There was that period between the summer of 1991 and the fall of 1994 when I was back in Toronto getting that certificate in TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) and helping out once more with the Japan-Canada Students' Association at the University of Toronto. Meanwhile, Japan's economic bubble had burst rather dramatically at around the time I got back or maybe it had already done so a year previously and so the good times were over. Maybe then, the Japanese were then sinking into the doldrums on a number of fronts.
And yet, I still remember that the music wasn't necessarily reflecting depressed times. For instance, the vivacious singer-songwriter Kohmi Hirose（広瀬香美）made her debut in those early 1990s and I can only say that enthusiasts of her brand of high-toned and optimistic music probably got a huge dose of fresh air and premium coffee. Her December 1992 debut single "Ai ga Areba Daijoubu"（愛があれば大丈夫）with its mix of EW&F disco and hearty American variety show-friendly jazz standard made a nice moderate splash in the J-Pop ocean by tracking in at No. 42 on the Oricon chart.
The coupling song is something that I only discovered within the last few days. "Mou Ichido Mou Ichido" (One More Time, One More Time) goes funkier and clubbier with what sounds like a regular organ getting a percolating workout on the keys. Once again written and composed by Hirose with Shiro Sagisu's（鷺巣詩朗）arrangement, we also get some of the happy brass, the rollicking rhythm and the singer's "everything is gonna be alright" vocals. The lyrics exhort that desire to undergo that wholesale change to become a better and happier person.
Kohmi's music is so nostalgic of that blend of late 80's/early 90's pop - I've been obsessed ever since I heard Romance no Kamisama. Hearing this club/house track from her fits perfectly in the era but is definitely refreshing :)
ReplyDeleteHello, leafline samba and thanks for your comments. Yes, Kohmi's music is a great spirit lifter and in recent years, some excerpts have become popular memes.
DeleteI think birth of what most people think of as J-pop back in the 1990's was probably in part because of economic bubble bust. The Japanese were using music as way to release stress and escape. MiniDisc also made it's debut in 1992 I believe and in my mind 90's music and MiniDisc walkman go hand and hand.
ReplyDeleteAs the saying goes, "“Music has charms to soothe a savage breast.” Probably the time immediately following the burst of the bubble had a lot of breasts needing to be soothed.
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