I've been a fan of Japanese popular music for 40 years, and have managed to collect a lot of material during that time. So I decided I wanted to talk about Showa Era music with like-minded fans. My particular era is the 70s and 80s (thus the "kayo kyoku"). The plus part includes a number of songs and artists from the last 30 years and also the early kayo. So, let's talk about New Music, aidoru, City Pop and enka.
Unlike the picturesque shot of Echigo-Yuzawa above on that old "Eye-Ai" cover, the current snowscape in Toronto doesn't look anything as lush. In fact, I think that the melt has already started although we may be getting some more of the white stuff later this week.
For my final song of the day and of November 2021 for that matter, I'm going with some enka. A couple of days ago on the weekly "Nodo Jiman"（のど自慢）singing contest on NHK, Kouhei Fukuda（福田こうへい）showed up to sing his latest boisterous single "Otoko no Zansetsu" (The Snow That He Leaves Behind).
Released as Fukuda's 11th single from July 2021, "Otoko no Zansetsu" has that manly-man enka treatment by Akito Yomo（四方章人）and Teruyuki Sakaguchi's（坂口照幸）lyrics talk of a young couple making a stake for a new life in the northern country with husband declaring that he's gonna set up the home with a whole lot of snow to throw around. There will be tough times along the way but together they will firmly establish a happy life in the years to come. Nothing like a good northern country enka to freshly fill up the lungs.
Fukuda's proud song hit No. 11 on Oricon. I'd been expecting that he would be on the list for this year's Kohaku Utagassen, but alas, he is nowhere to be found. In fact, he hasn't been on the New Year's Eve special since 2017! It's a pity since I think that he does have a great voice and presence on stage, and to be honest, I wouldn't mind an extra enka singer to balance things out.
When I first wrote about singer-songwriter Keiko Utsumi（宇都美慶子）, it was for her 1992 "Chiisana Touhikou"（小さな逃避行）, a "bubbly pop treat" as I described it.
About six years later, Utsumi came out with her January 1998 6th album"Dear...Anata e"（Dear…あなたへ...Dear You） and on it is "lover". Written and composed by the singer herself, the start of "lover" didn't hit me immediately but by the end of the first chorus, I started thinking that this could work for me, especially when the disco strings and bass became more noticeable. The funky arrangement made me realize that Utsumi whipped this one up just when J-R&B was really starting to wake up with folks like Misia and bird.
I just noticed from her J-Wiki file that Utsumi had come up with her most recent 11th album, "Garden", in April this year.
Wow! First off, I'd love to know who was on the bass for this song (I couldn't find out online).
I guess it wasn't just Momoe Yamaguchi（山口百恵）who was being the sultry aidoru of the 1970s. Teen singer Junko Sakurada（桜田淳子）had this tune as the second track of her December 1976 album"Atsui Kokoro no Shotaijo"（熱い心の招待状...Invitation by a Burning Heart）, "Watashi no Koukoku" (My Spiel). Beginning with one groovy and bouncy bass that sounds as if it drank down ten vitamin drinks and a disco ball, "Watashi no Koukoku" has Sakurada singing about a teenager advertising herself to the right bidder as someone who can like it good and/or bad depending on tastes.
As one music store described the track, it's a slice of tasty disco funk by Kimio Mizutani（水谷公生）with Yu Aku（阿久悠）providing the salacious lyrics. I've been going on about the bass but there's also the keyboards that add to the downtown strut to the nearest dance club in Roppongi. I'd also think that "Watashi no Koukoku" would be something that Minako Yoshida（吉田美奈子）would have tackled.
Looking back at my academic career all throughout my childhood and adolescence, I can't say that I was particularly a proficient student. Of course, as was the case with many others, cramming for exams was never in my Top 10 List of things that I wanted to do, and at one point, while with my classmates at junior high getting prepped for mid-terms, my mind finally blanked out and I couldn't hack it with the studying anymore. Still, when the time came, I was able to pass those tests. However, even decades later and less than a decade away from official retirement, I don't look upon those times with any particular fondness.
I think it's for that very reason that I "get" Atarashii Gakko no Leaders'（新しい学校のリーダーズ）video for the rock fest "Shiken Zenya" (Night Before the Exam) which was on their March 2019 album"Wakage ga Itaru"（若気ガイタル...Youthful Indiscretions(?)）. That incredible one-take video of Suzuka, Mizyu, Kanon and Rin going nuts on the choreography sums up how I used to feel inside my head while the days of exams drew nearer while force-feeding my brain with phrases and other minutiae of information that I would never need again. However, Atarashii Gakko no Leaders are far more elegant in their expressions. Methinks that there are plenty of students in Japan who would love to thrash out like the ladies do in that classroom.
It's been quite the year regarding Atarashii Gakko no Leaders and KKP since I put up their first article all the way back in January and now we're on the cusp of December. Always an entertaining quartet. AGL took care of the lyrics while H ZETT M provided the music. The composer is part of H ZETTRIO, the piano trio who came up with one of the more soothing jingles ever heard for an insurance company.
I think that I may have mentioned this show in a past article but one sign that I was getting well into my teen years was the ability to stay up way past my bedtime to catch the late-night shows. Of course, there were the weeknight talk shows with Johnny Carson and David Letterman but there were also the cool music video programs. And then there was "The All-Night Show" in the early 1980s on Toronto's multicultural channel, CFMT-47 which broadcast for several hours past midnight every night although I only caught the show on early Saturday and Sunday mornings,..with the volume turned down very low.
Chuck the Security Guard was our congenial host and he took over the production booth for those hours, putting on an eclectic mix of 60s music vignettes that used to play on movie theatre screens before the main feature, old shows such as "The Twilight Zone" and "The Outer Limits", and oddball contemporary music videos before Canada's version of MTV, MuchMusic took over that gig with "City Limits" later on in the decade. I only wish that someone on YouTube had uploaded the usual greeting video consisting of a montage of weirdness and old TV clips set to a techno version of "Strangers in the Night" that was featured every show. It was the type of cool show that high schoolers and university undergraduates loved to catch because of the looseness and oddness of it all. And for a guy like me, I needed all the cool that I could get for years.
I think one song and one video would qualify very well for a "The All-Night Show" segment and it's the one that I found up here by the Japanese rock band officially known as Hadaka no Rallizes（裸のラリーズ）but known overseas as Les Rallizes Dénudés (the name that I prefer). In this case, probably the best way to describe them is through the description given through Julian Cope's 2016"Japrocksampler" via Wikipedia:
Les Rallizes Dénudés were a Japanese rock band formed in 1967 at Kyoto's Doshisha University. They were initially active between 1967 and 1988, and then again briefly between 1993 and 1996 before permanently disbanding. The band's name comes from a corruption of French: valises dénudées (literally translating as naked suitcases) which was derived from fake French slang invented with the theatrical group Gendai Gekijo. The band's style is typified by simple, repetitious instrumental passages, shrieking, cacophonous guitar feedback and folk arrangement. Their discography is made up mostly of live bootlegs, soundboard archives, and even a few rare aborted studio recording attempts as they have never officially released any of their material, although there are archive releases on independent labels such as Univive, Rivista, Phoenix, and Bamboo.
I also found out that a couple of the members, original bassist Moriaki Wakabayashi（若林盛亮）and vocalist Takashi Mizutani（水谷孝）, had ties to the Japanese Red Army terrorist group. Plus, they never officially released any of their material so their discography had consisted of bootlegs, archival material and some studio recording attempts until official releases came out starting in 1991 by Rivista.
According to the Discogs website, "Shiroi Mezame" (White Waking or White Awakening), a comforting rock lullaby of sorts, was first performed in October 1975. From reading about Les Rallizes Dénudés' style, "Shiroi Mezame" might be one of their mellower creations. Although there is something quite avant-garde (especially with the music video above and Mizutani's high feathery vocals) and psychedelic about it, the slow rhythms make me think about 1950s country ballads played for that slow dance at the end of the party. Incidentally, the Discogs site has one of those bootleg releases shown, "Great White Wonder" by Phoenix Records, but for some reason, it can't be sold on the site itself.
Apparently there were different versions of "Shiroi Mezame" with the one above being Version II. The one below hasn't specified which version it is, but it is from a July 1994 concert performance.
I haven't really gotten into the J-Wiki article for Les Rallizes Dénudés since it is a very heavy one but my impression of the Wikipedia article for the band is that there is a certain skepticism of the statements given there, and that includes the news of frontman Mizutani's passing in 2019. But if there are any fans out there who can give any further information or confirmation of this, that would be great. One more piece of information is that another band member was Makoto Kubota（久保田麻琴）who was there for the early years before leaving for the United States in the early 1970s.
Some personal tensions involving common business sense came up earlier today which I have to tamp down, but it looks like it's not going to end up too badly since there was a mistake on the other end as well. But what usually happens when my craw begins to heat up, though, is that I really focus on my work and then try to find something soothing to watch or listen to.
This particular song definitely helps. "Hope II" was the coupling song for Sing Like Talking's June 1989 3rd single "City on My Mind", and it was also placed onto the band's 2nd album of the same title which was released a month after. Created by SLT members Chikuzen Sato（佐藤竹善）and Chiaki Fujita（藤田千章）, the song has that characteristic sound and Sato's wonderful vocal style which have kept me enthralled all these years. The keyboard work just sounds like flowing water in a brook.
I'd say that there is something especially TOTO-esque about "Hope II" and it's no wonder that whenever I used to see their notices on the CD shelves in places like Tower Records and Yamano Music, they were often referred to as the Kings of AOR.
Well, good heavens, this is quite the start of my blogging week. I was about to turn in for the night on Sunday when I discovered that a couple of the major stars of City Pop in the 1980s had gotten together sometime over the last few months (for the first time, I believe) to record a theme song for a TV Asahi Friday night drama which started up in late October.
I would have gotten onto it last night but I'd already gotten four articles up and it was about 11:30 pm so I figured that it could wait until this afternoon when I finished my day job.
That drama happens to be "Wada-ke no Otoko-tachi"（和田家の男たち...The Men of the Wada Family）, a story of a young man, played by former Arashi（嵐）member Masaki Aiba（相葉雅紀）, whose company closes down permanently due to the scourge of the pandemic and finds himself working as a reporter for a Net-based news organization. It certainly looks like the show is getting plenty of promotion on YouTube.
What's also getting a lot of attention via multiple videos on the platform is the theme song, "Watching Over You" by Peach & Apricot, aka Mariya Takeuchi & Anri（竹内まりや・杏里）. Yup, over the past month, their respective fans must have been tumbling over each other like crazy on hearing about this dream duet and I have to give myself a Gibbs Slap to the back of my head for not even noticing this, but then again, now that I have, there's plenty of evidence now for this particular song.
OK, the first thing is about this name of theirs involving a couple of my favourite fruits. Had to think about that for a few seconds but then I went "Ah...I see now!". Peach & Apricot, indeed. And of course, as for Anri, her kanji has the character for apricot as well.
Listening to "Watching Over You" a few times now, I'm still marveling that it's actually Mariya and Anri singing together, and that the mellow music by City Pop-friendly composer Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司） with 80s at its heart and perhaps some 90s arrangements takes me back to those decades (the duo came up with the lyrics), especially when that saxophone rolls on in. Did the husband of one of those ladies send the player over? As well, the way that Peach and Apricot sing solo and together kinda shows that palsy-walsy manner that I used to hear in old performances on ancient American variety specials and movies with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin or Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. I wouldn't be surprised if the two had been shoulder-to-shoulder during recording (although that could have made production difficult).
"Watching Over You" was released as a digital download on November 4th. There's a nice and appropriate cover at the Amazon site. A relaxing cup of coffee is just the thing for this one.
Earlier this morning, I received a comment from an Anonymous person who was mentioning about a song by singer-songwriter Rajie（ラジー）. I hadn't written about her in quite a while so I decided to do some checking and came across "Shion".
For purposes of elucidation, I felt that I had to put up this flower which is known as "shion" in Japanese but refers to a particular light purple aster. Thanks to Wiktionary for this one.
"Shion" is a track from Rajie's November 1981 album"Acoustic Moon" and as Anonymous described it, it is wonderful and very distinct. I'm not sure whether there is any direct reference to the aster or even the colour but I'm more drawn to the fact that it has elements of not only City Pop in the sophisticated pop vein but also some of that Fashion Music that I've occasionally mentioned with singers such as Ruiko Kurahashi（倉橋ルイ子）. Seeing the songwriters behind it, lyricist Etsuko Kisugi（来生えつこ）, composer Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）and arranger Akira Inoue（井上鑑）, that was an awfully big Bat-signal for me to check it out post-haste. As well, some of the French-ness in the music also had me thinking Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）.
I've got her BEST compilation as you can see from the thumbnail photo at the top, but maybe I'm missing out on some of the other selections on "Acoustic Moon". Perhaps there is still a small chance that I can get it on one of the sites. In any case, good choice, Anonymous!
In my last article last month on Katsuhiko Miki（美樹克彦）via his 1967 single"Hana wa Osokatta"（花はおそかった）, I mentioned that Miki had used one word in the song that had been considered a little too profane at the time for public usage but was seen as a manly way to express his frustrations at love. Then from the following decade onwards, male aidoru such as the late Hideki Saijo（西城秀樹）used it as well in his songs.
The Miki and Saijo comparison continues here through an explanation found under the YouTube video for the former's June 1971 single, "Taiyo no Kakera" (Pieces of a Sun). Miki's 30th single and his first under the Canyon label after his first 29 singles with Nippon Crown, the uploader doro2067 mentions that although Saijo wouldn't officially begin his long career until 1972, "Taiyo no Kakera" would be a perfect fit for him.
But as it was, this was Miki's song and by the looks of that single's cover, the singer seemed to be a proto-Hideki in terms of that longer hair, the bare torso and the grinning masculine defiance. Indeed, legendary lyricist Yu Aku（阿久悠）, who wrote the words of living life as if there were no tomorrow on "Taiyo no Kakera", would also provide songs for Saijo. And although I couldn't see composer and arranger Makoto Kawaguchi's（川口真）name on any of Hideki's music, the flying strings, the brass section and the electric piano that he puts together on "Taiyo no Kakera" seem perfect for the future 70s superstar.
Another comparison that I could bring in is with "Taiyo no Kakera" and the aforementioned "Hana wa Osokatta". Whereas "Hana wa Osokatta" was describing one man's anguish at the missed opportunity for love and happiness, "Taiyo no Kakera" looks like a revisiting of that same guy a few years later with a burlier and stronger attitude on life. Where will he go from there? In any case, this particular song is not to be confused with one with the same title performed by the jazzy unit orange pekoe.
I've been following a few songs by seiyuu/singer-songwriter Ai Furihata（降幡愛）for over a year now, and it was enough for me to pull the trigger and get her debut mini-album"Moonrise" from September 2020. It's a bit quaint when I wrote my first article on her "CITY" since I noted that it was still a few months before the release of that one.
Although I've never watched any of the anime which has included her in the voice actor cast, I still just want to note that Furihata played the role of cute-as-all-get-out Ruby Kurosawa（黒澤ルビィ）in "Love Live! Sunshine!!"（ラブライブ!サンシャイン!!）back in 2016. But from listening to "CITY" and "Cinderella Time"（シンデレラタイム） which happen to be the first two tracks on "Moonrise", this album isn't an aidoru one at all. It's more in the synthpop area or even loving tribute to City Pop or J-AOR of the 1980s. The music video for "CITY" really emphasizes that part. In addition, all of the 6 tracks were given their lyrics by Furihata with Akimitsu Honma（本間昭光）providing the music and overall sound production for "Moonrise". The singer herself has given some brief remarks in the liner notes for each of the songs.
Track 3 is "Y no Higeki"（Yの悲劇...Y's Tragedy）, and it's a short and straight-ahead ska tune about a woman who's at her wits' end with her boyfriend's teasing. Not only do I get Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra vibes but even some old Chanels' doo-wop in there. According to Furihata herself, the number of times that the word "YADA" (I hate it!) pops up from her and the background chorus is 108. Feel free to confirm this if you have the time.
Next is the techno-Latin sound of "Love Song wo Kakete"（ラブソングをかけて...Put On A Love Song）, a pretty happy tune on the outside about trying to recover from a romantic breakup on the inside. Furihata mentions that she had noticed that she was only coming up with sad songs and although the lyrics are still in that vein, I guess that she consulted with Honma to see if he could at least make it sound cheerful. That he did since any listeners who don't understand Japanese wouldn't guess that this was anything but a happy-go-lucky tune devoted to the Caribbean. Instead, Furihata sings out a request for someone to put on a lullaby-sounding love song to get her to sleep.
As with "Love Song wo Kakete", my expectations were also kinda twisted inside and out with the next number "Poolside Cocktail"（プールサイドカクテル）. From that title, I had been thinking of something bossa nova or calypso regarding a calm summertime date by the pool. Even Furihata mentions how surprised she was at Honma's choice of melody for this one which is actually more on the technopop and spacey side of things. And yet, the singer's lyrics are still on the sad side as apparently that pool is the setting for unrequited love.
Both Furihata and I were on point here. When I first heard this final track "Out of Blue", I immediately got those 1980s ballad vibes a la Chicago or TOTO, and sure enough, the singer in those liner notes cited that she was going for that decade and that style of song. I almost thought that Peter Cetera was suddenly going to jump into the singing. With those lyrics, I can imagine Furihata looking tearfully at the setting sun while realizing that one can't go back home again temporally or spatially and that forward is the only path left.
"Moonrise" got as high as No. 18 on Oricon. It's not an instant classic but I think it's got a goodly amount of fun music that will grow on me over time.
Well, as you can see in the photo, this actually was from nearly three years ago but it does reflect the reality in Toronto today since overnight we did get our first major snowfall. It's looking rather pure, clean and Xmas-y out there...for now. Once the snow lingers around for several more days, it'll all coalesce into black disgusting lumps.
OK, now that I got my Scrooge out in that last sentence, let's look a bit more up here. I did find another Christmas-themed J-Pop tune by actress Isako Washio（鷲尾いさ子）. Now, the only other presence that she has on the blog is "Tekkotsu Musume"（鉄骨娘）, the catchy jingle that she provided for the vitamin drink Tekkotsu Inryo（鉄骨飲料）.
From her 1991 3rd and final album to date, "Yuki"（雪...Snow）, is "Mou Ichido Merry Christmas"(Merry Christmas One More Time), a song that only has light jingling in the refrain along with the title to signify that it's a Xmas tune. It's an interesting entry since it has that certain urgency in the rhythm reminiscent of the far more well-known "Christmas Carol no Koro ni wa"（クリスマスキャロルの頃には）by Junichi Inagaki（稲垣潤一）, and there are some chord changes which strike me as being somewhat Taeko Ohnuki-esque（大貫妙子）. However, the music was actually by singer-songwriter Mioko Yamaguchi（山口未央子）with lyrics by Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子）. I couldn't find the lyrics but I guess that "Mou Ichido Merry Christmas" is more along the complicated romance side of J-Xmas tunes.
For a guy who writes about Japanese music at a pretty frantic pace, it's always appreciated whenever I can get some sources and over the years, I've been lucky. Case in point, contributor JTM was very kind to send me some mid-1980s copies of the TBS music ranking show "The Best 10"（ザ・ベストテン）. Looking at hosts Tetsuko Kuroyanagi and Hiroshi Kume（黒柳徹子・久米宏）introduce the gamut of hitmakers on set and on site, I've been able to see some of the songs that I've already written about, but at the same time, I've also encountered singers and tunes that I've yet to write about. And just from one episode tonight, I was able to glean a whole bunch of them that I'm going to have to track down.
One group that came onto "The Best 10" was Kazuyuki Ozaki & Coastal City（尾崎和行＆コースタルシティー）. I'd never heard of these guys before and apparently by the time they got onto the show, Ozaki and the band had finally achieved some measure of success after about a decade of trying. In fact, they were pretty much on the verge of calling it quits when one song hit pay dirt: "...Yoko". This was their only single under their name released in November 1985.
Penned by Ozaki, this AOR/rock tune reminiscent of the West Coast sound of that decade, "...Yoko" is a rollicking number about what sounds like a fellow trying to tell the titular lass that their former romance should stay former and that it's all for the best. The song peaked at No. 21 on Oricon but more importantly, it won the grand prizes at the 30th Yamaha Popular Song Contest and the 16th World Popular Song Festival held in 1985.
I gotta say that the Osaka-born Ozaki had quite the voice so I'm surprised that he didn't get any further fame. As it was, Coastal City soon broke up after the success of "...Yoko" and Ozaki went solo, releasing seven more singles into the 1990s and then one more in 2005. Three albums and a BEST compilation also came out, along with songs that he provided other singers. Sad to say, in his later years, he had to battle liver cancer and then in 2011, he succumbed to a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 52.
Just before dinner tonight, TV Japan was showing the weekly episode of "Songs of Japanese Spirit" from NHK's satellite channel, and it's been a while, but singer-actor Akira Kobayashi（小林旭）appeared in a segment in his tribute. The veteran entertainer just turned 83 a few weeks ago but he's still looking pretty spry and plenty burly.
From www2u.biglobe.ne.jp
Unfortunately, I couldn't find any footage of the above movie, "Nirenjuu no Tetsu"（二連銃の鉄）which has been translated online as "Tetsu's Shotgun" although I think that it sounds cooler literally translated as "Double-Barreled Tetsu". This April 1959 flick starred Kobayashi as Tetsutaro（鉄太郎）, a gun-for-hire who's fresh out of prison when he soon gets involved into another whirlwind of trouble and intrigue.
Anyways, one of the songs that Kobayashi performed on "Songs of Japanese Spirit" was "Dynamite ga Hyaku-go-juu Ton" (150 Tons of Dynamite) which wasn't the theme song for "Nirenjuu no Tetsu" but an insert song. Originally released as Kobayashi's 2nd single in November 1958, it's a pretty swinging kayo sung with plenty of brio by The Might Guy (his nickname) although the high pitch at which he sings out those first few words caught me off-guard. The melody by Toru Funamura（船村徹）is not quite jazz although it does sound jazzy and it's definitely not Mood Kayo but I gather that it is a tune that would be just great at a nightclub where Kobayashi is the featured performer. Shinichi Sekizawa（関沢新一）was the lyricist.
According to the intro given at the start of the video, the announcer states that "Dynamite ga Hyaku-go-juu Ton" may have been the first homegrown rock-n'-roll number to become a hit in Japan, although I'm still not quite sure whether I would consider this as such a tune from the rock genre (unfortunately, that video has been taken down).
Hope you are having a good weekend out there. Over here in the Greater Toronto Area, we may be getting our first major snowfall this season tomorrow with about an inch of the white stuff coming down.
As soon as I heard the music, I figured that this Hi-Fi Set（ハイ・ファイ・セット）song was probably from the 1980s, and sure enough, "Platonic Shimasho", whose official English title is "Platonic Loving", was the vocal group's 25th single from May 1988 as well as the opening track from their 16th album"Eyebrow" from March of that year.
It's a pretty happy shuffle which can be considered to be on the borderline between the sophisti-pop of Bubble Era Japan and straight pop and was composed by Masamichi Sugi（杉真理）with Hiroshi Shinkawa's（新川博）arrangement. The lyrics by Shun Taguchi（田口俊）have one-half of a couple suggesting that, y'know, maybe things were better between the two of them when they were buddies rather than lovers. Perhaps it's time to dial things back down romantically. The song certainly sounds like it could have been a theme song for a trendy drama about that very subject.
Well, if I'm not mistaken, we're two-thirds of the way through "Komi-san wa, Komyu-sho desu."（古見さんは、コミュ症です。...Komi Can't Communicate） and it seems as if fans can't get enough of the title character and her evolving relationships with her friends throughout the first season (and indeed, I am also hoping that there will be a second season).
About a month ago, I posted an article on the opening theme "Cinderella"（シンデレラ）by Cider Girl（サイダーガール）. In fulfilling an oft-repeated pattern in anime opening and ending themes, "Cinderella" is a perky and upbeat opener while the theme that started from the end of Episode 2 is more relaxing and mellow.
This would be "Hikare Inochi" which I believe means "Shine Life" and it's performed by the sister duo of Kitri from Kyoto. With lyrics by both sisters Mona and Hina while the former took care of the melody, it's a pleasant song with a bit of bossa nova talking about overcoming any hurdles and entering a happier level of life which is what "Komi-san" is all about.
The full song, which came out as Kitri's most recent single a little over a week ago, has a bit more dynamism due to some parts that didn't show up in the truncated version for the closing credits.
According to their J-Wiki article, Mona and Hina began studying classical piano at a young age and when the two were in their teens, their piano teacher suggested that they could perform Piano Four Hands in which the sisters could play on the same piano at the same time. In 2015, they made their debut as Kitrif（キトリイフ）which was derived from the two Japanese words for "tree" and "island" and the word "leaf". A digital download album, "opus 0", under an indies label was released in November 2017 (in the same year, the duo dropped the "f" from their unit name to become Kitri), followed by a major debut in 2020. They've also released several singles. For the record, Mona handles the vocals and the bass part of the piano while Hina takes care of the treble part and the chorus.
Well, I was gonna just finish it off with my usual Friday four songs tonight, but it's been a while since I put up a Hideki Saijo（西城秀樹）, and I figure that since we're in the Xmas season now, I did find something seasonal regarding him.
Now, Saijo's rendition of the classic "The Christmas Song" isn't the first time on the blog that I've featured the Robert Wells and Mel Tormé creation on "Kayo Kyoku Plus". Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）has had her cover version from her 1992 "Quiet Life" album up here since 2012, and her take is somewhat of the more old-school version that was done by folks such as Nat King Cole.
Saijo's cover came out on his "Strangers in the Night" LP from November 1986, and from that title, it is indeed an album of covers of the old Western pop standards, and since I'm a big fan of Frank Sinatra's version of "Strangers in the Night", I'd be interested in hearing the title track as well. But as for "The Christmas Song", it's a modern 80s version that has me reminded of Yutaka Yokokura's（横倉裕）cover of "This Christmas". The arrangement was handled by Yuzo Hayashi（林有三）and may I say that Saijo can also handle the English quite well here, too.
I've given some rather big dollops of hints that I have been a Trekkie and a Marvel watcher (and before that, comics reader). Well, I've also been a Whovian alongside the fact that I'm a long-listening kayo fan, and for those who may not know what a Whovian is, I'm a watcher of "Doctor Who", the British sci-fi series that should be celebrating its 60th anniversary in a couple of years.
One of the main characteristics of the BBC programme is that television's favourite Time Lord, The Doctor hardly ever travels alone; at least, one companion from Earth tags along for adventures with him/her in the TARDIS. The companionship lasts for a few years and one of the more prominent episodes, next to the ones in which The Doctor regenerates into a new form (i.e. changes thespians) happens to be one in which the companion leaves. There are varying levels of sadness attached to the departure of a companion depending on how popular he or she was, but one of the more poignant ones was seeing Sarah Jane Smith (the late Elisabeth Sladen) leaving The Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) in the 1970s. She was definitely one of the most popular (and longest-lasting) companions, if not the most popular companion, that "Doctor Who" ever had. Sarah Jane was a prime example of the saying "Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger", and she became strong enough to battle alongside future incarnations of The Doctor and even get her own show for a while.
Anyways, before I end up making this into a mini-"Doctor Who" blog, let me segue into "GOODBYE DOCTOR" by singer-songwriter Miki Hyodo（兵藤未来）. I finally brought her aboard the TARDIS...the blog some months ago in the summer after seeing her on YouTube a number of times. As I mentioned for "Konya no Atsui Message"（今夜の熱いメッセージ）, there isn't a whole lot about her biography or discography aside from the two albums that she did release. "GOODBYE DOCTOR" comes from her 1979 second album"Hyodo Miki" with her behind both words and music.
It does come off as a 1970s City Pop tune with the relaxing beat, a bit of that hazy keyboard, a cool background chorus and a tropical Fender Rhodes. Perhaps it can even make for a nice walking companion while traipsing down one of Tokyo's main avenues back at the end of that decade. Also with Hyodo's vocals, there is a lot about "GOODBYE DOCTOR" that's reminiscent of music from Junko Yagami（八神純子）and Miharu Koshi（越美晴）of that era. With that comparison, it's too bad that she didn't put out more of her own material into the kayo zeitgeist. Hopefully, though, I can find some more of her own songs or some of the tunes that she provided for other singers in the 1980s.
I think that I may have mentioned the British jazz-funk band Shakatakin a past article on KKP, but I rather wish that I had heard about these folks decades earlier since this is the type of music that I would fall for. But better late than never, I always say. Shakatak was founded in 1980 and one of their biggest hits was "Night Birds" which climbed to No. 4 according to the Official Charts Company in the UK in 1982.
Listening to "Night Birds", I get both day and night images of having some sophisticated fun in some swanky resort, and I think just from this song alone, Shakatak rather sets itself apart in sound from other fusion or AOR bands that I've known including Spyro Gyra and The Square. It's that nimble piano, I believe, that's the key (no pun intended) ingredient.
City Pop maestro Toshiki Kadomatsu（角松敏生）spearheaded a project in 1996 and 1997 called VOCALAND which centered around some of the new female singers of the time, although male singers came aboard in the second album produced within the project. All in all, according to J-Wiki,six singles and two albums came about because of VOCALAND.
Well, lo and behold, that first album"VOCALAND" came out in July 1996 with one of the tracks being Shakatak's "Night Birds" with a new vocalist, Tamara Champlin, and some oomphed-up Latin beats. Of course, the original band's William Sharpe and Roger Odell were the songwriters but it was Kadomatsu behind the new arrangement or adornment. I have to say that it was a nice touch of the YouTube channel Hitoemon to put in that driving video since "Night Birds" seems perfect as a song to enjoy while bombing down the Tokyo highways. "VOCALAND" the album peaked at No. 10 on Oricon.
Just about a year ago, I came across this singer with an impactful voice by the name of Akiko Murata（村田彰子）who came out with one album in February 1996 titled "Find Out". Her "Watashirashikunakya!"（私らしくなきゃ！）, one of the tracks on "Find Out" was something that I had said was promising but wasn't quite up to her talents with that boomer voice, but it has grown on me over the months.
Her debut single from 1995 was "Ki ga Tsukeba Mangetsu" (A Full Moon, If You Notice) and it was also included on "Find Out" as the first track. Written by Yumi Yoshimoto（吉本由美）and composed by Shin Tanimoto（谷本新）, the arrangement is a mix of 80s or early 90s City Pop and some of that danceable R&B in those early 1990s as well. I notice that Murata's vocals are even richer here and the song, especially in the intro had me thinking of a true City Pop classic, Yuiko Tsubokura's（坪倉唯子） "Tsukanoma Yotogi Bito" （一瞬夜伽伴侶）.
I've said it before and I will say it again. I will always appreciate finding out about these hidden J-urban contemporary singers with their slick discography even this late in the innings.
It's been over 20 years since my last visit to New York City but one thing that I do remember from that trip is having my first Egg Cream at one restaurant in Brooklyn thanks to my friend who was living there at the time. As the Food Insider YouTube channel video above will say, this New York drink has neither eggs nor cream in it, but it does have milk, carbonated water and chocolate syrup. In all honesty, I can't say that I had a Eureka moment on drinking it like I did during my first experience with Calpis as a little boy, but it wasn't a bad drink either. I can go for another one if I ever make it back to the Big Apple someday.
But wow, what a weird and wonderful combination for an Egg Cream. And I also gotta say that maybe that's the same case with guitarist Shigeru Suzuki's（鈴木茂）"Kennedy Airport". The first track from the November 1978 compilation album, "New York", its songs were created in tribute to New York City by folks like Suzuki, Masaki Matsubara（松原正樹）, and Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）. In comparison with that eclectic mix of milk, seltzer and chocolate sauce, Suzuki's "Kennedy Airport" has its own seemingly Manhattan slice-of-life controlled chaos combo of all sorts of people going in, out and through the famous airport represented by 70s-detective funk, funky fusion and a whimsical almost comedic turn-of-musical phrase with some disco strings. Of course, you have Suzuki noodling happily on his guitar and also some lovely saxophone way off in the background. At one point, the percussion even sounds like the frenetic mixing involved in the final stage of completing that Egg Cream. Near the end of the song, the music rather soars happily as if the taxi is finally taking you out of the cacophony from Kennedy onto the highway into Midtown.
I would love to get my own copy of "New York" on CD but it looks like from that link to Amazon.jp, a disc will cost over $100. Perhaps getting the vinyl or an MP3 will take any potential buyers out of nosebleed territory. Speaking of which, how much would an Egg Cream cost these days?
After all these years, I'd thought that I had already put up an article on this special Pink Sapphire Christmas song but evidently I have not. Ironic since I did include it in a mixtape of J-Xmas tunes decades ago.
"Pink/White X'mas" was the coupling song for the rock band's 2nd single, "Dakishimetai"（抱きしめたい...I Want to Hold You）, which was released in November 1990. It may be a Pink Sapphire rocker but the lyrics by Yoshihiko Ando（安藤義彦）describe a common theme in Japanese Xmas songs: that of the big lovers' spat on Christmas Eve and how to resolve the situation. Composer Toshihiko Shibaya（柴矢俊彦）of the band Juicy Fruits（ジューシーフルーツ）and arranger Takayuki Hijikata（土方隆行）took care of this one as if they were channeling some Van Halen.
For those who want something a little different in their J-Xmas tunes, have a go at "Pink/White X'mas". As for the single, "Dakishimetai" peaked at No. 5 on Oricon, but "Pink/White X'mas" also ended up on Pink Sapphire'sBEST collection, "BEST FOR YOU〜Single Collection" which came out in December 1992. I'll have to talk about "Dakishimetai" itself sometime soon.
Not to say that singer-songwriter Seishiro Kusunose's（楠瀬誠志郎）"Elevator Town" sounds anything like Go West's "Call Me" but they do have that smash-and-grab drumming in common, and I'm a big fan of "Call Me", and so I'm also a fan of "Elevator Town".
"Elevator Town" is a track on Kusunose's 2nd album"Boukensha-tachi"（冒険者たち...The Adventurers） from April 1987 and it starts with that drumming before some synthesizer jazz rhythms and some real brass come ramming down the headphones with the energy of Duke Ellington's band. I don't really have any idea what Ryo Koizumi's（小泉亮）lyrics are on about, but Kusunose's melody and Akira Inoue's（井上鑑） arrangement bring back some of those Zoot Suit days and nights into contemporary West Shinjuku.
First off, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone down in the United States. Hope the turkey and stuffing taste good. Secondly, since it is November 25th, it is time for "Kayo Kyoku Plus" to hit Christmas mode, so for the next month before the Yuletide finally arrives, I will be putting up some J-Xmas tunes from time to time. Coincidentally enough, today falls on a Thursday which is usually time for the weekly Reminiscings of Youth article, so why not mix a ROY and a Christmas tune?
So, let us begin. According to Wikipedia, the old chestnut "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town" created by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie may have been first recorded in October 1934 thanks to banjoist Harry Reser and his band, and it became a humongous hit so I gather that the money came to town, too. For little ol' J-Canuck, most likely my first listening to the song came about from watching the 1970 Rankin & Bass TV special of the same name starring Fred Astaire, Mickey Rooney and Keenan Wynn. Oh, how I hated the Burgermeister Meisterburger and how I rooted for the young red-haired Kris Kringle!
Some years later, my parents bought me the vinyl of "A Christmas Gift" by Ronco with all sorts of songs of the season performed by some of the best singers including Bing Crosby, Barbra Streisand and Julie Andrews. Now that I've had a record player for the past several years, I have been listening to the old LP again every year around this time, and Track 2 for me serves as probably my favourite version of the oft-recorded "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town"...the one that had been on Tony Bennett's"Snowfall: The Tony Bennett Christmas Album" from October 1968.
I can say with some confidence that my interest in jazz in general and especially my love for Big Band Swing arose because of Bennett's smashing take on "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town". There is that mix of jazz swing and seasonal orchestral strings working hard behind the smooth dulcet tones of the one and only Tony, and that intro won me over immediately. Most likely, my ears exploded on hearing that brass section tear out of the stereo speakers for the first time. It just feels like the singer was on the Las Vegas stage on December 24th, and again going to that mix, fellow listeners and fans like myself must have enjoyed the classy horns blasting behind Tony while the strings sounded like a melodic version of a Hallmark card.
There have been other jazz takes on "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town" with folks like Diana Krall, The Manhattan Transfer and Michael Buble, but my sentimental favourite will always be the one by Bennett. It is for that reason that it feels particularly poignant this year since on reading that the singer has hung up his tuxedo or suit for the final time after one last concert and one last album at the age of 95. I'm not sure even at that age or with his battle against Alzheimer's Disease whether he wanted his retirement but he's certainly earned it and he's left us a legacy of great music.
I was listening to this LP of 70s/80s aidoru-turned-tarento Ikue Sakakibara（榊原郁恵）while scrolling through her information on J-Wiki when I came across a rather interesting discovery.
Well, first let's do a tiny sidetrack here and mention the legendary manga-turned-anime "Sazae-san"（サザエさん）, that heartwarming home comedy anime which has been on Fuji-TV for years now. Heck, I was watching that every Sunday night at home in Ichikawa.
I discovered that apparently Sakakibara, who has played Peter Pan on the stage, then took on that iconic role of Sazae-san herself in a 1994 stage musical version. The production was led by famed playwright and screenwriter Koki Mitani（三谷幸喜）, and he was the lyricist for the theme song for "Sazae-san", "Aruite Kaero" (Let's Walk Home) recorded by the star herself.
But it wasn't just Sakakibara behind the mike but also veteran zany Osakan comedienne Masami Hisamoto（久本雅美）who played the role of Katsuo, Sazae's impish little brother. I never saw the play but I can imagine Hisamoto playing that particular part due to her raspy voice. Anyways, getting back to that theme song, "Aruite Kaero" also caught my attention since the music was done by none other than Yumi Matsutoya（松任谷由実）herself. And it's a relaxing happy-go-lucky tune with a bit of a reggae lilt as Sakakibara gives a solid and clear performance while Hisamoto sounds like she's giving her part in character as Katsuo. The CD single was released in March 1994.
OK, I'll have to confess it here. I'm one of the number of folks who have been catching the latest adventures of the various supremely cheerful weather forecasters at Japan's Weathernews on YouTube. I realize that I'm only catching bits and pieces of their broadcasts but sometimes I wonder if they're not so much giving out the weather information as they are chatting and giggling away. Still, during the darkest days of the pandemic, it's been quite the miracle to have our moods lightened by having them go through laughing fits over microwave ovens leading to alternate worlds, verbal slip-ups, and poking fun at some of the other staffers.
Well, just the preamble that I need to segue into "Toyo Bisho" (Oriental Smile), a song from singer-songwriter Yuko Kawai's（河合夕子）1982 album"Fujiyama Paradise"（フジヤマパラダイス）and also its own single from the same year. Though I haven't seen much of her performing through the YouTube videos, my take from what I have seen and that gorgeous cover of her looking rather ginger, I think that if Kawai had been born some years later and opted for a more meteorologically-based career, she could have easily slipped into Weathernews.
However as it is, I'm happy that she went into a more musical direction since "Toyo Bisho" definitely has that bouncy toyo disco feeling filtered through technopop that made me think YMO for a minute. Actually, though, it was written and composed by Kawai with Masao Urino（売野政男）also helping out on the lyrics.
Going back into the time vaults for this one since the first time that "Joseph Joseph" got its due from the record player was all the way back in 1938 thanks to The Andrews Sisters.
Actress/singer Nellie Casman and her husband, playwright Schlomo Steinberg, first came up with their big hit "Yossel, Yossel" in 1923 but it got a name change years later and popularized through The Andrews Sisters. The whole story involves a maid who's getting more and more frustrated over the fact that her beau Joseph won't state the obvious and settle down with her. Sounds like many an anime female character.
Back in late July, I noted that the Shinzato sisters under their vocal group name of EVE tackled an emotion-drenched Mood Kayo song with an 80s urban contemporary twist titled "Namida no Night in Tokyo"（涙のNIGHT IN TOKYO）. Well, this time around as their 7th single in October 1990, EVE decided to take a page out of The Andrews Sisters' playbook and go with some jazz in their own cover of "Joseph Joseph".
With Japanese lyrics by Neko Oikawa（及川眠子）and arrangement by Shiro Sagisu（鷺巣詩郎）, EVE's take on "Joseph Joseph" isn't just about the jazz. There is some of what sounds like New Jack Swing thrown in there and a growling electric guitar for a teaspoon of rock. Maybe this was one of the ancestors for all of that Electro Swing that got hatched years later just before I returned from Japan for good. "Joseph Joseph" was also included in the trio's 5th original album"EVE" released at the same time as the single.
Before I finish off, though, I also have to say that I really enjoy this gypsy jazz version of "Joseph Joseph" by the Gypsy Swing Revue through their "I Love Paris" album of October 2016.
Over a couple of years ago, I wrote about a group of rockers that probably had as much intrigue in their origins as they had in their music. For one thing, the very first leader of Cools（クールス）was actor and singer Hiroshi Tachi（舘ひろし）and the group itself started more as an intimidating team of security guys for a final concert by the band Carol（キャロル）. After two years though, Tachi left the band in 1977 which would start a custom of changing the name of the group every few years. The second incarnation of Cools between 1977 and 1981 was known as Cools Rockabilly Club.
My first article on Cools was also focused on this period and interestingly enough, the song involved, the September 1979 single"Sentimental New York"（センチメンタル・ニューヨーク）, had a healthy dose of City Pop. This time, though, the follow-up single, "Climax" which came out in March 1979, matches my initial musical image of Cools Rockabilly Club as a group interested in the 50s rock-n-roll scene.
Cools Rockabilly Club has been compared to the American rock-n-roll band Sha-Na-Na, and I definitely get that vibe with "Climax". Written and composed by the two guitarists in the band, Kazuo Iida and James Fujiki（飯田和男・ジェームス藤木）, there is that dramatic rhythm that even includes a bit of James Bond and an image of hot rods from the era racing illegally down a deserted street. Meanwhile, the vocalist, whether it be Haruyuki "Pitpi" Mizuguchi（水口晴幸）or Kazuumi "Mura" Murayama（村山一海）, croons the verses like his old senpaiTachi and then leads the rest of the guys to scream out the title in a way that reminds me of other bands such as Chanels（シャネルズ）,Issei Fuubi Sepia（一世風靡セピア）and THE CRAZY RIDER Yokohama Ginbae ROLLING SPECIAL.
My previous article on urban contemporary singer-songwriter Yoko Kuzuya（葛谷葉子）was on one of her two new songs, written and composed by her for the first time in a long while, "Midnight Drivin'", and I just found it such a nice slice of urban groove that I had to get the rest of the album that came with it. "MIDNIGHT DRIVIN' -KUZUYA YOKO MUSIC GREETINGS 1999〜2021-" is her September 2021 BEST compilation, produced a decade following her departure from the music scene. Let me show you the playlist.
Along with the title track, I've got the links above to some of the other Kuzuya songs that I've already covered, so let's take a look at some of the other material that I haven't. The other new song is Track 2, "Honey", which has a hint of those dance beats and some 70s soul feeling blended into the 21st-century arrangements.
The penultimate track on "MIDNIGHT DRIVIN'" is "Side Seat" which was actually Kuzuya's 3rd single in June 2000 following "TRUE LIES" and "Koi". Adorned with some good ol' disco horns and strings, the singer goes into a woman's love of being in the titular position, presumably next to her boyfriend in some sort of conveyance while on a major highway. I always love a good wacka-wacka guitar.
Kuzuya's 4th single"Shinin' Day" was released just a couple of months following "Side Seat" and it's a nice R&B shuffle down the road about a couple simply enjoying each other's company. The arrangement was handled by Maestro-T and it is reminiscent of some of the uptempo material that Misia or Momoe Shimano（嶋野百恵）was providing at the time.
"replay on ~Sugiteyuku Toki no Naka de, Michiteyuki Hikari no Tsubu de~" whose Japanese title translates as "With The Particles of Light Filling Up in the Passing Time" was her 5th single released in December 2000. This one is much more in the languid pop vein with a Latin guitar added. Even Kuzuya's vocals seem a little higher and floatier and this time she reminded me some more of pop singer Miki Imai（今井美樹）. The song was also used for a Kao cosmetic commercial.
The final track on "MIDNIGHT DRIVIN'" is her March 2001 6th single"Saigo no Yoru" (Final Night), and it's a poignant slow jam about a couple having one last dinner or drink together before breaking up for good. They're trying to put on a good face about it but it's oh-so-hard. It's not exactly the happiest song but what lightens things up are those strings.
One more song that I'll put up here wasn't a single but a track from Kuzuya's 2nd album"MUSIC GREETINGS VOLUME TWO" from May 2001. "Hitori" (Alone) kinda straddles that line between pop and R&B, and it's another laidback ballad about someone missing their significant other in a currently cold side of the bed while they are off on some sort of business trip, perhaps. Nice touch with the harmonica.
I will have to tackle the remaining tracks on this BEST album individually over the next number of months, but it's good to finally get to know Kuzuya better through "MIDNIGHT DRIVIN'". This is the type of album to hear when trying to cool down after a tough day at the office.
