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.
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Miho Nakayama -- Midnight Taxi
Miho Nakayama's（中山美穂） 17th single, "Midnight Taxi" was the 2nd Miporin single that I'd bought after "Virgin Eyes", which was her 16th single. Released in January 1990, "Midnight Taxi" is a bit of a contrast to the summery previous song written and composed by the duo of Yumi Yoshimoto and Anri（吉元由美・杏里）. For one thing, as the title hints, it does sound like something to be heard in the city after dark, and for another, the melody has that retro vibe in the way of a jazzy torch song.
"Midnight Taxi" was written and composed by Ryo Aska（飛鳥涼） of Chage & Aska. As I mentioned for the posting of "Futari no Ai Land"（ふたりの愛ランド）, it initially struck me as a surprise when I found out that Chage had created this atypically sunny and poppy karaoke-friendly tune considering the powerful pop/rock that C&A usually sing.. The same also went for Aska's penning of this nostalgic-sounding ballad. But no complaints here....to add an even narrower niche to my interest in Japanese popular music of the latter half of the 20th century, I also enjoy it when singers in said genre try something in the jazz or blues vein..
(karaoke version)
The song hit the No. 1 spot a couple of weeks after its release and eventually became the 63rd-ranked song of 1990.
Miporin was 19 when this song was released and she was already a mature styled aidoru at the time, while Chisato Moritaka, three years older than her, was still doing some playful eurobeat numbers like "17-sai" and "Benkyou no Uta".
Based on this, I always thought Miporin matured too early. I can feel her shift around 1987, with the release of "CATCH ME".
About "MIDNIGHT TAXI", I enjoy it sometimes. It's not my favorite, as I prefer her previous ballad singles "You're y Only Shinin' Star" and "ROSÉCOLOR". But I like the "late night in the city" vibe of the song. I can connect to it sometimes.
Miporin was 19 when this song was released and she was already a mature styled aidoru at the time, while Chisato Moritaka, three years older than her, was still doing some playful eurobeat numbers like "17-sai" and "Benkyou no Uta".
ReplyDeleteBased on this, I always thought Miporin matured too early. I can feel her shift around 1987, with the release of "CATCH ME".
About "MIDNIGHT TAXI", I enjoy it sometimes. It's not my favorite, as I prefer her previous ballad singles "You're y Only Shinin' Star" and "ROSÉCOLOR". But I like the "late night in the city" vibe of the song. I can connect to it sometimes.