Had a nice evening down at University of Toronto being part of a panel discussion on students about to graduate from East Asian Studies and what they can do thereafter. It was rather nice meeting the fellow panelists (one of whom is an old friend of over 40 years) and meeting some students who were crazy to go to Japan...reminded me of yours truly a few decades ago.
Still digesting my Indian dinner which was catered into the venue so I'm keeping things simple tonight with a pleasant number from Tazumi Toyoshima（豊島たづみ）. A little over a couple of years ago, I wrote about her 4th single, "Tomadoi Twilight"（とまどいトワイライト）which was most likely her most successful release back in 1979. Well, her previous single is also eminently listenable.
"Everyday, Every Night" is a nighttime City Pop tune from October 1978 with a twist of bossa with Toyoshima singing it in a gently swinging manner. There is also something about it that reminds me of some of Henry Mancini's music from a decade earlier. Some nice solo guitar as well. Veteran lyricist Etsuko Kisugi（来生えつこ）took care of the words and Mutsuhiro Nishiwaki（西脇睦宏）came up with the mellow music. It's a nice way to finish up an eventful night.
J-Canuck, Thanks for introducing me to yet another quality artist from the Kayo Kyoku jidai. Toyoshima is as soothing as Sade (and her first name is just as unique).
ReplyDeleteI am continually amazed at the range of artists that you and your fellow contributerd have uncovered. This site is truly a gold mine of Japanese music. I imagine that you must have spent many spare hours going through record stores back in the day. I am returning to Japan in a few weeks and would like to try my luck at finding a few nuggets from any music stores that might still carry CD’s with music from the 70’s and 80’s. Would you happen to know of any such stores still in existence in the Tokyo and Osaka areas?
Hi, Wolf. Good to hear from you again.
DeleteYeah, I think that first name of hers is quite distinct...cool nickname from it, too...Tazz! Always nice to come across these generally unheralded singers who deserve some more heralding.
Glad that you've been enjoying leafing through the blog, and yes, I did make a lot of visits to the various places in Tokyo. Unfortunately, I don't know anything about the Osaka area but for my old stomping grounds, I think I can help you there.
First off, there is Tacto in the Jimbocho area. You can read about the article I wrote about it (http://kayokyokuplus.blogspot.ca/2012/04/tacto-cd-shop.html). Whenever I'm in Tokyo, I always stop by there to pick up some discs. Also, although I never wrote about them, walk up and down Hakusan Dori where the store is located since there are perhaps one or two old music stores in the area.
Tower Records in Shibuya is still great as one of the largest music stores on the planet. It's not a used place by any means but it has been behind a lot of remastering of 70s and 80s albums, and when I was there last November, they even had a small City Pop section on one of the floors (http://kayokyokuplus.blogspot.ca/2012/03/tower-records.html).
Also in Shibuya is the used CD store RECOfan (across from Tokyu Hands in the BEAM building) which is deeper into the area. I think the 70s and 80s stuff is harder to come by, but there is still music from the 90s. In addition to the Japanese side, there is also a huge area for Western music in all of the genres including R&B and jazz (http://kayokyokuplus.blogspot.ca/2014/06/recofan.html).
Sadly, some of the other places in the Sites genre have closed down but even if you go to some of the major stores, you may be pleasantly surprised at how much of the old stuff you can find, price aside.
J -Canuck,
ReplyDeleteCan’t thank you enough for the inside information on where I might be able to find some of the 80’s era music that I am hoping to get my hands on while in Japan next month. Tacto is the first place on my list to visit. Your 2012 blog post was very detailed and should help prevent me from getting lost - which isn’t an infrequent problem for me when wondering around Japanese cities and towns. I will also make an effort to hit RECOfan as well as Tower Records. If I can find a good Yamaguchi Momoe or Iwasaki Yoshimi CD I’ll be happy. I have heard that there are music themed bars in Tokyo. I’ll try my luck at finding one that is kayou kyoku focused.
Hi, Wolf.
DeleteThe pleasure is all mine. I'm pretty confident that you will be able to find that Momoe album at least since she's a legend in the kayo era.
Yup, I sometimes come across Twitter accounts for those music-themed bars. I think there were at least two of them in Shinjuku. If you do make it to one, let me know how it goes.