Saturday, March 4, 2017

Akina Nakamori -- OH NO, OH YES!


I think I was speaking with Marcos one time about how I had pulled myself away from Akina Nakamori's(中森明菜)albums past her 1985 release "D404ME". At the time, I was still enamored enough with her singles that were getting her onto the various music TV shows, but there was a definite divergence between those singles and her album releases. For one thing, none of those singles were put on her original albums for a few years, and for another, from borrowing and purchasing some of those albums such as "Fushigi"(不思議...Strange), I did actually find the tracks on them a little too strange for me. Therefore, it was more for me to patiently wait for BEST compilations by her.


Now I'm starting to realize that what I needed was time and appreciation of the bigger picture of kayo kyoku/J-Pop. In the case of Akina's album material, I was simply too tied down to her Oricon-friendly hits at the time. The singer actually wanted to push the envelope a bit and delve into more interesting pop.

In all honesty, I did buy Akina's 10th studio album from December 1986, "Crimson" as an audiotape from Wah Yueh and listened to it a couple of times. After those two listens, I put it away in a drawer for my tapes and have never listened to it again. That haunting cover photo of her and the seemingly non-Akina Akina songs just didn't do it for me. After borrowing my friend's LP of "Fushigi" which was her previous release, one look at that cover photo from "Crimson" had me rolling my eyes. Ack, not again with the artsy stuff, I scoffed.

Well, now that I am well into the 21st century, I feel like I should flagellate myself with a long stiff shoe horn for my snobbery (I've got a metal one that can kill a man). I will put on that tape again later tonight since I have heard the original recorded version of "OH NO, OH YES!" from "Crimson". Actually, I did hear the concert version of it on my videotape of "AKINA EAST LIVE INDEX-XXIII" but didn't realize that it was from that original album (May 14 2022: NOPE! I must have been hallucinating or it was somewhere else that I heard it since looking up the videotape and CD on J-Wiki, "OH NO, OH YES!" isn't included there. Abject apologies!😬). It was an OK performance but didn't particularly think it was special along the lines of that epic "Tattoo" which started things off. But again, that was back in the late 1980s.

I gotta say that if I had to choose among Akina's range of voices during her career, I will still take her dynamic vocals in the mid-80s before "Fushigi" that she also used on her singles over her subdued and somewhat fragile ones from the 90s onwards although I know that those latter vocals fit certain other songs by her.


The softer vocals do come out on "OH NO, OH YES!" but they do fit this ballad about potential forbidden love. And I now appreciate the words and music by Mariya Takeuchi(竹内まりや). The melody has that certain genteel but urban atmosphere from the guitar, bass and synth as Akina sings about running to meet that paramour sub rosa somewhere in the big city. Is her significant other a fellow work colleague, her boss, some persona non grata figure or even a same same-sex partner? She's figuratively beside herself over whether she should continue to pursue the affair and face possible social consequences despite the other feeling that this person is THE one for her.

I did use the word "snobbery" earlier, didn't I? Well, I could imagine someone like Mariya or Akiko Kobayashi(小林明子)singing something this mature so why couldn't I accept cutesy aidoru Akina singing this one in her other voice? I don't really have any acceptable excuses anymore. Therefore I will happily accept eating some humble pie and find out more about "Crimson". And so, I should especially when that first track and at least a couple of others were composed by the aforementioned Kobayashi, one of my favourite Japanese pop singers.

So to end this on a wacky note, I initially said "OH NO!" but now I may be proclaiming "OH YES!"

16 comments:

  1. J-Canuck, how're you doing? I got sick for 3 weeks after getting back to San Francisco from Toronto. Have been pretty busy. I'll be going to Hong Kong and Tokyo with my Mom for 2 weeks end of March. I hope we can catch the cherry blossom. Very excited.

    I like the Crimson album a lot. I bought the entire album on iTunes a couple of years ago. "Oh No Oh Yes" is one of my favorites in that album, along with Eki, Yakusoku & Ekizodika. All songs were either written by Takeuchi Mariya or Kobayashi Akiko, which I guess shows Akina's status in her peak years.

    I didn't pay attention to the lyrics at all. Now you got me interested :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Larry.

      Sorry to hear that you were so sick in January but I'm glad that you've recovered. And I'm definitely envious that you and your mother will be heading to Japan very soon.

      Yeah, I managed to finally dig up my tape of "Crimson". I will most likely listen to it on the recorder this afternoon as I do my work. I was also quite intrigued about the lyrics for "OH NO, OH YES!" so I will be paying attention to the words of the other songs.

      Delete
    2. I just read the lyrics. Oh no!

      I didn't know that there're some more English lyrics in it besides Oh No Oh Yes. Sorry Akina. Should not pick on people's English.

      Delete
  2. Hi, J-Canuck.

    I've had a hard time with "Crimson" as well, basically because of its more calm nature if compared to some explosive songs she was recording at the time ("DESIRE", for example). I've always found it a very classy album, but it didn't click as a standout to me, even if it won awards and suchs at the time. Right now, I can say my favorites from "Crimson" are "Mind Game", "Yakusoku", "Oh No, Oh Yes!", "Mosaic no Shiro" and "Aka no Enamel". And Akina seems to like "Eki" very much, since she sang it in some of her 90s and 00s concerts.

    One particular thing I noticed while listening to "Crimson" is how Akina sang the songs in a softer tone if compared to the huskier and aggressive voice she sometimes used in the mid-to-late 80s. Like you said, she really liked to push the envelope when it came to her album releases. Even on her overshadowed English album "Cross My Palm", you could easily hear a different Akina. She just had this variety of voices and tones at the time.

    Even though I like her very early albums, they were typical aidoru stuff from the early 80s, with strong orchestration and such. However, after the great "Bitter & Sweet" Akina started doing different things with her music and that's when the true artist appeared. I don't know how much imput she had in the concepts and all, but she surely wasn't just a mere subordinated aidoru anymore.

    Finally, as for my favorite Akina album, and the only one I own the CD, it's "Femme Fatale" (1988). In this specific album, Akina worked exclusively with female composers (hence the title) and ended with a very nice mix of sexy songs ranging from synthpop to funk. Also, her vocals were more on the husky side, contrary to what we heard in "Crimson". I always wonder if the smoking habit was already changing her voice a little bit at the time (at the start, the changes didn't sound bad, though).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Marcos.

      I think you may have hit the nail on the head with your first sentence. The album was far more uncomfortably calmer than I was accustomed to during Akina's heyday. Basically the only uptempo song that was on the album in my estimation was the final track "Mick Jagger ni Hohoemi wo".

      Akina definitely broke out of the aidoru mold. In a way, I see her and Seiko Matsuda beforehand as bee larvae that were given that special formula to become queens rather than drones. But no doubt, Akina had that special something in her right from the beginning.

      "Cross My Palm" is in my LP rack and I've got "Femme Fatale" as a tape. Again, neither of them have been touched in well over 25 years. I will have to give them their second chances as well in the days to come.

      Delete
  3. Hi! Thanks for this post. May I ask who the original singer/songwriter of Oh No Oh Yes was?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Destiny!

      As stated above, the songwriter was Mariya Takeuchi but Akina sang it first on the "Crimson" album released in December 1986. Takeuchi would do a cover of the song for her 1987 album "Request".

      Delete
  4. Ohhhh I understand. Thanks so much for the clarification!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I've only discovered Akina's wide discography a couple years back, and though I've always loved her work, I don't think I can really be called a loyal fan as I never even lived through the 80s.

    "Oh No, Oh Yes" was the first Akina song I enjoyed, before discovering the rest of her discography, mainly those in her prime, 80s and 90s, most of which were prior to the suicide incident (though I was never in that time, reading about it now still feels horrible, poor girl).

    After reading a lot of your blogs, J-Canuck, along with some articles, it seems albums such as Bitter And Sweet, Fushigi, Crimson etc. marked a change to the Akina people knew, with a more "mature" pop sense and deeper vocals (most of Crimson featured her rather fragile voice as well).

    So while a lot of people enjoyed Akina's early stages, with her upbeat and lively songs such as "Desire", "Tattoo" etc., I instead fell in love with her late 80s eta, that "mature" side. Although that's not saying I don't enjoy her earlier songs as well, I just discovered them later and, well, Akina is someone I admire overall, regardless what era or what voice she sang with. Apart from her beautiful vocals, it was also her dazzling appearance that made me almost instantly fall in love with the artist herself.

    I've compiled a playlist on Spotify of Akina's work I personally enjoy, which I've arranged with the best at the top. In case you might have an interest for that, here's the link below.

    Thanks for all your posts, J-Canuck. It's enjoyable reading the opinions you have on my favorite J-pop artist's work.

    https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7eUs06Bo5sVAKH0ZqNlq4x?si=50f83999c9764cbf

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Zio. Thanks for your kind comments and the link to your Spotify list beginning with "OH NO, OH YES!". It certainly appears like a list by a dedicated fan. My favourite period for Akina is the 1980s especially at the time of her albums "Bitter & Sweet" and "D404ME" when, as you correctly pointed out, her voice reached those deeper depths.

      I don't think that one needs to have lived during the time of a singer's peak period to be a loyal fan, though. I was around when Akina became the superstar but I'm also a big fan of jazz and its artists between the 1920 and 1950s, and I can assure you that I was not in existence during those decades. :) As long as you love those Akina songs and have them among your collection, I'm sure that even she can state that you're a loyal fan, no matter how far after her peak discography you were born.

      Delete
    2. Thanks, J-Canuck, I hope you enjoyed the playlist itself as well. "Bitter And Sweet" is also one of my favorites as an album, although I haven't listened to "D404ME" yet, I sure will when I can.

      Being honest, what makes me love Crimson wasn't really her voice at the time, which as we'd know by now, was rather fragile and sometimes even barely audible if I were listening with a low quality headset. Her voice has seen better days than that era, "Bitter And Sweet" being an example, and another personal favorite was the 1989 "Akina East" live performance, "Desire" especially from that performance felt so lively, even more than the studio recording.

      What attracted me to Crimson as an album ("Oh No, Oh Yes" included) was the combination, Akina's voice may have been fragile but that's not to say it didn't sound good. The musical arrangement for the backing tracks supported her voice, which resulted in a lot of great tunes. "Pink Champagne" with the horns and synth, as you said, combined old and new. "Oh No, Oh Yes" felt especially magical with the amount of different instruments packed into that under five minute recording.

      I suppose you're right, I may have never witnessed her prime while it happened, but I definitely enjoy her work now even decades later. Thanks.

      I do have a question, though, you stated that a concert version of "Oh No, Oh Yes" was in the "Akina East" performance, however I didn't find it both in the album and in the nearly-full-length live performance video recording published by Warner Japan on YouTube. Could you perhaps provide a link where I could find it?

      Thanks, and have a good day, J-Canuck.

      Delete
    3. Hi, Zio. Actually, I should address your question first since I have to provide apologies. I've already made a revision above, but apparently "OH NO, OH YES!" doesn't exist in "Akina East", so obviously I must have heard it somewhere else.

      Although I will always cherish her "Bitter & Sweet" and "D404ME" period most, I think that Akina's more fragile voice came in very effectively when she recorded her 1989 "Cruise" album since the overall theme for that one was about loss and sadness. Her heart was definitely breaking in all ways at that time. Also, although I'm not a huge fan of her "Utahime" series, that fragile voice made an impact considering that she had probably wanted to show a more emotionally intimate side to her.

      "D404ME" is a somewhat more conservative album in terms of musical genre variety when compared to "Bitter & Sweet", but it's the first Akina album that I got to listen to, so I still enjoy it.

      Have a good day as well.

      Delete
    4. Ah, perhaps you may have heard it in the 1987 "A Hundred Days" Live? That's the only live performance of "Oh No, Oh Yes" in an Akina show I know of, Warner Japan also published it on YouTube.

      1989 wasn't a great year for Akina, so the theme for "Cruise" was rightly so. "Akina East" was quite successful that year, but then came along the suicide attempt incident, followed by the golden screen interview - neither of which ended the year well for her.

      You're right, "Bitter And Sweet" definitely took variety to another level, kicking off with rock energy and ending with a soft ballad. I also gave "D404ME" a listen the other day while I was free, I quite liked the whole "aerospace" sort of theme, and the continuously upbeat songs. One of the tunes was straight-up named "Star Pilot" anyways, which emphasized on that theme, I suppose.

      I think I'd agree with you, mid 80s Akina would be my favorite period, followed by the late 80s. Another particular tune I enjoy from that aidoru-to-diva transition era was "Solitude", which fit well with the cover for 1986's "Best", carrying a sort of Shinjuku business district tone.

      Sorry I got back only now, have a good day once again, J-Canuck.

      Delete
    5. Hi, Zio. Maybe I did see it on "A Hundred Days" although I don't remember the title of that tape.

      1989 was indeed a horrendous year for Akina and I think the incident pretty much affected her permanently. I remember when "Cruise" was released just a few weeks after the attempt and it was when I arrived in Japan on the JET Programme. Entering that CD store to hear "Cruise" on the speakers was frankly like entering a funeral home since there were a lot of folks around the display area for the album that were very quiet.

      I certainly remember "Star Pilot" as well as "Allegro Vivace". But I think the big track was the hit single "Meu Amore". I guess if I were to describe my favourite period for Akina in terms of years, I would probably say 1985-1989 including "Cruise", although it is very different in tone from "Bitter & Sweet".

      Delete
    6. Hi Zio,

      This is Larry who is a contributor to Kayo Kyoku Plus.

      I'm also an Akina fan. If you want to listen to Akina after 1989, I highly recommend her 2003 album "I hope so". Among the songs in that album, I particular love "Days". If you listen to it, you'll find that her voice has completely changed from her idol days and has become more mature, and should I say sexy also.

      Hope it helps.

      Larry

      Delete

Feel free to provide any comments (pro or con). Just be civil about it.