It's been several months since I put up a PSY-S article, so allow me to make up for lost time. I first heard "Friends or Lovers" when I got my first CD by the band at another shop in Chinatown after returning from Japan in 1991. If I remember correctly, I think Wah Yueh may have closed up shop by that point, so I went to this place around the corner going south on Spadina Avenue...expensive prices, but hey it was the Japanese yen against the Canadian dollar, so what could anyone do?
Anyways, that CD was their BEST compilation, "Two Hearts" released in April 1991. And when I heard the catchy "Friends or Lovers", I had initially mistaken it for "Kisses" which was probably the second PSY-S song I had ever heard. But no worries since even though "Friends or Lovers" has been superseded in my personal popularity department by a number of other of the band's contributions, it still has that fun Masaya Matsuura（松浦雅也）technobop that always set this band apart from other groups, even YMO. Of course, CHAKA's vocals are another particular trait for the PSY-S sound. The single was their 15th from February 1991.
Yukio Matsuo（松尾由紀夫）was responsible for the lyrics about that boy and girl who are at that dreaded/exciting moment when they have to decide whether they will stay buddies or take their relationship to the next level. Never easy that.
Wow-- your ＰＳＹ・Ｓ posts are all top-notch! I'm super impressed with your thoughtful write-ups... it is SO hard to find people talking about ＰＳＹ・Ｓ presently. I, uh, I'm a really new fan to their work, and I was lucky enough to win a Japanese bid for their extremely rare computer adventure game back in 1993-- The Seven Colors: Legend of ＰＳＹ・Ｓ City. (It's based around music that was later incorporated into WINDOW.) I've uploaded the final here: http://macintoshgarden.org/games/the-seven-colors-legend-of-psy-s-city
ReplyDeleteI've been reprogramming it to make it all work correctly with modern emulators, and I've beaten the whole game (it's SO much fun)-- but the thing is, uh... I don't speak or read much Japanese. It's sounding to me like you do... I'm just wondering if you'd be interested in translating the minimal dialogue in the game? Along with the hacking I've done to make the game run, I was wanting to insert in English translations of text to make the game understandable. If you're interested, please e-mail me at legotronn2@gmail.com!
Whether you're interested or not, you might just want to download the MP3s of the soundtrack provided! (It has a super-expanded version of the TINKER BELL medley from GOLDEN☆BEST SINGLES+.)
Hello, Webloomsage. And thanks very much for your generous comments. A lot of the articles just come from my memories of the time when I first heard or bought the music. Music has just been part of my life since my very early days.
DeleteAs for PSY-S, yep, I realize that it's pretty hard to find folks who have an interest in not only this great band but just in the old Japanese popular music outside of Japan. However, after started this blog, I was pleasantly surprised to find out as many people as I have who are into the kayo kyoku over the past 3.5 years. I remember my first commenter calling in straight from Romania!
I'm curious about your reasons for liking PSY-S. I've enjoyed Chaka and Matsuura-san since their creations are delectably eclectic and very catchy. Would that be the same with you?
Way back when, my old friend in Japan introduced me to a game called "Parappa The Rapper" for which Matsuura provided the music, but I didn't know about "The Seven Colors". As for the translation of the dialogue in the game, I can help you out but I'm not sure how much time I can provide. I actually am a translator by trade now and I'm currently taking care of a couple of assignments this week.
Also, I've taken a look at your blog and it's very interesting. Is it just you taking care of things or is it a group of you who are providing your stories on songwriting and screenplays?
Hope to hear from you soon!
: )! I think it's fantastic that you're preserving your specific memories behind songs. That's something that Matsuura talks about a lot-- that the listener really brings a lot of context to the song they're listening to which affects the way they think about it forever.
DeleteWow, Romania, that's fantastic. : D ＰＳＹ・Ｓ really did start out wanting to bridge a lot of sensibilities of Japanese music vs. international music-- so it's nice to know that their hopes for Japanese music's popularity outside of Japan might be coming true.
Eclectic is a FANTASTIC word to describe the music. I think another thing about their work is their interesting use of synthesized instruments. A lot of bands use synths as a substitute for real instruments, but I feel like ＰＳＹ・Ｓ is a band that understands the inherent beauty of it as an instrument all of its own. Not to mention, I think ＰＳＹ・Ｓ is a band that isn't afraid to be quirky, silly, and a little out-there.
The Seven Colors is THE first game he ever worked on.
It's actually just me writing! I used to have other writers, but it's just been me for the past few years. : ) I'm so grateful for you checking it out, no one reads my blog.
I should've figured you were employed in translation, that's awesome for you. : ) I don't need the translation RIGHT away-- if you have any spare time for any piece in it, it'd be super helpful. I don't have a lot of money (I already tried looking up translators, and they're so expensive, geez!), but maybe we could talk about it? If you e-mail me at legotronn2@gmail.com , I can send you stuff from the game! : ) Hope you have a fantastic day and beyond.