Akiko Wada -- Sayonara wo Iwanaide（さよならを言わないで）

 

Entertainer Akiko Wada（和田アキ子）has been a singer, TV personality, emcee, comedienne and actress for decades but for me, when it comes down to it, I always think of her as that first aspect, as a singer, specifically under that title of The Queen of Japanese Rhythm and Blues. Although she hasn't really sung anything new in the past couple of years at least, any appearances on NHK's Kohaku Utagassen for example will have her belting out her brassy hits of yesteryear such as "Ano Kane wo Narasu no wa Anata" （あの鐘を鳴らすのはあなた）.

So I was rather surprised to find out while doing the blog over the past several years that Wada has actually been one of the handful of veteran singers who have also plied their vocal cords toward City Pop. But perhaps I shouldn't really be that shocked by the revelation since R&B is also one of the engines for this style. In any case, the one example that I discovered was her "Datte Sho ga Nai Janai"  （だってしょうがないじゃない）from 1988, a smooth and sophisticated urban contemporary tune which possesses those caviar-and-champagne synths I've often referred to when talking about such tunes from that time period.

However, lo and behold, it looks like Wada had dipped into the City Pop well long before "Datte Sho ga Nai Janai". Back in 1978, she released an album called "Park Avenue 7 pm". Just from that title, it sounds quite City Pop, and indeed I found this track with the dramatic name of "Sayonara wo Iwanaide" (Don't Say Goodbye). Also as that album title intimates, the setting is indeed New York City and it's a Big Apple making its transition from autumn to winter according to one Japanese-language blog.

As much as "Datte Sho ga Nai Janai" is a representative of the City Pop of its time, "Sayonara wo Iwanaide" holds its own banner of the City Pop of the mid-to-late 1970s with that alternately silky-smooth and brassy arrangement of how the Japanese could have felt about what life was like in New York back then. There is that amazing jazz saxophone playing somewhere in Manhattan perhaps, but at the same time, there are those shimmering strings that remind me of Keiko Maruyama's（丸山圭子）"Douzo Kono Mama" (どうぞこのまま）, another 1970s example of City Pop, although more in the bossa nova vein, as it reflects some of that romantic Mancini magic.

Along with that sax, I can also hear the delicate piano and the bluesy guitar so I figure that must have been quite the trio backing up Wada. The singer herself seems to have a slightly echoing and perhaps an even more tentative delivery in comparison with her more reassured singing of "Datte Sho ga Nai Janai" a decade later. Perhaps "Park Avenue 7 pm" was indeed her first foray into something like jazz balladry or pure City Pop which might explain some of that uncertainty but on repeated listenings to the song, I can also pick up some appealing smokiness in her voice, too.

It's a pity then that, try as I might, I couldn't track down who were on the instruments, but after some searching through the JASRAC database, I was able to find out who had crafted "Sayonara wo Iwanaide". Reiko Iwamura（いまむられいこ）was behind the lyrics while Tomoko Hakata（八角朋子）took care of the music. That last name of the composer is a guess since Jisho.org has provided a number of readings for the kanji and the Yahoo search engine couldn't help me out this time.

Regardless, I will have to see whether I can find more tracks from "Park Avenue 7 pm". The jazzier and more romantic side of early City Pop is another side that I appreciate.