All I can say is that if any moony-eyed romantics took folk group Alice's(アリス)advice on making that confession to the loves of their lives, then they should have plenty of open space around them, preferably outside in a park rather than the intimate surroundings inside a restaurant.
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.
Sunday, October 9, 2022
Alice -- Kokuhaku(告白)
The reason I say this is because Alice members Shinji Tanimura(谷村新司), Takao Horiuchi(堀内孝雄)and Tohru Yazawa(矢沢透)released their first single in 34 years, "Kokuhaku" (Confession), earlier this year in March. With Tanimura on lyrics and Horiuchi on melody, the song has the confessor declaring loud and clear how much he/she loves their significant other. Hope the significant other doesn't get too embarrassed at the volume.
Even with the contemporariness of the production values with "Kokuhaku", the song does feel like an old Alice tune although there is quite a bit more rock n' roll infused with the folksiness. I first heard this when the band showed up on "Uta Con"(うたコン)earlier this year to perform this one, and I wonder whether this could mean that they could appear once more on NHK's Kohaku Utagassen for their fourth appearance and for the first time in a dozen years. The release of their 23rd single is additionally important since Alice has just celebrated their 50th anniversary in show business.
(cover version)
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Hello, Refolder, and thanks for commenting here and on a couple of other articles. Nope, never got anywhere near that stage, unfortunately or fortunately. :)
ReplyDeleteAhh..Brian. Good to hear from you. Didn't have any idea that it was you.
ReplyDeleteThanks very much, Brian. I've also been indebted to all of the readers and commenters including yourself over the years for your support. I hope that you can find a topic that will fuel your blogging for the foreseeable future.
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