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.
"Weekend Game" is a nice and medium-tempo song from Jin Kirigaya's（桐ケ谷仁）4th album backed up by Tatsuro Yamashita's（山下達郎）band and Kazuo Shiina's（椎名和夫）arrangement that goes well with a summer afternoon nap. Having to leave his girlfriend at the office in the city who's busy with work, a fellow spends some carefree time at the weekend resort by himself while naturally waiting for her. For a guy, it really is the ideal weekend trip. No matter where you are, it's a comfortable tune.
The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised" (2020).
Alright, first off...there has been a name change with one of our City Pop singers over the last several months. Bluesy Neo-City Pop singer and songwriter Masa has been officially Sora Satoh for a while now, but I've been just been updating the names for his previous songs noted on the blog (such as "Hachijo Island Sunday Morning Drive") and in the Labels section.
His latest song "56709" came out in the middle of April a few months back, and if that number strikes you as familiar then you would be a City Pop fan. In fact, I'd say that it's City Pop's most famous series of numbers seeing that it's been gleefully stated over and over in Junko Ohashi's（大橋純子）wonderful "Telephone Number".
As Sora himself notes in the description below the YouTube video above, "56709" is a sequel of sorts to "Telephone Number" and with the help of France-based singer-songwriter Pernelle, they give an account about someone trying to reach the mystery person at that number. The song is a veritable shoutout to the entire umbrella genre through the Tats' like guitar strumming, for example, and Sora's lyrics carrying references to other City Pop songs. It's all very cool and spacey out there on the highways of Tokyo. The video doesn't have any cute chibi girls strutting from side to side but I gather that might be Sora himself riding the motorcycle.
Will there be a final confrontation between her and Ginger or will there be collaboration?
That was the second-last sentence that I wrote for my article on Ginger Root's"Nisemono" and its music video being a part of a short series involving the trial and tribulations of a troubled 80s aidorunamed Kimiko Takeguchi and the songwriter who's had to fill in for her behind the mike. Well, according to the title of the final track of Cameron Lew's 2022 EP "Nisemono" and the video above, it is apparent that there has been a reconciliation of sorts between Kimiko and Ginger.
The appropriately titled "Everything's Alright" has everyone indeed alright and in their proper positions to provide that important part of the soundtrack for the anime. Despite the presence of a small orchestra in the recording studio, it is still the quintessential Ginger Root sound of twinkly 80s ambience. I certainly hope that this isn't the end as well for the Ginger Root project and that Lew will continue to bring on some more nostalgia.
Incidentally, Kimiko is played by Amaiwana, herself a singer-songwriter and a trackmaker so I'd like to cover one of her tunes soon enough.
Like most folks, I sometimes didn't want to cook anything at home when I was living in Ichikawa, Chiba. In that case, I was more than happy to call up the neighbourhood Domino's Pizza and have an eight-slicer delivered...often the Giga Meat which I could disturbingly devour with ease back then. But when I was with my school and the staff was getting rather peckish, they would also call in for pizza and for the sake of variety, the quattro would be ordered with four 90-degree wedges with different toppings. It is there that I discovered the distinctly Japanese tastes such as jaga-mayo and chicken teriyaki. They were all good.
So, just like a Pavlovian dog, when I saw the cover for paris match's June 2003 4th album"Quattro" (yes, I know what it means in Italian), my mind went to all things pizza. However, the opening track "Nemurenai Kanashii Yoru nara" (If It's a Sad Sleepless Night) is of course more nutritious for my ears because of course, it's paris match. Written by Tai Furusawa（古澤大）and composed by Yosuke Sugiyama（杉山洋介）, it's the usual sophisticated pop/jazz with some cool funkiness that we've come to expect from the band. Those hopeful lyrics by Furusawa relate the reassurances by one fellow that he'll come and help out his paramour if there's the slightest bit of trouble or insomnia. Maybe the lass ingested too much of that quattro pizza.
But seriously, this is a cool song for the sultry summer days and in spite of the hint of night, the rhythm and those lovely horns feel more like a fun time out during broad daylight...just like the cover of "Quattro" itself.
It just so happens that the final day of June falls on the typical Urban Contemporary Friday for "Kayo Kyoku Plus", so let's make it a good one.
With a title like "Wasted Summer Love", I'll have to ask for Kingo Hamada's（濱田金吾）forgiveness for assuming that it is rather depressing. This is the penultimate track on his fifth album from August 1983, "Mugshot", but in spite of the title, it's another beautifully crafted ballad by the singer-songwriter with lyrics by Akira Ohtsu（大津あきら）and arrangement by Hiroshi Sato（佐藤博）. Maybe there was a love lost here but I'm hoping that the breakup was amicable and both parties learned something wonderful from each other during their time together.
Especially listening to the bridge, there is something rather Boz Scaggs or Bobby Caldwell in Sato's work, and the wistfulness is amped up due to the addition of that steel pedal guitar. Though I'm writing this in the early days of summer, "Wasted Summer Love" could be more for the latter days of the season (that August release date certainly hints at it) nearly hitting fall which would fit the theme of the song.
Well, just a couple of days following an article on the very famous Group Sounds band The Spiders（ザ・スパイダース）, I've got another GS band that is perhaps not all that well known. I wasn't able to discover how this quintet of rock n' rollers got the name The Edwards（ジ・エドワーズ）...I keep thinking that perhaps one of the guys was a British Royal watcher.
Formed in June 1967, The Edwards had apparently wanted to bring back the sound of the early Beatles. However, they only released two singles and broke up in October 1968. Both of those singles were handled by lyricist Haruo Hayashi（林春生）and a young songwriter named Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平） whose legendary run as composer was still way ahead of him. Their debut single from February 1968 was "Cry, Cry, Cry" with Takeshi Maki（麻紀タケシ）as the vocalist and keyboardist. Yup, I can hear an amped-up version of The Beatles in there, although the fuzzy guitar makes me wonder whether The Edwards was trying to aim for The Fab Four around their "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" period.
Another member of The Edwards, guitarist Satoshi Sakakibara（榊原さとし）whose real name was Yoshio Hatano（秦野嘉王）, entered entertainment company Geiei Productions（芸映）once the band broke up, and became the very first manager for Hideki Saijo（西城秀樹）. After he and Saijo had split up, Sakakibara set up his own company Office AtoZ where he was instrumental in giving comedy duo Tunnels（とんねるず） their push toward stardom. Of course, composer Tsutsumi made his breakthrough some ten months following the release of "Cry, Cry, Cry" with a totally different kayo kyoku.
Time for another Reminiscings of Youth song. Another tune that has had me swooning for those old 1980s, I swear that "The Warrior" by Scandal featuring Patty Smyth became a daily tradition on those music video shows for weeks at a time following its release in June 1984. An afternoon didn't go by without the music video for this hit featuring Smyth slowly being transformed into one colourful were-something or other. I hadn't ever heard of Scandal nor Patty Smyth before "The Warrior", and I never heard of them again since that release of the single. But it doesn't matter because they immortalized themselves with this one.
Just imagine a rock song as an analogy for dystopian street battles...maybe this was one of the first examples. As one commenter on YouTube mentioned, "The Warrior" isn't just a hit rock song, it's an anthem for 80s music in general that was created by Holly Knight and Nick Gilder. Everything from the arrangement to Smyth's tough-as-nails delivery is legendary.
Of all the references to that decade of ours in current movies and television shows, wouldn't it be something for "The Warrior" to make its comeback to eyes and ears? It hit No. 1 on Canada's RPM charts and then No. 7 on America's Billboard.
So, what were two songs to make their appearance on record shop shelves in June 1984?
The great Yoshimi Tendo（天童よしみ）appeared on the latest "Uta Con"（うたコン）episode a couple of days ago to perform her most recent single which was released last month. I saw on the screen and J-Wiki that it was Akimitsu Honma（本間昭光）who composed and arranged it. I'm beginning to believe that Honma could be the new version of the late Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）who was also a composer and arranger of many songs throughout many Japanese genres. Honma looks to be in the same mold as someone who helped arrange the funky Masayuki Suzuki（鈴木雅之）contributions to the "Kaguya-sama"anime franchise such as "DADDY! DADDY! DO!" and create the 80s synthpop/New Wave tunes for Ai Furihata（降幡愛）such as "CITY".
Now it looks like enka is Honma's latest genre to explore. He composed and arranged Tendo's "Hoshimizake" (Drinking While Viewing the Stars), and it might be more accurate to say that the song is a smooth blend of enka and pop especially in those opening notes. But the whole effect is as soothing and refreshing as a sake commercial set by a quiet stream of the freshest water. Kiyoshi Matsuo（松尾潔）was responsible for the lyrics.
In fact, I'm surprised that I haven't yet heard of any sake company using "Hoshimizake" as its campaign song. Just bring a friend, an ochoko-and-tokkuri set, a bottle of the finest Juyondai and good memories while the song is playing.
I've always wondered about titles in Japanese songs where the sky was concerned. In addition to the topic of this article, I was reminded of Mariko Takahashi's（高橋真梨子）1979 classic"Anata no Sora wo Tobitai"(あなたの空を翔びたい...I Want to Soar in Your Sky）. There don't seem to be such expressions of love in that form in English, so the best I can speculate is that it could mean "I want to be yours" or "I want to be with you".
As I said, this article is on "Watashi wa Anata no Sora ni Naritai" (I Want to Be Your Sky) which was Miki Imai's（今井美樹）14th single from November 1997. It was truly a husband-and-wife love ballad with Tomoyasu Hotei（布袋寅泰）composing the tune while Imai created the lyrics. The song weaves in style between a simple romantic fireplace pop song and a late Beatles type of production, perhaps in a baroque pop fashion.
Oooh...there's even a jazz arrangement for it that she did at the Blue Note! Marvelous! Anyways, I had thought that "Watashi wa Anata no Sora ni Naritai" was a theme song for a typically romance-filled J-Drama, but actually it was the ending theme for late-night TBS news broadcast "News 23". The song hit No. 32 on Oricon, and it was termed a double A-side CD with its "partner" being the Christmas tune "Shiro no Waltz"（白のワルツ）.
Interestingly enough, I'm going to try and get today's (Wednesday June 28 2023) articles (or just the one) up within the last 45 minutes before we end up migrating over to Thursday. I was taking some long-awaited me time to enjoy myself downtown all day today.
Looks like I've got the coupling song to Denki Groove's（電気グルーヴ）very first single"Mud Ebis" from October 1991, and it turns out to be "Cosmic Surfin'". It happens to be a live cover (in Los Angeles) of the Yellow Magic Orchestraoriginal from their very first album in 1978. YMO'sHaruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）was behind the original.
So instead of "Cosmic Surfin'" as a technopop tribute to The Ventures, Denki Groove has gone for a more dance club approach with what sounds like House music. I also like the shoutout to Art of Noise's"Dragnet" via a very recognizable quote, and did I hear a familiar rat-a-tat of the drums from YMO's version of "Tighten Up"? It's always interesting to listen to a band's early output for comparison.
Yup, it's gonna be just the one tonight. See you on Thursday!
It was a good "Uta Con"（うたコン）tonight. Not only did folks like enka star Yoshimi Tendo（天童よしみ）and pop singer Ayaka（絢香）appear but it was also the NHK debut of Atarashii Gakko no Leaders（新しい学校のリーダース）with their breakthrough hit, "Otonablue"（オトナブルー）.
However, I was stunned by the revelation that rock singer Yuki Katsuragi（葛城ユキ）had passed away a year ago from cancer at the age of 73 as reported on the show. I had no idea about the death but Nanase Aikawa（相川七瀬）appeared to pay tribute to her friend with her cover of Katsuragi's most famous hit "Bohemian"（ボヘミアン）from 1983.
I had wondered whether I would only add a blurb at the end of my original article of "Bohemian" noting her passing but then I looked up her J-Wiki profile and discovered some information. Katsuragi had actually been born Sayoko Tanaka（田中小夜子）in Okayama Prefecture. She actually debuted as a singer under her real name in November 1969 at the age of 20 although aside from that fact, there is literally no other information about her until she took on the stage name of Yuki Katsuragi in 1974.
The hard rock"Bohemian" is the only song that I know Katsuragi for, so it was with some surprise that her debut single under Tanaka, "Yoru wo Kaeshite" (Bring Back the Night), was a song straddling enka and Mood Kayo. Written by Hiroshi Mikami（三上博司）and composed by Keiji Saito（斉藤敬二）, Tanaka's slightly raspy and resonant vocals remind me of the music that singer and actress Keiko Fuji（藤圭子）was singing at the time.
I realize that it's a year late but I would still like to give my condolences to her family, friends and fans.
In a world of Starbucks, Excelsior and Doutour coffee shops in Japan, it was always nice to know that there were (and hopefully still are) also plenty of independent cafés run by coffee masters. I always had a soft spot for the mom-and-pop shops although I only had the franchises in my Ichikawa neighbourhood. However on occasion, I was able to visit such places with friends like the one you see above in Saitama Prefecture when I returned to Japan for a couple of weeks in 2017. From the décor to the aromas to the menu, every such café I visited there had its own sumptuous experiences for all of the senses.
So you can guess that an NHK program such as "Furu Cafe Kei Haru-san no Kyuujitsu" (The Old Cafés ~ Haru's Day Off) would be right up my alley. Starting from 2015 as a pilot one-off, it got the green light for regular seasons in 2016 which have also been showing on our local Japan TV. I would say that the show is a "dramatimentary" (crushing together "dramatization" and "documentary") with actor Gouta Watanabe（渡部豪太）as Haru Sanada（真田ハル）, a blogger who has been traveling throughout Japan in search of those atmospheric and woodsy coffee houses. I can absolutely relate to him. Incidentally, the actual café owners and other real-life associates take part in the hijinks as well.
Now the reason that I'm even referring to "Haru-san" is not because of the theme song. It apparently doesn't have an official one but there have been rotating tunes over the past several years according to its J-Wiki article. I could track down three out of the four listed on YouTube and all four of them are cover versions of past kayo.
A cover of The Spiders'（ザ・スパイダーズ）classic from 1966 (and yes, that's partially the reason that I put the original up only a few hours ago), Tsuji（つじあやの）gives it her own quintessential spin via her trusty ukulele. Her version is on her 2004 album"Cover Girl".
I already gave my paragraph on Toki's（土岐麻子）cover of Yellow Magic Orchestra's hit in the article that features both original and cover. A track on her 2006 "Weekend Shuffle" album, it's a groovier rather than technopoppier, and it fits that feeling of enjoying an afternoon at the coffee house with a good friend or book.
An intriguingly Caribbean take on Eiichi Ohtaki's（大滝詠一）doo-wop original from his classic "A Long Vacation" from 1981, Ohta's（太田裕美）cover was a part of a 2009 tribute album for "A Long Vacation" titled "A LONG VACATION from Ladies". Pass the sunblock, please.😎
Now the one song that I couldn't find was "Hatto Shite! Good"（ハッとして! Good） which was originally recorded by Toshihiko Tahara（田原俊彦）in 1980 (ahh found it now).
It's been about six years since I've added something by the Group Sounds band The Spiders（ザ・スパイダース）, outside of references via ROY articles. The last time was June 2017 when I put up their "Summer Girl"（サマー・ガール）.
Written and composed by band member Hiroshi "Monsieur" Kamayatsu（かまやつひろし）as their Christmas Day 1966 single,"Nantonaku Nantonaku"(Somehow Somehow) has an adorably cornball "Aw, shucks" sort of vibe as Jun Inoue（井上順）sings about how hard he has fallen in love with that girl. It has much more of a cordial country lilt than the usual rock n' roll, maybe even a bit of Hawaiian thanks to Katsuo Ohno's（大野克夫）steel guitar. Despite the Yuletide release, there is something about the song that feels much more summery, and rather than a Christmas tree proposal, I think that the setting here would be a beach for the one-knee ask.
Yeah, I gotta say that "Urusei Yatsura"（うる星やつら）is really urusei yatsura. I don't think I've heard a trailer that almost had me turning down the volume from all of the vocal cacophony present. In any case, earlier this year, I contributed an article for the 2022 redux version of the anime regarding its first opening theme "aiue"（アイウエ）by music project MAISONdes.
From the quote that I referred to in that first article, MAISONdes is notable for considering itself as a growing apartment building with each song being a unit in that building. So, "aiue", which had Minami（美波）and SAKURAmoti creating and performing it, is known as Unit 373. Well, those contemporary "Urusei Yatsura" fans most likely already know this, but MAISONdes was responsible for all of the theme songs including the second ending theme.
Titled "Ai Tarinai"(Not Enough Love), this probably came out as a digital single in January 2023, and Unit 210's residents are music makers yama and Nito（ニト。）with the latter handling lyrics and music. Not surprisingly, "Ai Tarinai" is one hectic synthpop adventure reflecting a typical "Urusei Yatsura" episode. The official music video certainly shows Lum in a new light. And I'm kinda wondering whether one scene wasn't influenced by "Doctor Who" (sorry, my geek is showing).
Up to now in KKP history, readers would understandably believe that singer Yoko Hatanaka（畑中葉子）had been forever tied at the hip of singer-songwriter Masaaki Hirao（平尾昌晃）because all of the songs that I've profiled about the Tokyo native have involved her duets with Hirao such as the popular kayo classic "Canada Kara no Tegami" (カナダからの手紙）and "Ehge Kai no Tabi"（エーゲ海の旅）. Both of them along with two other singles released in 1978 were indeed all duets of Hatanaka and Hirao which had them traveling throughout the globe with their brand of exotic kayo.
Well as of January 1979, the trip ended. Hatanaka released her first solo single in that month "Romeo & Juliet '79" although Hirao was still responsible for the melody while Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）provided the lyrics of a devoted love couple in trouble with Jun Sato（佐藤準）arranging everything. I was kinda wondering whether "Romeo & Juliet '79" would come under the umbrella of City Pop after listening to the intro but as I got deeper into the song, I realized that this was more disco-influenced kayo kyoku along the lines of Hiromi Iwasaki's（岩崎宏美）aidoru tunes at that time and previously.
Hatanaka didn't have a very particularly long career behind the mike. She released a total of 7 singles and 4 albums up to 1985. However, her acting career lasted well into the 2010s.
Welcome to Monday! When I first listened to Kojiro Shimizu's（清水宏次朗）"Love Affair" which was his October 1988 single, there was something about that boogie beat which sounded rather familiar. Then, I saw who was behind the songwriting...none other Ryo Aska（飛鳥涼）of Chage & Aska fame. That beat in their upbeat songs has been similarly transferred to Shimizu's original take of hustling, shuffling and strutting down the street as a desperate cad is truly hoping that he can steal a lady from another guy. The single was also included in his album "Night Dive" which came out in November.
I gather that Aska liked his work so much that he and partner Chage covered it in their 11th original album"Energy" which also came out in November 1988. The boogie has been amped up to Big Band jazz levels via synthesizer. "Energy" peaked at No. 6 on Oricon.
Forgive me for some Sunday night silly whimsy here as far as "Kayo Kyoku Plus" is concerned, but actually, I have mentioned this in a past recent article. There has been a pitched battle among our three years in the Labels to become the year with the most article entries: 1981, 1982 and 1983. With the addition of this 1981 song, we'll have a tie for second place with both 1981 and 1983 with 464 articles each and then 1982 with a slim lead of 465. Where will this lead to? Enquiring minds want to know.
But I digress. In the last few articles for the late and dearly missed singer Kaoru Sudo（須藤薫）, I've covered a couple of her albums but this time around, I'll just be handling one song here. "Omoide no School Love"(School Love of My Memories) is the first track on her second album"Paradise Tour"(July 1981) which was written by Ayumi Date（伊達歩）, composed by Masamichi Sugi（杉真理）and arranged by Masataka Matsutoya（松任谷正隆）.
I've come up with another angle when it comes to the spirited music of Sudo especially listening to the genki "Omoide no School Love". The singer and the song seem to combine the 1950s/1960s girl pop of Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）back around the same time and the happy-go-lucky projecting voice of EPO along with the arrangement of her songs, although EPO tunes were often arranged by Nobuyuki Shimizu（清水信之）. It's a fun tune that may harken back to those 50s and 60s but also remind me of what music was doing in Japan in those 80s. As the thumbnail photo for the video will attest, "Omoide no School Love" was also included in Sudo's second BEST compilation "Tear-drops Calendar" from April 1985 which peaked at No. 63 on Oricon.
Well, I've learned a new expression today: kekkon tekireiki which means "marriageable age" although the kekkon (which means "wedding") isn't needed for the definition to pass, according to Weblio. When I was teaching in Japan, I had a lot of single female students, a few of whom would joke around with me about the Japanese slang term known as a Christmas cake. Of course, Christmas cakes could be eaten on December 24th or 25th or earlier but those remaining on the Fujiya shelves past Xmas Day were seen to be old. And so, women who were older than 25 in Japan were seen to be old maids or past their prime so they were called (unsold) Christmas cakes which is frankly a whole lot of bunkum. I don't even think that the term holds much water anymore considering that I think that there are plenty of women in the nation who are more than happy to stave off marriage until they're well into their thirties.
Now, where did I learn about kekkon tekireiki? It was actually the title of a Ritsuko Kazami（風見律子）tune from her July 1987 album"Nouvelles"（ヌヴェル）. Kazami has often performed songs that fell under the City Pop umbrella, but this time, "Kekkon Tekireiki" has more of a technopop sheen arranged in either a light samba or rollicking bossa nova rhythm, thanks to composer Toshihiko Yamamoto（山本俊彦）who was actually one-third of vocal group Hi-Fi Set（ハイファイセット）with arranger Keiichi Oku（奥慶一）. Kazami provided the lyrics and delivered them in her delicately high voice.
Hope your Sunday, and by extension your weekend, has been a good one wherever you are. It definitely felt like summer here in Toronto with the mugginess flowing in. Things will be getting cooler and drier from tomorrow though.
Perhaps we can start the final Sunday of June 2023 on KKP with something laidback but modern. Up to this point, I've written a couple of articles on the music collective known as Jazztronik centering around Tokyo DJ/pianist Ryota Nozaki（野崎良太）with the songs being released several years back and featuring guest female vocalists including "Searching For Love" with Miki Imai（今井美樹）.
I'm taking things a bit more recent with a digital single released by Jazztronik in September 2021 called "Move", and this time it's an instrumental. According to his Wikipedia entry, along with jazz, Nozaki also specializes in a brand of electronic music known as Downtempo "...that features an atmospheric sound and slower beats than would typically be found in dance music." I did get reminded about ambient music when I first heard "Move", and sure enough, the Wiki article also has compared it to ambient but there is a further leaning toward rhythm within Downtempo. I gather that the song then does mesh jazz and Downtempo since it does feel very airy and leisurely. Indeed, I think instead of a club, perhaps "Move" might be more tempting for play in a café.
I remember some years ago when my anime buddy and I were still doing the biweekly Routine of anime-and-food during which we caught an interesting anime OVA from 1995 titled "Shinpi no Sekai El-Hazard"（神秘の世界エルハザード...The Magnificent World of El-Hazard） about a group of high school students transported into another world of intrigue and mysticism. The opening theme by Seikou Nagaoka（長岡成貢）said as much with a sumptuous overture reminiscent of John Williams.
If you take a look at the KKP file on Nagaoka, you'll find that he later went into producing these club music songs that probably had listeners shimmying on the floor. Try to imagine Johnny Williams with a backwards cap and T-shirt mixing turntables. That of course was just me jesting but intriguingly enough, the immediate sequel to "El-Hazard" actually did go in that direction when it came to the opening theme tune.
My fellow contributor HRLE92 provided an introduction earlier this year to the band One Step Communicate via their 1994 self-titled debut album of decade-specific City Pop and R&B. And here I am to bring vocalist Kenichi Nakagawa（中川顕一）, guitarist Hiroyuki Yano（矢野弘佳）, and bassist Takeshi Kudo（工藤毅）back since they provided the second opening theme for the TV sequel of "El-Hazard" which spanned late 1995 and early 1996. "Atsui Kimochi" (Passionate Feelings) isn't a grand orchestral piece but a 90s City Pop tune of champagne & caviar dimensions. Written by U-DAI and composed by Yano, the characters on the show could easily have been galloping on the streets of West Shinjuku and fighting over who paid the bill in that swanky hotel restaurant rather than battling exotic soldiers and monsters in an isekai.
Nothing wrong with "Atsui Kimochi" at all (I will always appreciate sophisticated pop horns) but I just thought it was a bit odd placing it as a theme song for "El-Hazard". The single came out in January 1996.
In all the years since the 1990s that I've known about smoky singer-songwriter UA, she's usually been about the cool and groovy with her music whether it's the kakkoii soul of "Rhythm"（リズム）or the club music of "Kazoetarianai Yoru no Ashioto"（数え足りない夜の足音）. I believe that there was also even some shoegaze or avant-pop in her discography. However, I also remember highlighting her in the article for the traditional classic "Haru ga Kita" （春がきた）that's included in every kid's textbook since she gave her own wonderful rendition.
I don't think any of us UA fans had any idea though that the Osakan singer would ever do as something as upbeat and sunny and pop as "Ai ni Ikou" (Let's Go See 'Em!). This was released as her first digital single a little less than a month ago, and this time, she didn't have any official say into the songwriting with Kenichi Nozaki（野崎賢一）who works for one of the largest advertising companies on the planet, Dentsu, and musician Taisei Iwasaki（岩崎太整）providing words and music.
As you can gather from Nozaki's name, the song was meant to be a new commercial tune for railway company JR Tokai and "Ai ni Ikou" has that same vibe that another jingle of theirs from twenty years previously has had, TOKIO's "AMBITIOUS JAPAN" (good golly, has it been that long?). The song and the campaign possess that hopeful and joyful ambiance of family and friends being able to get in touch in person once more after a few years of the pandemic. Apparently, the song has also been converted into the onboard chime on their Bullet Trains.
To be honest, when I first heard this yesterday, I couldn't quite believe that it was actually UA singing "Ai ni Ikou". It didn't strike me as being her type of song but her vocals were certainly there, albeit a little lighter-sounding. Regardless, I'll have to talk with my student tonight about this development since he's a veteran in the tourism industry.
Continuing on the matatabi kayo theme from my Bin Uehara (上原敏)article, here's another number that features a wandering yakuza. By Katsuhiko Haida (灰田勝彦), of all folks. Much to my surprise, he has at least one of these old Japan-themed songs buried so deep in his discography that it comes before his debut under the name we commonly know him by.
For some backstory, let's head back to 1935 for a bit, shall we? We have the terror of Rikkyo University, Toshikatsu Haida in his senior year, and he's been doing some under-the-radar work as a singer at record companies for about a year. One of the companies is Polydor Records, where Masato Fujita (藤田まさと) already made a name for himself with the success of his matatabi-yakuza kayo project. Haida was set to record and release one such matatabi kayo written by Fujita, and in order to not get the student in trouble with the school, the lyricist had him go by the stage name of Toshi Fujita (藤田稔). "Toshi" came from Haida's first name (at the time) "Toshikatsu", and "Fujita" from the lyricist's last name. And with that, "Oiwake Garasu" was released on September 1935. This was as told in a blog article by haguruhaguru, which gives a pretty detailed run-down of Hai-Katsu's history and the crazy shenanigans the ill-tempered Hawaiian got himself into during his early days.
As many a ronin song would at the time, "Oiwake Garasu" was a theme song for a jidaigeki (period film) titled"Jigoku Bayashi" (地獄囃子), which hit theatres on 7th November of the same year. That seems pretty impressive for a singer who hadn't even properly debuted. Its upbeat composition, created by movie theatre musician turned composer Masajiro Kondo (近藤政二郎), feels like a reflection of the carefree nature of our main character and his lifestyle choice. With the jaunty percussions and cheerful accordion melody, I can imagine the happy-go-lucky gambler skipping down a forested dirt path on his way to Edo (*ahem* in search of another gambling den). But his smiles only hide the dilemma fellows like him seem to face: to stay a free drifter or to settle down and become a responsible member of society. Which will he choose? Only he will know.
Hai-Katsu, or perhaps Fuji-Toshi at this point, deftly pulled off a more traditional Japanese singing style for "Oiwake Garasu" with minyo/rokyoku vocal ornamentations. It was uncharacteristic of his smooth and gentle crooning, but much in line with the singing style employed by singers who do matatabi kayo, like the aforementioned Uehara. I am impressed, Hai-Katsu.
"Itsumo Douri" is a vibrant Ohnuki（大貫妙子）classic of her Sugar Babe days to go alongside with her "Shinkirou no Machi"（蜃気楼の街）. Many of her songs between that era and her early solo period encompassed the city (namely Tokyo) as a theme but they also always projected feelings of adolescent uncertainty and alienation. Her clear vocals expressing such images of despair are timeless and display an eternal brilliance.
The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised" (2020).
Well, it's more like a snowy morning there. It was one of the relatively rare times that heavy snow got plopped onto Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture back in 2010. I hope that I didn't have to go to work on that day.
But it was a "Velvet Morning" for Hitomi Penny Tohyama（当山ひとみ）when she sang this track from her October 1985 album"Human Voice". I guess I'm following Miho Nakayama's（中山美穂）"Keep Awake" with another romantically satisfying (and remarkably guilt-free) morning-after situation. Shun Taguchi's（田口俊）lyrics tell the tale of a tryst at what seems like a seaside Motel 6 with the lady declaring that she's more than happy with a Coke and a rusty bicycle rather than champagne and a limo when it comes to spending time with her guy. Yoshihiro Yonekura（米倉良宏）came up with the oh-so-calming melody thanks to the keyboards and the guitar plucking away.
Well, it looked like morning in Saitama but obviously from the timestamp in the lower-right hand corner, it was an afternoon in Saitama instead. A February morning, to be exact, so the trees weren't exactly filled with green leaves at that point. Still, it may have been pleasant to wake up to this sort of scene if you were sleeping on the pedestrian bridge.
I've found this 1990s Miho Nakayama（中山美穂）tune when she was out of the aidoru view and simply a full-fledged pop singer and thespian. "Keep Awake" is a track from her June 1993 album"Wagamama na Actress"（わがままな あくとれす...Selfish Actress）, and as written by Miporin herself with Julia behind the music, it's about a saucy morning-after situation when a bit of comforting by one party onto another the previous night metamorphosed into something more complicated and perhaps happier. Now what do they do? Cut to commercial.
Yup, I did get some of that 1990s City Pop vibe with some further assistance from the New Jack Swing beat in the arrangement. It's always interesting hearing how Miporin did beyond her time with Toshiki Kadomatsu（角松敏生）. As for "Wagamama na Actress", it peaked at No. 4 on Oricon.
The above is a photo of the Parisian apartment that has been nicknamed Bateau-Lavoir. It looks rather gussied up and stylish now but a century ago, it was pretty ratty-looking. In fact, the humble abode got its nickname from the fact that its rickety structure back then tended to sway back and forth during storms just like old washing boats on the Seine which is what Bateau-Lavoir means in English: washhouse boat.
Now, why would this place in the 18th arrondissement of the City of Lights get even a mention in Wikipedia? Well for folks who are into art and art history, Bateau-Lavoir was the residence for many an artist and literary people including Pablo Picasso and Jean Cocteau.
The apartment has its own name in Japanese, too. It's known as Sentakusen which also literally means "washing boat". Not sure if a lot of Japanese tourists have been drawn to Bateau-Lavoir but at the very least, a song was created in tribute to it. In 1980, singer and flautist Ai Kanzaki（神崎愛）released a 1980 single called "Sentakusen" which was written by Keisuke Yamakawa（山川啓介）, composed by Yasuo Higuchi（樋口康雄）and arranged by Osamu Shouji（東海林修）.
Now of course, this is Friday which is always Urban Contemporary Day on KKP and when I saw Kanzaki's name attached to this song, I thought "City Pop" based on what I've heard from her through songs like "Pandora no Hako"（パンドラの箱）. But this time, I have to say that "Sentakusen" isn't really City Pop at all unless the city is Paris. It can fall under the label of New Music in the more specific area of chaise lounge-friendly Fashion Music or maybe I can even categorize it as an especially classy version of exotic kayo.
If by chance, any of you readers have ever visited Bateau-Lavoir, let us know what you thought of it.
Welcome to the end of another work week. Hopefully, wherever you are, you are about to or are already enjoying some weekend R&R. I can do with a bit more sleep myself.
Although the electro duo 80kidz has been releasing singles and albums up to the present day, it's been a few years since I've put up their name on the byline. I think that the last time they were up there was back in 2018 for their 2010 "Weekend Warrior". Well, this time I get to hear them again for the first time in a long while in collaboration with singer-songwriter punipunidenki（ぷにぷに電機）.
In fact, I'm a little late to the game but their short-and-sweet "Night Session" was released a year ago. Written by punipunkidenki and composed by 80kidz, it's a boozy and woozy night out in the big city played against a background of Latin club dance rhythms and some old-style 80s synthesizers. We even get some vocoder scatting in the bridge. Plus, there is also the attractive smoky vocals by the singer herself. Nice of her to put up the short-and-sweet warning against underage drinking at the end. We can't let things get too out of hand.😋
A few years ago, I wrote about the funk band Zainichi Funk（在日ファンク）, led by vocalist Kenta Hamano（浜野謙太）because some of their songs have been able to be heard on television shows provided by NHK. Having been around since 2007, there is a definite James Brown flavour coming out of his performance.
Their first and only (for now) digital single came out in November 2022. "Mi ni Okoru" (Happens to Me), which was written and composed by Hamano with band saxophonist KIDS Hashimoto（橋本“KIDS”剛秀）also helping out on the music, is a bit more of a slow burn with a tropical flavour thanks to that steel pan drum. As well, there are points during the chorus when I feel that things are going toward a more collaborative Gospellers sound, but then by the end, the funk starts brewing once more with even a Brown-esque grunt bursting forth.
Speaking of collaborations, their website recently noted that Zainichi Funk worked with The God of Love Songs himself, Masayuki Suzuki（鈴木雅之）, on the NHK music show "SONGS" back in April.
Sad to say but I've never had the opportunity to visit the city of Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture although I have a friend who hails from the city. She and her husband just went back there to see family and friends last month. I wouldn't mind going there and Hirosaki in Aomori Prefecture, both prefectures being in the northern area of Japan. By the way, the above video is from Top Tourist Places.
No matter which prefecture it is, it's apparent that the regional television station in each province has an information variety show to provide some light news on entertainment, restaurants and the like. If I were to refer to an American equivalent, perhaps I could cite the early years of "Good Morning America" and "Dialing for Dollars". In Tokyo, for example, there is the TBS show "Ohsama no Brunch"（王様のブランチ...The King's Brunch） that goes on for three hours or thereabouts each Saturday morning. For a while, I was a pretty dependable viewer.
However, Miyagi and specifically Sendai has its own hourly Saturday morning show called "Ara Ara Kashiko"（あらあらかしこ...Arakashi Saturday） on Sendai Television which focuses on women when it airs its information. It's been going on since 2009 and the video above is showing one segment with semi-regular Ayumi Ishida（石田亜佑美）from Morning Musume '23 who also comes from Sendai.
There have also been other assistants on "Ara Ara Kashiko" called the Arakashi Girls, one of whom is singer-songwriter Yuki Hatakeyama（畠山有希）. She's been on the show since 2018 but has also been providing her own songs since that year as well with one of her creations being "for you" which was released in September 2021. It's a bright pop song for which I really like her clear delivery. I'd say that it's fit for a nice bright Saturday morning.
Welcome once again to this week's regular Reminiscings of Youth. Y'know, I saw "King of the Hill" on FOX now and then but never caught this particular episode where Luann finally gets married and Chuck Mangione appears to give his musical tribute along with his most famous piece, "Feels So Good". Apparently, the musician and the song was a part of a running gag all throughout the series' run.
Now, "Feels So Good" wasn't a running gag in my life. It's been a treasured musical key to my memories of the 1970s and times riding in the back seat of the car while the AM radio was on. I used to hear this all the time and enjoyed it immensely before I realized that the light and mellow stuff was my music of choice. It really did feel so good.
It was also the first time that I had ever heard of a flugelhorn which first struck me as a very pregnant trumpet. I assumed that "Feels So Good" had been around since the mid-1970s but it actually first showed up as a track on Mangione's December 1977 album of the same title which got all the way up to No. 2 on US Billboard. Then the single version of the song was released a few months later in February 1978 for which it hit No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. In Canada, it ranked in at No. 5 which explains the heavy rotation on the local radio.
The Wikipedia entry for "Feels So Good" stated that along with its warm inclusion into the "King of the Hill" family, Mangione showed up in those famous Ella Fitzgerald Memorex commercials and the song was used as a line in the first "Doctor Strange" movie. For me, I think it was used in a lot of golf broadcasts when the camera was panning on some lovely scenery. I'm also surprised that there has been no mention of it being used to accompany the scroll of weather information on the nightly news.
According to my usual source, it looks like both of these songs were released on the same day of February 25th 1978 although I don't know exactly when "Feels So Good" came out.
As a PS, I have to also mention about Mangione's soundtrack to the Anthony Quinn movie "Children of Sanchez" which also came out in 1978. Earlier this week, I was having a brief conversation on the blog with someone who was so happy to have re-encountered a "Lupin III" theme song some time ago that he had been seeking for years, and I told him that I certainly could relate to his feeling of joy and relief since I have been in that situation a few times thanks to the blog. It just so happens that in looking up stuff on "Feels So Good", I was able to realize that a certain action-packed segment of the long-running "Children of Sanchez" starting at 3:36 above had been a favourite passage of mine used on the local CBC news broadcasts when I was a kid. Well, my search here is over!😂
Not last night but the week before, pop singer-songwriter Chikaco Sawada（沢田知可子）appeared for the first time on "Uta Con"（うたコン）. It was an auspicious occasion for me as well because it was additionally the first time that I had ever seen her perform on television without going through YouTube. All these years, I've basically known her for the 1990 hit "Aitai"（会いたい）.
And indeed that is what she performed on "Uta Con". It's too bad that I didn't get to hear her talk with the hosts afterwards though. Japan TV has the unfortunate task of carving out certain sections of the show, especially ones where the singers are doing their tribute to Disney tunes, because of copyrights, so it's possible that any talk by Sawada was excised simply out of bad timing. Well, that's the way the cake crumbles, I suppose.
However, having been around seven years since I last put up a Sawada article, I decided that it was the time once more to include another one of her love songs. "Shiawase ni Narou"(Let's Be Happy) was her July 1993 single, and those keyboards sound so wonderfully nostalgic. Written by Chihiro Sawa（沢ちひろ）and composed by Sawada, I definitely feel that they don't make them like they used to. There's nothing like a late 80s/early 90s power ballad. Incidentally, "Shiawase ni Narou" was used as a commercial tune for Oppen Cosmetics.
Well, summer officially arrived here at 10:58 this morning Eastern Daylight Time, so just a little over an hour ago as of this writing (of this first paragraph). It's comfortably cool/warm out there although I've got the fan on behind me, so my tush is currently a happy camper for now.
I've already been putting up summer-titled or summer-themed songs here and there over the past several days. This time, I've got something similar in the mellow technopop vein thanks to veteran unit SPANK HAPPY. "Natsu no Tensai"(Summer Genius) was released in May 2018 as the group's one-and-only single thus far during their third phase which has only Naruyoshi Kikuchi（菊地成孔）, the man who has been behind SPANK HAPPY right from the beginning, and singer-songwriter Tomomi Oda（小田朋美）. Both of them were also responsible for their version of the minyo "Kushimoto Bushi" on the "Gundam Thunderbolt"（ガンダム サンダーボルト）soundtrack the previous year.
"Natsu no Tensai" is a happy synthpop tune with little scoops of rock and soul thrown in for good measure. It wouldn't be surprising if it had been used in an eclectic commercial. The song was also included in SPANK HAPPY's October 2019 album"mint exorcist" that has also been ominously tagged with the phrase FINAL SPANK HAPPY. Since then, I haven't heard anything scheduled by Kikuchi under the band name.
With the song-and-dance group Atarashii Gakko no Leaders（新しい学校のリーダーズ）burning up one corner of the Internet and YouTube for a few years now, I did wonder when Mizyu, Rin, Suzuka and Kanon would have their profile raised high enough that an appearance on the Kohaku Utagassen would be in store. Of course, we're still months away from the annual announcement on NHK, but a big hint was just thrown out at the end of tonight's episode of "Uta Con"（うたコン）. Just before the signoff, the hosts managed to mention that the Leaders would be appearing for the first time on "Uta Con" next week. If they can come onto the weekly kayo kyoku show, then perhaps the Kohaku may come knocking.
Perhaps we AGL fans can celebrate with some KKP bubbly then. Their March 2023 digital single "Janaindayo" (That Ain't It) is a rapid-fire rock tune that sounds tailor-made for some action anime. However, it's actually the theme for a sequel to the original "Baby Walkure"（ベイビーわるきゅーれ...Baby Assassins） from 2021 which involves a couple of high school girl assassins. "Baby Walkure: 2 Babies" came out in theatres a couple of days following the release of "Janaindayo".
"Janaindayo" is also the lead track on their digital mini-album "Ichiji Kikoku"（一時帰国...Temporary Return） which was released in April 2023. The song was written, composed and arranged by jon-YAKITORY. The album also has the supremely catchy "Otonablue"（オトナブルー）.
To wrap up, it wouldn't be an AGL KKP article without a video of the ladies practicing in the studio. I wonder if they'll perform both "Janaindayo" and "Otonablue" next week.
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