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.

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

Hiromi Iwasaki -- Gobangai no Shiroi Dress(五番街の白いドレス)

 

The following is about a song that fellow Hiromi Iwasaki(岩崎宏美)fan Jim Laker informed me about some days ago, and it's a special one since although "Gobangai no Shiroi Dress" (The White Dress on Fifth Avenue) exists on the JASRAC database, this Hiromi song has, as far as I know, never been officially recorded onto an LP or CD.


"Gobangai no Shiroi Dress" was apparently only meant as a concert-only song and it's a sweet story of a typist on a modest salary who one day comes across a shop window with the most darling white dress. Of course, she desires it like anything and decides to save up the yen to purchase it in the not-too-distant future. That day finally comes but when she happily skips down to the store to buy the dress, her heart breaks on finding out it has just been sold. Her sadness is short-lived, however, on finding out that the person who bought it is a fellow who she also had her eyes upon and the swell guy purchased it just for her. 

Geez, lyricist Keisuke Yamakawa(山川啓介)...O. Henry much? I was able to find out some information about "Gobangai no Shiroi Dress" through some of the comments on YouTube and an Ameblo blog entry from earlier this year in May in which the song was probably first featured in 1982. The author also describes the melody by Norio Maeda(前田憲男)as being somewhat European in feeling, and as someone who has been discovering that some of the 80s Japanese pop songs by folks like Kazuhiro Nishimatsu(西松一博)and Taeko Ohnuki(大貫妙子)can be described as baroque pop, I think I can peg "Gobangai no Shiroi Dress" as being in that same category. I would say that it's perfect as an Iwasaki ballad: heartfelt and poignant.

In a way, it's a pity that the ballad never made it onto vinyl or whatever the heck a CD is made from, but the fact that it has never been recorded for sale has given "Gobangai no Shiroi Dress" that elevated mystery status. And to perform it, Iwasaki has to make that dramatic stage change from her regular performing dress into that titular white dress itself which means that the back singers have to hold up their end for a minute or so...rather unusual. I did ask Jim about what the dress change was all about since at the time I wasn't sure what was going on, but now that I do realize the meaning, it has had quite the showmanship effect at her concerts, I'm sure. In fact, according to that author for the Ameblo blog has stated that this song popular among Hiromi fans has been dubbed "The Dress-Change Song".

Television viewers got that rare look and listen to the song as you can see above in the video. According to the blog, the show was televised on Fuji-TV back in February 1983 under the title "The Star Iwasaki Hiromi ~ 45 Kaiten de Dakishimete ~"(ザ・スター 岩崎宏美〜45回転で抱きしめて〜)which I believe means "Hiromi Iwasaki: Embracing Her 45" Singles", so I think the special was meant to highlight those hits from yesteryear. Apparently, there was a variety show component as well with Iwasaki portraying the typist herself and a bunch of tarento portraying her fellow goofy staffers. 

One last thing that I wanted to mention is that at the beginning, Iwasaki seems to be dressed up as a rakugo comedian as she introduces "Gobangai no Shiroi Dress". I very rarely see her talking aside from doing the usual inter-song chit-chat with hosts, so to see her speaking to the camera like a buddy was very nice to see. Thanks very much to Jim, and if by chance, anyone knows whether the song has actually made it onto a BEST compilation or an anniversary collection for the singer, please let us know!

13 comments:

  1. Maeda, who died in 2018, performed with Hiromi as recently as 2016.

    https://blog.goo.ne.jp/eeee6367/e/888afc1cbae7e6f21848fdc318f5d5d1

    Also, I've noticed something in many of her live performances, and also in this clip. She frequently talks about "Iwasaki Hiromi". Is referring to oneself by name a common thing in Japanese?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello, Jim.

      I don't think it's common but some celebs may have taken on that affectation. I think in the above video with Hiromi, she was just playing around in her guise as the rakugo-ka but if you can send me links to other videos where she's referring to herself in the 3rd person, I can check whether she really does like to do that.

      Delete
  2. Also, if you have access to Japanese TV, they're repeating the whole Hiromi The Star programme or series of programmes again.

    https://www.kayopops.jp/program/episode.php?prg_cd=KC00001633&episode_cd=0001&epg_ver_cd=06

    A number of tracks there that I've never seen on youtube, although there's no Gobangai no Shiroi Dress there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I remember that channel since it was part of my cable service in Japan years ago but unfortunately I can't access it here. "Kayo Pops Channel" was something I went to on Sunday nights for an hour since they would play a whole bunch of stuff that I've covered here on KKP with various nostalgic scenes in the background.

      I think we were all truly blessed with "Gobangai no Shiroi Dress" since my impression is that the Fuji-TV coverage was perhaps one of the very rare times that we got to see it without needing to buy a concert ticket.

      Delete
  3. Norio Maeda arranged a number of her concerts from 1977 onwards. However, I noticed something interesting in the credits for her 1977 and 1978 concerts. For example, here are the credits for "How Deep is Your Love?" from 1978.

    愛はきらめきの中に(作詞・作曲:B.Gibb - R.Gibb - M.Gibb/訳詞:岩崎初美/編曲:前田憲男)

    Composition & lyrics: B Gibb, R Gibb, M Gibb
    Arrangement: Norio Maeda
    Translation: Hatsumi Iwasaki

    It's a bit like Yoko Aki singing backing in some of Momoe's songs; she's there, so is she interested in doing something.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Jim.

      I remember "How Deep is Your Love?" not totally from "Saturday Night Fever" but also from the fact that our band to practice playing it in junior high. Believe me, our version sounded so different and worse than the original.:)

      Delete
  4. Someone compiled all the MC parts in her The Star video.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqeZSgEiFSg

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Jim. Sultry and slightly hammy with a nice husky voice.

      Delete
  5. I have the 30th Anniversary collection (~2004 production) and can confirm it does not appear. There are CDs named "Rare Tracks" and "Hiromi on TV" and unfortunately it does not appear there either.

    There's a history booklet that in the box that doesn't seem to mention the song nor the program it was on either. Shame, this might be one of the songs to download from YT before it gets scrubbed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello, Lu, and thanks for confirmation. I'm hoping that the song will somehow stay up for as long as it's possible before the powers-that-be get into its search-and-take-down mode.

      Delete
  6. A note about the backing singers: they are a trio called Fanny Cast. Of particular note is the middle singer, who is called Keiko Yoshikawa (吉川恵子). She used to be in a folk duo called Marie with Akemi Fujitani in the late 1970s, before breaking up around 1978 (although they got back together in 2021).

    More significantly, Fanny Cast may only have been a part time backing trio, since Yoshikawa was more occupied as a manager for musical talents, including Hiromi (and Junko Yagami, Ryoko Moriyama...). She was Hiromi's manager at the time of this song, and she was her manager going into the late 90s at least, since Hiromi credits her with insisting that she took on Les Miserables to take her out of a period of depression (thus leading to her meeting Takuya Kon).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Jim. Thanks very much for the information on Fanny Cast, especially on Yoshikawa's help on getting Hiromi to take on "Les Miserables". Somehow, somewhere I heard the name of this trio.

      Delete
  7. Yoshikawa is part of the chorus in a number of Hiromi's albums, including Diamant. I tried a different google translate, and another version is "Funny Cast" (ファニー・キャスト).

    Someone's been uploading a number of videos recently which included a trio called EVE. The name sounded familiar, until I checked and they were the backing in Mikan no Shozo, and as you commented in one of your articles on them, many other artists of that era.

    Here's one of the videos. There are a few EVE videos on that channel (and a rare clip of Honoka Suzuki singing Madonna Tachi no Lullaby).

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rl1cnNjPgfg

    ReplyDelete

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