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.
Probably this will be today's final entry and this month's final entry before we enter September. I just read in the newspaper that none of the days in August here in Toronto hit 30 degrees Celsius, although the Humidex did go above that. Still, that achievement (or disappointment, if you're really into summer) may gain some envy from at least some of the Japanese who have been suffering through a very torrid summer. But what I've also read is that the Labour Day long weekend will get some really hot temperatures.
Anyways, last year just when the winter was starting, I decided to get cute and post something that would reflect that fact with Yuriko Ohmori's（大森有里子）"Fuyu no Hito"（冬の人...Winter Fellow） which was the B-side to her 1981 debut single"Rai Rai Mirai"（Come Come Future）. "Fuyu no Hito" is a pretty calming and chamomile tea-friendly song though the lyrics describe a woman's resentments against a cold former beau.
I noted in that article that "Fuyu no Hito" was pretty close to being labeled as Fashion Music although the protagonist probably wanted to throw rocks instead of peeling grapes. Well, with "Rai Rai Mirai", I swear that there is something in that jaunty rhythm that made me consider if the song was approaching exotic kayolevels. The same three people involved with that B-side were also behind the A-side: lyricist Akira Ito（伊藤アキラ）, composer Ohmori and arranger Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）. Lyrically, there is that bittersweet feeling once more as a woman wants to forget her past romance and go ahead with a potential new love interest but memories about the ex are still holding her back. Tug of war and love, indeed.💔
When I was doing my usual maintenance of various articles on the blog, I re-encountered one that I'd penned all the way back in June 2012. It was the one for Miki Hirayama's（平山みき）"Manatsu no Dekigoto" (真夏の出来事）and though this was a 1971 kayo kyoku, the first time I heard the song was through its technopop cover by MODOKEES in 1982 on an episode of "Sounds of Japan" on radio here. The group was fronted by vocalist Yaeko Kojima（小島八重子）and she would later change her professional name to Yaya（やや）going a few years down the decade.
I was curious about how Yaya did in her career and putting the name into the various search engines, the rabbit hole in cyberspace led me to her first single under that shorter name, "Yogiri no House Mannequin", which was released in January 1986. Compared to the breezy technopop cover of "Manatsu no Dekigoto", "Yogiri no House Mannequin" hit me with quite a wallop in terms of the arrangement. It sounded like a mix of Keiko Fuji（藤圭子）Mood Kayo and something that the then-popular Checkers（チェッカーズ）would release. Basically, it is a bruiser of a 1950s song that could be played in some roadside honky-tonk outside the city or deep within one. Give thanks to composer to Yoichi Sakube*（柵部陽一）.
Before I go into the lyrics by Seikou Ito（いとうせいこう）and Suwon Lee（李秀元）, I have to say that the title is also a striking one for me, particularly the last two words of house mannequin. Well, it's another example of wasei eigo or Japlish which refers to a sales clerk in a boutique. I've just read that the fascinating term is now officially a dead word since nowadays we simply use mise no ten'in-san（店の店員さん）. The entire title translates into "Sales Clerk in the Night Fog".
As for those lyrics, I think that they as emotionally delivered by Yaya relate the story of the titular sales clerk on the cusp of her thirties, possibly wondering about her life and times in Tokyo taking care of customers while the rest of the city is having its great times. Maybe she will decide to make a transformation from nebbishy salesgirl to tight-skirted vamp in Omotesando.
With a similarly boss arrangement, the late Teresa Teng（テレサテン）also released her version of "Yogiri no House Mannequin" in her third Chinese-language album produced in Japan, "Jiǔ zuì de tàngē"（酒醉的探戈...Boozy Tango）, which I could only derive via Google Translate (if anyone can correct what I've written, please do so). The album was released on Christmas Day 1986. The above video has Teng singing the original Japanese version but I don't know where that popped up in her discography.
*The composer's family name is perhaps a rare one since I couldn't find anything about it anywhere online. Therefore, I had to take a wild guess based on the individual readings of the two kanji involved, but again, if anyone can confirm or deny how I've written the name down, please let me know.
Welcome to another round of Reminiscings of Youth this Thursday to start off today's songs on KKP. Of course, I like to cover some of those pop hits from the West and of my own yesteryear as ROY articles but as I've also done in the past, I've also covered some of my beloved theme songs from television programs in America, Canada and the United Kingdom.
Earlier this week, I heard about the passing of legendary American game show host Bob Barker at the age of 99 and I first got to know the man through his work taking care of "Truth or Consequences" (on the old black-and-white TV set) which ran between 1956 and 1975. To me, he was the template of the American game show host: charming, friendly, pretty fast-talking and unflappable, and he and a lot of his brethren struck me as the modern-day version of the old-fashioned traveling salesmen who went from town to town selling their wares, whether they were honest or not.
Then, Barker got what would be his longest and biggest gig as the host of "The Price is Right", one of the most famous game shows in American history, taking care of the show for about 35 years from September 1972 to June 2007 (it's still going on strong today). He smoothly handled each episode as the contestants went through the bidding phase on a product and then got into the various imaginative price games which sometimes inspired my own imagination for games in English classes.
Naturally, being one of the longest-running game shows in America and Canada, the theme song is also one of the most recognized. It was composed by Edd Kalehoff who has come up with music for a lot of other TV programs such as ABC's "Monday Night Football" and CBS'"60 Minutes" (yes, the ticking stopwatch). What I hadn't realized was that "The Price is Right" theme had a goodly amount of Moog and other synthesizers in there so I guess maybe it can be considered to be a technopop piece. In any case, my condolences to Barker's family, friends and many fans.
For the comparative part of the article today, I'm going to go with the three Best New Artist prize winners of the Japan Record Awards for 1972.
It's always nice to hear singer-songwriter Toko Furuuchi（古内東子）. As I've said before, she's about as close to Anita Baker in her Quiet Storm-iness as I've ever heard from a Japanese singer. Of course, I'm also open to any other suggestions from other fans.
And the wonderful thing is that she's celebrating her 30th anniversary in the music business this year with an album that came out earlier in March titled "Hateshinai Koto"（果てしないこと...Something Endless）. One of the tracks is "bare skin" which was composed and written by her, and it does have one foot planted in today but the other foot seems to be back in earlier days when it comes to the arrangement...something very 90s and soulful. "bare skin", about a woman trying to shed her memories of a past romance, begins sounding like straight pop but then almost a minute in, I can hear that cool Furuuchi soul waft in like a refreshing breeze. I can certainly do with a few more singers like her bringing back some of that melodic feeling again after so long.
When I first saw the title for this Hiromi Go（郷ひろみ）single, I assumed that it read "Miseinen"（未成年） or "Underage". Of course, that set off a few alarm bells in my head. Uh, Hiromi...um...😨 But my bad here. Actually, the title is "Mikansei" (Unfinished), so I relaxed.
But there is a bit of salaciousness here as well since this time it involves a young guy tempted to sow his oats falling for an older woman although from my current vantage point of age, she's still much more youthful than I am. From the looks of the lyrics and the title, though, it looks like the femme fatale is more than willing to give the poor lad the brush off. Dang it all, just not ready for the prime time. "Mikansei" was Go's 37th single from February 1981 and it was written by Yoko Aki（阿木燿子）, composed by Kazuya Amikura（網倉一也）and arranged by Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）.
According to the J-Wiki article on "Mikansei", Tsunaki Mihara（三原綱木）, formerly of Jackey Yoshikawa and His Blue Comets（ジャッキー吉川とブルー・コメッツ）, provided the jangly guitar and the chorus to give things that Group Sounds sound since it was felt that the genre was making a comeback at the time. To be honest though when I heard "Mikansei", I thought that it was an interesting inclusion of a country-style guitar. The song hit No. 13 on Oricon and ended the year as the 94th-ranked single of the year. Go's following single was the bigger hit "Oyome Samba"（お嫁サンバ）.
Good ol' "Seibu Keisatsu"（西部警察...West Police Division） on TV Asahi. It was always fun to see fantasy and police work come in hand-in-hand with massive urban explosions, repeated gunplay and enough car collisions to send insurance companies into orgasm. Plus, it had the larger-than-life Tough Guy himself, Yujiro Ishihara（石原裕次郎）, as the Chief of Detectives. My good friend, JTM, knows more about the old Japanese police dramas than I do so it was only in the last few hours that I discovered that there were three officially delineated series of "Seibu Keisatsu" with the first original series lasting between October 1979 and April 1982. Then came "Seibu Keisatsu Part II" which went from May 1982 to March 1983 and finally "Seibu Keisatsu Part III" from April 1983 to October 1984.
Along with the weekly pyrotechnics, there was another trope with the iconic cop show in that Ishihara would often provide the ending theme and at least one or two of them have shown up on the blog up to now. Well, here is a third one and this one is a little special. "Omoide Sagashi"(Searching for the Memories) was used only for Episode 31 on "Seibu Keisatsu Part III" in December 1983.
I don't know what the episode was about and according to the ratings for No. 31 on J-Wiki, it wasn't one of the more highly-rated shows but considering the one-off ending theme regarding the melancholy crooning over a reunion of former lovers, I do wonder if the plot involved Ishihara's Chief Kogure suddenly re-engaging with an old flame. In any case, I can imagine Tetsuya Watari's（渡哲也）loyal field leader and the No. 2 guy, Inspector Daimon, meeting up with his boss and friend at a bar at the end of the episode and telling him "There are always other fish in the sea".
Me waxing hypothetically aside, the other surprise was that "Omoide Sagashi" was actually written and composed by singer-songwriter Mayumi Itsuwa（五輪真弓）. Itsuwa had once been called the Japanese equivalent of Carole King before she went into a more Fashion Music direction in the late 1970s. So, it was revealing that she did create this brooding Mood Kayo which was a perfect fit for Ishihara.
The amazing thing is that Itsuwa recorded a self-cover of "Omoide Sagashi" in her own refined style and although I had assumed it was originally done at around the same time as the one she offered to Ishihara, her version was actually performed for an August 2017 compilation, "Golden Best ~ Itsuwa Mayumi Special Collection"（GOLDEN☆BEST五輪真弓－スペシャルセレクション－）. I know that it was a mere six years ago but I can only describe the arrangement here as Fashion Music with that rich piano and strings. Nice inclusion of the trumpet as well.
When not even a plant stirs in the deep of the night
Out come the ghosts, bitter and anguished
Spooky.
Personally, I'm one of those folks who's terrified of the paranormal but with a curiosity for the macarbe. Unfortunately, it traps me in the loop of regret over listening to that one scary story that was a little too creepy, then immediately moving on to the next one. It was with this curiosity that "Yurei wa Odoru" (Ghosts dance) caught my eye when I was checking out some of Tadaharu Nakano's (中野忠晴) prewar works. Thankfully, rather than something that would keep me up at night, he and the rest of the Colombia Nakano Rhythm Boys had me grooving to and chuckling at the silly yet morbid jazzy ditty.
I'd actually wanted to save "Yurei wa Odoru" for Halloween season, but I thought now would be just as good a time for a *insert wavy effects* spooky tune. Obon may be over, but its Chinese counterpart, the Hungry Ghost Festival a.k.a. Zhongyuan Festival a.k.a. The Seventh Month (of the lunar calendar), only just began last week, so it's rather fitting.
If only there was a version with the Nakano Rhythm Boys as ghosties doing the Swing.
The best way I can describe "Yurei wa Odoru" is that it's essentially the Japanese version of the "Spooky Scary Skeletons" song with a theatrical touch featuring ghosts and a nod at Buddhist afterlife beliefs. It begins on a dark and ominous tone with crashing gongs and tolling bells, sounding more like it's your time on earth that has ended rather than announcing the arrival of the dead. But the moment the fellas start cackling like a bunch of mischievous poltergeists, the mood takes a complete U-turn. This is where the Nakano Rhythm Boys give us a quick rundown of what to expect in the Buddhist hells and ask fundamental questions like, "Why aren't ghosts fat?" (Doushite yurei nya futoranai?) to a playful tune with some sinister undercurrents. Never has such a line been more apt for the Hungry Ghost Festival. I'm not of the Buddhist faith so I'm not sure of the details, but, like Obon, this is the period where those who have left us will come back for a visit, and family and believers will provide offerings of food and other random items (iPhones, anyone?) for the visitors. I think this is also the one time they get to actually "eat." So, even though Nakano and the Bois cite the lack of food in hell for the reason ghosts aren't packing on the pounds, fret not, they can finally get their sustenance and hopefully be less salty. (Noelle from 18/12/2023: Just a little mistake on my part, but I found out that this tune was sung by just the Rhythm Boys themselves without Mr. Nakano. So, the one on lead vocals was most likely Rhythm Boys' leader Akiyama.)
"Yurei wa Odoru" was created by Hideo Akiyama (秋山日出夫) in 1939. Akiyama was the tenor in the Colombia Nakano Rhythm Boys, together with fellow tenor Reisuke Harada (原田礼輔), baritone Shinichi Tezuka (手塚慎一), and bass Matsuzo Yamakami (山上松蔵). Members came and went, but these were the main bunch. This was actually a replacement for the original Colombia Rhythm Boys, Colombia Record Japan's answer to American jazz quartet, The Mills Brothers, as they had moved to Polydor Records. And so, a replacement was needed, thus came the Colombia Nakano Rhythm Boys in 1935. So, how does Nakano fit into this? From what I gather from the J-Wiki and the record company's group introduction, Nakano, enamored with American jazz, was behind the move to form a jazz quartet in the first place, and he frequently collaborated with the original Rhythm Boys until their move. So, in the formation of the second group, the quartet was rebranded as the Colombia Nakano Rhythm Boys, and continued mainly performing as Nakano's backup. Later in 1936, a female jazz quartet, the Colombia Nakano Rhythm Sisters, was also created.
On an ending note, about the Hungry Ghost Festival: In Singapore at least, there are these open-air, free-to-watch concerts called getai (song stage) that are held all over the country during this period. Singers dressed in glitzy and gaudy outfits (very enka, when I think about it) perform Chinese hit songs and may do some comedy sets for a mostly alive audience. Yes, mostly. These performances are meant for the visiting dead, which is why the first row of seats are always empty. The video above will give you an idea of what this annual phenomenon is like through the eyes of a pair of getai performers. Seeing as to how lively the shows can get, the folks must be having the time of their lives jiving to the tunes - literally Yurei wa odoru :).
I gotta say that the A and B sides for Kaori Tsuchiya's（つちやかおり）3rd single are pretty lush in arrangement on the aidoru side of things. But when both songs have been composed by folk-rock singer Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi（長渕剛）, I gather that the final results will be a bit more different and refined.
This video by uploader Homeless Records has both "Heart Break Street" and "Coconut Waffle no Katate ni"(A Coconut Waffle in One Hand). Released in December 1982, just from what I've seen on other sites, I'm guessing that the official title for the single was always meant to be the English wording although the kanji reads "Shitsuren Sanpomichi" which means the same thing. In any case, along with Nagabuchi's contribution, Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）was the lyricist and Masaaki Omura（大村雅朗）arranged everything.
"Heart Break Street" has one of the most attractive intros that I've ever heard in an 80s aidorutune and the jaunty rhythm does make me think that, yeah, this is something that Nagabuchi would provide in his own songs. As the title hints, this isn't the happiest song on romance at all as a woman tearfully wishes that she could return to more blissful and less lonelier days. At 3:05 is "Coconut Waffle no Katate ni", which was handled by all three songwriters from Side A, and it's an adorable slow ballad about pining for that guy in school. Again, I also like how this song sounds with that hint of AOR and the wailing electric guitar midway, and at points, I wonder whether Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）could have been offered this song beforehand. To be honest, though, I don't think that I have ever heard of a coconut waffle.
A couple of years ago, I mentioned about folk singer-songwriter Sachiko Kanenobu（金延幸子）and her "Aoi Sakana"（青い魚）which was a track on the Osakan's first album"Misora"（み空...Beautiful Sky） from September 1972.
In the post for that song, I also stated that most of the members from the band Happy End（はっぴいえんど）helped out on the production of "Misora". Well, this is Eiichi Ohtaki's（大滝詠一）contribution through his composing talents while Kanenobu provided the lyrics. The introspective "Sora wa Fukigen"(Moody Sky) is a quiet and somewhat hopeful song sung beautifully by Kanenobu as a woman does the everyday while trying to forget a romance that has just ended. As with "Aoi Sakana", "Sora wa Fukigen" has that "smell-the-roses" feeling.
Ahhh...the Ulfuls（ウルフルズ）. Being from Osaka, they're loud and proud. These would be the guys you'd want to have at your year-end party and they would indeed come over and stay over until January 2nd. I reckon that I've only been at one such party in my lifetime, and no, I wasn't an Ulful. However, I did get to see a strip rock-paper-scissors match between one guy and one gal at the apartment which went all the way.
Yup, just like the above. Incidentally, I'm still waiting for that second season of "Grand Blue".
Speaking of crazy and hilarious anime, I found out about this 2003-2005 anime adaptation of a manga titled "Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo"（ボボボーボ・ボーボボ）. Never saw it myself but from what I've gleaned, it sounds like a mix of "Mad Max" and "The Naked Gun" taking place in the far future.
And speaking of the Ulfuls, they were responsible for the second opening theme song for "Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo", "Baka Survivor" (Stupid Survivor) which was also their 26th single from November 2004. Written and composed by vocalist Tortoise Matsumoto（ トータス松本）, it's a Kansai-dialect buddy encouragement and admonishment to get the troops up and running. As usual for the band, the arrangement is a catchy 70s rock march that seems to fit the anime and its insane characters.
"Baka Survivor" hit No. 13 on Oricon and ended up on Ulfuls' 9th album, suitably named "9", which was released in February 2005 to a No. 6 ranking. The song was so catchy that it wasn't just used as the opening theme for a zany anime, but it was also the theme tune for a televised drama, a variety show, a commercial and a video game based on "Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo".
One of the many things I miss about living in Japan is that finding really stylish cafés and patisseries was never difficult. Even the franchises such as Vie de France had some truly buttery and delicious fare. It partially explains why I ended up gaining weight during my years there. Karaage bento and fast food restaurants make up another 60% of the reason. Another thing that I found stylish is some of the information and educational TV programming on NHK and the commercial television networks. The production staff could really generate some panache for the presentation of topics domestic and abroad.
There was one example of such a show in the mid-to-late 1990s. Fuji-TV had a program called "Wordsworth no Bouken"（ワーズワースの冒険...The Adventures of Wordsworth） on Sunday evenings from 10:30 to 11:00, so I'm assuming just before the iconic "Music Fair". "Wordsworth no Bouken" was all about presenting various grown-up hobbies such as the love of tea, izakaya and Ginza bars in a half-dramatization and half-documentary style of whimsy. It was all very appealing with plenty of attractive guest celebrities helping out in the presentation.
The whimsy extends to the theme song. Sounding very ethereal, exotic and European, this was titled "Sha Rion" which was created by composer and arranger Michiru Oshima（大島ミチル）, who would later come up with "Chariot's Theme", the triumphant orchestral piece used in the hit anime "Little Witch Academia"（リトルウィッチアカデミア）and of course, the rest of the soundtrack. When I first saw the title, I was wondering which nation (Iceland, perhaps?) had inspired Oshima for the title, melody and lyrics. Well, as it turns out, the title "Sha Rion" was merely a neologism...something made up so that no particular country could be identified. The lyrics themselves, also by Oshima, were also made-up words sounding like a new language that apparently, according to the J-Wiki article on "Wordsworth no Bouken", bubbled up in the composer's mind after she had read some of Wordsworth's poetry upside-down and/or backwards.
Recording "Sha Rion" as her first single for June 1993 was singer-songwriter Eri Kawai（河井英里）from Tokyo. She released two more singles and five albums going into the 2000s, but sadly, she succumbed to liver cancer in 2008 at the age of 43.
Y'know...the last time I wrote up a Gosanke（御三家）-themed article on KKP was back in June when I discovered that there was still an actual trio to note via The Jazz 3As of Being consisting of Sayuri Aso（麻生小百合）, Tomoko Aran（亜蘭知子）and Naomi Akimoto（秋本奈緒美）. And then I felt that the Gosanke file was done. Well, not so fast although I have to admit that this one is something out of my own imagination (thus the title).
For the last little while, I've believed that the Golden Age of Aidoru in the 1980s was split into the early and latter parts of the decade. Whereas the early half had those cute chiffon-dressed teenyboppers-next-door, the latter half presented aidoru who were a little more street-savvy in appearance and attitude with the fashion to match for the most part. They seemed a bit more slinkier and ready to hit the dance clubs in Roppongi. At the same time, their music also struck me as going a bit further into other genres such as Eurobeat, City Pop and even a bit of rock.
Well, the three ladies that have always stuck in my head as the leaders of the late 80s brand of aidoru are Momoko Kikuchi（菊池桃子）, Miho Nakayama（中山美穂）and Shizuka Kudo（工藤静香）.
Happy Monday! Just to let you know how much time has flown, any girls who had been born in the year that this song was first released are probably now old enough to audition for the group itself, maybe by singing this very song. I can recommend some stores which sell Metamucil or Geritol.👴
Indeed, I am talking about "Aitakatta" which can be translated as "I Missed You" or "I Wanted to Meet You" depending on which site you check, one of AKB48's signature tunes and their first one under a major label. Released in October 2006, I was surprised that there hadn't been any sign of "Aitakatta" on the blog up to now; I'd always assumed that one of the other writers posted an article on it.
Written by alphabet aidoru group Svengali Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）and appropriately composed by BOUNCEBACK, "Aitakatta" is indeed a bouncy tune that did make a splash for AKB48. It also has those classic aidoru-themed lyrics of making that brave move to kokuhaku that lucky high school guy. It hit No. 12 on Oricon, going Gold, and was placed onto the group's first BEST compilation, "Set List: Greatest Songs 2006-2007"（SET LIST〜グレイテストソングス 2006-2007〜）which was released on New Year's Day 2008, peaking at No. 29.
To be honest, the impetus for me putting up "Aitakatta" happened earlier this morning as I was watching NHK News. I found out that choreographer and director Mayumi Natsu（夏まゆみ）had passed away in June this year at the age of 61 from cancer. She not only came up with the choreography for this particular song but had worked with many aidoru and aidoru groups over the past few decades, and that includes the Hello Project ladies with for example, Morning Musume（モーニング娘。）.
I've never posted anything on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" regarding choreographers but I am making a case for Natsu because I remember her very well through footage when the girls in Morning Musume were working on their own dancing for performances and music videos. As with anyone who has to train entertainers to be at their most professional, Natsu ran her sessions hard like basic training at a Marine base, so I often got to see her snarling at the troops on TV.
And of course, when it came to those hit songs, fans also remember the dancing. So I leave you with a few of the songs that she helped translate into moves on stage. My condolences go to Natsu's family, friends, fans and of course, all of the singers that she trained.
I've mentioned in the past on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" that airports and harbours have often been the settings in kayo kyoku for romantic getaways and breakups. Now, I think that there is a subset of that in terms of time. Singers and songwriters have also appreciated the night flight. The expression yakan hiko(night flight) has been a term that I've read as song titles here and there over the years with one prime example being Junko Yagami's（八神純子）ballad of the same name from her 1979 album"Sugao no Watashi"（素顔の私）. The technopop trio Perfume came up with the direct English title of "Night Flight". There must be something titillating and mysterious about getting on that plane in the wee hours.
All that above is due to the fact that I discovered this other tune called "Yakan Hiko" by Fumie Akino（秋野史絵）. The mystery even goes beyond the concept of taking that night flight. For one thing, I couldn't find a single thing about Akino aside from the fact that her song had come out sometime in 1987. Secondly, I'm not proof positive that her given name has the right pronunciation because its kanji can be read in many ways and I couldn't find any confirmation on that because she doesn't have any presence on J-Wiki or the usual other sources.
I did find out that "Yakan Hiko" was written by Isao Miyauchi（宮内功）and composed by Takumi Yoneyama（米山たくみ）. The song itself, I think, occupies that amorphous zone between Mood Kayo and regular kayo kyoku so maybe it is another example of that New Adult Music that I've read about. The arrangement does weave about from a smoky and enigmatic tango to a medium-tempo pop tune. I realize that "Yakan Hiko" is most likely about that flight from Narita Airport but if I were to set this somewhere in Tokyo, I would select the tony district of Akasaka...at night, of course. As usual, if any readers out there have any data regarding Ms. Akino, please let us know.
I've only found out about existing music by the previous incarnation of synthpop band PSY-S just in the last few months but apparently the lone album and separate tracks have been available for listening on social media for several years.
Playtechs with Masaya Matsuura（松浦雅也）and Mami "CHAKA" Yasunori（安則まみ）existed around 1983 or 1984 and depending which online source you check, its lone album "No Duplicatin'" had supposedly never been released for sale in either of those two years. There is a 16-minute digest form for the album below which you can check out and it's a very interesting album for fans of PSY-S to hear what the duo was up to back in the early 1980s before PSY-S made their official debut in 1985. Playtechs was certainly more experimental although the synthesizers had also been front and centre back then; they were playing around more with reggae, jazz and rap. There's even one track on "No Duplicatin'" that has these multiethnic sounds that the late Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）would have swooned over.
"On the Edge of Cliff" is another intriguing one since it doesn't seem to exist on the album (it isn't on the digest video) and there hasn't been any mention of a single being released by Playtechs with this title. Perhaps it is another outtake but as it is, the song sounds like a premonition of what Matsuura and CHAKA would do as PSY-S with its funky and chrome-lined synthpop and the latter's sweet English vocals.
In terms of the status of "No Duplicatin'" and "On the Edge of Cliff", I'm still not 100% on where they are in terms of sales and availability although I've gotten the impression that it was Matsuura himself who put the album onto Soundcloud. So, if any of you viewers might have some more information on "On the Edge of Cliff" especially, please let us know.
Yosui Inoue（井上陽水）has always come up with a blend of playful and poignant and party-on songs over his nearly 55-year career, but I have to say that this particular ballad is up there with his best in my opinion.
His title track from his top-charting March 1976 album"Shotaijou no Nai Show" (A Show Without an Invitation) definitely has got its emotions on its sleeve as Inoue either portrays or truly has been that singer in some tiny venue in perhaps a large city. He's the featured "star" in some setting where the audience probably cares more for the chintzy piece of cooked protein on the plate and the Chez Thunderbird in the glass than for him and his music. Meanwhile, the singer is wailing away his despair at not seeing his beloved anymore due to breakup or other sad circumstances.
Perhaps I am being a tad florid and maudlin in the above but Inoue's melody as arranged by Makoto Yano（矢野誠）reflects that loneliness, amped to high levels by the dramatic strings and the singer's resonant voice. I also can't help but feel that there is a certain kinship between "Shotaijou no Nai Show" and Billy Joel's"Piano Man" which had come out a few years earlier. Joel sings about his happy resignation being the titular piano man in a local drinking joint among the amiable and fascinating barfly regulars. Meanwhile, Inoue in his song sounds as if he is in his own beautiful perdition after his hopes and dreams have gone to ash.
A couple of singles came out of the album but neither of them included the title track, although it did show up on his May 1977 10th single"Natsu Ganbou"（夏願望...Summer Desire） which actually wasn't in the original album. The album hit No. 1 and stayed at the top spot for nearly two months, ending up as the No. 4 album of the year. I can imagine Inoue's good buddy Koji Tamaki（玉置浩二）of Anzen Chitai（安全地帯）hitting this one out of the ballpark, and to add to the connection, Tamaki's collaborator Katsu Hoshi（星勝）had been one of the percussionists on the song.
I recollect that one of the friends in our group had once been humorously pegged as resembling the friendly but mysterious Totoro in "Tonari no Totoro"（となりのトトロ）. The poor guy never quite lived it down; almost any time he came by, a few of the guys would start humming the famous theme song from the movie. He was generally laid back about it, though.
When I posted the article for that theme song almost a decade ago, I noted that another iconic Studio Ghibli movie with Hayao Miyazaki（宮崎駿）at the helm, "Kiki's Delivery Service", remained my favourite over "Tonari no Totoro". To give further clarity, and I apologize in advance to Totoro fans, I frankly fell asleep through a lot of the movie; it just seemed a little too relaxed although the Kusakabe sisters did have that fight near the end. And of course, the arrival of the Neko Bus and the finale perked me up considerably.
Recently, I had my memories jogged once again when I encountered one of the instrumental motifs from "Totoro" and that was "Kaze no Toorimichi" (The Path of Wind) by music maestro Joe Hisaishi（久石譲）. Apparently, there are a few versions of it including the gravitas-laden one above with the cello but I remember hearing the majestic and magical synthesizer version used in the movie such as in the scene below.
I had no idea that there was a sung version of "Kaze no Toorimichi", and it was by the Suginami Junior Chorus（杉並児童合唱団）. Miyazaki himself provided the lyrics.
I only found out about this album within the last few weeks and after listening to a few of the tracks, I thought it was worth mentioning, especially for those who are dabbling into Shibuya-kei or generally very sunny pop. The band known as bridge has a small J-Wiki article, and it was first formed in 1989 and in its initial run up to 1995, it was categorized as a Shibuya-kei and Neo-Acoustic group consisting of vocalist Mami Otomo（大友真美）, keyboardist Mayumi Ikemizu（池水真由美）, guitarist/vocalist Hirotaka Shimizu（清水弘貴）, bassist Hideki Kaji（加地秀基）, drummers Hiroko Kurosawa（黒澤宏子）and Mitsunori Sasaki（佐々木光紀）, and guitarist Nobuyuki Ohashi（大橋伸行）. During that run, they released four albums, a couple of singles and four maxi-singles.
Their second album fromJuly 1994 is "Preppy Kicks" which for some reason really hits me as being Shibuya-kei along with the cover with a supremely happy young lady and red balloons. The "90's City Pop Record Book" website reviewed it and stated that this is a masterpiece of the Neo-Acoustic genre with that feeling of old-fashioned American pop. Along with that, the site also recommended "Preppy Kicks" for those who have been microstar fans.
Bassist Kaji was writer and composer for the first track "Soft Cream Whistle" that you can hear above. Otomo's sing-songy and child-like intro had me first thinking whether the song was on NHK's "Minna no Uta"（みんなのうた）series but then the music launches and I'm surrounded by happy Sunday afternoon thoughts expressed through the melody. The rhythm has that Shibuya-kei trot while the solo horn that enters the first bridge (no pun intended) verges on ska. "Soft Cream Whistle" sounds so upbeat and bouncy that I wouldn't be surprised if it had been used as an opening theme for a slice-of-life anime back in those 1990s.
"90's City Pop Record Book" admitted that "Preppy Kicks" isn't really a City Pop album but they emphasized that an exception can be made for Track 7, "Mellow Moon Light" which was written and composed by guitarist Ohashi. Referring to it as the killer track, the site also says that the song fits the title perfectly with its medium mellow arrangement. There's indeed something very late 70s/early 80s light and mellow about "Mellow Moon Light" albeit with that sheen of 1990s. That flute can take things even further back.
I'll just put in one more track here although the entire album is available up on YouTube (and I hope that it stays up there...not sure how available it is for purchase these days). "Magic (They Believed In)", once again by Ohashi, is pure blissful sunshine pop with that happy-go-lucky guitar and the band chiming in as the chorus. As the uploader says, it's indeed the perfect song to enjoy your summer.
Although bridge had ended its span in the mid-1990s, they did get together again for some concerts in 2017 before truly calling it a day. Their first show was at the Club Que in Shimo-Kitazawa which I thought was the perfect neighbourhood for this band.
"Kaze wo Atsumete" (Gather the Wind) is an important song embodying the concept of "Kazemachi Roman"（風街ろまん...Wind City Romance）. Its musical motif with a hint of James Taylor's vocal style can be said to pioneer Haruomi Hosono's（細野晴臣）subsequent preference for country rock, so through the combination of that down-home melody and those windy city lyrics, the distinct "backstreet world" revealing that shitamachi（下町）elegance is being shaped somewhere even in Tokyo.
The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised" (2020).
I did hear about the Nintendo Switch game "Animal Crossing" or "Doubutsu no Mori"（どうぶつの森）as it's known in Japanese a few years ago but not being a huge gamer (outside of the really intense bout of Solitaire), I hadn't realized that this was a franchise with a number of related game software coming out over the years. Well, it was only a few days ago that I discovered on YouTube what would happen if a song request was made to the canine character K.K. Slider that wasn't on his setlist (if a live-action version were ever filmed, I'd want Michael Keaton to play Slider simply because of those huge eyebrows).
To be specific, I'm referring to the one 2020 game in the franchise known as "Atsumare Doubutsu no Mori"（あつまれ どうぶつの森...Animal Crossing: New Horizons）. If Slider doesn't recognize the song, he can play three choices of his own music that have been titled "Hazure 01", "Hazure 02" and "Hazure 03" with the hazure（外れ）meaning "Invalid". "Hazure 02" just happens to be made in the City Pop vein with folks comparing it to Tatsuro Yamashita's（山下達郎）"Sparkle" from 1982. As the folks at the "Nookipedia" site put it:
(It) is a funky song with lighthearted major key chords and a breezy melody. It sounds reminiscent of the city pop genre, a form of Japanese funk which was popular in the 1980s, and particularly sounds close to Tatsuro Yamashita's 1982 single, "Sparkle". An official remix of this song is available on the Totakeke Music Instrumental Selection album, under the name "Hazure02 -City & Pop Ver.-".
Might I add that there is also a pleasant undercurrent of bossa nova in the song that has also been called "K.K. Sparkle" in tribute to Tats' classic? I've also discovered that the original version has also shown up in the June 2022"Atsumare Doubutsu no Mori Original Soundtrack 2".
I gather that the above is the really City Pop remix from "Totakeke Music Instrumental Selection". Also, there is a marvelous cover version of "Hazure 02" done by Alejandro Espinosa and his band that got posted up on YouTube three years ago.
A few months back, I put up an article featuring veteran seiyuu Tarako, of course famous for her signature role as Maruko in "Chibi Maruko-chan"（ちびまる子ちゃん）all these years. As far as I know, all seiyuu have undergone further voice training (in addition to all Japanese students getting the basics in singing in mandatory education) in their academies, but it was admittedly still a surprise to realize that Tarako had released records back in the 1980s.
That article was on her September 1984 debut single"Yuuwaku Game"（誘惑ゲーム）which apparently isn't included on her third album"Warawanai Koibito"（笑わない恋人...The Unsmiling Lover） that was released on the same day as the single. In comparison to "Yuuwaku Game", Tarako's voice is relatively lower in the funky number "Tasogare" (Sunset) on the album, and the vibe is very much of downtown intrigue. Considering the meaning of the album title, the song title and its arrangement, I can imagine Maruko in one of her unleashings of imagination where she's in a trench coat following up on a suspicious case in the darkest reaches of Shinjuku. Meanwhile, her doting grandfather has most likely gathered the entire Seniors' Association to rescue her from Shizuoka Prefecture, but before I let my own imagination run uncontrollably, I'll stop here.
Incidentally, "Tasogare" was written and composed by Tomohiro Nishimura（西村智博）, a singer-songwriter and also a seiyuu who has been plying his trade until the late 2010s at least.
I had never heard of the sister duo Bal Balloon（バル・バルーン）before and I'm not sure how long they lasted, although I have to admit that the first time I encountered them on YouTube, I felt that the name could have belonged to a "Star Wars" character. Apparently, earlier in the 1970s, they used to be known as Chewing Gum (perhaps that name lost its flavour? OK, I deeply apologize....😁) according to their writeup on Hip Tank Records.
Bal Balloon has lyricist Rika Matsuda（松田りか）and composer Mami Matsuda（松田マミ）as they came up with "Stardust Serenade", the B-side to their 1980 single"Bahama". The melody grabbed me right from the start with that steady rhythm, the gallant guitar and the electric piano. And once again, KKP has been graced with another dusky scotch-friendly City Pop song. Good for a Friday evening.
A couple of weeks ago, I featured Norwegian singer-songwriter Ole Børud and his scintillating bring-back of good old-fashioned AOR via his 2023 "Find a Way".
Well, it looks like I've found another AOR song of encouragement from decades back which has a similarly-themed title. Masamichi Sugi's（杉真理）"Catch Your Way" is his third single from October 1980 and a track from his May 1982 album"Overlap" and with him taking care of words and music while Nobuyuki Shimizu（清水信之）was the arranger, the song has that familiar jaunty 70s/80s West Coast beat. Sugi is exhorting someone to get out of their post-romance funk and get on that horse again for better days.
I've gotta say, though, that the cover for "Overlap" is intriguing. Placing a red sports car in front of a thermoelectric plant by a river must mean something. I'm taking opinions.😕
There's one segment of YouTube which specializes in showing scalp massages all over the world such as Japan, India and South Korea. Yup, I'll say it right now...I've enjoyed watching them for the vicarious ASMR effect, and it looks like the fellow above may have inadvertently pioneered it on the cover of his single.
The lucky fellow is singer-songwriter and current gospel singer Makoto Iwabuchi（岩渕まこと）. I introduced him a little over two months ago through his 1978 song "Yuuhi ni Sarawarete"（夕陽にさらわれて）. He was a good friend of the late Chu Kosaka（小坂忠）who introduced him to Christianity decades ago. Though my knowledge and experience of his music are still very nascent, my initial impression has been that in the early years of his career, he had been into New Music, perhaps centering upon AOR.
Well, judging from his October 1977 debut single"Whiskey Drive", the New Music is there but with this happy-go-lucky tune, my feeling is that he's gotten some influence from Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）and Tin Pan Alley at around the same time. There is that honky-tonk piano dancing around on the keys along with those honey-toned horns and the funky electric piano. It really does sound like the perfect accompaniment for Miller Time in Japan back in the 1970s or sitting in on a session with the "Saturday Night Live" band back then.
Here I was...back in Toronto for good at the end of 2011 after many years of life in Japan. It was important and reassuring to get into a regular routine of stuff. Luckily, the idea of "Kayo Kyoku Plus" germinated in my brain fairly quickly but maybe even a few weeks earlier, the ol' biweekly Sunday ritual of meeting my anime buddy for anime and food had gotten started. Even within that ritual, there was a core viewing of a certain franchise's entries among all of the different series.
Yup, it was the "Pretty Cure"（プリティーキュア）franchise with all of their teams of super-powered magical girls and themes. I was first weaned on "Smile PreCure"（スマイルプリキュア!）because it started up right at the beginning of February 2012, and it turned out to be the one known arguably the most for its episodic comedy aspect. For example, just from the above summary of Cure March's character, I knew that she needed to lay off the Red Bull. It was ironic though that the finale of that series in early 2013 was surprisingly dark.
Another thing that my buddy had told me was that the casting of the main characters was revelatory in that a lot of PreCure fans were really talking it up on social media when the seiyuu were announced, probably at the end of 2011. He stated that either most or all of the women cast as the five PreCures were maniac choices. I hadn't known what he was talking about at all, but later I found out that the actresses had been in previous anime or other media productions with certain bawdy reputations including Misato Fukuen（福圓美里）as leader Cure Happy. Apparently, she had been involved with eroge under different aliases. Hey, I'm not judging.
Having caught up on all of the previous shows in the PreCure franchise up to "Smile PreCure" and going forward with a few more seasons, I've seen and heard all of the opening and closing theme songs and credit sequences, and there have been ones that have been especially catchy such as the supremely poppy "Ganbalance de Dance"（ガンバランスdeダンス）used in the earlier shows and then the cool-as-anything "You make me happy!" for "Fresh Precure!"（フレッシュプリキュア!）which had its run in 2009 and whose ending credits sparked the beginning of the traditional dancing by the teams.
As the saying goes, "You always remember your first", and sure enough, that was "Yay! Yay! Yay!" at the end of each episode in the first half of the season of "Smile PreCure". As sung by frequent PreCure singer Hitomi Yoshida（吉田仁美）, this particular ending theme has been eclipsed on my favourite theme list by the aforementioned "Ganbalance de Dance" and "You make me happy!", but it's still a nice and upbeat tune to match the overall happy vibe of "Smile PreCure". Despite the presence of that electric guitar, there's something of that Swinging 60s Bacharach-friendly melody in "Yay! Yay! Yay!" which was composed by Hideaki Takatori（高取ヒデアキ）with lyrics by Minori（実ノ里）.
I gather that this is my second Reminiscings of Youth dealing with an album after Quincy Jones' "The Dude" a month or so ago, and though I finally did get the soundtrack to "Xanadu" a few years ago, I've only seen the 1980 movie through certain scenes only. Yep, I enjoyed "Grease" with Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta but only heard the bad word-of-mouth for ONJ's other Hollywood movie musical so I ended up skipping it. I may end up seeing it in its entirety someday. Also, I have to note that this is being written just a few weeks following the singer's first anniversary of her passing.
But like a lot of folks, I have appreciated a number of the songs that had been featured in the June 1980 soundtrack more than I have the actual movie, and everyone involved in "Xanadu" went all out on the variety of genres. The Labels section is now occupied by stars that I hadn't expected to see here such as the legendary Gene Kelly, rock band The Tubes, and Cliff Richard.
The title song "Xanadu" has been the one musical remnant that I held onto all these years from the movie. As performed by OJN and Electric Light Orchestra's Jeff Lynne on backup vocals, it's been categorized as post-disco while I'm still hearing it as quite breezy disco. Through a now non-existent YouTube video of an interview with Lynne according to the relevant Wikipedia article, the ELO leader has gone on record to say that "Xanadu" is his least favourite among his own creations. On a personal aside, ELO was one of my targets when I had my Yellow Magic Orchestra-on-the-brain phase thinking that with its initials as a nickname/abbreviation and its eclectic brand of music, I thought that it was also into technopop but such was not the case. Yet, there are at least a couple of ELO tunes that I will eventually cover in ROY articles in the near future. On America's Billboard, "Xanadu" scored a No. 8 while on Canada's RPM chart, it peaked at No. 9 after being released in May 1980.
Arguably, "Magic" is the one standout track on the album that eclipses almost all of the others, and for the longest time, I hadn't been aware that it was actually from "Xanadu". Created by John Farrar, it was another OJN hit that seemed to have permanent residency status on the radio, and from my current viewpoint, it's truly a magical ballad thanks to some of the production effects, the orchestra strings and the feeling of being transported into the night sky while this is playing. I wouldn't be surprised if this had been a popular slow dance tune at the school dances back in the day. Another May 1980 release, "Magic" went to No. 1 in both Canada and the United States.
I had assumed that "Suddenly", another Farrar-penned single from the "Xanadu" soundtrack, was a B-side for another one of Olivia's singles or it was on her "Physical" album from 1981. Regardless, it's another classic love duet, this time with Cliff Richard that was released in October 1980. It also has its magical qualities although it's not quite up there with "Magic". It ranked in at No. 60 on RPM and No. 20 on Billboard.
One of the few non-single tracks on "Xanadu" is "Dancin'" which has Olivia collaborating with The Tubes. OK, maybe the movie "Xanadu" as a whole wasn't the finest piece of cinematic art to ever grace the screen, but this one scene is indeed incredible to the extent (especially at the end) that if it had been performed at the Oscars, it would have brought the house down. I never would have imagined that nightclub jazz and glam rock could ever be mashed up like this, but I guess miracles can occur in "Xanadu".
Welcome to KKP ROY, Mr. Gene Kelly! If I hadn't ever been aware of "Xanadu", and someone threw out his name and Olivia Newton-John at me, I would have assumed that we were playing the advanced level of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. But there they were in the above scene dancing to their duet "Whenever You're Away from Me", a throwback to those musical dance extravaganzas that Kelly had excelled at back in the 1940s and 1950s. Not surprisingly from what I've read of the comments, the master dancer made sure that the choreographed scene would meet his tough and exacting standards. No pressure on OJN at all. One of the things that stuck in my head about the movie was that his Danny McGuire character was the final film role that he ever played although he did appear as himself in a couple of film documentaries on the world of entertainment in his final years before his death in 1996.
It's rather ironic when I write of Kelly being in his one final musical in 1980 since a year before, I recollect watching an episode of the original TV series "Battlestar Galactica" where Kelly's old hoofing buddy, Fred Astaire, had a role as an elderly man who may have been Lt. Starbuck's father.
My last words on the soundtrack will deal with ELO's"All Over the World", another single that I hadn't associated with the movie but knew about due to its presence on the radio. Via the Wikipedia article, one magazine felt that the song was "souped-up '50s and '60s pop at its best" while I feel that it was uplifting disco about getting the whole globe to sing. Of course, I had to include the scene in "Xanadu" where "All Over the World" was played since it's got Gene and company dancing about on roller skates. It ranked in at No. 16 on RPM while in America, it got as high as No. 13.
"Xanadu" the soundtrack may have won the day, the month and the year over "Xanadu" the movie, but from what I've read from some of the other commenters on YouTube, the latter isn't too shabby at all, provided that viewers can take a little more cheese than usual. In any case, the soundtrack hit No. 2 on RPM and No. 4 on Billboard.
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