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.
I was doing my usual maintenance of the various articles on KKP recently when I came across the September 2016 article I did for LanLan Suzuki's（鈴木蘭々）EPO-penned bossa nova"Kimi to Boku"（キミとボク）. Now, as it turns out, that had been the one-and-only posting I wrote for this tarento that had once been all over television in the early years of my Tokyo/Chiba stint as an English conversation teacher.
In the crowded world of Japanese entertainment with its tarento, singers, thespians and comedians, Suzuki could stand out on her looks alone. She had that short but thick pile of hair, eyes as big as an anime character's, and a quirky personality. For all of her appearances, she had a brief and perhaps uneventful part of her career as a singer although her penultimate single "Kimi to Boku" is a very pleasant tune for the whole family. I did wonder what she was up to in the last twenty years or so and I'm happy to see that she has her own YouTube channel as is evident above. I also read on her J-Wiki profile that she released her first BEST album last year to commemorate her 35th anniversary in show business.
Well, seeing that I've only had the one Suzuki song represented on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", I guess it's time to bring another one of her other songs to the fore. Instead of one of her last singles, I'm bringing aboard her debut single from August 1995, "Nakanai zoe" (Ain't Gonna Cry) which sounds like one cheerfully defiant tune with a hint of Motown written by Suzuki and Shin or Makoto Morizono（森園真）. The composer was none other than the late great Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）. Not sure whether that "zoe" at the end of the title is a childish suffix or some dialectal affectation but I wouldn't be surprised if Suzuki had said something like that on one of her shows sometime somewhere. "Nakanai zoe" was used as the theme song for a variety show, "Imada Koji no Shibuya-kei Ura Ringo"（今田耕司のシブヤ系うらりんご...Koji Imada's Shibuya-kei Rear Apple[?]）.
As for the romanization of her first name, I've come across either RanRan or LanLan so I gather that the lady has been rather liberal about how her stage name is read. Her real name is Tomoko Suzuki（鈴木智子）, by the way.
I failed to mention this yesterday but April 29th is part of the Golden Week holiday season in Japan and it's currently known as Showa Day. It had been celebrated as Emperor Hirohito's(the Showa era emperor) birthday until his death in early 1989 and then it was known as Greenery Day until 2007, when it was given its current name (Greenery Day is now May 4th).
Since there has been some nostalgic attraction for the culture of the Showa era (1926-1989), that's how I've usually seen Showa Day...not so much for the veneration of the late emperor but for what the times and trappings were like for ordinary people in Japan. Apparently, there is a Showa era museum in Aichi Prefecture as you can see above via MEGULOG's video. My particular examples of Showa era culture that regularly pop up in my memories are the old public phones of different sizes and colours, and the old-style kissaten as you can view in Mikki Café & Life below. Personally, my Showa era café will always be Café Renoir, the long-running franchise.
But of course, this being a kayo kyoku blog, I wanted to give my own contribution to Showa Day in terms of culture by providing some of the old songs. I'd wondered if I could find some sort of Top 5 list regarding memorable kayo kyoku but really couldn't find anything, so I've decided to come up with my own list of six songs representing each decade from the 1930s to the 1980s (sorry, couldn't remember anything from the 1920s). There wasn't any great research or all-night brain wracking for these songs...they just popped into my head and together they can perhaps show how music changed during the Showa era. So, without further ado...
As I mentioned in my previous article on Masako Oka's（岡雅子）"Yume Zaiku"（夢細工）, Japan has entered its annual Golden Week holidays and so has its television programming. So, this morning, instead of the usual hour-long NHK "News Watch 9", we only got an abbreviated version of the news for half an hour and then for the next hour, we were able to watch a new hour-long episode of "Sekai wa Hoshiimono ni Afureteru"（世界はほしいモノにあるふれてる...This World is Filled With Wants）, the program specializing on the voyages and adventures of Japanese buyers looking for innovative products to place in their stores back home.
"Seka Hoshi" did have a regular spot on either Tuesday or Wednesday but it's now been coming out as the occasional special. I've enjoyed the series as something calming to watch so I was able to lap up the latest trip by co-host Ryota Suzuki（鈴木亮平）as he enjoyed the sights, sounds and food of Italy including the magical city of Venice. I confess that I've never had much of a desire to travel but after seeing the images of the shops, canals and restaurants in the Italian city, some spark of interest welled up within me about this particular place.
Well, I figured that there must be a kayo kyoku about Venice somewhere since Shinichi Mori（森進一）was able to get a hit out of his 1982 song "Fuyu no Riviera"（冬のリヴィエラ）. And sure enough, it didn't take much of a search to discover that another enka veteran, Ikuzo Yoshi（吉幾三）, came up with his own tribute to Venice, "Venezia Monogatari" (Venice Story). A track from his February 2015 album"Ai Arigato"（愛・ありがとう...Love, Thank You）, Yoshi wrote and composed this love-drenched tale of romance within the City of Canals. With the instrumentation and rhythm involved, I have categorized it as a New Adult Music piece (somewhere between enka and pop) but there was still something...probably Yoshi's vocals...that still pulled the song strongly back to the enka side.
Happy Monday! It's just the start of another regular work week here in the Greater Toronto Area although we will be getting our first major holiday weekend for the summer season in a few weeks with Victoria Day. It is the beginning of the Golden Week holidays in Japan, though, and as a result, it feels that way in my household, partially because Jme has gone onto holiday programming with the regular shows going on GW hiatus.
Well, whichever side of the International Date Line you are on, let's proceed with this week's crop of kayo kyoku/J-Pop delights with a fairly unusual single. Masako Oka（岡雅子）doesn't have a particularly long J-Wiki file but she is a seiyuu, singer and radio personality although there is no discography listed there for her music. However, there is at least one of her singles up on YouTube titled "Yume Zaiku"(Dream Work) which was released in August 1981. Written by Man Kuroki（くろき漫）, composed by Koji Shiba（柴公二）and arranged by Tadashige Matsui（松井忠重）, it's a very polished piece of down-home City Pop with a touch of bossa nova, reminiscent of Keiko Maruyama's（丸山圭子）classic "Douzo Kono Mama"(どうぞこのまま）from several years back, and the cover of the single revealing an intentionally foggy photo of the singer giving that thousand-yard gaze seals the deal.
Now, the unusual part happens with a flip of the 45". The B-side is "Mako to Nonko no Gokigen Ikaga 1-2-3"(Mako and Nonko's How Are You 1-2-3) is a wholly different animal as Oka and Noriko Ishiwatari（石渡のり子）, another radio personality, make their tongue-in-cheek debut as rappers, some months following Blondie's "Rapture". Listening to it, I can't really take this song too seriously compared to the straightforward "Yume Zaiku". But it was indeed Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）of Yellow Magic Orchestra at the time behind its composition with Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）and the comedy group Snakeman Show behind the weird lyrics. In fact, I'd say that the melody and at least some of the words sound rather familiar to me as I suspect that Snakeman Show may have done a cover of their own work.
Maybe one clue as to how Oka and Ishiwatari got together was the observation that both of them had their time as hosts on different nights for the April 1976-September 1977TBS radio late-night show "Five Sweet Cats"（5スイート・キャッツ）.
At first, when I heard this July 1932 record, "Kokoro no Niji"(The Rainbow of My Heart) by singer Wakako Maruyama（丸山和歌子）, I thought it was the legendary Masao Koga（古賀政男）behind its composition. My impression came by because of that particular guitar plucking in the intro, but the music was actually created by Shigeru Tamura（田村しげる）with lyrics by Koichi Hamano（浜野耕一）.
Maruyama, who was born in the Kanda district of Tokyo in 1905, was known for her especially high soprano, and that's certainly made clear in "Kokoro no Niji", a song about a woman pining for that special someone one night under the moon glowing through her bedroom window. Also because of that Koga reference, I was also left wondering whether "Kokoro no Niji" could be seen as an enka tune although the traditional genre only began retroactively from the 1950s and 1960s, but I can gather that at the time, it was more than likely treated as a kayo kyoku.
The singer started her career on the stage in 1931, but then moved to the recording booth before moving back to the stage again in 1937. According to a music writer's accounts from Maruyama's family, she was killed during the Tokyo air bombings in 1945. However, some 74 years later in 2019, a CD collection of 23 of her songs was released titled "Naicha Ikenai Maruyama Wakako no Heya 1931-1936"（泣いちゃいけない 丸山和歌子の部屋 1931-1936...You Mustn't Cry ~ Wakako Maruyama's Room）.
Earlier this morning, Scott from "Holly Jolly X'masu" cottoned me onto this very short-lived Group Sounds band known as The Sherries（ザ・シェリーズ）. Not surprisingly, because of the brevity of their existence, there isn't any J-Wiki page devoted to them but I was able to find one site which did feature them. Apparently, the band was formed from the remnants of another short-lived folk rock group called The Black Stones（ブラック・ストーンズ）which came out with one lone single.
Well, bassist Yutaka Miyagawa（宮川豊）and drummer Michihiro Tani（谷迪弘）formerly of The Black Stones got some new band members, including vocalist Tatsuo Kimura（木村達男）, to form The Sherries and as with their previous incarnation, they were able to put out just one single called "Omoide no Sherry" (Sherry, Come Back) in November 1967. Written and composed by the band with Kunihiko Suzuki（鈴木邦彦）arranging everything in what must have been one of his earliest assignments, it's very much along the lines of a GS tune but I also think it sounds fairly rough as if the five members were still in the act of gelling. Well, as it turned out, they never did gel due to some internal strife and that one single was all she wrote. The Sherries never did come back (thank you, I'll just see myself out).😁
One piece of trivia that I did find from the above site is that The Sherries, while they were still getting along, decided (or their manager decided) to perform the A and B sides from"Omoide no Sherry" continuously on stage somewhere for 32 straight hours. The gimmick paid off in the single becoming a minor hit.
One of the people I follow on Twitter put this 1986 song up a few weeks ago and wondered why it didn't get much more in the way of respect or rankings. To be honest, after listening to it myself, I'm also left in askance. Unfortunately, I've forgotten which person it was who made the initial call so let me know so I can give credit where credit is due.
I am talking about actress Miki Yamazaki's（山崎美貴）"Namida no Ato ni Kuchizuke wo" (Kiss After the Rain), and I note that the above profession is the only one listed for Yamazaki right off the bat and that her career origin year has been put down as 1988. However, looking further into J-Wiki, I found out that the Yokohama native who had won the White Cinderella contest while in high school in the early 1980s and then scouted in Harajuku got into show business as a magazine model. Then, she joined the late-night TV show "All-Night Fuji"（オールナイトフジ）and ended up joining two other girls to form the short-lived aidoru trio Okawari Sisters（おかわりシスターズ）in 1984 with four singles and one studio album going up to early 1985.
Yamazaki had an even shorter career as a solo singer with two singles and one album under her belt beginning in 1985. Her second single was the aforementioned "Namida no Ato ni Kuchizuke wo" which was released in March 1986. To me, it's the quintessential aidoru tune of the latter half of the 1980s with the singer surrounded by a creamy yet bopping keyboard arrangement thanks to composer Tsugutoshi Goto（後藤次利）that has always been catnip for my Japanese pop-loving ears. Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）was the lyricist, and with those two behind its creation, I can say that it was most likely put in as aidoru material.
The song did moderately OK by scoring a No. 56 ranking on Oricon and that was the end of her singing career apparently, although I think her vocals were quite pleasant and pure. But perhaps with so many aidoru songs taking on that certain arrangement, the competition was probably a little too crowded and fierce for Yamazaki the singer to make much headway, so into acting she went a few years later.
Hopefully, you viewers out there are enjoying a far better and sunnier weekend than what we're getting right now in Toronto. It's pretty dreary out there and we just got the news that Southeast Asian hammerhead worms with acidic skin have invaded our province of Ontario which ought to make playing outside with the kids that much more exciting.
It was just a week ago when Takao Tajima（田島貴男）, aka Original Love, made his special appearance on NHK's morning show "Asaichi"（あさイチ）alongside the Friday episode guests Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra so that they could together give a rousing performance of "Mekureta Orange"(めくれたオレンジ). I bet any viewers were no longer groggy after that, especially fans of both acts.
Well, coincidentally, a few days ago, I came across this early Original Love song from their July 1991 debut album"LOVE! LOVE! & LOVE!" when the band was more than Tajima and had a few more members. The first thing I noticed about "Love Vista" is that it's over twelve minutes long! Not that I haven't encountered songs with epic times before...Chaz Jankel's original "Ai no Corrida" is around the 10-minute mark and one of his other tunes on his first album times in at around 15 minutes, but I think "Love Vista" may be the first Japanese pop song that I've heard that has gone into the double digits in terms of time.
But, hey, it's Tajima, so I gotta dive in. Right from the beginning, I get that beatnik psychedelic private underground party feeling from the mantra-like scatting by Tajima and the hypnotic rhythm including the percussion. The cover for "LOVE! LOVE! & LOVE!" seems just perfect for the song since I could imagine the vocalist and his guys sitting cross-legged with the ladies as they all zone out to "Love Vista".
A lot of the song is instrumental but the lyrics that Tajima provides weaves a story of some guy's intention to love a girl cell by cell. Looks like things are going to get really hot and bothered tonight. However, the music by the band is just as sultry and sexy and smooth as it mixes in jazz, soul and maybe some of the more placid take on psychedelic rock. I was kinda wondering about Shibuya-kei as well but that genre is more of a very extroverted sunny-side type of music out in the cafés and parks, and as I mentioned above, "Love Vista" has more of a secret basement vibe with lots of smoke from cigarettes and other paraphernalia and not a lot of light. And besides, I do remember the rumour of Tajima yelling at one concert, "I AM NOT SHIBUYA-KEI!".
Listening to "Love Vista" with all of those influences, I'm reminded of another song that invited in a few genres to its party with great success: Boz Scaggs' "Lowdown".
Listening to "Travelin' Heart", I thought of this as a resort tune reminiscent of the Fifth Dimension's"Up Up and Away" when right in the middle of the song, the chorus of "Up Up and Away" popped up! Through Tomofumi Suzuki's（鈴木智文）meticulous production and Noda's（野田幹子）classy vocals, this is a refreshing song to the ears and it's reminiscent of the resort pop at the time of her debut which had a fresh impression even in the 1990s.
The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised" (2020).
Yes, once again, we have Kayo Grace Kyoku tripping the light fantastic at the good ol' disco somewhere probably in Tokyo.
Speaking of disco, Rocket Brown let me know about this tune by vocal group The Gospellers（ゴスペラーズ）several weeks ago. "Fly Me to the Disco Ball" is the group's 49th single from February 2017. Despite the title, it doesn't have a single disco bone in its arrangement, and in fact, I think it's a rather elegant and inspiring soul tune. Written and composed by Gospellers singer Yuuji Sakai（酒井雄二）with a co-composing credit given to Shoichiro Hirata（平田祥一郎）, the J-Wiki writeup on the song noted Sakai's comments that "Fly Me to the Disco Ball" is reflecting the human desire to fly in spite of being bound by gravity.
The music video certainly has folks in the late evening trying to slip their earthly bounds and reach for the stars...or the disco ball. Or maybe that's simply the booze talking. Regardless, "Fly Me to the Disco Ball" made it to No. 14 on Oricon and can also be found on The Gospellers' No. 5-ranking"Soul Renaissance", their 15th album which was released a month following the single.
The song was also used as the theme for the amusement park Yomiuri Land's"Jewellumination"（ジュエルミネーション） display.
The above is Chikuzen Sato's（佐藤竹善）first foray into his "Cornerstones" set of solo albums which first came out in 1995, so if he's going to be releasing another one next year, the lead singer behind Sing Like Talking will be celebrating his 30th anniversary with his pet project of cover tunes. Unfortunately at this point, I only have his first one.
His eighth album from the series, "radio JAOR ～Cornerstones 8～" was released back in October 2022. I was able to find this one track which is a cover of Junichi Inagaki's（稲垣潤一）1982 debut single"Ame no Regret"(Rainy Regret) which was written by Reiko Yukawa（湯川れい子）and composed by Off-Course member Kazuhiko Matsuo（松尾一彦）.
The arrangement isn't all that different from the Inagaki original (and I just posted something about him yesterday) aside from some steelier synthesizers, and I think Sato may have tried to emulate Inagaki's delivery to a fault. I've been accustomed to the laidback crooning of Inagaki but Sato is one singer who I've known and admired for his boppier and soulful vocals so to hear him fairly drone out that first verse was a tad jarring, I have to admit. However by the end, it was the good ol' Sato making himself heard again. The album, by the way, reached No. 22 on Oricon.
If I'm not mistaken, the above shot is from one of the Sumida River ferries heading from Asakusa down to Odaiba in Tokyo Bay. Always putting up those condo buildings there.
Let's go further into Urban Contemporary Friday on KKP with "For a Week Story" by the pop duo sister act Milk with Ritsuko and Rie Miyajima（宮島律子・宮島理恵）. This was the first track on their 1987 album"Milk" and it was the A-side for the "For a Week Story" EP which also contained the previous song I posted, "Manazashi ni I feel so love"（視線にI feel so love）.
"For a Week Story" starts the vibe off for Milk's album and it takes off on a cool but also calm and collected strut down the street...kinda like Slow Jack Swing rather than New Jack Swing. I like the boogie beat and the beefy saxophone that accompanies the ladies on their night on the town. Rie Miyajima was in charge of words and music here.
Hello again. This is J-Canuck and continuing on from Part 1 of a translation I'm doing for Toshikazu Kanazawa's（金澤寿和）liner notes from Tohoku Shinkansen's（東北新幹線）"Thru Traffic" album from 1982, I'm providing Part 2 which will begin the original 2007 liner notes when the classic City Pop release was put onto CD for the very first time. This part mostly covers the history of Etsuko Yamakawa（山川恵津子）and Hiroshi Narumi（鳴海寛）up to the point where they met at the Yamaha Music Foundation.
Tohoku Shinkansen’s genesis can be attributed to the Yamaha Music Foundation known for its Popular Song Contest (abbreviated as Pop Con). The first one of the duo to enter Yamaha was Etsuko Yamakawa, born in Kyoto, growing up with classical music and majoring in vocal music at university. During elementary school, Yamakawa listened to Group Sounds music and then also got into Western pop hits. From an early age, she was able to learn music by ear and played it on instruments like the piano. From high school, she aimed for a career in music and even participated in Pop Con at the recommendation of a friend, but it was from that point that she preferred to be an arranger rather than a performer.
While attending university in Tokyo, Yamakawa managed to get a part-time job at the Yamaha Music Foundation. At first, she was doing office work and serving tea while getting to know the staff in the Creative Work section in the company, also known as the Lab. It was there that she met the big-time arrangers such as Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）, Motoki Funayama（船山基紀）and Osamu Totsuka（戸塚修）. As she was doing her routine tasks, she would sneak a peek at the scores they had written, and little by little, she would pick up on their methods and techniques. Before long, she would get involved with the popular radio show “Cocky Pop” sponsored by Yamaha and that is where she first met Hiroshi Narumi. Narumi had still been a high school student at the time but his innate talents had already been recognized and it was one of his compositions that had been used as the theme song for the radio show. She eventually got a copy of his demo tape and his transcriptions.
“This guy’s amazing for a high school kid!” she said.
On Narumi’s homemade tape, he had recorded his own overdubbed chorus onto his performance by piano. And when she listened to the sound of his beautiful music, there were these complex chords everywhere that she had never heard before. That was the first step for the two of them.
Narumi’s roots were in Beethoven. Furthermore, for three years from kindergarten to Grade 1 of elementary school, he listened only to the master’s “Moonlight Sonata” everyday without fail as if he were a boy possessed, a feat which astonished everyone. But it was this singular experience that nurtured his amazing ear and well-honed sensitivity. His piano playing was described by his elder brother as something by a child prodigy, and it’s said that Hiroshi memorized his brother’s own piano playing completely by ear. And when his brother started taking up guitar in Grade 3, Hiroshi also somehow began picking it up as well; while he was copying what he saw on televised guitar lessons, he was able to play the instrument in no time flat. In junior high school, Hiroshi was turned onto the pop music of Bread, Carpenters, Burt Bacharach, and The Fifth Dimension. Soon after that, his interest spread to Philadelphia Soul, Stevie Wonder and Al Green, and then on radio, he started listening to Sonia Rosa and as he unraveled the riddle behind her mysterious attraction, he came across Joao Gilberto. While his friends got into raunchy rock, he preferred soft pop and soul. He analyzed the skillfulness of the chord progressions and the precision of their arrangements and then embedded them into his own music over time. Then for his original compositions, he did the dubbing over and over by himself at home for his demo tape over many days. Narumi is widely recognized as a guitarist, but he himself believes he’s adept at both guitar and piano. Whenever he went to the piano after getting worked up, the agitation and his soul tended to cool down.
I caught this Goro Noguchi（野口五郎）single on an episode of "Yoru no Hit Studio"（夜のヒットスタジオ）a few weeks ago. To be honest, I didn't pay too much attention to it when he sang it on stage, but listening to the original recorded version paid some more dividends to me.
"Musashino Shijin" (The Poet of Musashino) was Noguchi's 22nd single from January 1977. Written by Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）, composed by Noguchi's older brother Hiroshi Sato（佐藤寛...not to be confused with the late City Pop keyboardist and singer） and arranged by Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）, it starts out for a few seconds sounding like a rock tune but then slides into something more wistful and perhaps approaching the feeling of a City Pop song. Actually, the story of the song was based on Inokashira Park which straddles the districts of Musashino and Mitaka in Tokyo, so I guess with that in mind and along with that funky beat, perhaps it can be a City Pop song. Noguchi was heading in that direction anyways.
Strangely enough though, according to the J-Wiki article on "Musashino Shijin", Matsumoto's lyrics actually refer to Musashino Park located in another area of Tokyo. I can only gather that the name of Musashino sounded better to Matsumoto than Inokashira. Regardless, his lyrics refer to the titular poet as a young man who began, experienced and ended a love affair around the park, and he's rather dramatically dressing it up as a song, poem or scene from a movie. Quite the drama king, isn't he?
"Musashino Shijin" made it all the way up to No. 2 on Oricon, eventually becoming the 33rd-ranked single of 1977. The video below shows Inokashira Park in all of its glory. I only went there once myself during my days in Tokyo. I'm sure that the park is always buzzing with people during cherry blossom season.
I've often called crooning drummer and singer Junichi Inagaki（稲垣潤一）one of the princes of City Pop all these years, and he definitely has the flair for the urban contemporary.
However, I've also realized that Inagaki, through listening to his music, also has a love for the pop inspired from the 1950s and 1960s. I think one example is his "Memory Flickers", the penultimate track from his April 1989 album"Heart & Soul". The No. 1-ranking release has been labeled a City Pop album but "Memory Flickers" feels more like an homage to those earlier decades although the music seems to have been filtered as well through contemporary arrangements and synths.
Written by Masao Urino（売野雅勇）, those opening notes of "Memory Flickers" resemble the notes in the intro of Anri's（杏里）classic "Kanashimi ga Tomaranai" (悲しみがとまらない）, and perhaps this shouldn't be surprising since both songs were composed by the one-and-only Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）. Beyond those introductory bars though, Hayashi's arrangements take us through a mix of thrumming keyboards and what sounds like some Motown spice. Urino's lyrics talk about a man reminiscing about a love triangle years or decades ago in which he was one of the corners competing against one male corner for the hand of a female corner. Not sure who won but I get the feeling that the main man is feeling rather bittersweet about the experience. In any case, "Heart & Soul" ended 1989 as the 47th-ranked album.
Welcome to another weekly Reminiscings of Youth article, and indeed, I was one of probably billions of people who managed to catch the real trailer for "Deadpool & Wolverine" a few days ago. Yep, it certainly was interesting alright; I only hope that the movie actually lives up to the hype. I've been burned by trailers from both the Marvel and DC universes recently since a few of their recent movies were somewhat less than what the trailers had been promising.
In any event, pop culture fans have been going ga-ga over the trailer and as a result of one song being used in there, they've also apparently been flocking to Madonna's"Like a Prayer" which was the Material Girl's title track from her March 1989 album. It isn't even one of my favourite Madonna songs but it fits unusually well in "Deadpool & Wolverine" for some reason and not just because one of the two anti-heroes dubbed himself Marvel Jesus (which I truly hope he is for the MCEU).
I still remember the fact that the video for "Like a Prayer" got a worldwide prime-time premiere on television as it dragged a lot of controversy behind it. It even got admonished by the Vatican and other religious organizations for some of the images although today, people would probably be shrugging about what all the tumult was about back then. And yet, the song hit No. 1 in many countries. In fact, it would be easier to list the nations where it didn't peak at No. 1...which included Japan where it only went as high as No. 30. 1989 was the year when I went overseas on the JET Programme and I don't really recall much news on "Like a Prayer" in the remaining half of the year when I was residing in Gunma Prefecture.
NHK's "Uta Con"（うたコン）had their final broadcast before going on a multi-week hiatus during Golden Week. Now, the annual spate of holidays ranging from the last days of April into the first days of May doesn't begin for a few more days yet, but I figured that I can still provide a few of the songs that got into their "Uta no Tabi"（歌の旅...Song Vacation） theme segment yesterday along with throwing in one of my own choices.
As it stands right now, though, with the Japanese currency plummeting down to 155 yen to the dollar, perhaps there won't be as much tourism from Japan to overseas destinations this Golden Week although Americans, Canadians and other people will be more than happy to fly over to Japan for the next little while. Maybe that's why some of the songs from "Uta no Tabi" were most definitely domestic. In any case, here are the selections.
The last time I was up in a Ferris wheel, it was the gigantic one in Minato Mirai 21 right by Yokohama Bay at night. Unfortunately, I wasn't good with heights (and I'm still not good now) and there was a gale blowing through the entire structure so I was fairly losing it. Fortunately, my bodily functions held...barely.
So, you can imagine that there is nothing romantic that courses through my body and soul when it comes to Ferris wheels. Of course though, that doesn't mean that some of you out there don't feel the same way I do. Perhaps you have those feelings of l'amour 😎as your capsule reaches the height of the ride. That's what "Kanransha no Monologue ~ spring mix" (Ferris Wheel Monologue) must be about. This was the coupling song for festa mode's third single"Play Back part III" released in March 1994.
Written by Rie Yamamoto（山本理恵）and composed by festa mode keyboardist Hitoshi Kudo（工藤仁志）, it's a mellow tune that brings in hints of 90s City Pop, Shibuya-kei and jazz although overall, I will consider it a really nice and steady pop song. The creaminess of "Kanransha no Monologue" is further enriched by the backing chorus harmonies. Moreover, I couldn't help but hear a bit of "Mayonaka no Door ~ Stay With Me"（真夜中のドアー）in the verses as well.
I first found out about festa mode several years ago in 2018 when I posted about their song "Kaze to Tabi Shiyou"（風と旅しよう）, so it's nice to bring them back once more. By the way, the original version of "Kanransha no Monologue" can also be found in the trio's first album"Festa Mode I" from September 1993. I should also give credit where credit is due...I discovered this song through a City Pop compilation by relatively new YouTuber City Pop Industries who came onto the platform back in January. Welcome aboard!
Ahh...good ol' Tower Records in Shibuya...oh, how I miss the old place. A few days ago, Canada and the United States celebrated their Record Store Day and I'm pretty sure a lot of the vinyl hounds were more than happy to do their flipping of the LPs in search of aural gold.
I just mentioned the band Tweedees in the previous article regarding the latest by CHiLi GiRL so I thought it was time to get another song by this pop and Shibuya-kei-focused duo onto KKP. The last time I devoted time and space to bassist Reiji Okii（沖井礼二）and vocalist Natsumi Kiyoura（清浦夏実）was back in 2022 for their 2018 "Hanataba to Jiryoku"（花束と磁力）. Well, actually, I've opted to put up two of their songs from opposite ends of their career thus far.
The first one is their first single"KLING! KLANG!" from January 2015. Having nothing to do with the Klingons in the pilot episode of "Star Trek: Enterprise", the onomatopoeia reflected in the title is really the wonderful cacophony of music as Kiyoura sings about the joy of listening to one's favourite songs. It's the first time that I've seen Tweedees in a music video and for some reason, I have the impression that Kiyoura could have been the second coming of Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）but that is solely me. In fashion and in music, it's some pleasant Shibuya-kei.
From their most recent album in December 2022, "World Record", I give you their last track "Hello Hello". A short and sweet song, the lyrics were written by Kiyoura while Okii took care of the melody and arrangement. More of an adorable sing-songy pop tune, the vocalist invites the listener to join her on a voyage outside of the stifling confines of one's own room and explore the world. Y'know, I mentioned Record Store Day at the top...perhaps "Hello Hello" could be the fine theme for Library Day.
One point of trivia that I discovered about Kiyoura in her J-Wiki file is that her ancestor from a century previously, Count Keigo Kiyoura（清浦奎吾）, happened to be the Prime Minister of Japan in 1924.
Near the end of summer last year, I posted up an article regarding the singer-songwriter and shamisen player CHiLi GiRL and her song "Tokai no Mori"（都会の森）, a 2022 single combining some of the old and the new via Neo-City Pop and late 80s/early 90s urban contemporary. The song was a part of a Cunimondo Takiguchi series of CD compilations.
Well, I'm happy to say that CHiLi GiRL is still chill and continuing on with her music. In fact, her latest single "Secret Secret" came out only last month. However, instead of it being a blend of City Pop from today and yesteryear, I think the peppy "Secret Secret" has more to do with a version of Shibuya-kei from what I've heard although the music video is very much of the cityscape. According to the "Tokyo's Coolest Sound"website, Reiji Okii（沖井礼二）of the Cymbals and Tweedees has given the song his seal of approval.
As much as I love new forms of City Pop coming aboard, Shibuya-kei in the 2020s is not a bad proposition either.
It's been six months since the NHK morning serial drama "Boogie Woogie"（ブギウギ）made its presence known on weekday mornings along with its jazzy theme "Happy Boogie"（ハッピー☆ブギ）. It even had the main actress Shuri（趣里）behind the mike as well belting the song out.
But of course, with half a year going by, a new drama has come out this month called "Tora ni Tsubasa"（虎に翼...The Tiger and Her Wings） starring Sairi Ito（ 伊藤沙莉）as a young woman in the 1930s punching through every obstacle to become a lawyer in Japan's male-centric society. As with "Boogie Woogie", the main actress also has a role in the opening but instead of singing us into every episode, she does a bit of dancing with some other ladies.
And what they're all dancing to is the irresistible pop theme song, "Sayo--nara Mata Itsuka!" (Good--bye and See You Again!) by singer-songwriter Kenshi Yonezu（米津玄師）. The anarchy at the local A&W in the music video aside (our neighbourhood had its own issues in the past but I don't think even the old A&W was ever in that rough a shape), the song has got some nice punch and flow, and I like the addition of the strings. It all ends rather abruptly though but if Yonezu thought it was fine, then it's fine me with me as well.
I also learned that Ito is skilled in dancing so her choreography in the opening credits of "Tora ni Tsubasa" only gives a sliver of what she's probably capable of. Something a little clearer can be seen below. If I'm not mistaken, Ito is in front in the black T-shirt and red hat.
I was mentioning yesterday that I had discovered Harumi Miyako's（都はるみ）1982 single"Tokyo Serenade"（東京セレナーデ）while we were watching an enka compilation video on YouTube. Well, that wasn't the only revelation.
I also came across this kayo kyoku for the first time, too. "Nandemo nai wa" (It's Nothing) was the B-side to Mari Sono's（園まり）23rd single from May 1966"Yasashii Ame"（やさしい雨...A Gentle Rain）. Delivered in an appropriately coquettish fashion by the singer, Kazumi Yasui's（安井かずみ） lyrics illustrate a young lady's unspoken words of love to her boyfriend despite the big lug asking what she's keeping close to the chest. Hiroshi Miyagawa（宮川泰）was the composer and arranger for this happy-go-lucky ditty.
Not sure when this cover version of "Nandemo nai wa" was released by Mood Kayo groupHiroshi Wada & Mahina Stars（和田弘とマヒナスターズ）but judging from the similarity of the arrangement, it probably wasn't too long after the Sono original. Actually, this was the first version that my family saw and heard on YouTube yesterday which led me to the original. Speaking of Yasui, it's been a little over thirty years ago that the Yokohama lyricist passed away in March 1994. Just to indicate her length and breadth of experience, Zuzu was also responsible for the words behind Mariya Takeuchi's（竹内まりや）"Fushigi na Peach Pie"（不思議なピーチ・パイ）and Mari Iijima's（飯島真理）"Ai Oboeteimasuka?"（愛・おぼえていますか）.
Oh, Hachi, why do you look so awkward? I say that as if I'm any less awkward when having my photo taken.
Horerutte kouiu koto ka yo
I was recently on another trip to Fukushima. I was game on doing some travelling during my now-ended spring break. I knew it had to be Fukushima again, and I knew it wasn't going to be solely for R&R. And so, I travelled back into the mountains of the Aizu region, to the small town of Bange (会津坂下) for the third time in six years to do some data collection at the Kasuga Hachiro Omoide-kan (春日八郎おもいで館) for my thesis.
I knew that I had to make contact with Hachi's museum for something like this eventually because it's essentially one of the Hachi info mines. My professor also urged me to build bridges with the museum as well - at the minimum, find out if they're willing to help. And so, I decided that Spring break would be the time to get serious and do so. But, truth be told, I was horribly nervous because I didn't know what to expect. I'd never done fieldwork of this scale and in a more or less official institution before, even if I'd visited the place multiple times. I worried about whether they would agree to the request of this foreign student. I worried about what I'll be allowed to see after I made that harrowing phone call to the Aizu-Bange tourism board to ask for permission, even after they essentially gave the green light. I worried about what I may need to bring to show I'm there for "official" business. I just worried a lot.
But.
The thing that kept me going was the drive to do a paper worthy for Hachi's centenary. Or, at least, try to do it with the means I can. And going to the museum was one of those means. Fieldwork is part and parcel of research, but I just found it bonkers that my fangirling has brought me to that point. Never would I have imagined that my next visit to the Kasuga museum was for this reason. This reminds me of one of my go-to Hachi tunes, "Inochi Tsubunure". It's one I like a lot, but I've been listening to it with greater frequency because of my recent circumstances.
Aitaitte kouiu koto ka yo
For some background, "Inochi Tsubunure" was released in the album "Nekketsu no Utagoe" (熱血の歌声) from 1972. I believe this was Hachi's first fully original album in a long time, and he worked with many musicians whom he'd never worked with before to create what I would consider kayo of various styles, including folk and Mood Kayo. Since it was his 20th anniversary and he would be considered a veteran in the business, this move was perhaps a way to show that he can keep up with the times and show his musical prowess. I said the album's songs are kayo, but the album's liner notes considers all the works inside as "enka". This could be due to the newly-formed enka genre's (finally made official in 1970) emergent popularity in the early 1970s, and a way to associate Hachi, a veteran of significant status, with this new genre. I have some reservations about the "all enka" thing, but that's really not important here.
"Inochi Tsubunure" has an upbeat, slightly jazzy Mood Kayo melody with an element of rock, which was brought to you by Yuji Konishi (小西悠史). Writing the words that resonate with me was Gougo Hotomi (保富康午). From what I gather, our protagonist falls absolutely head over heels for one of the patrons at a bar he visits. At least from my perspective, the protagonist is older and is rather jaded/disenchanted by life until that faithful meeting. The resultant rush of feelings, both sweet and sour, reinvigorates him and he's once again filled with life. I'm not exactly sure how to translate the title without it sounding odd. A direct translation based on my ability is "Soaked/Dripping with Life", but with taking Hotomi's lyrics into consideration, perhaps something like "Bursting with/Full of Life" sounds a bit better.
So this is what is at the end of the rainbow
Turns out, my research trip wasn't as scary as I thought it'd be. I was provided with what I requested: Almost 3 decades worth of old fan club magazine archives. I was taken care of by the museum caretaker Ito-san, who recognised me and knew it was my third time there. She did her best to find me more materials I might find useful, including bringing her own copy of a now out-of-stock posthumous fan club book, and tried to make me at home by plying me with snacks as I worked. I say worked, but if I got a 100 yen for every time I got distracted by a silly candid shot of Hachi in those fanzines, I'd be able to buy his 20 disc album set containing all his singles ever released. Every time my eyes crossed from skimming through the resources, I'd get up to look at the museum displays. The line between fan and academic, while already blurred for me, completely disappeared for those few hours. It was a very strange sensation, but one I will never forget.
Having found useful nuggets of information, I would consider this research trip a success. I greatly appreciate the museum for allowing me to do so and providing me with so much, as well for Ito-san's hospitality. It's given me greater resolve to do what I can to make a good - decent - readable Hachi thesis, and a tiny bit more confidence to pursue this path further. And you could say that it's reinvigorated my fangirling for Hachi.
Horerutte kouiu koto kayo (So this is what it's like to be in love)
Kono yo wa hitori ano(hito) dake (In this world there is only (him))
Sonna baka janakatta hazu ga (I shouldn't be this stupid)
Baka wo shouchi de moete iru (But I know I am, and I'm fired up)
Atsuichi de inochi inochi tsubunure (Passion coursing through my veins, I'm bursting with life)
Man, the more I think about what I'm trying to do and have been doing, the more this song speaks to me.
The personal early reviews on Jme thus far have been that there's been a slight dearth of kayo programming with NHK's "Hayauta"（はやウタ）and "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新・BS日本のうた）not really showing up on the schedule. I'm perhaps not that surprised about the latter since that show is coming from NHK's satellite service and so may not have been licensed or whatnot for Jme.
However, I have tried to fill in the big gap by occasionally bringing in the YouTube videos involving enka and/or Mood Kayo songs, and there are plenty of those to go around thankfully. One nice thing about this is that I've been able to encounter songs that I had yet to see performed on shows like "Uta Con"（うたコン）. Case in point: Harumi Miyako's（都はるみ）"Tokyo Serenade", her 86th single from April 1982.
Yup, I saw this being performed by Miyako this morning on one of those enka compilation videos, and the music by Asei Kobayashi（小林亜星）under Hiroshi Takada's（高田弘）arrangement rather brings in some of that sumptuousness of Tokyo nightlife among the corporate execs back in those high-flying 1980s. There is some of it which seems to refer to Frank Nagai and Kazuko Matsuo's（フランク永井・松尾和子）classic Mood Kayo"Tokyo Nightclub"（東京ナイトクラブ）but again Takada's flair with tying it all together also incorporates some of that urbane pop although I wouldn't classify "Tokyo Serenade" a City Pop tune. But I can say that it can qualify as a New Adult Music number.
Takashi Taka's（たかたかし）lyrics certainly talks up a typical Mood Kayo scenario as a couple gets ready for a night of hubba-hubba, and of course, the genre loves to describe the love affair, illicit or otherwise. "Tokyo Serenade" peaked at No. 39 on Oricon. I have to admit that among all the appearances of Miyako throughout the decades of her long and successful career, I've found her time in front of the camera in those early 1980s as the most attractive. There's just something about her straight shoulder-length hair and her makeup back then.
I only read it on the Yahoo Japan news blotter last night just as I was about to call it a night, but unfortunately singer and actor Mitsuo Sagawa（佐川満男）passed away on April 12th at the age of 84 due to a disease called cholecystitis.
Sagawa's career as a singer began in 1960 with his debut single"Futari no Namikimichi"（二人の並木道...A Boulevard for Us） but perhaps his most defining song came several years later with "Ima wa Shiawase kai"（今は幸せかい）from 1968. Songwriter Taiji Nakamura（中村泰士）, who passed away in 2020, had provided words and music for Sagawa's big hit, and he also composed this October 1970 single, "Wakare no Toki ga Kita" (The Time Has Come to Say Goodbye) with Yu Aku（阿久悠）as the lyricist.
Beginning with this near-Bacharach pop melody, "Wakare no Toki ga Kita" then blends into a languid and satisfied soul kayo. I couldn't find the lyrics online but I'm hoping that the song itself is about the ending of a happy date and not a permanent end to a relationship. Of course, with last night's news, the song title will now take on an even more poignant presence. My condolences to Sagawa's family, friends and fans and especially to singer Yukari Ito（伊東ゆかり）who had once been married to him.
Yes, I do realize that Urban Contemporary Friday was yesterday but I just can't help but put this one up tonight. After the Blogger technical kerfuffle earlier this afternoon, I think I want to post up something especially fun.
It looks like one of the premium City Pop songs to be absolutely adored and devoured by a lot of people inside and outside of Japan, Miki Matsubara's（松原みき）"Mayonaka no Door"（真夜中のドアー）, aka "Stay With Me", has become the gift that has kept on giving. The list of cover versions on the J-Wiki article for the 1979 hit is beginning to appear like an annual Kohaku Utagassen lineup. A few years ago, I even wrote on Yuko Imai's（今井優子）funk n' groove n' sophisticated poptake on the song which she released as part of her 2016 album"Sweetest Voice", a few years before "Stay With Me" exploded onto the international scene.
A couple of slaps on the head later earlier this month made me realize that Tokimeki Records isn't a recording company. It is the name of a music unit which started up in 2019 that specializes in cover songs originally done by singers from the 1980s and 1990s. The group immediately sprinted out of the gate with their cover of that other City Pop hit "Plastic Love" in August 2019. But then a few years later, in June 2021, Tokimeki Records brought singer Hikari (one of a number of singers who have contributed to the unit's projects) on board to record their version of "Stay With Me". And it's another barn burning banger of a cover with a bit more of a dance club flavour infused into the original arrangement by Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）.
Well, by this point on Saturday night, I would have already had my two articles up on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" and perhaps watching the NHL playoffs or doing something else. But weirdly, earlier this afternoon, for some reason, Blogger had a technical issue which didn't allow me to edit or create new postings, so I was left wondering whether after doing twelve years of KKP and the years of the earlier blog while I had been living in Japan actually filled up all the space I could within the platform. However, I think an email with a screenshot sent to the Blogger administrators took care of things, so I'm back here now.
What I had been planning to post and what I am posting right now is something different from singer-songwriter and English teacher CHAKA (aka Mami Yasunori). Of course, fans including me remember her as the vocalist for the quirky 80s technopop duo PSY-S. With her partner Masaya Matsuura（松浦雅也）, they came up with some great songs that had more hooks than a fisherman's tackle box.
However, once PSY-S' day was done in the early 1990s, I knew that CHAKA had gone the jazz route as part of her musical odyssey, but I only found out about this album and the opening track just a few short months ago. Her 1999 "I Found Love" begins with "Call Me ~ Oboeteite Hoshii" (I Want You To Remember Me), a tenderhearted piano pop ballad fronted by the familiar and sweet vocals of CHAKA. The arrangement was handled by keyboardist Satoru Shionoya（塩谷哲）, formerly of Japanese salsa band extraordinaire Orquesta De La Luz and an artist who has helped other singers such as Chikuzen Sato（佐藤竹善）. Basically, Shionoya is one of the few names that I see in the details of a song that would immediately get my attention., and he's done it once again here.
"Call Me" could be tear-inducing. I haven't gone into CHAKA's lyrics but the tone of the ballad is reminiscent of a woman whose relationship with another has unfortunately ended but she still pines for her now-former significant other and asks kindly that she be contacted again once in a while. It's rather ironic that I had been planning to go with this song even before the Blogger issue occurred since I felt just like the title. Anyways, thank you Blogger for resolving the problem.
"Todokanu Omoi"(Unreachable Feelings) is the most urban track within "Variety" which reveals a variety of expressions song by song. On top of that, Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）has established herself as someone who has made songs on adultery into everyday parlance, but this time around, the song isn't so mundane, so can it be enjoyed purely as a pop song? Chuck Findley's flugelhorn solo is exquisite which raises the level of urbanity here.
The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised" (2020).
Hello. J-Canuck here. Here I thought that I had completed taking care of the entirety of "Variety" over the years of KKP, but in actual fact, there are still a few remaining tracks that I haven't covered including this one, "Todokanu Omoi". But I've been in situations like this on Yutaka Kimura Speaks before so it's no real problem.
To be honest, I still think this track's fellow track mate, "Plastic Love", is the most urban tune. Maybe his referral to the fooling around in Mariya's lyrics gives "Todokanu Omoi" that city edge although I think affairs can absolutely exist out in the countryside. Regardless, the main rhythm in the song is something that I do remember and it feels unsurprisingly very Tatsuro（山下達郎）. There is a certain melancholy feeling imbued as a woman is called over to some place by a man who may be her paramour in sin. Perhaps the place is his apartment or even a remote stockroom in the company where they work. Will they carry out the affair or will both avert the potential cliff and return to their normal relationships?
