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.
Credits
I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.
I have to say that I hadn't watched "The Simpsons" in years. For me, their heyday was back in the 1990s when it was about the Bartman and "D'oH!". But then a few nights ago, I found out on YouTube that in their latest Halloween episode, the cast and crew along with some help from overseas created not just a parody but an homage to the anime "Death Note". At first, when I saw the sneak preview scenes, I assumed that it was some YouTuber's imaginative attempt at smashing together actual "Death Note" scenes and dialogue from "The Simpsons". Such was the skill of DR Movie, the South Korean studio which had a hand in the animation for the original "Death Note" years ago.
However, I have to be clear. I never saw the 2006-2007anime although after catching the tribute to it on "The Simpsons", I gave myself a bit of a tutorial by catching some of the key scenes on YouTube and reading up about it on "TV Tropes" (probably one of the starker examples of absolute power corrupting absolutely). And even before then, I'd known of its fame through the other adaptations of the original manga and the notorious figure of Ryuk the Shinigami who had always struck me as being a fusion of the Joker from "Batman" and a gigantic gargoyle.
The first time that I'd even gotten any sort of "in" into "Death Note" was through the series of videos featuring misheard lyrics in anison, and this series seemed to have been one of the more popular targets especially for its second opening theme.
"What's up, people?" was the first song of metal band Maximum the Hormone's（マキシマム ザ ホルモン）6th single"Zawa...Zawa...Za..Zawa......Zawa"（ざわ…ざわ…ざ‥ざわ……ざわ）from November 2005. It's been called the hardest of hardcore anison and either the song is the representation of Light's deteriorating sanity and disdain of humanity, or someone had some really bad hooch at the izakaya on Friday night. I'm not a metal fan by any means, but there's something that's just undeniably catchy with Maximum the Ryo-kun's（マキシマムザ亮君）absolutely insane vocals (he was also responsible for words and music) and the surrounding cacophony of sound and fury. The single managed to reach No. 6 on Oricon.
One other question that I'd wanted answered was about the name of the band. Well, in the Wikipedia article for Maximum the Hormone, Maximum the Ryo-kun was pretty languid about it. He merely said that it could mean anything from having those pieces of grilled chewy cow intestine, known as horumon（ホルモン）, at the local yakiniku restaurant or having your glands go supremely crazy with the secretions. In any case, I'm happy to have one of the most unusual band names in KKP history finally on board.
Ah, and just for the record, it took me years, but I finally was able to eat horumon along with my kalbi and bulgogi after avoiding it for the longest time. Still, I will not touch the hot pot version.
Continuing on with today's Halloween theme, I started thinking about all of those cosplayers out there. I mean, I know that cosplaying has never been restricted to October 31st, but it is on that night that cosplayers can really go full out into the city at large instead of just cosplayer functions such as a ComiCon. Incidentally, yes, that is indeed a lady pretending to be Yuki Mori from the Space Cruiser Yamato. I took the photo at the Tokyo Anime Fair at Tokyo Big Sight back in 2009.
So, I thought what if I could give some tribute to those cosplayers and Halloween in general through my own Author's Picks of songs connected with costumes that I have seen such as the yellow-and-black uniform that I see on the aforementioned young lady above? As for me, I've been in costume but just for Halloween, and one costume that I did wear was the gold uniform for Captain Kirk way back when.
All these years, I've only seen folks in the Yuki Mori uniform, but I have yet to witness anyone in the other male crewmembers' uniforms. I have also never seen anyone dressed as good ol' Captain Okita.
In the few times that I did attend Fan Expo in downtown Toronto last decade, I always saw a Sailor Moon（セーラームーン）and a few of her fellow Sailors traipse about in the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. In fact, I'd say that it wouldn't be a Fan Expo without Sailor Moon.
I can't be absolutely sure that I actually saw anyone dressed up as Rei Ayanami or Asuka Soryu either in Japan or Toronto, but I believe that it's a given that have been cosplayers who were more than happy to dress up in their getups...and there were folks who were happy to see them dress up in their getups. Just ask Kohei.
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu（きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ）did come to the Art Gallery of Ontario to perform a few nights there, but I never got the opportunity to go. I could probably say that she was the first cosplaying singing star that I ever saw.
This last one here is for the fact that my brother wore a Kamen Rider（仮面ライダー）costume for trick or treat when he was a very small kid back when we were living downtown. He may have scared one resident out of her wits, but she may have had a phobia against insects.
Indeed, it's Halloween once more. Shibuya in Tokyo was once again filled with the milling crowds of cosplayers and curious onlookers. Here in Toronto, we may escape the rain so that the kids can go trick-or-treatin' once more. So, let's begin this Halloween special of KKP articles today.
The first time that I heard this Halloween-themed song was through a video featuring Japan's Weathernews former weathercaster Izumi Maie（眞家泉）dancing up a veritable storm in a number of settings (most likely in the Makuhari Messe area of Chiba where Weathernews headquarters is located). She's joined at the end by current weathercaster Sayane Egawa（江川 清音）.
And this song happens to be known simply as "Happy Halloween"(October 2014) by Vocaloid song producer Junky with Rin Kagamine（鏡音リン）providing the high-pitched vocals. It's a fun and child-like toy store march with the sensation of the comically spooky works of Danny Elfman, most notably for the Michael Keaton hit "Beetlejuice". In fact, I think that Elfman would be quite happy with this song of All Hallow's Eve with all of the excitement of going out and bewitching the neighbourhood. The English translation of the lyrics are available right here at Genius.com. Hopefully, tonight the kids and adults will have the same attitude going out.
It may be a Sunday night, but I think it's still nice enough for some grooviness before the business week starts up once more.
DJ Takeshi Hanzawa（半沢武志）also goes by the moniker FreeTEMPO and he began his career in his early 20s in the year 2000. According to his J-Wiki profile, he specializes in lounge music and House. Still, not sure about my hold on the various dance/techno genres but his January 2005 2nd album,"Oriental Quaint." has been categorized at Discogs as House, Downtempo and Deep House. Well, so be it.
In any case, his "Prelude" track in his No. 52-ranking"Oriental Quaint." is very nice to listen to, and it's kind of the dance music that I remember from around those early 2000s. The lyrics are by guitarist Maynard Plant who hails from Ottawa, Canada while the vocals themselves are supplied by Plant's younger brother Blaise Plant. There is a certain jazz crooner quality to Blaise's delivery while FreeTEMPO's music has a certain mix of romance and mystery...a musical film noir, you might say.
The music video (provided by YouTuber Kojer) with a shorter version of "Prelude" shows Seoul, South Korea. I did hear about yesterday's horrific incident there involving the deaths of 150 young people as of this writing, and I am truly sorry about what has happened. At this point, I can only hope that the survivors will be able to recover from their trauma and that the families of the lost victims will somehow be able to eventually cope and move forward in the weeks, months and years to come.
It's been a couple of years since I've written up an article dedicated to the famous group Tulip（チューリップ）with Kazuo Zaitsu（財津和夫）, so I'm happy that I'm going to devoting this space to the B-side of one of their enduring hits, their first No. 1"Kokoro no Tabi"（心の旅）from April 1973. And it was a good thing that this was their breakthrough hit, too, since as I mentioned in that article that this was the final make-or-break effort by the guys.
In comparison with the folksy rock anthem of "Kokoro no Tabi" which I think should be played for any sendoff of anyone heading off to a big adventure from the small hometown, "Muchuu sa Kimi ni" (I'm So into You) is a fun 1950s rock n' roll style romper (especially with that sax solo and the background chorus) about a college guy falling head-over-heels for that co-ed who may be a little higher than his station. Considering that it was first heard on all of those record players in the early 1970s, "Muchuu sa Kimi ni" may have been unintentionally prescient about the coming wave of rock n' roll and 50s pop culture that overtook Japan about half a decade later.
As with "Kokoro no Tabi", "Muchuu sa Kimi ni" was written and composed by Zaitsu, and according to its J-Wiki article, that B-side has been a popular request at their concerts over the years. Apparently, it's the tradition for the audience to yell "Zaitsu-san!" for each verse. Once again, it's a fun tune and while I can sway to "Kokoro no Tabi", I've put a little more speed into my side-to-side movements to "Muchuu sa Kimi ni".
What you're looking at above is the view from the automated Yurikamome transit line in Tokyo beginning from Shimbashi Station. Quite a lot of folks have probably seen it in action on YouTube since night footage has been included in those City Pop videos. I've been on it many times before to head over to Odaiba.
Perhaps the thumbnail isn't the most appropriate for this song titled "Chikatetsu Fantasia" (Subway Fantasia) by the short-lived aidoru duo Cupid（キューピット）since the Yurikamome operates above ground. But anyways, from what I could scrounge from their J-Wiki and "idol.ne.jp" entries, they were twin sisters Emiko and Yumiko Izumiyama（泉山恵美子・泉山由美子）from Shizuoka Prefecture. Called Emi and Yumi (hmmm...sounds familiar), they made their debut in 1978 and released five singles up to the end of 1979.
"Chikatetsu Fantasia" was their 3rd single from April 1979 with Akira Ito（伊藤アキラ）on lyrics and Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）handling both melody and arrangement. It's quite the spirited aidoru tune with warp-speed strings and an intriguing guitar plucking away, although those lyrics relate the sad story of romantic heartbreak at a subway station. Also notable is that the Izumiyama sisters sang in a slightly lower register.
Speaking of that debut, Cupid's first single was "Ai no Duet"(Duet of Love) released in September 1978. If that song sounds similar to you, I guess "Grease" is the word. It's a cover version of "You're the One That I Want" originally performed by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John for the cinematic adaptation of the musical. Tsuzuru Nakasato（中里綴）wrote the Japanese lyrics over John Farrar's original melody. The song was used for a lotion commercial.
Electronically speaking, it hasn't been a great weekend. Our television was having conniptions for a few hours before returning to normal, and then this morning, the microwave oven turned into a zombie. Just shutting the door activates it, and there's nothing more unsettling than a device that emits radiation without any control. As such, the stress levels are a bit up for a sunny Sunday.
In such a case, I need something very relaxing, even if to take my mind off of appliances for a while. And so, I found this bossa jazz number by paris match from their June 2003 album"Quattro". I immediately thought of pizza when I saw the title, but all joking aside, their "Stay with Me" makes for a pleasant de-stressor, thanks to the laidback bossa nova rhythms and Mari Mizuno's（ミズノマリ）soothing vocals. She was definitely giving off some fine Astrud Gilberto vibes. Lyrics were provided by Tai Furusawa（古澤大）, and music was by paris match composer Yosuke Sugiyama（杉山洋介）.
Yup, when I also first saw the title of the song "Stay with Me", I was reminded of Miki Matsubara's（松原みき） magnum opus "Mayonaka no Door"（真夜中のドアー）, but of course, the two songs are totally different animals. However, in their own way, both have a lot of appeal. Having said that, the search is now on for that new microwave.
Well, call me gobsmacked! Here we are...over a decade into this wonderful world known as "Kayo Kyoku Plus", and I have found out that the only mention of 80s aidoru Tomomi Nishimura（西村知美）up to tonight was via Marcos V.'s list of Eurobeat kayo...all the way back in December 2013! Considering that I've known Nishimura not only for her aidoru tunes but also for her frequent presence on television over the years as a tarento, I feel like that I have to Gibbs slap myself upside the head for this shocking neglect.
Fortunately, I can add Nishimura's 2nd entry to "Kayo Kyoku Plus" in October 2022 with a pretty slick aidoru number called "Mizutama no Gorilla" (Polka-Dot Gorilla). At first blush, I had assumed that a song with that title would be a B-side on one of her singles, but actually, it's a track on her July 1989 album"Mezzo Piano". It's a cheerful song about a zoo gorilla, a bunch of young folks and a polka-dot handkerchief which would make for a nice anime or really silly but heartful comedy on Japanese TV. Give thanks to lyricist and Onyanko Club/AKB48 maestroYasushi Akimoto（秋元康）.
As I said the melody and arrangement are pretty cool. It's almost like an aidoru tune overlaid on top of some City Pop beats, and that is due to Etsuko Yamakawa（山川恵津子）, someone that I've known for providing darn kakkoii music to aidoru and singers of the City Pop persuasion such as Junko Yagami（八神純子）. When I read who it was behind the melody, I went "Ah, naruhodo".
Between 1986 and 1994, Nishimura released 22 singles and 8 albums. For some reason, I had thought that Nishimura was part of the aforementioned Onyanko Club（おニャン子クラブ）, but such was not the case. I do know that the lass had married a famous chef Takumi Nishio（西尾拓美）in the late 1990s. He had been an actor and a singer but once he left the entertainment business behind, he went fully into cooking and has opened up a number of his own restaurants.
Well, all things come to an end, and such is the case with the go-touchi series of kayo which began all the way up in the north more than a month ago. Continuing from the Chugoku region and Shikoku last week, it will now come to an end in the south with the southernmost of the four main islands of Japan, Kyushu, and then Okinawa. Once again, the regional songs here are just the tip of a really large iceberg, and I hope that you can find some other famous go-touchi songs not just for these territories but for the others that have been covered over the past several weeks. The island of Kyushu consists of Fukuoka, Kumamoto, Nagasaki, Oita, Saga, Kagoshima and Miyazaki Prefectures.
1. Fuyumi Sakamoto -- Abaredaiko (あばれ太鼓) for the Kokura district in Kita-Kyushu City (1987)
2. Nyc Nyusa -- Sachiko（サチコ）for Fukuoka City (1981)
4. Saburo Kitajima -- Satsuma no Hito（薩摩の女）for Kagoshima City (1968)
5. Yoshio Tabata -- Shima Sodachi (島育ち) for Amami-Oshima in Kagoshima Prefecture (1962)
6. Shoukichi Kina -- Haisai Ojisan（ハイサイおじさん）for Okinawa (1972)
Here's one final look at some of the delectable dishes from the area. This final time, we have toruko rice（トルコライス）from Nagasaki and then goya champuru（ゴーヤチャンプル）in Okinawa.
Oh, wow, it actually happened... So, a few months back, I mentioned that an academic paper I wrote on ryukoka star Bin Uehara (上原敏) was probably going to be published in a school publication accessible to anyone (with internet access). I am glad to say that it has actually come to pass! You can check it out on my school's International Relations Student Association (IRSA) website here if that's your cup of tea. You can read the papers of a couple of other students who had the same honour as me as well and support the IRSA's other endeavours if you'd like.
In a quick summary, I talked about how Bin-san's songs served as propaganda and morale boosters to Japanese soldiers and civilians during the Pacific War. More importantly, the overly optimistic and nationalistic light the lyrics presented had perhaps encouraged cruel optimism in this demographic for the sake of the country's glory. I.e., even though the country was in ruins and suffering was abundant, the hope of success and hApPy songs forced everyone forward, even if it proved harmful to them.
To give my paper a narrower focus, I picked three of Bin-san's songs to analyse of traces of extreme patriotism and false hope. Spoiler, all three showcased overwhelming amounts of both these traits. I shall give you a rundown of my tunes of choice, but I shan't elaborate on them now and will let past Noelle do the talking in that paper. Future Noelle may do individual KKP features on them too.
The first of which was an Uehara classic, "Shanghai Dayori" (上海だより) from 1938. Not one of my personal favourite Bin-san serenades, but it was perhaps the song that made me write about this topic.
The next two are a little more obscure, but they were chosen due to them being collaborations Bin-san had with other popular singers at the time. One of them was "Naki Warai no Jinsei" (泣き笑ひの人生) from 1938, which was a duet with Uehara's senior, Taro Shoji (東海林太郎). I wonder if this would have been considered a "yume-corabo" (dream collaboration) back in the day. I would've deemed it such.
The final song was a pretty large group project that included the likes of theBatayan (Yoshio Tabata...田端義夫), and that was "Bakudan kurai ha te de uke yo" (爆弾くらいは手で受けよ) from 1941. Uehara sang with Shimeka Asakusa (浅草〆香), Shiro Omi (近江志郎), and Kimisakae Nihonbashi (日本橋きみ栄). This one is the more blatant in terms of war propaganda among the three, I feel.
I had written this paper for a media and pop culture theory class during the Spring semester some months ago. Looking at it again, I could have definitely spiced it up more, but with a fried brain and a limited word count, that was the best I could do at the time. I think I would consider it my favourite paper I've written in my almost four years at school, which says a lot since I dislike/hate most of them. Perhaps it's because I felt that my understanding of the theory I used was stronger compared to some of my other papers. Come to think of it, it's like one of my long KKP articles :) ... Sans the effusive husbando gushing and sarcasm, of course.
I do feel... happy? Cathartic, I think. Because it proves this statement, "I want to learn more about Japanese culture and enka music", which I made when trying to apply for undergraduate programs in Japan, was not void of meaning after all. I could write about enka on an academic level. With Christine R. Yano and her "Tears of Longing" (2002), gifted to me by KKP reader Francium years ago, as my inspiration, I had come to that realisation in my sophomore year. I began to use whatever opportunity I could in relevant classes to do so, probably to the ire of some professors. Getting near Yano's level of a proper publication and contributing to her work, however, seemed like a goal not meant for my undergraduate studies. Then came this writing contest, which I didn't even see as such an opportunity until much later. Of course, I am nowhere near Yano's level. I still have no idea what I'm doing. The words "theoretical framework" and "methodology" still give me heart palpitations. But, I would like to see this as a first step. I did not expect this first step to be with Bin-san, though.
To round things off, here is Uehara's"Otoko Hare Sugata" (男晴れ姿) from 1941, which was where I first made mention of the paper and of why I wanted this song to represent this mini achievement of mine. Cheers, Bin-san.
The publication's cover
P.S. I could be wrong, but I don't think there has been English literature spotlighting Uehara. At least, not in my hunt for sources there hasn't. If that were actually the case, and if this piece qualifies as proper academic literature, I would find it hilarious that it was my ode to one of my Husbandos that actually became the first one.
P.S.S. I know it's not my usual KKP article, but I just wanted to share this recent kayo-related project I had done with you guys.
These days, I don't really have cravings of any particular food anymore. If I can eat something, I will do so, and if I can't, well, that's the way it goes. But I don't go into a fetal position if I can no longer have a certain dish. Back in my Japan days, I had something like what the above photo is showing: a bowl of beef stir-fried with bean sprouts and garlic, all doused in ponzu. Goes great with rice, and I probably haven't had it in over a decade. C'est dommage!
The one other thing about cravings is that it made for a good conversation starter in my old English classes. One reason is that a lot of my students hadn't known what a craving was. When I explained it to them, I asked for what they craved in food and drink. The usual responses came in the form of comfort food such as hamburgers, chips and stuff. When I was younger, my big craving was for Chip Star (the Japanese equivalent of Pringles).
Well, I should get to a song. This is "crave" by singer-songwriter TENDRE (pronounced "tender") and it's a track on his December 2017 debut EP"Red Focus". I actually found the song in some YouTube Neo-City Pop compilation but hoping to find it by itself on the platform, I did hit pay dirt. TENDRE is also a multi-instrumentalist which includes the trumpet, piano and baritone saxophone, so I wouldn't be surprised if he handled all of the instruments here. It's a groovalicious treat for me with the keyboards, sax, bass and other instruments strutting their stuff on the streets of Tokyo. His harmonies also enhance the overall effect and remind me a bit of Sing Like Talking's Chikuzen Sato（佐藤竹善）.
TENDRE is actually Taro Kawahara（河原太朗）from Kanagawa Prefecture, and he comes from a music-oriented family. For instance, his father is jazz bassist Hideo Kawahara（河原秀夫）, and his mother is jazz singer Atsuko Kawahara（河原厚子）, so unsurprisingly, music rubbed off on young TENDRE and he was already handling those different instruments by the time he was in junior high school. In 2009, he formed the band ampel but was also working as a recording engineer and producer at the same time. According to J-Wiki, since 2018, he's released 7 digital download singles, 2 EPs including "Red Focus" and 2 full albums.
I am savoring the above photo of Takashimaya Times Square that I took from the south side of the sidewalk across from the southern exit of JR Shinjuku Station because that view no longer exists. In the thirteen years since this shot was taken, a huge bus terminal rose up from the concrete to obliterate that view. Mind you, there's a chance that a nice view can be had from one of the higher floors of the terminal building overlooking TTS. Having visited there many times, I didn't really buy stuff at Takashimaya Department Store, except for the scrumptious goodies in the basement food floors. I frequented the adjoining Tokyu Hands (apparently now called Hands as of this writing) and Kinokuniya Bookstore far more.
For this article, I'm going to go for a twofer regarding this singer because she has shown off such versatility. I'm talking about jazz singer Mari Nakamoto（中本マリ）, and I first mentioned her several years ago in a KKP piece regarding a technopop version of a Japanese take on an old classic "Lover, Come Back to Me" that she did on Fuji-TV's"Music Fair" with Yellow Magic Orchestra.
However, I will be starting off with her "Never Too Late" from her 1982 album"Moods of a Lady". It's not jazz...it's AOR and a really lovely example of it, thanks to songwriter Barry Miles. The bossa fusion arrangement is so comforting and familiar for a guy like me who's been hitting those AOR compilations hard. For that matter, I can imagine singers such as Al Jarreau and Bobby Caldwell tackling this one like a medium-rare steak. Get me that Perrier, right now!
Two years following "Moods of a Lady", Nakamoto released her next album, "TV", which was produced by jazz keyboardist and songwriter Don Grusin who is the co-founder of GRP Records. This album went for a change in style as it went more for a technopop fusion as you can hear from the first and title track. For a guy like me who was listening to the contemporary stuff on the radio back in those 1980s, "TV" sounds like what was hitting the charts back then with all of those synthesizers in the throes of synthpop and New Wave. Hearing her sing "TV", I can just imagine Nakamoto looking very mod 80s with those angular wide shoulders and dagger-like blush on her cheeks.
Next time, I'll really have to check out her jazz tunes.
Looking off into the sunset sky toward West Shinjuku, I remember that pedestrian overpass very well since it linked JR Shinjuku Station with the urban development in progress at the time across the street. Now, there is a very large bus terminal next to Takashimaya Times Square.
Through my music bible of "Japanese City Pop" where I first learned about singer-songwriter Kyoko Endo（遠藤京子）, my take was that her albums were mostly from the 1980s. However, that isn't true since she was releasing them as late as the early 2010s. Happily, I was able to find proof positive of that fact through this track from her March 1993 album"Koibito ni Naritai"（恋人になりたい...I Want to be Your Lover）.
"Douka, Kokoro Tojinai de"(Please Don't Close Off Your Heart) is a City Pop number of those times with those smart horns, classy piano and soulful harmonies. Written and composed by Endo, the overall tune is very much in the sophisti-pop branch of Japanese urban contemporary and just listening to it can make one feel like putting on the tux or the evening gown and hitting the streets to paint the town red. Most of all, Endo's distinct voice is still there, no matter the genre whether it be City Pop, quirky pop or jazz.
Not to make fun of the song of note here, but when I read the title for it, I couldn't help but remember McDonalds's McDLT from the 1980s with its catchphrase of "Cool side cool, hot side hot". I'm not sure whether that combination would have been good, gastrointestinally speaking. Although I do remember the ad, I'm also unsure if I'd even eaten that particular hamburger.
But to get to the song, this would be "Cool de Atsui Kimi" (You are Cool and Hot) by the duo Step with Seiken Komura（小村精権）and Kojiro Nishimori（西森幸次郎）. I've written about the band before when I covered a couple of songs from their one-and-only album "Rising Tomorrow" from 1982: "Summer Time" and "Remember Me".
"Cool de Atsui Kimi" is once again another relaxing song for the ears, thanks to the harmonies and arrangement of gentle guitar, keyboard and blue-water rhythm. Despite that title, there is nothing tsundere about this one. Fumiko Okada（岡田富美子）was the lyricist here while Yoshiaki Furuta（古田喜昭）came up with the melody. Furuta is a songwriter, producer and designer from Tokyo whose biggest hit was the sweet but searing "Wedding Bell" for the band Sugar. His J-Wiki article also shows that he's come up with a lot of anison and children's songs.
Thankfully, it doesn't happen very much at all but there are those rare occasions when a first article for a fairly obscure singer gets written up, and then later on, the YouTube videos for the song get taken down due to the usual copyright strikes or other reasons. It's frustrating but those are the breaks, and I certainly don't bear any ill will toward the YouTube channels.
A month ago, I wrote up an article on jazz singer Kyo Nishimura（西村協）regarding "Tabi ni Detai"（旅にでたい）and "Natsu no Owari ni"（夏の終りに）, two sides of the same single that came out in 1982. However, the video for the latter song has been eliminated unfortunately and I couldn't find any replacements.
The other single that he put up in his early kayo days was in 1980 and it acted as the theme song for a TBS drama in that year titled "Rikon Tomodachi"（離婚ともだち...Friends of Divorce）. "See You Again" is a sweeping dramatic tune by Nishimura whose arrangement and his singing again reminds me of the works of Karyudo（狩人）and even Akira Fuse（布施明）this time. The song also has some big names behind it: lyricist Yu Aku（阿久悠）, composer Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）and arranger Masaaki Omura（大村雅朗）.
As I mentioned off the top, Nishimura has been a jazz singer for many years now. Here is a video courtesy of NPO Ongaku Shien Kyokai （NPO 音楽支援協会...NPO Music Support Association） of the man doing "Lover, Come Back to Me" from a 2013 concert.
In my gastrointestinally stronger days, chili and chili dogs were some of my go-to foods. When I was visiting and later working at the International Student Centre at the University of Toronto, I became good friends with the house cook there, Vera, and whenever I ordered a chili dog, she would literally bury the hot dog in chili. Didn't complain one bit. It was worth the ten seconds of digging to unearth the hot dog. But over the years, my stomach and intestines gradually asked me to retire from the chili dog, so I finally acquiesced, and it's now been a couple of decades since I had it. Meanwhile, enjoy the above video by Cowboy Kent Rollins. I've been subscribed to his YouTube channel for over a year now, thanks to his down-home cooking.
Chilli Beans. is a female trio of popsters consisting of Moto, Maika and Lily. They formed up in 2019 when they were all students at Ongaku Juku Voice（音楽塾ヴォイス...Music School Voice）, a facility for vocal training set up in 1997 that has two schools in Tokyo and Fukuoka. According to an interview referenced through their J-Wiki profile, the name of the band didn't come from anything food-related, though. It was just that the first word was inspired from the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers and the second was a reference to the fact that they were a band that was just sprouting from the ground, ready to walk the path to greatness.
Their first works came out in 2021 including a debut EP titled "dancing alone" which was released in August. One of the tracks, "lemonade", which was created by the band and fellow Ongaku Juku Voice graduate Vaundy, is a sunny guitar-driven tune which seems to have some tsundere theme in mind. A young lady is in the middle of an existential tug-of-war between love and hate for a cool guy, but it looks like the former emotion is beginning to drag most of the rope to its side. Maybe the domesticity of the music video setting is sparking it, but perhaps I could call the genre covered here California garage pop.
A full album by Chilli Beans. came out earlier this year in July titled "Chilli Beans." on CD. It peaked at No. 28 on Oricon. In any case, if I had still been eating chili dogs, with all due respect to the band, I wouldn't have been downing lemonade with my old lunch dish. I'd have preferred to be drinking a lot of milk instead.
In the last few years of my stay in Japan, I was collecting those big volumes of the old "Peanuts" newspaper strips which began in 1950. Although those tomes went all the way to Charles M. Schulz's final productions in 2000, I basically stopped collecting them after I reached the 1980 edition since I think the heyday of Charlie Brown and Snoopy was within those first thirty years. The above two photos display the October 26, 1959 strip showing Linus' first mention of the Great Pumpkin as Lucy must be thinking about committing her little brother to a hospital somewhere.
Interestingly enough, it was 56 years ago today that the television adaptation of those Halloween hijinks of Charlie and the gang made its debut on CBS. "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" made its premiere less than a year after "A Charlie Brown Christmas" as the second holiday-themed Peanuts special, and I've also enjoyed this Halloween-themed one over the decades. The introduction of the show with Linus and Lucy getting out into the pumpkin patch, accompanied by a reprise of the iconic "Linus and Lucy" by jazz pianist and composer Vince Guaraldi, was able to remind viewers of the Van Pelt siblings' different personalities without a word said in the first minute and a half.
Linus' raving and ranting about the Great Pumpkin aside, I think the one other scene that has stuck in fans' memories is Charlie Brown's perennial "treat".
Now, as I promised when I wrote on the theme song for "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" a few weeks ago, I will be giving my Halloween-themed Reminiscings of Youth article (KKP's 9,100st!) in the form of the song that has remained in my head from "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown". "Great Pumpkin Waltz" by Guaraldi and five other musicians was a song whose title I hadn't even known; it was just a number that I knew as a theme for the special. It wasn't until I had purchased George Winston's tribute to Guaraldi, "Linus and Lucy: The Music of Vince Guaraldi" in 1996 and listened to Winston's slower, longer and even more soulful rendition the piece that not only did I finally find out the title but also that it was a particularly beautiful waltz. It's up there with one other waltz created for pop ears, "Lover", by Rodgers and Hart which was also a ROY article early last year. The original by Guaraldi hits harder in the special especially in the scene when Sally Brown decides to sit in the pumpkin patch with her sweet Baboo.
When I was prepping this ROY article, I discovered that the music which accompanies the title reveal and the Peanuts kids getting spooked was also pretty good, so I've included it here. According to Wikipedia, it was originally titled by Guaraldi as "D Minor-Major Groove" when he did a recording session with bassist John Mosher and drummer Johnny Markham back in 1958, but he brought it back for the special under the new title of "Graveyard Theme". There is some playfully sinister feeling in the brief musical cue, although I think that for a graveyard song, it's still pretty happy.
Anyways, I will be coming up with a J-Halloween song for next Monday. There were a few singles coming out in Japan around October 1966 of course, although Halloween wouldn't become a thing for a few more decades there.
Linda Yamamoto -- Kommachauna （こまっちゃうナ） (September 1966)
My preamble ramble will be starting from another sector of my geekdom, and that is "Doctor Who". In all honesty, I haven't been a huge fan of the episodes of the latest incarnation of The Doctor although Jodie Whittaker isn't entirely to blame; most of it goes to the writers. But I have to say that the Thirteenth Doctor's swan song (that was broadcast last Sunday) was actually very good, and it was a definite love letter to the fans. Of course, the Whovians always get crazy whenever different incarnations of The Doctor and the actors who have played them pop up in the same episode, and the production staff pretty much slammed that button down for "The Power of the Doctor".
I kinda received that similar feeling on watching the latest video for Yuming（ユーミン）as Yumi Matsutoya（松任谷由実）and Yumi Arai（荒井由実）got to meet through the wonders of technology. Actually, Rocket Brown of "Come Along Radio" and then one KKP commenter informed me of the news of the Queen of New Music's latest new song which ends her epic 50th anniversary 3-CD BEST compilation, "Yuming Banzai!"（ユーミン万歳!...All Hail Yuming! ）which was released a few weeks ago on October 4th. It held the No. 1 spot for two weeks straight on Oricon.
That final song for the album is "Call Me Back" which, of course, was written by Yuming and composed by Karuho Kureta（呉田軽穂...ha ha, cute） with Masataka Matsutoya（松任谷正隆）handling the arrangement. First off, the music video is about as slick as just-polished chrome as Vaporwave meets TRON City, and I have to admit that until that fateful meeting between futuristic Matsutoya and 1970s Arai at the end, I thought that the former was real instead of the CG form.
Listening to "Call Me Back" a few times now, I've picked up on a fusion of styles although I'm not sure whether that this was intentional on the part of Yuming and her husband or I've simply got too much Yuming on the brain. "Call Me Back" seems to have some of her contemporary pop blended in with her City Pop of the early 1980s and the New Music with which she began her career with in the early 1970s. Plus, it sounds as if the Arai and Matsutoya voices were brought together like a duet. Perhaps the buttons for all of those Yuming fans were slammed down here, too.
I've mentioned this place a few times over the years. This is the Madison Avenue Pub, very close to the University of Toronto and therefore a popular haunt for the undergrads and graduate students and professors. I've visited the place with friends and that even includes the past number of years, excluding the pandemic ones. These days, it's been more of the late morning-early afternoon visits, so my friends and I have been able to avoid the crush of kids.
The title of this chestnut reminded me of the ol' Mad. "Campus Doori no Pub"(Campus Avenue Pub) was the one-and-only single by Miko Tanabe（田辺ミコ）, another one of those singers who came and went, and so there's virtually no information on the lady. Once again, the only source of data was through "idol.ne.jp" and that was just to show the single itself with the release date of July 1978 and the songwriters who consisted of lyricist Konosuke Fuji（藤公之介）and composer Masaaki Hirao（平尾昌晃）.
I'm not sure whether Tanabe had been thought of as an aidoru despite the website, and the arrangement of "Campus Doori no Pub" is such that it could have gone either way between aidoru and straight pop. It's got a nice jaunty beat and it has a good instrumental bridge with strings. Plus, I thought that Tanabe's vocals were pleasantly resonant, and they reminded me of early 1970s aidoru Mari Amachi（天地真理）. It's a pity that she didn't release any more singles.
The name Kuniyoshi Kiyosu（清須邦義）hadn't been known to me until very recently. However, he's a singer-songwriter who's been associated with a number of acts from the 1960s going forward. As a teen, he worked as a roadie for Jackey Yoshikawa and his Blue Comets（ジャッキー吉川とブルー・コメッツ）until also becoming part of the band as a guitarist following some tutelage under one of their members. Then, after graduating from high school, he joined Kyoko Aso & Blue Fire（麻生京子とブルー・ファイア）before he formed his own group, R&B band The Baron（ザ・バロン）as a backup for singer Isao Bito（尾藤イサオ）. In 1972, The Baron broke up and Kiyosu moved to New York City for about a year to study. Once he returned to Japan, he would eventually work with Mike Maki（マイク眞木）and Chiharu Matsuyama（松山千春）.
Kiyosu did release his own music, though, which has been identified on his J-Wiki entry as folk. In terms of his discography, there are several albums between 1977 and this year under his name, but he only put out three singles between 1979 and 1981. His final single from 1981 was "Ai Dake de wa"(Just Love).
"Ai Dake de wa", which was written and composed by Kiyosu, is one very gentle folk/pop ballad that almost crosses into Fashion Music territory. The singer's vocals remind me of other artists such as Takao Kisugi（来生たかお）and Muneyuki Sato（さとう宗幸）. It is one of those songs that can prod folks into stopping by to smell the flowers.
Instead of the usual "Uta Con"（うたコン）tonight, NHK presented the annual "Melodies of Osaka" special with the Kansai singers and comedians performing the various Osakan kayo. As is the case with "Uta Con" and for that matter, the Kohaku Utagassen, it was a mix of enka and pop music.
One of the acts was Naniwa Danshi（なにわ男子...Naniwa Men）, one of the newer Johnny's Entertainmentaidoru groups with its seven members hailing from the Kansai region of Japan. I actually had their debut single in the YouTube backlog, so I figured it was time to bring it out. "Ubu Love"(First Love) was released in November 2021 and it's a happy-go-lucky tune with a bit of disco or at least late 1990s/early 2000s J-R&B essence in there.
Written by Satoru Kurihara（栗原暁）and composed by Shingo Kubota（久保田真悟）which make up the music production duo of Jazzin' Park, "Ubu Love" was an immediate hit for Naniwa Danshi. It hit No. 1 and despite the relative lateness of release in the year, it became the No. 3 single for 2021. The song also managed to sell a little above 700,000 copies. As for the music video above, those lads are some of the most clean-cut fellows that I've ever seen. However, I'm a bit alarmed that it took so long to service that car that it got dark before it was allowed to go its merry way.
Now, to give the lineup for Naniwa Danshi: it's Daigo Nishihata (西畑大吾), Shunsuke Michieda (道枝駿佑), Ryusei Onishi (大西流星), Kento Nagao (長尾謙杜), Kyohei Takahashi (高橋恭平), Joichiro Fujiwara (藤原丈一郎) and leader Kazuya Ohashi (大橋和也). The lads have yet to get onto the Kohaku, but I think that it's just a matter of time before they get their chance to perform on New Year's Eve. I almost forgot to mention that "Ubu Love" is also available on the group's debut album"1st Love" which came out in July 2022. Not surprisingly, it also hit the top spot on the charts.
Well, with the unusually high temperatures today and the Diwali fireworks shooting off in my neighbourhood last night, I couldn't quite help feeling as if Japanese summer festival season had mysteriously materialized in my neck of the woods. Wouldn't it be nice to have some of that takoyaki and yakisoba while downing it with some Calpis? Even better, it would be nice to enjoy that natsu matsuri food with that significant other in yukata.
That kind of feeling seems to be imbued within the lyrics of popular band YOASOBI's 2nd digital download single"Ano Yume wo Nazotte" (Tracing That Dream) from January 2020. According to the Wikipedia writeup on the song, it "...was based on Monogatary.com's Monocon 2019-winning short story, titled "Yume no Shizuku to Hoshi no Hana" (夢の雫と星の花...lit. "Dream Drops and Star Flowers"), written by Sōta Ishiki".
Now, as all of YOASOBI's fans will know immediately, I am quite late to the party when it comes to YOASOBI since this is the first article that has gone up on KKP. I have been aware that the band has been on the Kohaku Utagassen in 2020 and 2021, and I figure that if composer Ayase and vocalist ikura have made their appearance on NHK's annual New Year's Eve special in consecutive years, I can imagine that their chances of a third appearance is pretty darn good. We shall find out in a few weeks when the announcement of the teams for the 2022 edition is made.
But in any case, I wanted to start off the YOASOBI file with their summer festival-themed tune "Ano Yume wo Nazotte". Written and composed by Ayase, I had figured because of that official music video done up as an anime featuring a young couple, it was a theme song for an actual animated feature.
Uh...no, such wasn't the case but my compliments on the animators for the video. Also, according to the aforementioned Wikipedia article, there was a well-sung English version of "Ano Yume wo Nazotte" by ikura that was a track on YOASOBI's first English-language EP, "E-Side", which was released in November 2021. That album hit No. 1 on Oricon's digital albums list and as for the original single, it was recognized by the Recording Industry Association of Japan as having gone Gold in the downloads category and Platinum in streaming.
A slower version of the song known as the Ballade Version came out in March 2022 as a digital download. It was not only used for a Calorie Mate commercial, but also as an accompanying song for the live-action cinematic adaptation of that novel that was mentioned above, "Yume no Shizuku to Hoshi no Hana".
I forgot to mention today that this week marks the beginning of Diwali celebrations for many people including Hindus, so I would like to wish them well during their Festival of Lights.
At the same time, our province of Ontario is having a whole rash of mayoral elections today with results coming out as I speak, so there will be celebrations of a more political nature. I can imagine that some of the music will involve quite a bit of rock, and as such, I figure that I can end the KKP broadcasting day with something from that genre. So, here is "Beat Emotion" from the one and only rocker Tomoyasu Hotei（布袋寅泰）.
His 3rd single, Hotei concocted all of "Beat Emotion" and released it in June 1991 to get his first No. 1 ranking as a solo artist. According to the J-Wiki writeup for "Beat Emotion", Hotei felt so good making this one that he felt that just had to make this a single release. As for the title, it was something that Hotei himself made up to describe that impulse sparking a heartbeat, and he felt that it was a phrase which suited him to a T. The same title was actually used to name an album for his old band BOØWY back in 1986, and Hotei felt that there was still plenty of meaningful juice in the phrase to also use it for his own single.
I'd probably say that "Beat Emotion", after listening to it a few times, is a song whose impulse can actually spark a typhoon. The single finished 1991 as the 53rd-ranked song. It also appeared on his 2nd album"GUITARHYTHM II" from August that same year, and that release also hit the top spot on Oricon with it becoming the 45th-ranked album.
The duo Tsuki no Michikake (Full Moon) had been in my backlog for some months, so I finally decided to bring it to light on the blog. Formed in 2018, there doesn't seem to be any description about the type of music that vocalist and lyricist Asumi Kumagai（熊谷あすみ）and keyboardist and composer Kazuya Imai（今井カズヤ）had wanted to bring to the listening masses.
However, from listening to the title track of their first mini-album in August 2018, "Tsuki no Michikake", they may be going for some sunny-side pop with perhaps a tribute to the New Music of the 1970s group Sugar Babe which had Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）and Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）. I can also pick up some hints of the Blue Peppers（ブルー・ペッパーズ）which has been one of my favourite new bands in the last several years.
As for some history on Imai and Kumagai, according to Tsuki no Michikake'swebsite, the former graduated from the Showa University of Music with a degree in composition, and while he was a student, he formed a band called Shippai Shinai Ikikata（失敗しない生き方...No Fail Way to Live） in 2010. Meanwhile, Kumagai mentions that she loves sweet things and sake, and would like to appear on NHK's educational channel someday. There's no mention about how the duo came up with their band name, but I did notice that there is a 2017 novel with that title.
Although the shore by my grandfather's village in Wakayama Prefecture was too small to have any of the large fishing vessels moored there, as a kid visiting the place in 1972, I do remember witnessing my grandfather and his fellow villagers bringing in the nets filled with fish. The name that I heard mentioned for that fish was kamasu（かます）, and I recollect that it was delicious grilled, although it was still years before I finally appreciated sushi and sashimi. The thing is though when I looked up kamasu in the J-E dictionary, the translation came out as barracuda! My impression had been that one was more likely to be bitten by a barracuda than vice versa.
In any case, to start off this week of "Kayo Kyoku Plus" tunes, I'm going with Sayuri Ishikawa's（石川さゆり）105th single, "Hamauta" (Ballad of the Shore) which was released in March 2012. With the guitar-powered brio of contemporary enka but lyrics that seem to be more evocative of older enka regarding sending fishing fleets out to sea for their daily bountiful catch, it has Ishikawa once again putting her all into her vocals. Folks like Saburo Kitajima（北島三郎）would probably nod in respect.
Rei Nakanishi（なかにし礼）came up with the lyrics while Tetsuya Gen（弦哲也）composed "Hamauta". Looking through the lyrics, I thought it would be some sort of go-touchi song like the ones that I have been writing about every Saturday, but there is no mention of any specific place in the lyrics so the song can apply to anywhere around the Japanese archipelago.
I'm going to be coming at this song from a peculiar angle this time and start off by mentioning the breakout character of Ranko Mannen（万年嵐子）from the currently running anime "Akiba Meido Senso"（アキバ冥途戦争...Akiba Maid War） played by seiyuu Rina Sato（佐藤利奈）. Sato also sings the Keiko Fuji（藤圭子）-worthy ending theme, but Ranko herself is reminiscent of the kickass actress Meiko Kaji（梶芽衣子）.
However, if there were ever a live-action version of "Akiba Maid War" and I could pluck an understudy actress to play Ranko from anywhere in time and space, I would select then 1980s actress/singer Junko Mihara（三原じゅん子）. Just based on her low vocals and the fact that when I first saw her on the 1982 Kohaku Utagassen looking all tough singing "Honki de Love Me Good"（ホンキでLove Me Good), I'd say that she would also be ideal as a one-woman army dressed as a maid. Nowadays, though, Mihara is too busy being a parliamentarian in the Japanese Diet.
It's been a few years since I've had Mihara up on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", but I've got another song from her 1983 album"Windy City ~ Junko in Chicago", and it happens to be the opening track "Yoru wa Blank" (The Night's a Blank). But first off, I've got to apologize profusely since although I posted another track from "Windy City" back in 2019 titled "Silky Rain"（シルキー・レイン）, I forgot to state via time stamp that "Silky Rain" was the third track at 7:42 (now corrected). Since I posted the video of the entire album on that article, people would have thought that the song was the first one, "Yoru wa Blank", instead of the one at its proper position as Track 3. I gather that my mind was a blank back then.
Anyways, instead of the mix of City Pop and pop/rock that "Silky Rain" contains, "Yoru wa Blank" has its ratio of genres bending more toward the City Pop side of things. Reading that title, I take it that things got a little wild that one night in the Windy City but man, I can't deny the cool musical accompaniment, thanks to Yuuichiro Oda（小田裕一郎）. It's got quite the rollicking rhythm of driving through Chicago in a sports car, and my compliments to the popping piano and the electric guitar. Etsuko Kisugi（来生えつこ）took care of the lyrics.
I have to also remind myself that although City Pop has a couple of Junkos in the lead: Ohashi（大橋純子）and Yagami（八神純子）, Mihara has also dabbled into the cool metropolitan music although as the YouTuber who posted the above video noted, she was more into the power pop and hard rock genres. Perhaps now, she's into the power politics and hard debating of passing bills.
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