initial listen to this Mood Kayo, it was actually on that tape that I'd brought from Japan after my 1981 trip there. Didn't know at the time that it was an ending theme to a classic cop show, but I just remembered it as a night time enka tune right alongside with Ishihara's other more famous song, "Brandy Glass". "Yoake no Machi" is quieter and more contemplative, and I just love the strings and the soprano saxophone. It strikes the right mood to bring out the ice and tumblers.
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.
Friday, May 31, 2013
Yujiro Ishihara -- Yoake no Machi (夜明けの街)
Although the ending credits for "Seibu Keisatsu"didn't go this way, I could've imagined seeing the end of each episode with The Big Man himself as the veteran seen-it-all, done-it-all cop, walking down the cold lonely evening streets of Tokyo wrapped up in his trench coat just heading over to his favourite watering hole for a slug of whiskey and a comforting chat with the Mama-san. As for my initial listen to this Mood Kayo, it was actually on that tape that I'd brought from Japan after my 1981 trip there. Didn't know at the time that it was an ending theme to a classic cop show, but I just remembered it as a night time enka tune right alongside with Ishihara's other more famous song, "Brandy Glass". "Yoake no Machi" is quieter and more contemplative, and I just love the strings and the soprano saxophone. It strikes the right mood to bring out the ice and tumblers.
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