As much as the departing airplane has been my unofficial logo for the genre of Japanese City Pop, I think for me, the Ceti Alpha eel from "Star Trek II -- The Wrath of Khan" (still the best "Star Trek" movie in the entire franchise) will be unofficial symbol for the musical earworm.
But unlike the eel and poor Commander Chekov's and Captain Terrell's reactions in the scene above, I've happily accepted my earworms wrapping around my cerebral cortex over the years. And since I've mentioned some of my favourites as such, I've decided to give a list here of some of those great tunes. Now, I've separated my choices by genre, and by no means is this the ultimate comprehensive list of my favourite earworms. That would go way too long past my bedtime. These are merely the representatives and they've each been covered already in past articles so I won't be providing too much of a commentary but of course, they've been linked to the original articles. So, here goes.
J-Rock: B'z -- Love Phantom
Still marvel how well this song fit as the companion tune for TV Asahi's broadcast of "The X-Files". There should have been a video made with clips from the old show to go along with "Love Phantom".
Anime: KMM Dan -- Witch Activity
After I saw the ending credits to "Witchcraft Works" for the first time, it took all of my strength once I got home NOT to end up watching the YouTube video for "Witch Activity" ten times in succession. That tickety-tackety delivery by the seiyuu and the technopop...damn you, TECHNOBOYS PULCRAFT GREEN-FUND! Perhaps out of all of the genres here, I think anime has got the largest crop of earworms.
City Pop: Tatsuro Yamashita -- Itsuka
City Pop: Mariya Takeuchi -- Plastic Love
Aidoru: Morning Musume -- The Peace
Yup, even more than "Love Machine". The catchy chant, a bit of old-style jazz and full-on disco. I never stood a chance! I think this earworm gave multiple births in my head.
Enka: Takashi Hosokawa -- Kokoro Nokori
Pop: Eri Hiramatsu -- Suteki na Renaissance
Wanted to have a representative from the straight pop genre so I went with Hiramatsu's "Suteki na Renaissance". It's those jingly keyboards and Eri's happy delivery. So very early 90s!
Aidoru: Akina Nakamori -- Lonely Journey
Perhaps at this point, Nakamori was already transitioning from popular aidoru to pop superstar but I can't deny that "Lonely Journey" was also a song that took up long-term residence in my head. Catchy and cool...I never mentioned this in the original article but I think this could have been a good theme song for a cop show.
Technopop: Yellow Magic Orchestra -- Rydeen
What can I say about "Rydeen"? If there were an ultimate theme song for not just YMO but for techno kayo in general, this would be it. I remember being especially desperate to get this song into my collection.
Well, these are some of the earworms that have infected me over the decades. What are yours?
Hi again.
ReplyDeleteAs one whose skin crawls upon the sight of grubs that eel scene was disturbing to watch, but at least I know what you mean by an earworm now. Jeez, the little ones were no better than its unholy-looking parent.
Neat list of, well, earworms you got here. Wasn't expecting to see "Kokoro Nokori"; I thought you might've gone for "Kita Sakaba".
As for what's been running through my head, it's Kiyoshi Hikawa's "Oi Okkake Otojiro", "Hoshikage no Waltz" (multiple versions), and Hachiro Kasuga's cover of "Ochiba Shigure". In terms of J-pop, I'd have to say Nissy's "Mada Kimi wa Shiranai My Prettiest Girl"; and aidoru, Arashi's "Love So Sweet".
Hi, Noelle.
DeleteYou should catch the scene where the grubs started burrowing out of Chekov's ear! Don't worry...Kirk phasered them into oblivion.
I actually wanted to avoid repeating myself with songs that I had already placed on other lists so I went with Hosokawa's other great song. If I recall, Hikawa also has some a couple of fine earworms.
I think I'll pass on that other scene, J-Canuck... I've already seen something that I can't unsee... Would love to phaser that dang Khan, though.
DeleteOn a separate note, Hikawa does have lots of them earworms. It's usually his songs that get stuck in my head often, especially the more rhythmic stuff like his "Zundoko Bushi" and the most recent "Shoubu no Hanamichi" - the latter's been ringing in my ears as of late too.
Gung Hey Fat Choy everyone - interesting topic.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree that Night Tempo's "Plastic Love" beats even the original - when I was walking thru Shinjuku after dark that kept running through my head as the backing track to the point where the song now evokes real memories, sights, smells of those evenings. And a more recent one came out of the proverbial left field (don't judge me): the Karaoke version of 男のコになりたい by Nori-P. Not the vocal version, even though I can hear the backtrack through her. It's the full Karaoke - flow, beat, synths, chorus: "Sweet Couple Pi! Pi! Woo be popple Pi! Pi!" on endless loop. My head bounces and I keep repeating it ad infinitum to myself. Audio crack.
I don't know if this is a variant of earworm or synesthesia, but there are some songs that evoke a very intense sense of nostalgia in me - but for a situation & place that I never was and never could have been. Music, a strange creature. Or perhaps we're the strange ones?
Gung Hey Fat Choy to you as well, T-cat. "Plastic Love" has become quite the thing, hasn't it? The term audio crack is quite appropriate for these tunes.
DeleteI think we would all be strange ones for getting that feeling of nostalgia and happiness. And I believe we are all lucky for it! :)
Hello. It's been a while!
ReplyDeleteNice list- B'z has an amazing number of songs that sound good and catchy. Personally, I liked Itsuka no merry christmas. Can't say I've heard of a lot of the city pop stuff though, so that's a genre I'll have to look into more!
My way of dealing with earworms is to replay them every minute I can from the moment I wake till the moment I sleep. This usually lasts a few days to a week before I tire of the song and switch to another one. It helps me deal with my need to listen to them, so i can get on to other songs. At some point in time, I just don't want to hear them anymore even if I know they're good. Guess it's the mood.
Currently, I've been in the mood for a lot more recent music, so Yonezu Kenshi's album "Bootleg" has been on replay. "Loser" has been wedged in my head for quite a while already. Inoue Yousui's "Shounen Jidai" has also managed to stick. Yamaguchi Momoe's "Yumesakiannainin" and "Playback Part II" caught me too, and Aska's cover of "Momen no handkerchief" is currently playing. "Hajimari ha itsumo ame" was an ear worm two years ago but I haven't clicked on it since- I only listen to it when it plays in the car.
Hi, Karen.
DeleteFor me, along with "Love Phantom", "Bad Communication" is another earworm from the B'z collection and even "Be There".
I have also tried to deal with my earworms by playing them out. If it's something I discovered on YouTube, I try to play them once a day for many many days and then the urge starts to go away. I wonder if this would be a form of aversion therapy?
Also a nice list of earworms you have there as well.
Just a general comment for everyone. Since you're all within the "Kayo Kyoku Plus" family, if you have the urge yourself, feel free to post your own Earworm article. :)
ReplyDeleteHi, Karen and T-Cat.
ReplyDeleteKaren: I used to do something similar to cure the earworms, but then I realised that in doing so, it kinda removed the feeling of excitement or calmness or whatever feeling I associate to it (depending on the song) that made me like it so much. Didn't want to get rid of the magic so soon, so I tried limiting myself to hearing a song to about 3 times a day... with varying results.
"Hajimari wa Itsumo Ame" does crawl into my ears from time to time. I also don't listen to it as often as, Aska's cover of "Soshu Yakyoku", but the cycle begins once I'm reminded of it again - like now.
T-Cat: I've never really thought about it, but now that you mention it, I do come across songs that instill that same feeling of nostalgia. It's really weird, but kinda nice at the same time. I wonder if it's because of the feeling a song evokes in us and/or a scenario we create in our heads based on what we understand of it, and then we "place" ourselves in that scene... Just a thought, and I hope I'm making sense.
Hi, J-C.
ReplyDeleteOoh, such an eye catching title with a great list of earworms you have here, and you have gotten a very interesting discussion going.
As an ardent Hosokawa fan, am naturally delighted to see you bestow an earworm honor on my man’s debut song. But, I have to admit that I have actually not heard Kokoro Nokori until about a year ago. I remember hearing versions of the tune sung in Mandarin and Cantonese in the 70s or 80s, when it was widely popular, but never heard the original. Only when I was reacquainted with Hosokawa did I hear this, and well, couldn’t stop listening to it since. The listen to death method don’t quite work for me, at least not for this and a number of other Hosokawa songs. They just sound better and better each time I listen ;)
Another song that has burrowed into my ears is Tasogare No Beguine. I compiled a nice long youtube playlist of this one song by many different singers, from the original classic by Hiroshi Mizuhara to the contemporary version by Sumire. I love them all and often play the list on loop. But alas, the list keeps getting shorter, and recently I found that my favorite version by Naomi Chiaki is gone too :( Need to search for a replacement soon.
Hi, Francium.
DeleteAs much as "Kita Sakaba" will probably be seen as the ultimate Hosokawa song (and I also love it for listening and karaoke), I will always have a special place in my heart for "Kokoro Nokori". It's such a happy tune.
"Tasogare no Beguine" is another classic and it's become a standard according to the number of covers of it by various singers. I hear you about the eventual deletion of the songs by the SNS copyright police. Part of my administrative duties include searching for replacement videos whenever the originals get taken down.