Back in September 2015, I provided one of my first articles on longtime singer-songwriter Hiroko Taniyama（谷山浩子）through "Yoru no Buranko" (Night Swing). I was impressed with the bluesy urban contemporary feeling of this 22nd single released in June 1994 as arranged by Nobuo Kurata（倉田信雄）.
However, I was informed by commenter Mike a tad earlier tonight that this single actually had an original form going back an entire decade to her 9th album "Mizu no Naka no Lion"（水の中のライオン...The Lion in the Water） which came out in May 1984. The very first "Yoru no Buranko" is very different in arrangement as it has a folksier lilt with some dramatic moments provided by the strings later on in the song. I'd say that the original has a feeling that reminds me of some of the baroque pop provided by Mayumi Itsuwa（五輪真弓）and perhaps Miyuki Nakajima（中島みゆき）at around the same time, and this is the more intimate and lonelier version for me. I can easily imagine a heartbroken lass sitting on that playground swing at midnight all by herself while listening to this one.
What is surprising is that the 1984 "Yoru no Buranko" was arranged by Makoto Matsushita（松下誠）, one of the great City Pop representatives. If I had listened to these two versions and was then asked which one was Matsushita's doing, I would have immediately replied the 1994 version. As it was, "Mizu no Naka no Lion" got as high as No. 23 on Oricon.
In my search for the album version of "Yoru no Buranko", I found out this signoff video (when TV stations used to sign off for a number of hours each night) from Chūkyō Television Broadcasting covering Nagoya and other adjacent areas which actually used the single version of the song. I figured that you could use one less mouse click to hear that one. Gotta say that the song in that arrangement fits the nighttime atmosphere in the video. Apparently, according to the YouTube description, this signoff was used between 1994 and 1999. Anyways, all due thanks to Mike on the information.
If you like the 1984 “Yoru no buranko,” there’s quite a bit more of that quality across her vast discography (which I, admittedly, have only have examined a small fraction). That darkly romantic feel it exhibits was one of her two most common modes, going all the way back to her 1977 masterpiece “Kawa no hotori ni” (the song of hers that made me sit up and take notice), and dominating her early albums Kagami no naka no anata e (1978) and Yume hankyu (1979). She also shows a whimsical, childlike side on (for example) Mohitori no Alice (1977) and Tanpopo Salad (1983), but most of her albums are salted and peppered with both flavors.
ReplyDeleteI frequently hear her compared to Kate Bush, but it’s Canadian iconoclast Jane Siberry she most reminds me of. But whereas Jane’s “quirkiness” is of a distinctly Canadian variety, Hiroko’s is notably Japanese, and she is clearly a product of the kayokyoku era.
It’s funny you should mention Miyuki Nakajima, as both she and Ms. Taniyama were the only two prolific former Popcon ingenues to remain faithful to Yamaha for their entire career, with all their physical releases either on Yamaha or Aardvark (Yamaha’s subsidiary of Canyon Records, now defunct).
Hello, Mike.
Delete"Vast discography" is an apt expression. It would probably take quite a few years to get a handle on her overall career in music. She only recently provided a song for the NHK children's program "Minna no Uta" which often invades my head. :)
I'm not sure if Kate Bush comes to mind when I hear Taniyama and it's been a long time since I heard Jane Siberry. Gonna have to listen to "Mimi on the Beach" again.