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.

Thursday, June 25, 2020

Hall & Oates -- Private Eyes


I swear..."Private Eyes" must have been Japan's favourite Hall & Oates song. That's quite a declaration but I kept hearing their August 29th 1981 single whenever I entered a Muji department store or my neighbourhood Daiei supermarket. Then at one point, it was even used in some commercial on TV. I mean, Daryl and John must have been wondering one day early in the 21st century when they got an envelope at their studio and said "Why are we getting a cheque for 100 million yen?". Royalties must have been good, man.

For whatever reason, 80s music was always popular in Japan but "Private Eyes" was very public in my old stomping grounds. Maybe the one other American tune from that decade that I could remember that was getting a maximum amount of love in the country was Huey Lewis & The News' "The Power of Love".

"Private Eyes" was released almost a month after my return from Japan during that important school trip, and as I've said before in past articles, that trip and that time were responsible for finally hatching my longtime interest in kayo kyoku, so the songs that were in the Oricon monthly Top 10 for August 1981 bring a goodly sum of nostalgia and love. Here are the songs that were the top 3 entries.

1. Seiko Matsuda -- Shiroi Parasol



2. Yumi Matsutoya -- Mamotte Agetai



3. Jun Horie -- Memory Glass


9 comments:

  1. Private Eyes was popular pretty much everywhere and for good reason — it's a great song. Towa Tei's cover version featuring Bebel Gilberto is definitely worth checking out.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59sx0h66e1E

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    1. Hello, Michael.

      Yes, I think "Private Eyes" is up there with "Out of Touch", "One on One" and "Say It Isn't So" as my favourite Hall & Oates songs. I actually completely forgot that I had written about Towa Tei's cover a few years ago. https://kayokyokuplus.blogspot.com/2017/01/towa-tei-private-eyes.html

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  2. 'I Can't Go For That' is another favorite of mine, as well as 'Kiss on My List'. Some people prefer their more soulful/R&B
    material from the 1970s like 'Rich Girl' but I think their songwriting peaked in the early '80s.

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    1. Yes, I've also liked their material from their Philly soul days but have also enjoyed them when they entered their more Billboard-friendly dance remixable phase in the 1980s.

      As much as I love "Out of Touch", I try not to pay too much attention to the lyrics which I thought were just weird. A number of critics have said that the lyrics they provided for their hit 80s songs became too vapid for their liking.

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  3. Hey J-Canuck, I'm kind of curious as to whether Western pop acts from the 70s and 80s like Hall & Oates or the Doobie Brothers would've been considered city pop in Japan. What do you think personally?

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    1. Hello, Matt.

      I think acts like Hall & Oates, Airplay, the Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan would probably have been considered to be inspirations for City Pop/AOR, especially the latter two since I hear so many of their riffs and chords in the Japanese genres.

      I just read your comparison of "Joker" and "Taxi Driver" and it was quite fascinating. I've yet to see the former but have seen scenes from the latter. They were both apocalyptic in their own ways, but there was something soothingly nostalgic about seeing New York City in "Taxi Driver" back in those terrifying 1970s!

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  4. Hi J,

    They were aiming for commercial viability, hence the more simple, catchy lyrics. Back then if you weren't getting airplay then your music career was going nowhere fast. Hall & Oates had a pretty strong showing during the '80s but quickly began to wane in popularity after that because their subsequent output lacked the same luster.

    My observation is that most artists have a strong period and then the quality of their output begins to suffer. Only truly prodigious talents manage to maintain themselves, if not gradually improve over time like Bach did.

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  5. I took my wife and sister to see Hall and Oates and Tears for Fears a couple years ago. One of the greatest concerts I've ever seen! If concerts ever become a thing again and you get the chance to go see them, I highly recommend it.

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    1. Hi, Scott. I hope concerts will actually come back to existence once a vaccine is found. If I'm not mistaken, H&O were supposed to have a concert in Niagara Falls later this fall.

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Feel free to provide any comments (pro or con). Just be civil about it.