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.

Monday, August 3, 2020

Kaja -- Marine Blue Sky(マリン⠂Blue ⠂スカイ)


Just finished off writing an article on a commenter-recommended number on his own Happy Song list, and this is also from another commenter with a similar name of Mike with his own smile-creating summer tune.


I'll first let Mike himself talk about this obscure group called Kaja(カヤ)through the comments that he posted:

I suppose my list would start off with “Marine Blue Sky” by Kaja:

I listened to it just before reading this post, and it always makes me think of summertime, always puts a smile on my face. Kaja (no relation to the Kajagoogoo spinoff) were another Yamaha Festival act. Award winner at the 19th Popcon in May of 1980, and a finalist at the 11th World Popular Song Festival in November of that year. It seems they only ever recorded one more single, 1981’s “Anata e no sanka.”


Aside from Mike's information, I couldn't find anything else new about this band aside from the fact that they lasted between 1978 and 1982. Their debut single was indeed "Marine Blue Sky" which has been noted on Hip Tank Records as a 1981 release, and from their originating year of 1978, I can assume that Kaja did a lot more touring about than recording singles or albums.

"Marine Blue Sky" is a late 1970s/early 1980s bright summer day of a song, perfect for that drive in the Toyota along the coast from Tokyo to Hakone. There is the disco beat and the resonant soulful vocals by Kayoko Ono(小野賀曜子)who also provided the lyrics of indeed escaping from the city and down to the beaches. As for the melody, that was composed by Norihiko Tachibana(立花紀彦), the guitarist for Kaja (and the fellow whose YouTube channel has provided this song), and it sounds like the perfect summery tune that I would hear on Japanese radio of those times and also on a number of seasonal commercials. The arrangement was taken care of by Katsu Hoshi(星勝), formerly of the Group Sounds band The Mops, who I first knew for his work on Anzen Chitai's(安全地帯)"IV" LP. He's also contributed to a number of other singers such as the mysterious Takako Mamiya(間宮貴子).


As for the other members of Kaja, they are Tohru Uryu(瓜生徹)on synths, Yasumasa Ito(伊藤保正)on bass, Shinji Yoshihara(吉原慎二)on piano, and Takayuki Fujiwara(藤原隆幸)on drums, and Kenji Ito(伊藤賢二)on guitar. Uryu especially lets things rip on his instruments bringing some good ol' nostalgic sounds. I do wonder if "Marine Blue Sky" had ever been used for a JAL or ANA commercial.

7 comments:

  1. One last little tidbit about this band: apparently the guitarist and lead singer married in between the first single and the second. No idea if the marriage lasted.

    This song stuck out for me, as that full-voiced alto style of singing is just not something I associate with Japanese pop music at all. Surprisingly unique.

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    1. Hi, Mike.

      I just noticed on the YouTube description for the video that Kayoko had both the Ono and Tachibana names next to her. Hope that the marriage has lasted.

      Your 2nd paragraph reminded me when I first heard the dulcet tones of Mariya Takeuchi back in 1982. Because I had heard nothing but aidoru voices when I first got into kayo kyoku the year before, hearing Mariya for the first time made me wonder whether it was actually MariO Takeuchi. Hopefully, she doesn't get too offended that I wondered if she was a guy.:)

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    2. It was such a pleasure to find out that you picked up our song here!
      Thank you so much for your article and your research was great. I am Kayoko Tachibana and my late husband was Nori Tachibana. Kaja was disbanded after 2 singles release. Yes, we married after that. Kaja had reunion concert 2015 Feburary but Nori passed away 3 months later after the reunion. We wrote the new song first time since "Anata eno Sanka" right before Nori's passing. The title is "S-M-I-L-ing Face" . You may be able to find out on YouTube.
      I was so devastated by his lost but I started singing again and released Nori's tribute album "S-M-I-L-ing Face" in 2017.
      I am now living in California,US and have a concert tour(small one) in Japan sometime.
      Please check out www.kayokodesigns.com
      You can find a little update in "立花賀曜子のブログ"

      Thank you so much!
      Love,
      Kayoko

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    3. Hello, Kayoko. Thank you very much for your kind comments on the article. We do get a fair number of them on the blog, but it's not everyday that we get them from the actual singers that we cover, so this has been a very nice surprise. I'm hoping that the original commenter who first told me about Kaya will be able to see your comments as well.

      First off, I'm very sorry for your loss but I'm happy that you and your husband were able to create "S-M-I-L-ing Face" before his passing. It's a lovely song and especially so, because I'm a big bossa nova and jazz fan, too.

      I did read about your upcoming concert in Japan on your website next month and I wish you and your fellow musicians all the best success in your performance. I've also written about "S-M-I-L-ing Face" just now and you can see it here:

      https://kayokyokuplus.blogspot.com/2023/09/kayoko-tachibana-s-m-i-l-ing-face.html

      All the best,
      J-Canuck

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  2. Dear J-Canuck,
    Thank you so much your reply and I really appreciate your warm words.
    I also thank you for checking up my website and writing another article about “S-M-I-L-ing Face” It’s so sweet of you!
    I’m hoping Mike would have chance to read my comment as well. Because I was so much touched by the line he wrote In his post - the song “always puts a smile on my face”
    Yes! How far we may live, the S-M-I-L-ing Face resonances our world, our universe( inner or outer). S-M-I-L-ing Face showers us love and light. That’s the message from the last song Nori & I created.
    The reason I still keep singing is because I want to see your smiling face ; )

    Love,
    Kayoko

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  3. The right name for the synthesizer player is
    Tohru Uryu(瓜生徹) Thank you so much!

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    1. Thank you very much for the clarification. The correction has been made.

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