Crest Four Singers/Minako Yoshida -- Rum wa O-Suki?（ラムはお好き？）

 

Although among my friends, I'm most likely the most teetotaling member of the group, I have enjoyed the odd beer, sake and shochu both here and in Japan. I even have a soft spot in my heart for the sweeter liqueurs such as cassis, Kahlua and rum. That last one is something that I've had in cake and Coke along with my cocktails.🍹

Therefore, if anyone in Japan asks me something like "Rum wa o-suki?", I can nod my head to a certain reluctant degree...in moderation, of course. Speaking of which, I have this song by the jazz vocal group Crest Four Singers with the very same title. "Rum wa O-Suki?" (Do You Like Rum?) is the B-side to the quintet's 1979 single "Hey! Mister Smile".

I've already posted up one other song by Crest Four Singers, the Big Band-friendly "Sun Shade"（サン・シェイド）and I found out about that one through the YouTube channel, New J Channel. Lightning has apparently struck twice since I've just discovered "Rum wa O-Suki?" in the same fashion, so my thanks to the channel administrators. In any case, compared to that first Crest Four Singers song, "Rum wa O-Suki?" is definitely another tune made in the mold of The Manhattan Transfer, specifically in the delivery by the group, but the Big Band feeling has been taken down for this particular song and there's a bit more in the way of cute little contemporary bleeps and bloops of synthesizers accompanying the laidback melody, strangely enough.

Well, the reason behind this is that two of the songwriters happen to be straight from technopop pioneers Yellow Magic Orchestra. Yup, Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）and Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）helped arranged the latter's music, and another surprise is that J-R&B queen Minako Yoshida（吉田美奈子）provided the lyrics. I gather that because of the title, "Rum wa O-Suki?" may be a second cousin to another booze-themed title a little over a decade down the line, "Whiskey ga O-Suki deshou?" (ウィスキーが、お好きでしょ）, which is a torch song by enka singer Sayuri Ishikawa（石川さゆり）.

Going further down the rabbit hole, I've discovered that Crest Four Singers' version is actually a cover of the Yoshida original from her March 1976 album "Flapper". The same jazziness is there but without the synthpop aspect. Instead, the original has a taste of Hosono's Tin Pan Alley sound. I actually feel like that I am sitting in a Tiki bar as I listen to it, although I hope that Yoshida was able to get rid of that over-insistent bartender at the end.

Akiko Futaba -- Sayonara Rumba（さよならルンバ）

 

Over the past several weeks that the sports events of the Tokyo Olympics, the Paralympics and the annual high school baseball tournament at Koshien Stadium in between, there have been a lot of cancellations on the NHK schedule. That includes the kayo program "Uta Con"（うたコン）, and though I haven't exactly curled up into a traumatized fetal position because of its weeks-long disappearance from the television, I'm hoping that it will be returning fairly soon. It would be nice to get some of the old music back into my ears again.

Well, until that happens, there is always YouTube. And indeed, I did find an oldie but a goodie from November 1948. "Sayonara Rumba" (The Goodbye Rumba) was performed by Akiko Futaba（二葉あき子）as one of her string of hits in the immediate postwar period along with her cover of "Yoru no Platform"（夜のプラットホーム）.

Written by Ko Fujiura（藤浦洸）and composed by Takio Niki（仁木他喜雄）, "Sayonara Rumba" has that flavour of that swanky Latin nightclub in a snazzy area of Tokyo such as Ginza (although I'm not sure how ritzy the neighbourhood was in 1948 so relatively soon after the war). In addition, judging from Fujiura's lyrics about fondly but adamantly saying goodbye in some nighttime establishment after a torrid love affair, perhaps "Sayonara Rumba" can also be considered to be a predecessor of the typical Mood Kayo. Simply have that final dance on the floor before fading away in two directions.

Covers of "Sayonara Rumba" have been done over the years by singers such as Mitsuko Nakamura（中村美津子）and Machiko Watanabe（渡辺真知子）below.

Anri/Ami Ozaki -- Namida wo Umi ni Kaeshitai（涙を海に返したい）

Here I was wondering what I was going to do for the final day of August 2021 when good ol' Van Paugam informed all of us via Twitter that Anri（杏里）just celebrated her 60th birthday today. So, definitely a very happy kanreki to her; not sure if she wore anything red but Ms. Eiko Kawashima（川島 栄子）would look fine in any colour anyways.

Anri was all of seventeen when she released her third single, "Namida wo Umi ni Kaeshitai" (I Want to Return My Tears to the Ocean) in April 1979. Just like her debut single, the iconic "Olivia wo Kikinagara"（オリビアを聴きながら）the previous year, singer-songwriter Ami Ozaki（尾崎亜美）was responsible for words and music for this melancholy song about loss and heartbreak. There is a touch of disco in there, but seeing that it's a very early song in Anri's discography, it doesn't sound like the usual summery City Pop tune that she's long been known for, and for that reason, it can be an interesting song to come across.

The arrangement was handled by Shigeru Suzuki（鈴木茂）, formerly of the rock band Happy End. I don't see any Oricon ranking for "Namida wo Umi ni Kaeshitai" on its J-Wiki article so perhaps it didn't even quite make the Top 100 (and even "Olivia wo Kikinagara" only got up as high as No. 65 in its initial release). In fact, the single didn't make its album debut until Anri's 5th BEST compilation, "MY FAVOURITE SONGS"  which was released in July 1988.

To be honest, though, I have to say that I enjoy Ozaki's cover of "Namida wo Umi ni Kaeshitai" even more than the Anri original. First appearing on her second album of self-covers, "POINTS-2" from March 1986, the tempo is a little more appropriately slower for a sad ballad and the arrangement by Shingo Kobayashi（小林信吾）is lusher. The music seems to act like that box of chocolates that any broken heart needs to help recover.

LÄ-PPISCH -- Magic Blue Case

 

One of my favourite movies of all time is "Ronin" (1998), which was one of director John Frankenheimer's final movies. A great spy caper movie starring Robert DeNiro, Jean Reno and Natascha McElhone, the plot and the characters all revolve around one little suitcase. What's in it? Who knows and who cares? It is the perfect illustration of that cinematic device known as the MacGuffin, and it was a fun two hours watching everyone stalk and kill each other over it.

For some reason, that was the movie that came to my mind as I listened to LÄ-PPISCH's September 1990 4th single, "Magic Blue Case". Written and composed by vocalist Kyoichi Sugimoto（杉本恭一）, the plot here revolves around a guy who finds a mysterious blue case one day, brings it home and finds himself rich beyond his means, only to find out that there is a fine print of sorts that doesn't bode well for the possessor. At the same time then, the song then reminds me of the tale of young Taro Urashima who brings home that forbidden box from his long time at the Dragon Palace, opens it and ends up older than the hills.

Speaking about the fine print, I should have read a bit more carefully about LÄ-PPISCH since all this time, I'd treated the band merely as a ska group, a la their light and nimble "Payapaya" （パヤパヤ）. However, according to their J-Wiki file, they actually have a much more varied resume as they have performed rock, alternative, New Wave, and funk. Listening to "Magic Blue Case", I get much more in the way of INXS than Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra.

Hitomi Ozaki -- Soushunki（早春期）

 

Ah, once again I bring you one of those many 80s aidoru that quickly came and went while getting those five minutes of fame. Additionally and as is often the case, there's very little information to be found out regarding this young lass.

Hitomi Ozaki（尾崎仁美）was born in 1969 and had an aidoru career lasting a little over two years according to what her page on "Idol.ne.jp" says. Her debut single from February 1986 was "Soushunki" which I believe means "Early Spring", so I can assume that the lyrics by Haruki Tango（丹古晴己）are talking about heartfelt falling heads-over-heels in love. The melody that hints at some of that haunting romantic uncertainty is by Kyoko Kosaka（小坂恭子）with arrangement by Eiji Kawamura（川村栄二）.

What strikes me about Ozaki though are those high-pitched clear-as-a-bell vocals that make her sound even younger than those sixteen years that she was registering when "Soushunki" was released. I don't know as of yet about her remaining four singles going into early 1988 but I think that with this inaugural song, she actually had a promising beginning. Then again, perhaps she didn't really stand out significantly enough from the rest of the aidoru crowd.

Keizo Nakanishi -- Precious Love

 

Good heavens, it's been a while since I've written about singer-songwriter Keizo Nakanishi（中西圭三）so I'm glad that I could find another song by him on YouTube. His heyday was in the 1990s and I think that he was up there with The King of Love Songs Masayuki Suzuki（鈴木雅之）himself when it came to Japanese soul singers. One thing about Nakanishi is that he often also added a touch of Motown to his creations.

This particular song, "Precious Love", finishes up his third original album "Steps" from March 1993, but I first heard it as part of a mix tape that my cousin had sent me decades ago. With lyrics by prolific Masao Urino（売野政男）, music by Nakanishi and arrangement by Takao Konishi（小西貴雄）, "Precious Love" is another quintessential Keizo tune with the percolating beats, the upbeat melody and of course the singer's soulful tones. Along with those beats, I think another highlight is the sax solo; I can be an absolute sucker for them.

"Steps" was a No. 1 hit for Nakanishi and the album also contains another supremely catchy track, "Ticket to Paradise". 

Rui Tachihara -- Kita no Daichi（北の大地）

 

via Wikipedia

As far as I know (and if I'm wrong, please correct me), the two main air routes to Japan from Toronto via Air Canada are the ones going to Tokyo and Osaka. I don't know whether there are flights coming and going to the northern island of Hokkaido but certainly I wouldn't mind getting there directly someday. My one and only time to Sapporo was a good one, and I wish that I can actually attend the annual Snow Festival there along with visiting some of the other areas such as Hakodate, Furano and Otaru.

Hokkaido was the place that I imagined as I listened to singer-songwriter Rui Tachihara's（立原累）"Kita no Daichi" (Great Land of the North). When my ANA flight landed at Shin-Chitose Airport close to Sapporo, I noted how similar the land seemed to my impression of my home country of Canada, and thanks to my favourite sketch comedy show "SCTV", we are known as The Great White North, after all. 

I never heard of Tachihara before and there's very little written about him on J-Wiki; in fact, it doesn't even say where he comes from. But the way that he sings "Kita no Daichi" which was a 1974 single, his resonant vocals show a good amount of personal passionate investment in that big land of the north. He was behind the folksy music while Keisuke Aso（麻生啓介）provided the lyrics relating the land's changes throughout the four seasons.

"Kita no Daichi" may be Tachihara's debut single and since then, he's released a number of other singles and albums at least as far ahead as 1979 and most likely into the early 1980s. I see that he also has some representation on YouTube so I'll have to give some of his other creations a look-see.

Sonny Curtis -- Love is All Around

 

Apologies for throwing in another Reminiscings of Youth article so soon after the last one but on hearing about actor Ed Asner's death earlier today, I just had to include this one. Many folks might recently remember the Kansas City-born TV and movie star from the 2009 Pixar-produced computer animated film "Up" where he played the main character of Carl Fredricksen. However for people of my generation, I will always remember Asner as crusty but lovable news director Lou Grant from "The Mary Tyler Moore Show". Can hardly believe that the show first started almost 51 years ago.

With the announcement of Asner's passing, I've only just realized that almost all of the stars from that famous 1970s sitcom, including Mary Tyler Moore, Gavin MacLeod and Ted Knight are now gone. I think actress Betty White is the only actor from that show who is still here. From what I've gathered over the years since its run between 1970 and 1977 and beyond is that "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", which was about Mary Richards and her personal/professional life involving her work buddies at WJM-TV in Minneapolis, Minnesota, could also have been originating network CBS' first attempt to break out of its reputation of being the farm comedy network since many of its successful sitcoms in the 1960s were based on characters who came from the countryside such as "Green Acres" and "The Beverly Hillbillies". 

Even as a kid, I remembered "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" right from its first season since Mary herself had such long hair. The very first time I ever saw the actress was when she was playing Laura Petrie on the black-and-white "The Dick Van Dyke Show", another beloved sitcom from the 1960s, so there was some confusion about her new hairdo and the fact that I was seeing her in colour. And for that matter, where was Dick?

I also remember seeing episodes from time to time in its initial run right from Season 1 along with the tropes of Mary's first apartment, the camaraderie among her and the WJM staff, and the appearance of the cute kitten at the end of the ending credits for each episode. But for me, I think it was in the latter half of the show's 7-year run when I was laughing my guts out at a lot of the episodes including the one that is represented at the very top of the article, "Chuckles Bites the Dust", when the local TV clown is killed in a hilarious accident. It's been voted as one of the top episodes of all time for all American television and it has even merited its own Wikipedia entry.

Yes, I still remember that this is a music blog, and a Japanese one at that, but bear with me. The show was that memorable for me. Besides, it's not the first time that I've given a TV theme song the ROY treatment (see "WKRP in Cincinnati" and "The Odd Couple"). 

 Another thing that I wax nostalgic over when it comes to "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" is the theme song. There have been a number of variations of Sonny Curtis' "Love is All Around" played over the seven seasons, but I will always choose the original version from Season 1 as my favourite take. Created by Patrick Williams, the original is cool and swinging like a Burt Bacharach song (especially with the more pronounced horns), and even the instrumental version of "Love is All Around" used for the ending credits is also my favourite among the variations used during the show's run.

Well, I can perhaps say that almost all of the WJM staff have gotten together once more in a new and better place with love all around. In any case, since the show premiered in September 1970, what were some of the singles that came out around that time. Two of them are actually re-releases from the early 1960s while the other one is once again showing a discrepancy in terms of release month with Showa Pops.

Frank Nagai -- Kiriko no Tango （霧子のタンゴ）

Yukio Hashi and Sayuri Yoshinaga -- Itsudemo Yume wo （いつでも夢を）

Toi et Moi -- Hatsukoi no Hito ni Niteiru（初恋の人に似ている）

Anzen Chitai -- V (Friends, Side 2)

 

Well, it isn't exactly early August now, but I did promise to bring Side 2 of the "Friends" LP portion of Anzen Chitai's（安全地帯）mammoth undertaking "V" from December 1986 at that time. At least, I still got it in within the month itself. Side 1 has been up since July 24th.

The original Side 2 began with a brief and lonely instrumental version of "Friend" that I had talked about in the very first article on "V" that I created back in 2012, but then it goes into the darker and introspective "Chigiru Night"（チギルナイト）. I'd always wondered what that title meant and a part of me rather darkly, as it were, thought "Chigger Night" which of course had me going "Ick". The last thing anyone needs on the mattress is a horde of biting chiggers. 

But then I checked out good ol' Jisho, and I found out that chigiru（契る）can mean "having sex". Well, that would be a great improvement over having to grab a can of Raid. Still, there doesn't seem to be any sort of romanticism in this particular song created by vocalist Koji Tamaki（玉置浩二）and lyricist Goro Matsui（松井五郎）. There is quite a bit of urgency and mystery, though.

Then, we come to "Kowarerushikanai"（こわれるしかない...Gotta Break It） which brings back some of that old Anzen Chitai sound and maybe even a soupcon of Beatles near the end. With the background of crickets sounding off in the background, it's another fairly serious song about a breakup that is inevitable and cold to the touch. Love isn't always a fun thing, apparently.

"Fushigi na Yoru"（不思議な夜...An Odd Night） has Anzen Chitai's brand of bossa nova with a synthesizer or some contraption making like glass bottles. It all sounds rather woozy after a night of carousing with the final destination being bed. Tamaki's vocals especially have a certain sinister and sneakily tempting tone as if the man himself were offering a Faustian deal to a fellow who has a little too much romance on the mind.

"Yakusoku"（約束）already has its own entry and as I mentioned there, it's a summer sunset sort of a song with plenty of mellowness. The following track also hints at happier themes compared with the first few tracks of this side. The romantic "Omoide ni Tsutsumarete"（想い出につつまれて...Wrapped in Memories） was actually used as the commercial jingle for Osaka Gas portable heaters, but aside from that point, the song is another example how Tamaki's falsetto can send any listener into rapture. Y'know, if "Chigiru Night" is about plain ol' sex and "Kowarerushikanai" is about the ugly breakup, "Omoide ni Tsutsumarete" can just be the melodic equivalent of snuggling up close. Incidentally, the song was also Side B for Anzen Chitai's hit "Suki sa"（好きさ）.

The final track is "Kioku no Mori"（記憶の森...Memory Woods）, a short ballad but one of the most beautiful that the band has ever created with the piano phrasing and then the entry of some epic strings. And Tamaki has never sounded so gloriously haunting through his vocals as he describes gradually being unable to remember many things as time passes except for that one kind voice in his heart. I can imagine a ballet or some form of contemporary dance being set to this song.

Generally, I think Side 2 of "Friends" has more of that exploration into the sadder and darker places of the heart but with some glimmers of hope. It makes for an interesting juxtaposition with Side 1 which had that party hearty atmosphere for the most part. Anyways, the next entry in "V" will be Side 1 of the "Suki sa" LP.

Cast of "Kageki Shojo!!" -- Hoshi no Tabibito（星の旅人）

 

Conversing with my anime buddy weekly, I've been aware that he has not only been enjoying the second season of "Kobayashi-san no Maid Dragon"（小林さんちのメイドラゴン）but there's been another series catching his eye.

Titled "Kageki Shojo!!"（かげきしょうじょ!!...Opera Girls!!）, the original manga is all about a fictionalized version of the famed Takarazuka Revue Company, the all-female musical acting troupe known for their very elaborate performances. I actually put up an article earlier this month on what has become the troupe's trademark song. As for the anime adaptation that began almost a couple of months ago, it's all about the laughter, tears, trials and tribulations for the girls going through the exclusive academy to train and educate them into becoming top stars on the stage.

Frankly speaking, I've yet to see an episode (it may be a tad too melodramatic for me) but my anime buddy did cotton me onto the ending theme. As soon as I saw that ending credit sequence, I knew that it was just screaming Takarazuka at me. The ending song itself is "Hoshi no Tabibito" (Star Traveler) which is performed by a couple of the seiyuu cast, Sayaka Senbogi（千本木彩花）and Yumiri Hanamori（花守ゆみり）. Both voice thespians are familiar to me from other shows, especially with Hanamori since she has portrayed the long-suffering but immensely resourceful Ai Hayasaka from "Kaguya-sama: Love is War".

In the past, I have heard of the same anime ending theme being performed by different members of the cast in a particular show for different episodes, but I think that this might be the first time that I've ever heard of an ending theme of the same composition being performed under different lyrics, a different title and by different members of the seiyuu cast for each episode. And indeed, this has been the case for "Kageki Shojo!!". 

For this particular ending, Riko Sasaki（佐々木李子）and Sumire Uesaka（上坂すみれ）tackle the theme under the title "Shinayaka na Mirai"（シナヤカナミライ...An Elegant Future）. Apparently, the ending for Episode 8 features yet another version with another change in title and lyrics and seiyuu. In all cases, I can also hear the Takarazuka-ness of it all through the nimble and dramatic melody by Tsuneyoshi Saito（斉藤恒芳）, and he was also responsible for the different sets of lyrics.

Ah, I can feel the sweet pain!

Danjuro Kikkawa/Manami Kawada -- Ah, Miyagi-ken（ああ宮城県）

 

Happily from what I've read, the annual Tanabata Festival in the city of Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture was back on tap earlier this month after having to cancel the 2020 edition due to COVID-19. Mind you, it was apparently a smaller version because of the ongoing pandemic but at least the show did go on. Sorry to say, though, I never had the opportunity to visit Sendai or any of Miyagi Prefecture, especially considering that one of my good friends here hails from the area.

Some months ago, I discovered this folk/pop song in tribute to the province titled "Ah, Miyagi-ken" (Ah, Miyagi Prefecture) as originally created and sung by Miyagi-born radio personality, potter and singer-songwriter Danjuro Kikkawa（吉川団十郎）. Released as his second single in April 1976, it's a down-to-earth and happy singalong about his home prefecture with the usual lyrical theme of realizing that the fresh fish and incredible rice, among other charms, of Miyagi outweigh anything that Tokyo has to offer.

Almost a quarter of a century later, a more contemporary version of the song titled "Ah, Miyagi-ken 2020" was recorded by local tarento Manami Kawada（川田愛美）.

Yumi Kojima -- Feel so Nyan-Nyan

 

Obviously, there have been plenty of tie-ups between anime and hit songs but once in a while, I encounter songs that have been inspired by manga. In fact, I think that I have written about one other example but unfortunately at the moment, I can't remember the song although I'm pretty certain that it was an 80s tune.

Anyways, one example that I have here is the manga "Neko Janai mon!"（ネコじゃないモン！...I'm Not a Cat, You Know!）by Kentaro Yano（矢野健太郎）that had its initial run in "Young Jump" magazine between 1982 and 1985. The story revolves around the character of college student Naoko Miyamoto who suffered lasting trauma as a young girl involving a kitten, only to draw the attention of a cat. For some reason, although J-Wiki doesn't have any article about the manga (though it does have one devoted to Yano), Wikipedia has one, and according to it, there has yet to be any sort of anime adaptation.

Still, the manga was popular enough that a single and a full album based on "Neko Janai mon!" were created in 1983. The single's A-side took on the title of the manga but for this article, I'm looking at the B-side, "Feel so Nyan-Nyan" which I guess could be translated as "Feel so Meow Meow". Written and composed by singer-songwriter Hiroko Taniyama（谷山浩子）, the singer behind the song is Yumi Kojima（児島由美）who brings her own kittenish qualities to the performance. I'm happy enough with "Feel so Nyan-Nyan" to call it a pop song but it does have elements of jazz and City Pop bouncing around here and there, and the lyrics talk about the carefree life of a cat.

Kojima herself is a singer-songwriter who was raised in Sapporo but currently lives in Tokyo. She started learning piano at a tender age and then learned koto in her teens. As with many budding artists in the music industry, she entered the Yamaha Popular Song Contest in the late 1970s where she won a prize for her creation "Yume no Tabi"（夢の旅...Dream Trip）. In 1979, she made her single debut with "Otoko no Ko Mitai ni"（男の子みたいに...Like Boys） with an album later on called "Comme des Garcons"（コム・デ・ギャルソン）. I've just heard one track on YouTube from that album, and I will cover it next month.

evening cinema -- Neon Sign ga Yonderu（ネオンサインが呼んでる）

 

Ahhh...the bright lights of East Shinjuku. I just hope that they are still burning bright during this pandemic. Would love to walk on those streets once more. 

Mind you, when I was living in the mountains of Gunma Prefecture over 30 years ago, I learned a gesture and an expression from my fellow staff and teachers at probably one of the many enkai that I had to attend. The gesture was doing jazz hands and the expression was "neon ga yonderu"（ネオンが呼んでる）. It literally means "The neon lights are calling" but I believe the true meaning is an invitation to paint the town red, and of course, living in the old town of Tsukiyono where the traffic lights start flashing on and off from the late hour of 8 pm every night, yep, I can imagine that there were folks in Gunma who were itching to get some big city time in Tokyo, 70 minutes away by Bullet Train.

During my time in the Tokyo area, I basically had access to the nocturnal lights and delights of the megalopolis pretty much all the time, but of course since I had something called a job and I was frankly anything but a party animal, "neon ga yonderu" only applied to me for a surprisingly smaller amount of time than expected. Of course, I had acquaintances who more than compensated for my introverted nature...and sometimes paid a heavy price, and I just don't mean financially. Still, I can understand the attraction of having fun in one of the largest cities on Earth.

Anyways, my preamble ramble was all to introduce a song whose title is quite similar to that expression that I learned in Gunma decades ago. The band evening cinema, which now has fair representation on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", has been around to give out their brand of urban contemporary music with a base of 70s and 80s City Pop. The most recent article that I devoted to leader and vocalist Natsuki Harada（原田夏樹）and company was back in December with their 2020 single, "Night Magic", which I felt had some of those influences of Kirinji and ORESAMA.

Well, I've gone back even further into November 2019, and this time, their single from back then, "Neon Sign ga Yonderu" (The Neon Signs are Calling) seems to be harkening back to the rhythms of Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）. Written and composed by Harada, the song also has those tiny bleeps and bloops to keep things nice and contemporary. However, the lyrics don't really talk about getting that invitation to frolic in the big city; actually, they seem to be about a guy hopelessly in love and getting all restless every minute that he's away from the target of his ardor. Still for me, it's the bass, piano and saxophone that have gotten my attention. 

"Neon Sign ga Yonderu" is also a track on evening cinema's August 2020 mini-album "Aesthetics". I think the effect of Vaporwave was not lost on these guys, and certainly the cover for the single itself has that sort of look.

Rumiko Koyanagi -- Sayonara Shibai（サヨナラ芝居）

 

When I first heard this song, I had initially thought that this would be a City Pop tune but then on repeated listenings, I now feel that this is something else although there is something quite urban and urbane about it.

Singer and actress Rumiko Koyanagi（小柳ルミ子）has delved into a number of styles whether it be her early aidoru tunes of the early 1970s such as "Watashi no Joukamachi" (わたしの城下町）, her sexier stuff starting with her 1984 kayo hit "Ohisashiburi ne" (お久しぶりね）and a bit of Mood Kayo thanks to her "Midare Gami"（みだれ髪）. Therefore, there was initial excitement from me when I first heard "Sayonara Shibai" (The Goodbye Game) since I'd thought "Oooh, even Koyanagi was getting on board the City Pop bandwagon!".

However on second and third thoughts, I have to change my mind. Now I believe that her "Sayonara Shibai" is maybe more appropriate to that chaise lounge-friendly and more European-sounding Fashion Music from around the turn of the decade from the 1970s into the 1980s. A few years ago, I actually wrote up an article talking about that very sub-genre with sample singers so have a gander at that, if you so desire.

For me, "Sayonara Shibai", which was created by lyricist Fumiko Okada（岡田冨美子）and composer Kimio Mizutani（水谷公生）, begins with that languid rhythm that feels quite French and fairly jaunty for something that I have described as Fashion Music but I did envisage that representative chaise lounge with its inhabitant asking for those grapes, one at a time. Then again, I could also imagine Koyanagi acting as that veteran hostess tying each of her paramours around her well-manicured pinkie at the same time. 

Interestingly enough, that combination of synthesizers and bass reminds me of another singer with the same initials as Rumiko Koyanagi: Ruiko Kurahashi（倉橋ルイ子）. And Kurahashi is another member of the Fashion Music sorority.

It took quite the effort to track down when "Sayonara Shibai" made its premiere but I finally found out that it was a track on Koyanagi's April 1980 album "Limelight"（来夢来人）. 

Naoki Watanabe -- Saigo no Coin（最後のコイン）

 

Just a little over a year ago, I wrote about bassist Naoki Watanabe（渡辺直樹）, who has worked with the bands Spectrum and AB's, and his solo album "She" from 1987 via the laidback track "Veranda no Carib"（ベランダのカリブ）.

Later that year, Watanabe cut another album called "Star Child" and the launching song here is "Saigo no Coin" (The Last Coin). Composed by Watanabe and written by his old bandmate from AB's, Yoshihiko Ando（安藤芳彦）, I've read in a YouTube comment that the person was hooked within the first several seconds. It took me about the same length of time as well to get with the program on "Saigo no Coin", and the Japanese-language "Music Avenue" has also praised the opening acapella chorus and how Watanabe shows off more of that falsetto of his. Not sure whether he had a lot of opportunities to show off his vocals when he was with AB's and Spectrum, but I think he certainly has the chops for the mike.

Image-wise, I think of that dreamy sunset walk along the beach when I listen to "Saigo no Coin". I don't quite know what Ando's lyrics are alluding to, although the title might hint at a rather sad but perhaps necessary final phone call to a soon-to-be ex-paramour. If that is indeed the case, I will take my image over that.

Hitomi Tohyama -- Baby, Baby, Baby

 

A penny for your thoughts...😋

This will probably be the first and last time that you'll ever read a City Pop equivalent of a Dad joke, so either savor it or spit it out. Still, it's a sunny Friday in Toronto and even better, it's a lot less oppressively humid than it has been for the past few days, but unfortunately heading into the weekend, the 3H (hot, hazy and humid) weather will be back.

Getting back on track, I've found a sunny and relaxing tune by Hitomi "Penny" Tohyama（当山ひとみ）from her debut album "Just Call Me Penny" released in May 1981 (considering that provocative way she's seated in the chair on the album cover, I may have no choice). "Baby, Baby, Baby" is a track written and composed by Yoshihide Yonekura（米倉良広）that possesses that essence of 70s soul, and I'm almost always going to enjoy anything that has a sweet flute and mellow horns in it. Unlike my City Pop oyaji gag above, I'm hoping that listeners will totally savor "Baby, Baby, Baby". Along with that 70s soul, I can also say that some Boz Scaggs got into the arrangement about halfway through.

I feel as if I've already covered a good chunk of "Just Call Me Penny" already since I have written up a number of articles for the individual tracks. You can also look at "Rainy Driver", "Door Goshi no Good Song"（ドア越しのGood Song） and "SFO-OAKLAND".

Mutsumi Inoue -- Nitamono Doushi（似たもの同志）

 

Another pleasant surprise from a singer that I hadn't heard of before, Mutsumi Inoue's（井上睦都実）"Nitamono Doushi" (Kindred Spirits) hails from her third and final full studio album "Shiawase na Denim"（幸せなデニム...Happy Denim） from July 1994. For some reason, the album has been categorized as an aidoru creation according to its J-Wiki article, and though I know that I'm just going with this one track, I don't know whether Inoue would be considered a teenybopper singer, at least for "Shiawase na Denim".

"Nitamono Doushi" is a pretty polished summer pop song in my opinion and Inoue shares some vocal qualities with Misato Watanabe（渡辺美里）although I don't know whether the former has that boomer quality like the latter. There's also a hint of some West Coast AOR through the keyboards and the wailing electric guitar. "Nitamono Doushi" does have that contemporary 90s sheen but overall I believe that it could almost have been lifted straight from the decade before. Inoue herself wrote the lyrics and she was backed up some pretty solid songwriters as well with Akito Kitayose（片寄明人）from the band GREAT 3 handling the melody and Tatsuya Nishiwaki（西脇辰弥）from the amazing one-and-done group PAZZ being responsible for the smooth arrangement of this particular song as well as the rest of "Shiawase na Denim".

Inoue hails from Kumamoto Prefecture but was also raised in Fukuoka Prefecture, and along with her jobs of being a singer and a lyricist, she was also a model. In addition to those four studio albums, she released five singles between 1992 and 1994 and three mini-albums up to 2001. Finally, Inoue has provided lyrics for songs recorded by singers including Hitomi Shimatani（島谷ひとみ）, Hikaru Nishida（西田ひかる）and Satoshi Ikeda（池田聡）.

capsule -- Retro Memory（レトロメモリー）

 

First off, I would love to know where that café is. Secondly, that must have been one laid-back video shoot. Capsule vocalist Toshiko Koshijima（こしじまとしこ）does her singing in that Pan Am flight attendant outfit with an orange fetish and then she can sit down for a bit of lunch with whom I assume is her partner and songwriter Yasutaka Nakata（中田ヤスタカ）. But then again, it was all about the breezy life in the early years of the duo, wasn't it?

The last time I wrote about capsule was about 2 1/ 2 months ago in mid-June with their most recent production "Hikari no Disco"（ひかりのディスコ）, a tribute to those 1980s and Vaporwave. Well, I'm heading back to February 2004, when capsule was more about the Shibuya-kei rather than the EDM. I have here their 7th single "Retro Memory".

Let's bring out those martini glasses, shall we? Naturally written and composed by Nakata, "Retro Memory" has all of that wonderfully swinging French jazz and Koshijima's kittenish vocals to take us on that nostalgia trip. The vocalist is giving her thanks and farewells to all those old lovely memories before heading back to the present. However, there doesn't seem to be anything maudlin here. Everyone had their fun time but all good things must come to an end and all that, and there are no regrets. Head back home with a skip.

"Retro Memory" hit No. 50 on Oricon and the song was also a part of capsule's first BEST album "Flash Best" which came out in August 2009. It hit No. 7 on the charts.

Mimori Yusa -- Hoshikuzu no Platz（星屑の停留所）

 

Sheepish J-Canuck here. Sheepish because up to now, the only article written up on eclectic singer-songwriter Mimori Yusa（遊佐未森）was February 2013 when nikala contributed Yusa's "Kureteyuku Sora wa" (暮れてゆく空は). Nikala herself mentioned in that article that "...Yusa only enjoyed mild popularity, since her music and lyrics were considered eccentric by mass audiences". And yet, there was a fairly sizable flood of fresh unusual acts coming out in the final few years of the 1980s when she debuted such as PSY-S, Tama and Jitterin' Jinn, and I've liked all those and more. So allow me to rectify.

At the end of her article, nikala also introduced "Chizu wo Kudasai"  (地図をください...A Map, Please) which was Yusa's 3rd single from February 1989. Well, I have the coupling song from that single, "Hoshikuzu no Platz" (Stardust Bus Stop), and the pop melody by Takafumi Sotoma（外間隆史）was probably like a breath of fresh air for those listeners who were perhaps getting a tad tired of all of the heavy synthesizers and electric guitars at that time. Both Yusa's vocals and the arrangement are very organic and airy for a lack of better terms.

The lyrics by Junko Kudo（工藤順子）seem to relate the beginning of a fantastical trip to isekai through the usual route of an attic with a mysterious trunk...leading to a magical bus stop(?), and Yusa is trying to invite us all on the voyage. I gather that the video above of her performing "Hoshikuzu no Platz" was from the same NHK program that featured "Chizu wo Kudasai" as shown in nikala's video, and I think that the whole setup including Yusa's outfit is very reminiscent of PSY-S' presentation, although again anything electronic is very much subdued.

Seri Ishikawa -- Fuwa Fuwa WOW WOW（フワフワ・WOW・WOW）

 

I figured that for a song with this title, Pikachu would fit the thumbnail bill.

Well, for a blistering Hump Day today, I think something like a relaxing 1970s New Music song would be appropriate to help in some cooling down. Therefore, why not go with "Fuwa Fuwa WOW WOW" (Fluffy Fluffy WOW WOW), a footloose and fancy-free tune from Seri Ishikawa（石川せり）via her January 1976 sophomore album, "Tokidoki Watashi wa..."（ときどき私は…Sometimes I...）?

With lyrics by Ranbo Minami（みなみらんぼう）, music by Yasuo Higuchi（樋口康雄）and jazzy arrangement by Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）, "Fuwa Fuwa WOW WOW" is a truly short song at a little over 2 1/2 minutes, but considering how the protagonist simply desires a light and happy life, I gather that extending it any longer could have risked adding a little too much gravitas. There's some of that skippy piano, fleet-footed Latin guitar and a bluesy saxophone contributing to the fun. Still, the song, and the album for that matter, has quite the pedigree behind it in terms of musicians. Sugar Babe（シュガーベイブ）and Singers Three（ シンガーズ・スリー）are helping out on backing vocals, Tsugutoshi Goto（後藤次利）is on bass, and then there are Akiko Yano（矢野顕子）and Masataka Matsutoya（松任谷正隆）on the keyboards. The album, which peaked at No. 34 on the Oricon chart, also has Ishikawa's "Hitori Shibai"（ひとり芝居）which I wrote about back in 2018.

A single version of "Fuwa Fuwa WOW WOW" was released a few months later in April and in place of the jazz, a bit of progressive rock seems to have seeped into the arrangement. It's still the same short length and has that lightness, but I prefer the original album track.

Hideyo Morimoto -- Uwaki nara Ii wa（浮気ならいいわ）

 

I could only imagine what it was like during the Bubble Era in Japan during the mid to late 1980s. Mind you, I did get a taste of what the nation was like during that Toronto Japanese Language School graduation trip in the summer of 1981 but certainly at my age at that time, I wasn't getting into any nightclubs, discos or hostess establishments. Perhaps even before the Bubble, the yen was flowing like champagne.🍸

The Bubble Era is what I hear from Hideyo Morimoto's（森本英世）B-side, "Uwaki nara Ii wa" (I'm Up for an Affair, Darling), for his 1985 single "Hotel"（ホテル）. Seeing those two titles on opposite sides of the 45", I can definitely envisage some heavy romancing and liberal spending of cash here. It's some of that Latin-tinged Mood Kayo with the contemporary addition of a whining electric guitar. The prolific Rei Nakanishi（なかにし礼）was the lyricist while veteran Koichi Morita（森田公一）composed the melody, with Koji Ryuzaki（竜崎孝路）providing the snappy arrangement.

Morimoto was born Hiroshi Izutani（泉谷廣）in Sakai City, Metropolitan Osaka in January 1949, and it appears that he went on the Hiroshi Itsuki（五木ひろし）route of stage names after his debut in show business from 1965. He was first known as Hiroshi Nitta（新田洋）and then went with Ryuji Dai（大竜二）for a time before settling on Hideyo Morimoto in 1971. In 1973, he joined the Mood Kayo group Toshi Ito and Happy & Blue（敏いとうとハッピー＆ブルー）where he enjoyed success with their hits for about a decade, before he decided to go solo again in 1983. Since then, he's been releasing singles up to 2017.

The Rolling Stones -- Paint It Black

 

I realize that it's a day early for Reminiscings of Youth but on hearing yesterday about the passing of The Rolling Stones' drummer, Charlie Watts (1941-2021), I felt that I should have put something up as soon as possible. Now, I was never a Rolling Stones fan but their presence in popular culture was so great that even as a non-fan, at least some of their songs were very well known to me such as "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and "Jumpin' Jack Flash", and I knew about the outsized personalities of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Often when I compare 80s aidoru superstars Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）and Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）, I use the analogy of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones as respectively applied to them.

(Video from the Drum Channel)

My lone Rolling Stones anecdote comes from years back when I was teaching at the second school during my 1994-2011 time in the Kanto region. One Monday, I had to do a series of level checks for young employees at the swanky Four Seasons Hotel in Tokyo not too far away from Japan's equivalent of The Pentagon. Once I was finished, I was given a pleasant afternoon tea service as part of their gratitude and I had a nice conversation with the hotel manager which led to some of the famous stars that have stayed at the Four Seasons. When he told me that The Rolling Stones had stayed there, his eyes rolled so hard in his head that their pupils could have bulged out the back of it. Let's say that they weren't the cleanest or the most button-down of guests.

And yet, I couldn't have imagined that Charlie Watts would have been involved in any of the debauchery (although I came to know about his vices in the 1980s). When I first saw him on television in the 70s or 80s, he already looked old to me compared to Mick and the others. Watts' hair was either already gray or graying. I don't know anything about his drumming philosophy or style but he always struck me as being the stoic parental anchor behind those drums. He appeared well-grounded and very dapper in his suits, and I think that he would have been the most approachable Stone.

For this ROY article, I've gone with one of their first hits, "Paint It Black" which was released as a single in May 1966. It's one of the Stones' songs that I know very well and even my anime buddy who has love for electric guitars has played "Paint It Black" constantly as part of his practice regime. Not being too cognizant about the Stones and their work, as I've mentioned above, listening to "Paint It Black", which was created by Jagger and Richards, there was the familiar melody with the sitar which I would find out on Wikipedia was the first time that a song with such an instrument would become a No. 1 hit. I also discovered that "Paint It Black" dealt with a person's earth-shattering loss and how he saw the world during that time of mourning.

Covers of "Paint It Black" have been done over and over in the decades since the song's initial success, and that includes Japanese artists. Given the direct translation of "Kuroku Nure!"（黒くぬれ!）, rockers such as RC Succession（RCサクセション）and Kenji Sawada（沢田研二）have given the Stones' classic their own take. RC Succession, led by the late Kiyoshiro Imawano（忌野清志郎）, is performing the song above although I couldn't find out who had provided the Japanese lyrics.

Now, what was being released in May 1966 in Japan according to Showa Pops?

Kazuko Matsuo & Hiroshi Wada and Mahina Stars -- Ginza Blues（銀座ブルース）

Mike Maki -- Bara ga Saita （バラが咲いた）

Jackey Yoshikawa & His Blue Comets -- Aoi Hitomi（青い瞳）

Sachiko Kumagai -- Koi no Iro（恋の色）

 

Ooh, boy. I think that we broke some temperature records today and we may even top those by tomorrow afternoon. The fan and the air conditioner have been pulling off some double duty today and I figure that before I get out of bed tomorrow morning, I may turn on the fan for an hour or so. It rather feels like being back in Ichikawa during the summer but I know that things were even hotter and stickier at night over there.

Well, I figure that I can post a somewhat more cooling article tonight before hitting the shower and bed. Therefore, I'm going to go with Sachiko Kumagai's（熊谷幸子）"Koi no Iro" (Colour of Love). When I first heard her debut single from June 1992, I couldn't help but sense the Yuming-ness of the song, and sure enough, Masataka Matsutoya（松任谷正隆）, Yuming's（ユーミン）husband, was behind the lyrics under the pseudonym Mica Project（マイカプロジェクト）and he also co-arranged everything with Kumagai herself. Kumagai was also responsible for the basic melody.

It's not just the mellow melody but the use of those pan flute synths and the gentle piano that worked as the equivalent of a Japanese wind chime. The only thing missing is a tall glass of Calpis! "Koi no Iro" was also a track on Kumagai's debut album "Art of Dreams" which was released in September 1992. The album also contains her 2nd single "Mirai wa Kimi no Mono"（未来はきみのもの）which I wrote about back in early 2018. Anyways, I'm going ahead to peel off my clothes to head into a shower. 

Mako Ishino -- Boushi（帽子）

 

It's been a while since I've seen Mako Ishino（石野真子）. Being the late 1970s aidoru and then going on to a career in acting and appearing as a tarento, I also have to realize that she also made a transition into straight pop going into the 1980s. Although a lot of folks on this side of the Pacific, which includes orthodontists, will not agree with me here, she was also known for having one of the cuter smiles due to her yaeba（八重歯）or what we would call a snaggle-toothed smile. Since then, Ishino has had that corrected.

Anyways, I have found this track from her October 1985 album "Saffron"（サフラン）called "Boushi" (The Hat). Even though I could find the lyrics by Masumi Kawamura（川村真澄）, I still couldn't quite understand them so I gather that this was more of an image-laden dreamscape that was being portrayed. It would seem that Mako-chan has found herself in a café and she takes notice of an enigmatic figure under a hat, rakishly slanted over the man's head.  

The composer for "Boushi" was none other than keyboardist extraordinaire Hiroshi Sato（佐藤博）, the man behind the City Pop/J-AOR classic "Awakening", and I'm pretty sure that he's also the one behind the keyboards in this particular song. His seemingly delicate playing (along with Ishino's vocals) also adds to the dream-like quality of "Boushi". It's kinda like the equivalent of a cup of chamomile tea.

Yuuki Hide -- Kakero! Spider-Man（駆けろ！スパイダーマン）

 

Well...just when I thought things were starting to quieten down a tad in Marvel Land (haven't seen "What If?" yet) before "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" makes its premiere next month, out comes not only the final trailer for "Eternals" but also "Spider-Man: No Way Home". Man, Marvel is really pushing the whole multiverse thing now. 

In any case, in a similar way to how "Captain America: Civil War" looked like "Avengers 2.5", this latest Spidey movie featuring Tom Holland is making me wonder if this is "Doctor Strange 1.5". There's plenty of bang for the buck here and I'm sure that just like "Avengers: Endgame", there is a lot in this movie that is not being shown in the trailer, although we get to see an old welcome face again at the end.

Now going back further in the "Spider-Man" lore, earlier in the spring, I had devoted one of my ROY articles to the finger-snapping theme song for the original "Spider-Man" cartoon series from the 1960s, and as such, I related my memories of watching that series. Since then, I had heard that somehow Marvel gave permission for someone in Japan to create a manga series (can someone confirm?), I believe, and then came an actual tokusatsu show in the late 1970s.

Yup, Toei Company was allowed to produce a one-season series of Japan's own "Spider-Man" spanning a year between May 1978 and March 1979 according to the Wikipedia article. The iconic suit was indeed worn but that was about it for similarities. The hero wasn't photo-shooting Peter Parker but motorcycle-racing Takuya Yamashiro（山城拓也）, and this time, he even had a ship called Marveller (ahem) which could transform into the robot Leopardon. Plus, like any tokusatsu hero, this Spider-Man was now battling alien enemy threats to Earth all on his lonesome.

YEAH! YEAH! YEAH! WOW! I'll be honest here and say that the opening theme for the Japanese "Spider-Man" won't ever eclipse the original jazzy theme song by Paul Francis Webster and Bob Harris, especially after hearing Michael Bublé's take on it. Still, "Kakero! Spider-Man" (Run! Spider-Man) has that heroic and disco tokusatsu esthetic complete with syn-drums galore. The singer behind it is Yuuki Hide（ヒデ夕木）, someone that I have known for his joint recording with Kotaro Asa（朝コータロー）and Singers Three（シンガーズ・スリー）of the folk singalong and commercial jingle "Hitachi no Ki"（日立の樹）back in 1973. This time, though, Hide is putting more of his growliness into the theme. Chuumei Watanabe（渡辺宙明）was behind the music with Tohru Hirayama（平山亨）on words under the name of Saburo Yatsude（八手三郎）, a collective pseudonym used by a number of Toei producers.

To bring things full circle, Diandra Ross, in a November 2019 article for the "Screen Rant" website, stated that Yamashiro and Leopardon will make their debut in the Marvel universe when the sequel to "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" (2018) comes out late next year. Who knows? Maybe they'll even work side-by-side with Holland, Garfield and Maguire. Multiverses are just that unpredictable.

April 28, 2022: I've written about the ending theme!

ALI -- Staying in the Groove

 

It was just last week that I encountered this compilation of Neo-City Pop tunes from uploader Tone by Gridge, and the first song simply grabbed me. The track is titled "Staying in the Groove" and the band is ALI. Man, does it contain a number of styles including funk, jazz, soul and hip-hop, and the whole effect reminds me of what Jamiroquai was doing back in the late 1990s.

Wow! It's just like there's a party on my screen and everyone's invited. "Staying in the Groove" was the third digital download single by Shibuya-born outfit ALI from April 2019, and it sounds like the ideal theme song for a night out in the Youth Mecca of Japan itself. It's cool and supremely busy as if it's intentionally pushing you to run all over the neighbourhood from the famous Shibuya Crossing, up and down Spain-zaka, to the Shibuya 109 building...and enjoy it. Good golly...I think that I can even pick up on a little Stevie Wonder in there as well.

I do love that video, too. The band is basically serenading some young women who aren't sure what to do for their evening, but then gradually get drawn into ALI's dance party. Sounds like a typical Friday night in Shibuya. Plus, some of those dancing scenes remind me of that Gap commercial from over twenty years ago.

To give some background on ALI, the name is an acronym which stands for ALIEN LIBERTY INTERNATIONAL. Apparently, it took over a year for the band to come up with that name, but when a couple of members saw the tribute to Muhammad Ali after his passing on television one day in 2016, the decision was finally made. Up to this May, ALI consisted of vocalist Leo, guitarist Cesar, bassist Luthfi, saxophonist Yu, keyboardist Jin and percussionist Alex. The band has dabbled into the genres of hip-hop, house, blues rock, soul, reggae and jazz-funk according to their J-Wiki profile.

I also found out that ALI is also on indefinite hiatus as of May 2021, since one of their currently very former members, drummer Kahadio was indicted on fraud charges along with some accomplices. Supposedly also in penance, the band has taken down all of their songs from YouTube and other platforms, but their fans are still holding the torch for them by bringing back some of those songs. Certainly, I would be interested in seeing them come back someday. Until then, I will be happy to check out some more of their past work.

Junichi Inagaki -- TRANSIT (Disc 2)

 

Not quite a month ago, I put up an article talking about J-AOR crooner Junichi Inagaki's（稲垣潤一）6th BEST compilation album from December 1990, "TRANSIT". Because of the two discs containing oodles of his past hits, I decided then to focus on the first disc for that article, and as such, today we'll be taking a look at some of his stuff from Disc 2. As was the case with Disc 1, there are a few tracks here that I've covered in individual articles and I'll probably be leaving a few more here for their own articles in the future.

1. P.S. Dakishimetai Ｐ．Ｓ．抱きしめたい

2. Ichi Das no Iiwake１ダースの言い訳

3. Ａｐｒｉｌ

4. Ai no Super Magic 愛のスーパー・マジック

5. Bachelor Girl バチェラー・ガール

6. Ｊｕｓｔ　ｔｈｅ　ｓａｍｅ．．．．

7. Triangle トライアングル

8. Toki wo Koete 時を越えて

9. １・２・３

10. She is a star

11. Kimi ni Aitai Gogo 君に逢いたい午後

12. Ｓｔａｙ　ｗｉｔｈ　ｍｅ

13. Ｍｉｓｔｙ　Ｂｌｕｅ

14. ＳＨＩＮＥ　ＯＮ　ＭＥ

15. 1969 no Kataomoi１９６９の片想い

16. Ichiban Chikai Tanin いちばん近い他人

To be honest, when I first listened to "Ai no Super Magic" (Love is the Super Magic), I was caught a bit off-guard by that opening salvo of the title but when I got used to that particular greeting, I found the song pretty comfortable with that hint of Caribbean and Bacharach. The songwriting team of lyricist Kazumi Yasui（安井かずみ）and composer Kazuhiko Kato（加藤和彦）was responsible for this non-single track that was originally included in Inagaki's 6th studio album "Realistic" from March 1986. The album was a No. 1 hit for the singer and ended up as the No. 16 album of the year.

Inagaki's 7th album was also another No. 1 hit, "Mind Note" from March 1987 and it begat the reassuring love ballad "Toki wo Koete" (Beyond Time). Copywriter Yoshiaki Sagara（さがらよしあき）along with Hiroshi Shigemi（重実博）provided the lyrics about being there for someone during the hard times although I get the impression that there is a one-sided love thing about it all. Actress-turned-singer/songwriter MAYUMI came up with the perfectly AOR romantic melody which fits Inagaki to a tee.

Gotta be with my girl! That's the message from Inagaki's "Kimi ni Aitai Gogo" (The Afternoon I Want to See You), a track from his April 1989 9th album "Heart & Soul". Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）wrote the words about a fellow who's barely enduring the weekdays that he has to go through before being able to see the girlfriend for a weekend of dining, driving and loving. Once again, MAYUMI was behind the music here which has the tropical feeling but also has that unmistakable sense of either Steely Dan or the Doobie Brothers.

I chose "Stay With Me" just to see how many Miki Matsubara（松原みき）fans would perk up, but although Inagaki indeed covered the Matsubara classic years later, this first "Stay With Me" is a wholly different animal. As another track on "Heart & Soul", this was once again written by the aforementioned Akimoto and composed by Junichi Kawauchi（河内淳一）, and though this song won't have anyone forgetting that other "Stay With Me", this Inagaki original is pleasant enough with some hints of Motown. I probably would have preferred some horns over the synthesizers, though.

My final song for the article is Inagaki's 18th single "Shine On Me", a very uptempo and bright-sounding tune released in March 1990. Y'know, I'd always thought that the singer had the demeanor of a button-down mid-level manager in a huge corporation, and maybe the person who came up with the music video for "Shine On Me" thought the same as well. Inagaki looks perfect as a corporate kacho in that open-format office, but of course, he's also fine behind the mike to perform the song which was written and composed by songwriter Tatsuto Kuwamura（桑村達人）. The song was also placed in Inagaki's April 1990 album "Self Portrait".

Following the listen to Disc 2, my general impression is that Inagaki gradually shed some of that Japanese City Pop as the 80s came to and end, and went into a more West Coast pop direction although I don't think that he strayed far from his AOR roots. He will always be my Mr. Relaxation of J-Pop!

Makiko Takada -- Blues Singer

 

Ahhh...the southern entrance for Shinjuku Station. I remember when things really started to get moving for this side of the mammoth JR depot in the late 1990s...1997, I believe. Takashimaya Times Square, consisting of the venerable department store Takashimaya, Tokyu Hands and then Kinokuniya Book Store, was built just across the street from the station, and in more recent years, a commercial facility on top of a new adjunct for Shinjuku Station was constructed. Off in the distance on the left is Tower Records, a place that I visited very often.

Time for something older and more atmospheric, and for that, I can give you something along the lines of singer-songwriter Makiko Takada's（高田真樹子）"Blues Singer". A track from her 1974 debut album "Makiko first". Arranged by Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）, I'm not sure how much of a blues song this would be since I'm not well-versed in the genre, but this is definitely in the New Music vein. From the delivery, I'd say that Takada reminds me of a certain Western singer but I can't say who right now. "Blues Singer" is a tune that would demand some sort of sipping alcohol and a contemplative mood in a darkened room. After all, I did say that it was rather atmospheric.

"Makiko first" also has a song that I covered in the past: "Watashi no Uta no Kokoro no Sekai" （私の歌の心の世界）. If I ever get back to Japan in the next few years, I wouldn't mind tracking the album down...maybe at that Tower Records by Shinjuku Station.