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.
Sunday, June 7, 2020
Kanako Wada -- Music ni Katayosete（MUSICに肩よせて）
Nice Sunday out there. Not too hot, not too cool and plenty sunny.☀
Also, not sure whether this Kanako Wada（和田加奈子）tune was ever associated with "Kimagure Orange Road"（きまぐれオレンジロード）despite the thumbnail above, but regardless of anime affiliations, "Music ni Katayosete" (Let The Music Carry Me) is a lovely tune to hear right now. There's some boss sax in there and that arrangement of West Coast pop, thanks to Yuji Toriyama（鳥山雄司）. Wada was responsible for the lyrics while Ken Sato（佐藤健）took care of this melody that is representative of what I loved about plain ol' Japanese pop music in the 1980s. And the protagonist in this story looks to be echoing the same sentiments as she requests for some of that good-time music that she and someone close to her once listened to. Is it a former love or someone that didn't quite get to that level? Who knows?
"Music ni Katayosete" is a track on Wada's December 1987 album"KANA". Good to have her company again.
It's been such a long time since I watched KOR that I don't remember whether this particular song was used, but I do distinctly remember Kanako's voice from the theme music and one episode where Kyosuke meets a female singer in a group also voiced by her. Very good singer.
Yeah, I never became a KOR fan but I soon realized that Wada contributed quite a few of her songs to the anime. Her first album "Tenderness" was a bit hit-and-miss but things were looking up with her succeeding releases.
It's been such a long time since I watched KOR that I don't remember whether this particular song was used, but I do distinctly remember Kanako's voice from the theme music and one episode where Kyosuke meets a female singer in a group also voiced by her. Very good singer.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I never became a KOR fan but I soon realized that Wada contributed quite a few of her songs to the anime. Her first album "Tenderness" was a bit hit-and-miss but things were looking up with her succeeding releases.
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