Happy Monday! Although Sunday was close-to-record-breaking warm at about 16 degrees C if windy, today is dreary and back to 0 degrees with some snow on the way. Yep, that's the weather story in predictably unpredictable Toronto.
About 10 days ago, I wrote on Disc 1 of "Yokohama Fantasy"（横浜幻想）, that double-CD compilation of Yokohama-themed kayo that I got recently. That first disc contained a couple of Momoe Yamaguchi（山口百恵）songs that I promised that I would cover in their own article, and that article is now here.
The first of those two songs happens to start off Disc 1, but "Ima Mezameta Kodomo no You ni" (Like a Child Whose Eyes Have Opened) was originally a track from Yamaguchi's 9th studio album "Yokosuka Story"（横須賀ストーリー）from August 1976. Written by Shinichi Ishihara（石原信一）, composed by Juichi Sase（佐瀬寿一）and arranged by Motoki Funayama（船山基紀）, this is a bright and vivacious number with some of that disco vibe.
And true to the vivaciousness of the song, Momoe sings to a former lover (and perhaps teases him good-naturedly as well) that she's going to be OK after all without him and has turned a new leaf. She's also thrown away the high heels and the clothes that she wore during their relationship. Perhaps it's still a little too soon after the breakup though since one line in Ishihara's lyrics refers to all of those lovers in the café as being naïve so she's stuck a slice of lemon into her mouth. Although the lyrics don't do a heavy promotion of the port city through namedropping, the proof that it is indeed Yokohama comes from a reference to the Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery.
The album "Yokosuka Story" hit No. 3 on Oricon and ended up as the 43rd-ranked album of 1976. Of course, it also has the famous title track.
The second song "I Came From Yokosuka" originates from Momoe's 11th album "Momoe Hakusho"（百恵白書...The Momoe Report） which was a May 1977 release. This time, the songwriters are husband-and-wife songwriting duo composer Ryudo Uzaki（宇崎竜童）and lyricist Yoko Aki（阿木燿子）with Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）behind the arrangement which is somewhat reminiscent of the Bee Gees' "Staying Alive" in the level of guitar funk and disco. There's also some notable plinky honky-tonk piano which starts the proceedings.
In terms of Aki's lyrics, they seem to be the opposite of those of "Ima Mezameta Kodomo no You ni". This time, Momoe is on the hunt for that specific guy taking the train all the way from her hometown of Yokosuka in Kanagawa Prefecture to Shinagawa in Tokyo (Yokohama's involvement seems to be more of a passing through thing this time, though). And true to the songs that Uzaki and Aki crafted for Yamaguchi in the latter half of her singing career, the lass isn't taking NO for an answer. She was definitely one headstrong 18-year-old. "Momoe Hakusho" peaked at No. 3.
Posting a comment here for the first time after reading for a while... Firstly, thank you for your work on this site, which is both a joy to read and an amazing resource. Second, is there any particular Momoe compilation that you would recommend?
ReplyDeleteHello, Robert and thanks for posting your comments. I'm happy that you've been enjoying reading the various articles. As for your question on compilations by Momoe, I can't think of any one that stands above the rest since any of her BEST albums will contain the big hits of her career. You can check out these CD Japan and Amazon.jp links which contain her albums including her BEST compilations:
Deletehttps://www.cdjapan.co.jp/searches?term.media_format=&q=Momoe+Yamaguchi
https://www.amazon.co.jp/s?k=momoe+yamaguchi&i=popular&crid=DLHEWQT7M5O&sprefix=Momoe+Yamaguchi%2Cpopular%2C91&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_1_15
I only have one original album by Momoe and that would be "LA Blue" which is unusual since it's actually more on the West Coast AOR side of things in terms of arrangements:
https://kayokyokuplus.blogspot.com/2012/02/momoe-yamaguchi-get-free.html
Any particular Momoe songs that you've enjoyed?
J-C, thanks for your considered response. I don't know her songs at all, just that I've heard a few while listening to an online station (Asia Dream Radio) and have been planning to investigate her work (being, as it is, an influence on my favorite, Akina Nakamori). Seems like I'll just have to grab any comp and dive in.
ReplyDeleteAlways a pleasure, Robert. Her career lasted just 7 years (1973-1980) but it had enough of an impact to make her a legend especially since she's refused to return to the stage since her retirement.
DeleteI think that her time in the limelight can be divided into two halves with the first one showing herself as that high school student who seemed a little too worldly in her knowledge of love while in the latter half of her time, her big hits showed off a persona of a world-weary woman who could twist men around her pinkie. Those songs were created by the husband-wife duo that I mentioned above, Ryudo Uzaki and Yoko Aki.
Enjoy that dive into her discography!