I've been a fan of Japanese popular music for 40 years, and have managed to collect a lot of material during that time. So I decided I wanted to talk about Showa Era music with like-minded fans. My particular era is the 70s and 80s (thus the "kayo kyoku"). The plus part includes a number of songs and artists from the last 30 years and also the early kayo. So, let's talk about New Music, aidoru, City Pop and enka.
Credits
I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.
Wednesday, April 22, 2020
Takashi Sorimachi with Richie Sambora -- Forever
Welcome to Hump Day! In recent years, when folks think of actor Takashi Sorimachi（反町隆史）, they may envision his role as the latest partner for the elegant but dogged detective Ukyo Sugishita in the long-running series "Aibou"（相棒）.
However, the first time that I ever heard of Sorimachi, my memories fly back to the late 1990s when there was this Fuji-TV drama that was in the prestigious Monday at 9 pm time slot (a la "Tokyo Love Story" and "101st Proposal"). Quite different from those two shows in 1991, "Beach Boys" was probably a series that had sun worshippers punching the air with their fists while exclaiming "YES! Finally...a show to call our own!". It was a series that I remember gaining quite a lot of attention at the time but when you have a summery series that: A) would have the members of TUBE and Southern All Stars swooning, B) has two comely hunks in Sorimachi and Yutaka Takenouchi（竹野内豊）, and C) has an up-and-coming cute teen actress by the name of Ryoko Hirosue（広末涼子）who would corral even more of the high school fans...well, perhaps it's no wonder that it grabbed a peak of 26.5% in the ratings.
Especially for B), maybe there were a lot of fans who were already mentioning the above, years before Ristarte. OK, we can now leave the cheap anime meme gag.
Sorimachi started his thespian career in 1994, but it was with the Summer 1997 "Beach Boys" that he also began a music career by providing the theme song for the show through "Forever", a collaboration with guitarist Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi. With lyrics by the singer himself and melody by Takashi Tsushimi（都志見隆）. "Forever" was released in July and it peaked at No. 3 on Oricon. Also a track on Sorimachi's debut album"Message" which came out later in September, it also got him his invitation to the 1997 Kohaku Utagassen.
My very tenuous connection with Sorimachi only occurred because I used to teach a student and his wife at their apartment near the Tama River in western Tokyo. The student once pointed out to a gleaming white house all the way up a hill overlooking the river and the apartment building and stated that it was the residence for Sorimachi and his wife, Nanako Matsushima（松嶋菜々子）. So, indeed he was looking over me; considering his height, he could be two metres away from me and still looking over me.
I certainly remember Beach Boys, something refreshing amidst the usual love story type of Japanese TV dramas. (Not that I actually dislike love story dramas, since I watched 101 Proposals, Tokyo Love Story, and many others.)
I still hear of Sorimachi, Takenouchi, and Hirosue in recent years and occasionally watch their works. There was another actress 稲森いずみ who caught my attention in Beach Boys. Not sure how she's doing now, as I haven't seen her in TV dramas for a long time.
I also remember seeing both Sorimachi and the then-very-young Hirosue on Kohaku Utagassen. I'm not a fan of Sorimachi's singing but I like "Forever". Once the intro plays, the image of those sunny beaches and blue skies and seas come into mind. I picked up Sorimachi's Message album when I spotted it at a sale, but haven't played it much since.
The actress Izumi Inamori was someone that I used to see quite often through dramas during that time. I've often referred to actresses who seemed to be getting the limelight shone on them for that year or two as The It Girl, and I think Inamori had her time as The It Girl (along with Nanako Matsushima and Norika Fujiwara). I haven't seen her very often in recent years, but according to her J-Wiki file, she's still fairly active in dramas.
I certainly remember Beach Boys, something refreshing amidst the usual love story type of Japanese TV dramas. (Not that I actually dislike love story dramas, since I watched 101 Proposals, Tokyo Love Story, and many others.)
ReplyDeleteI still hear of Sorimachi, Takenouchi, and Hirosue in recent years and occasionally watch their works. There was another actress 稲森いずみ who caught my attention in Beach Boys. Not sure how she's doing now, as I haven't seen her in TV dramas for a long time.
I also remember seeing both Sorimachi and the then-very-young Hirosue on Kohaku Utagassen. I'm not a fan of Sorimachi's singing but I like "Forever". Once the intro plays, the image of those sunny beaches and blue skies and seas come into mind. I picked up Sorimachi's Message album when I spotted it at a sale, but haven't played it much since.
Hi, yung.
DeleteThe actress Izumi Inamori was someone that I used to see quite often through dramas during that time. I've often referred to actresses who seemed to be getting the limelight shone on them for that year or two as The It Girl, and I think Inamori had her time as The It Girl (along with Nanako Matsushima and Norika Fujiwara). I haven't seen her very often in recent years, but according to her J-Wiki file, she's still fairly active in dramas.