Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Hiroshi Uchiyamada & Cool Five -- Yume Sakaba/Yoibanashi (夢酒場/酔い話)



I hope everyone's having a good start to 2020. Now that I'm not drowning in essays and have swapped this year's oddly volatile winter in Japan for the equally volatile rainy season in Singapore, I have the time to do what I want, like some reading and, well, writing. I've also been reflecting on the past year's events; my 2019 was madder than usual with the lows being rock-bottom and the highs being sky-high. But I suppose that comes with adjusting to more or less a new way of life. One of the major highs was being able to catch my top favourite enka-yo singers (who are still in mortal coil) in action, and actually getting the chance to interact with most of them. In spite of the knowledge that enka-yo artistes hold events and concerts and dinner shows at high frequencies, somehow, I didn't think that I could see Kiyoshi Maekawa (前川清), Ikuzo Yoshi (吉幾三), Hiroshi Itsuki (五木ひろし) and Takashi Hosokawa (細川たかし) within the span of a year - nay, nine months. What a ride.


As most of you probably know, Mae-Kiyo ranks the highest in my mind, so I suppose it would come as no surprise that I went to see him and the Cool Five (four, really) twice: during a regular concert and a dinner show, the latter instigated by Mom. The former more or less fulfilled my dream of seeing the statue-like singer and his cronies, but the latter took it up a notch with the fellow literally standing right in front of me... Did I smile like an idiot when he noticed me. Yes. Did I get a hug from him? Yeah - I wouldn't let myself live it down if I didn't. Did I melt into the floor after that? Like an ice cube in tropical weather. Well, as much as that sent me straight to cloud nine, I can't help but feel a little bad that the Cool Five fellows barely got any attention from the audience. I would love to shake their hands and get a photo with them too. I shall keep that in mind should I go for another of their concerts.

Anyways, in the way of the musical set list, I gather that the selections are more or less the same (for 2019, at least) with the Cool Five classics sung in two medleys. Hits synonymous with the group were sung in the later half of the show. The earlier half, on the other hand, includes their much lesser known singles. Most were pleasant-sounding, though one in particular really caught my attention. I wasn't able to put a name to it the first time round during the concert and went on a wild goose chase through YouTube in an attempt to find this song whose ending I only so vaguely remembered. I found many other Cool Five gems in the process which all seemed like likely candidates, but a re-listen at the dinner show proved that the answer had literally been right under my nose the whole time.

Sorry, fellas, but y'all look like the poster boys for awkward family photos from the 80s.

That song was "Yume Sakaba", a single released late in the Cool Five's career in 1982. I say that it was right under my nose because, for quite some time prior I had been happily listening to its B-side, "Yoibanashi". I even remember seeing the former's thumbnail from time to time, and going, "Nah, that ain't it." I'd tuned in to it once before - it wasn't bad, but it was more... lukewarm at the time. It had a nice Mood Kayo rhythm going on, but its slower tempo and the slightly more somber vibe was probably where I lost interest, especially when I was used to the lighter and jauntier melody in "Yoibanashi". It took the live version to change my mind with its faster and modern arrangement and Mae-Kiyo's own bellowing of the titular phrase at the end of each stanza. Frankly, I do prefer the live rendition, but I nevertheless have become a big fan of the recorded take of "Yume Sakaba".

This one's "Yoibanashi"

When it comes to the lyrics, both numbers in the group's 43rd single involve a love-lorn heroine trying to get over some fellow who had ditched her. However, with the slightly differing veins of "Yume Sakaba" and "Yoibanashi",  I like to view them as two halves of a singular narrative wherein we see the emotion progression (or degradation) of our protagonist. "Yume Sakaba" marks the start of her downward spiral; from the words Mae-Kiyo softly utters in a contemptuous manner, the woman seems angry that she let herself be played then left behind by her lover, yet she can't seem to let go. Then in "Yoibanashi", she finally settles in a bar and tries to drown out the pain with sake. The alcohol turns the scorn into sorrow, and all she wants is to see the guy again even though it's nothing but wishful thinking. Ah, classic Mood Kayo drama. Someone should do an anthology style drama series based on these enka and Mood Kayo. I would watch that.

Toyohisa Araki (荒木とよひさ) and Kunihiko Suzuki (鈴木邦彦) were in charge of the words and music for "Yume Sakaba" respectively, and Kazuya Senke (千家和也) and Shigemi Iwaki (岩城茂美) did "Yoibanashi". I suppose it was no wonder that the "Yume Sakaba" single was one of the Cool Five's more renowned entries in spite of coming out in the 80s since the songs were put together by songwriters who had each created at least one Cool Five hit prior. Also, Iwaki himself is actually part of the Cool Five chorus; he's the one in between the bespectacled Etsuro Miyamoto (宮本悦朗) and the crazy-haired Masaki Kobayashi (小林正樹) in picture in the videos above.


In spite of the pickle the world seems to be in at the moment, I hope everyone's year will go smoothly from here on out. And have a Happy Chinese New Year too! 

2 comments:

  1. Hello, Noelle.

    Kung Hei Fat Choi to you as well. I hear you about your first year in Japan...I went through my own cycle of culture shock when I was living there. Definitely that high point included your close encounter with Kiyoshi!

    Thanks for the Cool Five songs...indeed they are Mood Kayo but they also have that 1980s sheen, for a lack of a better word. I guess those distinctly shimmering strings were really a thing in kayo kyoku back then.

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    1. Hi, J-Canuck.

      I would say that the no.1 thing I had to get used to there was transportation out in the boonies... I don’t think I’ll be using that international driver’s license any time soon. But I’m getting into the rhythm of things; saying “sumimasen” for everything has become a habit.

      Indeed, these Cool Five songs have that 80s sound with not just those strings, but the synths too. Somehow MK stuff in the later decades sound less severe (well, to me, at least).

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