In the last couple of days, I've heard from a couple of commenters about sites that have a good connection with what we always talk about here, so I've decided to let all of you in on the secret.
First off, from Daemonskald who has introduced a couple of reference sites (both of them are in Japanese, though):
http://fujiyama.press.ne.jp/debut.htm
This is by a fellow named nabeji who seems to have put up an entire collection of debut singles from the 1960s to the 1980s here. It is categorized by year and kana for the singers. However, if going by the singers, I should warn you that pressing the link will not take you to the debut single by that singer directly but just to the year of his/her debut, so you may need to do some scrolling once you arrive. Quite the labour of love...just like this blog. ☺
http://park17.wakwak.com/~nephila-clavata/zankokuezu.htm
Over here, this page is more specific in that it centers on the B-class aidoru who debuted between 1979 and 1986. According to Daemonskald, the list is also useful in that it apparently also provides the various stage names that the singer had taken on, and it also has a full list of singles and albums. The person who created this site may have a very wide view of what makes an aidoru since I also caught sight of Miharu Koshi in the 1979 file, and I've always seen her as a City Pop-turned-technopop chanteuse instead.
Now, secondly, within the last hour or so, Chasing Showa was kind enough to inform me of a couple of playlist sites on Mixcloud where all of us can listen to some of the good stuff.
https://www.mixcloud.com/j_u_l_i_e/tokai/
Tokai by Julie has a goodly dollop of City Pop. I listened to several minutes of it and I was able to hear Rajie, Hi-Fi Set and the like.
https://www.mixcloud.com/meganekun/playlist-drink-cold-5-oh-so-vintage/
Then there is Megane-kun who has his Drink Cold #5 -- Oh! So Vintage which goes into the 1970s kayo represented by Momoe Yamaguchi (in fact, I just wrote about the first song on the playlist), Linda Yamamoto and Candies.
For both fellows, Chasing Showa informs me that their tastes in Japanese music run all over the map, but that's fine with me personally since naturally, I'm all over the map as well with this blog. :)
Anyways, enjoy the bounty and many thanks to Daemonskald and Chasing Showa.
Good evening J-C and everyone else - and thanks for the linx ! Here's another one I'm not sure has been mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a70n3cD15O4&feature=youtu.be It's streaming by Discogs dealer GroovePack, who I can recommend as a seller (I got my 45 of "Tokyo Lover" from him). A pretty eclectic selection of styles.
ReplyDeleteGood Afternoon J-Canuck!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the shout out!
Glad to be of service and thank you for spreading the word, as you've done for the past several years, with this blog.
Good afternoon T-Cat,
ReplyDeleteOoooh, the playlist you provided is also very good. I have something to listen to for the rest of the afternoon/evening.
Hi, J-Canuck.
ReplyDeleteI am searching for a song (a music video, actually) and probably you could help me finding it. I just saw that back in 2012 you made a post about the band Boowy. You might know more than me about this band.
I am looking for a music video by Boowy that was on youtube a while ago (10 years, probably). I have no idea what the name of the song is (It was written in kanji when I saw it). I remember that in the chorus, they sing something like 'Seishun ga...ni ageru' (Not so sure, though).
Some things I remember about the MV:
- It was definitely shoot in the 80s (second half, I think, because of the clothing and hairstyles)
- There was an English sentence written on the opening credits (in a red screen, maybe).The sentence was something like: ‘For the most beautiful teens’ (or flowers?)
- The MV consists of many different non related scenes of young people in different street locations. The camera would always do close ups on these people looking straight at the camera.
- I might be wrong, but I remember a scene in the beginning (or the ending) with a rose garden. (Almost sure it was on the beginning.)
- I believe the MV was a representation of the young japanese generation at the time. I remember that some of the young folks from the MV conveyed different emotions/characteristics (of being happy, sad, lost, mature, childish…) just by looking at the camera.
What’s the information remember. Do you have an idea of what MV/song is that?
I can’t find neither the MV, nor any info about it.
I loved it when I first saw years ago on youtube. I remember watching it wondering where these young people would be as adults. If you find out what MV is that, please, put an article about it here on Kayo Kyoku. I would love to know some trivia about it. (I always wondered if they shoot random people on the streets, or if the young people from the MV were paid actors.)
I will be grateful for your help!
Luís Henrique
Hello, Luis.
ReplyDeleteThanks very much for your question. I considered the clues that you gave me and put in the lyrics in their original Japanese into the Yahoo.jp search engine along with BOOWY.
The closest song that I could get was actually not sung by BOOWY itself but by former member Tomoyasu Hotei as one of his solo singles, "Saraba Seishun no Hikari"（さらば青春の光）which had come out in 1993. Unfortunately, the music video doesn't exist on YouTube anymore but there is a video with Hotei performing the song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6jyuadY1q8).
I did take a look at the music videos that had been done by BOOWY but none of them seem to match your criteria. Since Kyosuke Himuro（氷室京介）fronted BOOWY, perhaps one of his solo singles' videos could be the one that you're looking for. In any case, I hope you find that video since I know where you come from in terms of searching for that lost song or video.
J-Canuck,
DeleteThank you so much for trying. After reading your comment I tried to search for it again.
I somehow activated my inner Detective Conan and finally found it: 'BOØWY 季節が君だけを変える'
( http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm27909741 )
Now I realize I've remembered the lyrics from the chorus wrong (sorry!) , but my description from the video was kinda accurate lol
Probably this is not an official music video.
I still have no idea of what is the name of that song (Unfortunately, I can't read kanji and ideogram) , or what kind of video it is. If you find the video/song interesting, write an article about it someday.
I love reading the articles here.
Thank you so much!
Hello, Luis.
DeleteHappy that you could finally track it down, and actually it is the official music video. According to J-Wiki, BOOWY did seek out regular folks to appear in the video. The title reads out as "Kisetsu ga Kimi dake wo Kaeru" (Only You Can Be Changed by the Seasons).
Thanks for the good wishes and hope you can continue reading.
Hi J-Canuck !
ReplyDeleteIt's a pleasure to help fellow J-music lovers just like you and other contributors do here on this blog everyday!
If nobody minds, I'll add these 2 links:
- RecordShop NAKA 2's blog: http://nakasecond.livedoor.biz/
(scroll down to right lower half of the page to find categories browser. No search function)
- Hip Tank Records website:
http://hiptankrecords.com/?mode=cate&cbid=1515333&csid=0&sort=n
(already filtered for Japanese music. Also has a search function)
Both in Japanese.
What's good about these 2 sites is that they do a short review of the EP/LP and even provide some mp3 samples for many songs that you cannot even find on YouTube/Dailymotion/NicoNico. Worth hours of digging :)
Hi, Daemonskald.
DeleteAlways appreciate the additional links. I actually know about Hip Tank since I've sometimes come across those song excerpts. In fact, I think I will probably be referring to Hip Tank later today for one album since the page is the only audio source for the tracks.
Good Evening, Daemonskalkd,
DeleteThanks for the Hip Tank Records link! I fell into a Hatsumi Shibata size rabbit hole and was loathe to leave it due to...well...reality (work, eating, sleeping)?