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.
Toshinobu Kubota（久保田利伸）is known as a pioneer of Japanese soul, but his talent as a pop song creator cannot also be underestimated. "Natsu no Shigosen" is especially recommended as a refreshing medium-tempo track in "Neptune", one of his more summery albums in his discography. The progression of its easygoing melody fills me with a feeling of liberation and it's the part that I enjoy listening to the most, but that can also apply to Kubota's incredible vocal prowess.
The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised" (2020).
A little over a year ago, I found out about Crystal Pop Attraction, a project by songwriter, producer and arranger Shinichiro Murayama（村山晋一郎）and singer-songwriters Eri Yamashita（山下絵里）and HI-D . They came up with some urban contemporary goodies which they then put into a self-titled album in 2022. Coming out with this during a time when Japan and the rest of the world were slowly coming out of the COVID cocoon, the music must have been quite enticing to enjoy those old nights in downtown Tokyo or any city centre in the nation.
The track from "Crystal Pop Attraction" that I wrote about back then was "Kagayaku Hoshi no Melody"（輝く星のメロディー）. For non-Japanese-speaking J-R&B or City Pop fans, that title was probably a mouthful, but its fellow track mate is a very sweet and easy-to-understand mouthful. "COFFEE and BROWNIE" is one delectably soulful tune thanks to the groovy arrangement and Yamashita's creamy vocals. And as someone who had his fair share of coffee and brownies at places like Hard Rock Café and Tony Roma's in Tokyo, "COFFEE and BROWNIE" hits me just so.
Mind you, after having all that coffee and brownie (topped up with ice cream or whipped cream), it was awfully hard to get to sleep. In any case, I leave you with a video of how to make brownies with coffee as one of the ingredients. Happy weekend!
It was a little over a decade ago when I posted Mariko Ide's（井手麻理子）final single from April 2001, "Ao no Tsuzuki"（蒼のつづき）which was a heartfelt pop ballad. Well, it's time to add onto her KKP file.
I discovered this earlier song by Ide not too long ago and it's quite the upbeat urban contemporary song. "Taiyo ni Dakarete"(Embraced by the Sun) was a coupling song with her March 1999 4th single"Seek~Sore ga Ai kamoshirenai kara"（〜Seek〜それが愛かもしれないから...Because That May be Love）, and along with the 70s funk feeling thanks to the addition of that cool flute, there's a nice dollop of jazz in there, too. Written by KINOPP and composed by Takahiro Watanabe（渡辺貴浩）, it's a smart and tight number and I especially like Ide's vocals. As I mentioned in "Ao no Tsuzuki", they remind me of the voices of UA and bird, and the way she enunciates those last lyrics in the last minute of "Taiyo ni Dakarete" really resonates.
Kazuko Ishibashi（石橋和子）is probably one of the more obscure singer-songwriters that I've encountered in the annals of Yutaka Kimura's"Japanese City Pop" guidebook, but that album cover for her 1981 "Nice to Meet You" is likely to be one of the most genre-friendly when it comes to everything from the iconography to the fashion that Ms. Ishibashi is sporting in the picture. Maybe the only thing she's missing is a bottle of Perrier.
I've already covered a few tracks from "Nice to Meet You" including the jazzy "Gin no Cigarette Case"（銀のシガレット・ケース）, and from listening to some of the other tracks on YouTube, the album isn't strictly City Pop as Ishibashi actually covers a few other genres. For example, here we have "Koi no Wasuremono" (Lost Item of Love) which was written and composed by the singer with arrangement by Shigeru Suzuki（鈴木茂）. This is definitely south-of-the-Equator stuff with some good ol' samba in the mix here. Interestingly, as I continued to listen to "Koi no Wasuremono" right to the end, I got the impression that Ishibashi and band could have performed this in some sort of hotel Tiki bar as the headliner with the lady bantering in a most friendly manner with the guests afterward. Nice to meet you, indeed.😀
This particular song popped up a mere few days ago on YouTube channel "Kimi no Station: The Home of City Pop", and usually it's my personal policy not to jump the gun too quickly to put up freshly-posted videos.
However, seeing that we are entering the summer months and this song exemplifies the happy and gentle side of the sunny season, it was simply too irresistible. Resistance was indeed futile. I am talking about "Memorial Song" by the duo Step. Seiken Komura（小村精権）and Kojiro Nishimori（西森幸次郎）released this in May 1983 as their final single before breaking up, so I guess in a way, this was truly a memorial song. Plus, I can guess that Kimi no Station was interested in getting this on board around the Memorial Day weekend some days ago.
Written by Ikki Matsumoto（松本一起）, composed by Tsunehiro Izumi（和泉常寛）and arranged by Tatsushi Umegaki（梅垣達志）, "Memorial Song" is an appropriately bouncy and sunny AOR/City Pop ditty with some fine keyboard and chorus work. Imagining a cordial stroll along the waterside in June as this is playing wouldn't be out of the question. If you can, have a read of my previous Step article for "Cool de Atsui Kimi"（クールで熱い君）.
The above photo is apparently from the SONY website. It's only being used for illustrative purposes.
When I was writing up last week's Reminiscings of Youth entry for Seals and Crofts'"Summer Breeze", I had been tempted to include this song for this article, 70s aidoru Mari Amachi's（天地真理）"Niji wo Watatte" (Crossing the Rainbow), as one of the comparative kayo songs. It was released on September 1st 1972, just a day after the release of "Summer Breeze".
Ah, but then I sheepishly discovered that I had yet to even cover this song, Amachi's 4th single. Oh, goofy me! For the record, "Niji wo Watatte" is the follow-up single to the lass' biggest hit "Hitori Janaino"(ひとりじゃないの）which came out back in May, and with the same composer Koichi Morita（森田公一）and arranger Shunichi Makaino（馬飼野俊一）from that song helping out on "Niji wo Watatte", it's not totally surprising that there is a certain similarity between the two in terms of the rhythm and style.
Michio Yamagami（山上路夫）was the lyricist here as Amachi sings about crossing that rainbow to be with that boyfriend. Strangely enough, my family and I had seen a rom-com movie starring the singer at the old Japanese-Canadian Cultural Centre back in the 1970s. I could recognize "Hitori Janaino" right off the bat being performed in the movie but there was another tune that Amachi sang on screen which may have been "Niji wo Watatte". In any case, the song was another big hit for her as it flew around the Oricon Top 10 for almost three months, hitting the top spot twice during that time. It ended up becoming the 13th-ranked single for 1972, selling a little over half a million records.
I've just discovered that the expression "out of the blue" had been popular enough in the television zeitgeist that several shows around the world used it for their title. Well, my "Out of the Blue" was a very short-lived 1979 sitcom involving an angel who decides to live with a family. According to its Wikipedia article, there's been a hopefully good-natured debate among those who can remember the old sitcom days on network TV on whether "Out of the Blue" was a mere weird crossover or an actual spinoff of the famous "Happy Days".
To be honest, I barely remember watching the pilot episode of "Out of the Blue" in which Mork from Ork (Robin Williams) popped in for some quicksilver-witted banter with Random the angel. Since "Mork & Mindy" was a direct spinoff of "Happy Days", I always considered "Out of the Blue" as a "Happy Days" spinoff twice removed. I remember even less about the fact that Random even did a cameo on a "Happy Days" episode.
All that preamble ramble about old and obscure American sitcoms is just to introduce "Out of the Blue", a coupling song for Nogizaka46's（乃木坂46）Type-D CD of "Boku wa Boku o Suki ni Naru"（僕は僕を好きになる...I am Starting to Like Myself）, the aidoru group's 26th single from January 2021. I hadn't heard this one before, but a couple of days ago, NHK's morning variety show "Asaichi"（あさイチ...Morning Market） spent most of its air time on folks' own cheer-up songs and apparently "Out of the Blue" passed muster with a lot of music-loving citizens.
And why not? The disco already grabbed me from the start. Yup, that's cheerful for me, I thought. A song about how one fateful encounter can change a person's outlook on life, I can understand why a lot of people have listened to this one to get out of the doldrums. Written by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）as usual, "Out of the Blue" was composed by youth case. The official music video has the group partaking in one of the rites of Japanese youth: the school field trip.
I had been meaning to cover this song in a ROY article sometime this year and now I get to do so this week, but unfortunately, it's under sadder circumstances since I only found out last night from a commenter that jazz saxophonist David Sanbornhad passed away on May 12th at the age of 78. Although this is Sanborn's first article on KKP, he has already been represented on the blog right from the beginning because I noted his singularly splendid sax solo on Minako Yoshida's（吉田美奈子）1982 "Hoho ni Yoru no Akari"（頬に夜の灯）, one of City Pop's greatest ballads. It's also the article where I got last night's comment telling me about Sanborn's passing.
The Florida-born Sanborn became known to me first through his frequent appearances on "The Late Show with David Letterman" back in the 1980s, and he had this distinctive style that one critic has dubbed a crying sort of sound. His name was such that since then, whenever I encountered his name in liner notes for any song or heard it on television or radio, it was very tempting for me to take notice. In terms of looks, with his leather jacket and mullet, he reminded me a lot of another famous David in the pop music industry: David Foster.
One day though, my ears and eyes went on alert when I heard that Sanborn had released a number titled "Chicago Song" in 1987 as the opening track of his album "A Change of Heart". Composed by keyboardist and producer Marcus Miller (who was also performing in the song), the saxophonist was able to weave what sounded like a typical day living and working in the Windy City. There was very much of a "Let's get at it" vibe and the general message was work hard but also play just as hard. It's quite the funky strut that hit radios on heavy rotation, at least here in Toronto.
All my condolences to Sanborn's family, friends and fans.
So to give out the usual songs that had come out in 1987, let's go to some of the Gold Prize winners of the Japan Record Awards for that year.
Because of the new Jme regime, our weekday viewings of "Asaichi"（あさイチ...Morning Market） on NHK have become more "Yoruichi"（よるイチ...Night Market） since we're getting the program live in the midst of a current 13-hour time difference. Thursday mornings are usually set aside for features on specific areas of Japan under a certain theme, and as it turns out, the area du jour for "Asaichi" was Osaka and its famous dishes such as the famous okonomiyaki. Couldn't ask for anything better.
So, figuring my viewing for tonight, perhaps it's time to put up another Osaka-themed kayo kyoku. We've got plenty of those up on KKP such as Masaki Ueda's（上田正樹）"Osaka Bay Blues" and Senri and Mari Unabara's（海原千里・万里）"Osaka Rhapsody"（大阪ラプソディー）. For this article, it's Sachiko Nishida's（西田佐知子）"Osaka no Yoru" (A Night in Osaka).
By lyricist Takashi Umemoto（梅本たかし）and composer Fujio Mizutoki（水時富士夫）, this was the B-side to Nishida's 59th single from February or December 1964 (depending on which J-Wiki article associated with Nishida you look at), "Meriken Blues"（メリケン・ブルース...American Blues）. I can hear the cocktail shaker going at warp speed by the bartender as this cha-cha-infused Mood Kayo is playing. Nishida is wistfully singing about walking on the streets and alleys of downtown Osaka lined with lots of drinking establishments while remembering lost loves. She probably has a very good idea of the geography since she herself is from the area.
Looks like Kayo Grace has been cutting up a rug under the moon again. Perhaps it's a tad early in the week for that sort of thing, but I'm not one to judge.
Well, for this song, it's not Kayo dancing but Maria dancing about. I am posting "Odore Maria"(Dance, Maria), an April 2024 digital single released by singer-songwriter Galali（がらり）who I introduced in the blog back in that month with his Neo-City Pop"Sayonara wa Mayonaka ni"（さよならは真夜中に）from 2023. I liked the cut of his jib back then, so I wanted to listen to another one of his creations.
This time around, Galali's "Odore Maria" has got its jazz, soul and Latin all rolled up into one delectable tune as the fellow sings about the title character who seems to have loved and left the poor protagonist like a wad of used tissue. However, she did it with panache and Galali likes to sing it with a certain flair as well. In fact, I think the early part of the song reminded me a bit of Grover Washington Jr.'s "Just the Two of Us".
Tokyo Performance Doll（東京パフォーマンスドール）was the 1990s aidoru group from which I got to know some of the members for the first time via their post-TPD solo ventures. I've encountered Miho Yonemitsu and Yuko Anai（米光美保・穴井夕子） but arguably the most notable graduate from the group has been Ryoko Shinohara (篠原涼子) who, for the past few decades, is known more for her filmography than her discography.
Another member of Tokyo Performance Doll was Yuri Ichii（市井由理）, and to be honest, when I came across the name once more, no bells were striking with me. But then when I took a look at her J-Wiki profile, I realized that she was the YURI in the rap group EAST END×YURI with their 1994 hit "DA.YO.NE". They were all over the pop culture map back then though certain musicians from America weren't initially too impressed.
I certainly wouldn't have recognized that YURI from this Yuri (Ichii) with her 2nd album"JOYHOLIC" from August 1996, especially with one track "Koi ga Shitakatta"(I Wanted to Fall in Love). Couldn't have asked anything more different from "DA.YO.NE" with this one since it's a really whimsical jazz-pop arrangement (almost goes Shibuya-kei) by Hirofumi Asamoto（朝本浩文）and lyrics by legendary 80s aidoru Kyoko Koizumi（小泉今日子）. Even Ichii went high-pitched and floaty in her vocals here (the "nyan, nyan, nyan" helps). It does make me interested in how the rest of "JOYHOLIC" plays. By the way, I'm betting that's Napolitan spaghetti she's noshing on in the cover for the album.
On the eve of what would have been Hibari Misora's（美空ひばり）87th birthday, NHK's "Uta Con"（うたコン）continued the annual tradition of celebrating the life and career of the Queen of Kayo Kyoku through a display of covers by the show's guests and videotape coverage. I knew that with the tribute that Yoshimi Tendo（天童よしみ）, arguably the closest person in style and ability to Misora, was on the program.
It really does say something when basically retired Saburo Kitajima（北島三郎）, who I've always thought as the Grand Old Man of Enka, appeared on the program to relate his thoughts about Misora because he had always seen her as his teacher, perhaps not in singing but in showmanship. NHK then revealed Misora's appearance at the very end of the 1972 edition of the year-end Kohaku Utagassen in its entirety as she sang her 259th single from that same year, "Aru Onna no Uta"(A Song by One Woman), and absolutely wowed the audience and all on stage.
The impression from the J-Wiki write-up on "Aru Onna no Uta" was that her performance on December 31st 1972 not only sealed the deal for the Red (women's) team to win the battle but it garnered the 2nd-highest ratings for a performance in Kohaku history with 80.6%. The footage that was shown was the first time for me to see it (and it was the first time for me to even hear the song) and it had Misora in very flamboyant dress as she sang at how emotionally crushed she was on losing or being betrayed by a lover and there were points where she seemed to be on the cusp of losing it all in front of the audience. At the end, though, she gave off a beaming smile to everyone, letting all know that she was the master entertainer.
Written by Masato Fujita（藤田まさと）and composed by Katsuo Inoue（井上かつお）, "Aru Onna no Uta" is a fascinating number because at its core, it sounds like an enka number but the arrangement, at least in its original recorded version, feels like the then-popular kayo soul with rollicking percussion, bluesy guitar and strings. Perhaps, "Aru Onna no Uta" could be considered as one early version of New Adult Music with its mix of enka and pop that was first coined going into the 1980s. Even Misora's vocals took on a deeper hue and the finish of each chorus had her fairly screaming out the words in pain and frustration.
There was more poignancy in Misora's 1972 Kohaku performance than even the singer had been aware of at the time. The following year, the legend would end up mired in the scandal involving her brother's organized crime dealings which would lead to her non-invitation status for the Kohaku going forward. After a long run of regular appearances on the NHK special, 1972 was her penultimate appearance. In fact, it was seen as her final appearance as a regular performer since her return to the NHK stage in 1979 on that Kohaku Utagassen was as a special guest to perform a medley of her hits, after which she never came back to the Kohaku.
Seeing that I'm a little short on time tonight compared to other days or nights, I've decided to finish up a little more quickly with another entry from the AI Gallery. The first two times with Bing, I went with a City Pop theme, but this time around, I'm going with enka. In addition, instead of just merely throwing in the translations of the titles, I'm opting to throw in the description of my images whenever I hear these songs. So, without further ado, here are three of the most famous enka singers and their hits.
First off, may I give a Happy Memorial Day to everyone down Stateside? Hopefully, you've all had your own successful long weekend. It was just a regular Monday here although we did have our own long weekend the week before due to Victoria Day, but I was able to meet an old friend of mine for a ramen lunch and then a movie.
We chose "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga". The two of us had seen "Fury Road" which was literally a blast since we got to sit in those highly reactive seats in the theatre. No such luck this time, but "Furiosa" did keep us entertained for the approximately 2 1/2 hours. Of course, plenty of action and bizarre characters such as Immortan Joe (would love to see his origin story someday), and if you'll permit me to put this out there, there's actually a tonal similarity between this movie and the classic Rankin & Bass Christmas TV animated special "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". Basically, both projects answer any question that fans have had about the central character. ("Oh, that's how she lost her arm!")
Coming back home late this afternoon, I realized that "Furiosa" kinda had me reminiscing about an anime regarding a young woman out for some rage-filled revenge against an evil tyrant and his gang. It's hard to believe that it's now a decade since the wild and furious "Kill La Kill"（キルラキル）hit TV screens and dropped jaws all over the anime fan realm. Every time I went to my anime buddy's house to catch the latest two episodes, I was wondering how much more architectural infrastructure and flesh would be rendered asunder by the battles between Ryuko Matoi and Satsuki Kiryuin. I think even Mad Max himself would witness some of this and react "Whoa, ladies...hold up there".
It's almost ten years since I posted my favourite theme song from "Kill La Kill" which was the first ending theme "Gomen ne, Ii Ko Ja Irarenai"（ごめんね、いいコじゃいられない）by singer-songwriter Miku Sawai（沢井美空）, and eventually I got to post the first opening theme, "Sirius"(シリウス) by Eir Aoi（藍井エイル）. Well, the "Kill La Kill" file on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" continues with the second opening theme "ambiguous" by pop/rock duo GARNiDELiA.
Written by meg rock, who also provided lyrics for "Sirius", and composed by band partner/keyboardist Yoshinori "toku" Abe（阿部尚徳）, this was the first single by GARNiDELiA released in March 2014. Given life by vocalist Mai "MARiA" Mizuhashi（水橋舞）, "ambiguous" was something that I heard a fair bit during the anison hour that my buddy always provided during my visits, and I noticed that the song took on that certain arrangement of rock anthem lined with strings...kinda gothic in a way...that seemed to be quite popular back then among anison. "ambiguous" did have that rock rumble but when played against the opening credits sequence for "Kill La Kill", it had that mellowing effect against all of the Ryuko vs. Satsuki mayhem as battle lines (and life fibers) were drawn. Its success wasn't ambiguous, though; it hit No. 15 on Oricon.
In my previous article on Hachiro Kasuga (春日八郎), I brought up that Tadaharu Nakano's (中野忠晴) birthday was coming up. It's actually today, 27th May, and he would've been 115. I figured that I might as well do an article dedicated to the suave musician featuring some of my favourites just because.
I won't go into detail about the songs here since I've either written about them, or will do so in the future. So, sit back and enjoy some of what Nakano had to offer during his tenure as a vocalist.
Of course, "China Tango" would be first on the list. After all, it's the first song that introduced me to Mr. Nakano the singer and that glorious grin. It's sweet and incredibly charming, made even more so by R. Hatter's tango-inspired melody. On top of that, the operatic segments allowed for Nakano to showcase the extent of his vocal prowess. Tamaranai. (〃ω〃人)
2. Marinella (1937)
Shall I lend you my arm? Shall we watch a revue? How about some tea?Yes.(´艸`*)
While "China Tango" presents us with a more romantic and sentimental Nakano, "Marinella" gives us his cheeky and flirtatious side. Teichiku's own jazz dandy Dick Mine covered this French number as well, but Columbia's jazz daddy dandy wins by a long shot. A fellow ryukoka fan is on the same page as me, so this isn't a biased take... Okay, maybe it kinda sorta is.
And now, we have funny Nakano with a snazzy parody of (or ode to) rokyoku with a healthy dose of jazz to make it in with the times. Some of my favourite songs have a nice blend of Western and Japanese "Rokyoku Blues" being a prime example. It's also where I discovered that he could pull off the more traditional Japanese singing style despite being classically trained.
コロムビア月報 昭和12年 From the National Diet Library Archives
My favourite era, if you will, of Mr. Nakano was between 1936 to 1940 or so. Perhaps it's because I thought he finally settled into his style by '36 and find him most attractive during this period (´-`*). So, it is no wonder that "China Tango", "Marinella", and "Rokyoku Blues", all songs from this era, are the primary tunes that make up the image I have of Nakano in my head.
4. Yogiri no Minato (夜霧の港) (1932)
Stylistically, one of them on this list is not like the rest, and that is "Yogiri no Minato". Unlike most of the Nakano works I know and love, his debut tune has a more Taisho enka style with a somewhat melancholic slant. It's such a simple Koga Melody, but perhaps that's why I always go back to it.
コロムビア月報 昭和7年 From the National Diet Library Archives
By the way, the man you see in the photo above was Nakano around the time of his debut in 1932. Setting my eyes on this photo for the first time, my brain took some time to connect that solemn face to his name. I mean, he looked like a completely different person! Honestly, he was looking like a fresh face at the local bank. The Nakano we know best showed up around 1934 when he began dabbling in jazz. It's as if he turned into a stylish Modern Boy through the magic of jazz.
As someone who loves cafes, I can't do without a song featuring them. While reminiscent of one of his most well-known hits, "Chiisana Kissaten" (小さな喫茶店), I find myself liking this later-day redux for its more languid tango arrangement. The narrative centering around a solo customer enjoying his quiet time over a coffee is more relatable to me as well.
6. Boku no Aozora (僕の青空) (1937)
There are some very early-day jazz classics that I like, one of them being "Watashi no Aozora" (私の青空... My Blue Heaven). You could say this that this is the Mr. Nakano take of it, and it never fails to lift my spirits when I'm feeling rather blue.
コロムビア月報 昭和9年 From the National Diet Library Archives
And that about wraps up my list of favourite Mr. Nakano tunes. As you may have noticed, I only mentioned his solo works. I love many of his collaborations with his jazz quartet the Columbia (Nakano) Rhythm Boys, many of which are fun and hilarious. However, I think they deserve a list of their own, and had I not excluded them from here, this article would be twice as long as it already is.
Anyways, Happy 115th Mr. Nakano!･:*+.\(( °ω° ))/.:+
A couple of days ago, Noelle put up an article regarding Hachiro Kasuga's（春日八郎）1960"Kiso wa Koishiya" (木曽は恋しや), his take on an adapted Nagano Prefecture folk song with some enriched mambo-ness. Outside of the article, she and I were also chatting about The Preeminent Enka Singer's album "Boku no Atarashii Yatsu no Uta"（ぼくの新しい8つの歌...My Eight New Songs） which I believe was also released in the same year.
One of the tracks on that album was "Mister Ame"(Mister Rain). Now, from my supposed knowledge of kayo kyoku, usually when I see something like rain or snow or autumn in a title, my first assumption is that the song is going to be a rather melancholy affair on the topic of love lost. And sure enough, Hiroshi Yokoi's（(横井弘）lyrics talk about having and then losing that significant other. But Seiichi Sakurada's（桜田誠一）music isn't morose at all; it might be a short song at barely 2 1/2 minutes long, but it has its share of Latin joie de vivre almost as if the bullfights were about to begin. Perhaps a breakup is in progress but the mood seems more celebratory than mournful.
Would "Mister Ame" be considered to be an enka song or a straight kayo kyoku with mambo ambitions? Considering the history of enka and the fact that enka really wasn't officially enka until the early 1970s with a lot of retrofitting of past songs including those of Kasuga, we can pretty much throw this into discussion over some sake.
The first time I ever heard of actor-singer Ikusaburo Yamazaki（山崎育三郎）was through the NHK morning serial drama "Yell"（エール）which was the dramatization of the life and times of kayo kyoku songwriter Yuuji Koseki（古関裕而）. Yamazaki played one of the best friends of the main character as this handsome and dashing fellow who could send women swooning into hospital with just a wink. He also gave his rendition of "Eikan wa Kimi ni Kagayaku"（栄冠は君に輝く ）, the anthem for the annual Koshien High School Baseball Championships in the show.
Just a little over a month ago, Yamazaki released his second full album"The Handsome" and one of the tracks was something that he performed on "Uta Con"（うたコン）a few weeks ago. "Witch GAME" is a snazzy and jazzy number with a bit of rockabilly swagger for which the singer described as a tale of a swindling romance cad. If the cad acts anything like the song sounds, then a lot of gullible women are in for a lot of trouble. Words and music were provided by Maharajan（マハラージャン）, another off-the-wall singer-songwriter who came up with the theme song for last year's anime "Tomo-chan wa Onna no Ko!"（トモちゃんは女の子！...Tomo-chan is a Girl!）, "Kurae! Telepathy"（くらえ！テレパシー）. Playwright and director Shuuko Nemoto（根本宗子）was the co-lyricist.
Yamazaki, I'm sure, is a much more grounded and amiable fellow than perhaps his personae on screen and stage, but he did steal one famous celebrity's heart. His wife is 1st-generation Morning Musume（モーニング娘。） member Natsumi Abe（安倍なつみ）.
I'm not a Mieko Hirota（弘田三枝子）super fan or expert by any means but when I found this single by her, I began to wonder about the different voices that the late singer possessed in her singing arsenal. The last few times I've written about her, they've involved her early prodigy-level teen jazz scatting in songs such as "Comin' Home Baby" from 1965 and then her Cleo Laine approach with her City Pop"Body Talk"（ボディー・トーク）in 1980.
And in between those two songs, and yep, I realize that there are a good 15 years between them, there was also her 42nd single"Kawaii Uso"(Pretty Lies) which was released in September 1968. Created by the golden songwriting duo of lyricist Jun Hashimoto（橋本淳）and composer Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）, the J-Wiki article for the song noted that the team had basically gone for a Motown kayo kyoku based on The Temptations' "My Girl". At the same time, we also got another new voice from Hirota: that of the velvety and purring sex kitten surreptitiously twirling her beau around her pinkie while at the same time admitting that she really does have feelings for the guy.
As I've probably mentioned in the past, when I first really got into music at the turn of the decade going from the 1970s into the 1980s, my vocabulary for describing music wasn't all that bountiful. "Funky enka" was the best I had to describe City Pop at the time. I can now also add that my appreciation for a lot of music by Japanese singers that I had only just discovered back then hadn't been all that evolved either. It's kinda like when I was little and at the time, I couldn't stand pickles in my McDonalds hamburgers. Why would anyone put something so sour between meat and bun? Well, now I do appreciate pickles as something that provides another taste angle and cuts through the heavier meatiness of the burger.
For me, as I was learning to navigate through what I enjoyed in Japanese and Western pop music as a high school student, I was more drawn to the "sweet" and "meaty" stuff: the hit songs and/or those tunes that just had that irresistible hook. If I were to focus my analysis on the works of one particular singer, I can do so with singer-songwriter Mariko Takahashi（高橋真梨子）. I first fell for the former vocalist of Pedro & Capricious（ペドロ&カプリシャス）when I heard her on "Sounds of Japan" in the early 1980s, and it was the sophisticated pop balladry of songs like "My City Lights" and "...for you" and that amazing voice from my favourite album of "dear" that grabbed me hook line and sinker.
However, there were other songs of hers that didn't quite grab me at the time just because the 80s instruments seemed so pedestrian (as I used to hear them ad nauseum on television shows of the decade) and the arrangements were a little too out of touch. One such song was "Shinkirou" (Mirage) which first appeared on her September 1985 album"Mellow Lips" but also got its own single release in January 1986.
Of course, now that the 80s are decades back and with my musical anatomy getting further seasoned over the years, those synthesizers and arrangements don't sound as pedestrian or as weird as they once did, so I now have gotten a second wind as it were with something like "Shinkirou". At one point, I was ready to give this one the technopop label but I realized that the song wasn't about the novelty bloops and bleeps; it was more about getting this song out as a pretty dramatic pop or City Pop number that could have adorned any Japanese cop show. And in fact, "Shinkirou" was used as the theme song for Fuji-TV's "Natsuki Shizuko Suspense"（夏樹静子サスペンス...The Shizuko Natsuki Mysteries）.
Written by Goro Matsui（松井五郎）, composed by Toshio Kamei（亀井登志夫） and arranged by Keiichi Oku（奥慶一）, "Shinkirou" the single managed to reach No. 31 on Oricon. As crazy as it sounds, the song got an even deeper 80s revamping (including orchestral hits) when it was presented as one of the tracks on Takahashi's BEST compilation "Voice ~ Special Best" from March 1994.
By the way, it looks like I'm going to end up reviewing "Mellow Lips" piecemeal rather than in one article so you can also take a look at some of the other tracks: "Jun"(ジュン）, "New York, New York", and "Mayoi Bato no You ni" （迷い鳩のように）.
From Bread & Butter's 1979 album: "Late, Late Summer"
"Nagisa ni Ikou" is a wonderful melodious song infused with Fuyumi Iwasawa's（岩沢二弓）distinctive flavour. With the combination of Haruomi Hosono's（細野晴臣）rhythm arrangement and Shigeru Suzuki's（鈴木茂）arrangement with the strings, there is that whole connection of Tin Pan Alley taking part in the song, and in terms of the sound, there is an impeccable finish. This is a hidden masterpiece among the Bread & Butter classics which can be fully enjoyed for its comforting vibe that feels just like being enveloped in the sea breezes of Shonan.
The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised" (2020).
I'll have to talk about Lu Rou Fan with my anime buddy since he comes from the source nation of Taiwan. I've read that it is one of the best comfort dishes for the Taiwanese and it's possible that I may have had it when my buddy and I used to do the biweekly anime-and-food outings in the pre-pandemic era. However, I had a whole ton of dishes with him so I can't really remember every dish I've been introduced to.
Well, guess what? Singer-songwriter veno came up with her tribute to Lu Rou Fan a little earlier this year as a single. A Neo-City Pop/Soul debut about a scrumptious dish in the wee hours of the night? I am SO there! There's a whole lot of style going on as well in the music video for the humble Lu Rou Fan. I couldn't find too much information on veno herself aside from the fact that she hails from Miyazaki Prefecture but currently resides in Fukuoka.
For curiosity's sake, you can take a look at one of the many YouTube videos describing how to make the dish. Also, have a read of the Wikipedia article, although the rendering of the name is very different there.
Singer-songwriter Kyoko Endo（遠藤響子）is someone that I haven't covered in well over a year so I had been thinking of covering her "Douka, Kokoro Tojinai de"（どうか、心閉じないで）from her 1993 album"Koibito ni Naritai"（恋人になりたい...I Want to be Your Lover）, quite the City Pop tune of that final decade in the 20th century. However, I found out to my surprise that, lo and behold, I had already written about it back in late 2022.
Well, not willing to quite let Endo go, I did some more searching about. By the end, I discovered her 3rd single"Hitori Narcissist"(Narcissist of One) which was released in October 1982, and according to her J-Wiki file, it was from this release that her full title of singer and songwriter began as compared to her first two singles including her debut "Kokuhaku Telephone"（告白テレフォン）which had Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）as the composer.
Endo took care of both words and music with this intriguing "Hitori Narcissist" which was arranged by keyboardist and sci-fi author Hiroyuki Namba（難波弘之）. Beginning with this snarl of AOR guitar playing and progressing into some light funk and pop, the song even hits upon the old-fashioned pop sounds of the 50s and 60s. Lyrically, there is perhaps some resemblance to Mariya Takeuchi's（竹内まりや）"Plastic Love" as a woman does the Tokyo party circuit and puts on the happy face although she is feeling anything but happy. She just has to be seen to be seen.
From tomorrow, a good friend of mine will be experiencing what probably will be one of the biggest highlights in his professional life. Even from before the pandemic, he and others had been planning this huge Japanese-English translators' conference to be held in downtown Toronto and finally as of this weekend, everything will be coming into fruition. All success to him. As the Klingons would say: QA'PLA!
What can I say about this song which happens to be the second track in Casiopea bassist Tetsuo Sakurai's（櫻井哲夫）1986 debut album"Dewdrops"? "In the Distance" is quite the wondrous thing swirling together all of these genres: boogie, City Pop, bossa nova and jazz. At this point, all of the KKP entries on Sakurai have centered on the tracks within "Dewdrops", and it's no wonder, it just seems like this quiet masterpiece of an album.
As I said, the bossa is there but then we listeners also get this boogie shuffle beat accompanied by an organ which reminds me of the arrangement in Donald Fagen's"Walk Between Raindrops", the final track on another legendary album "The Nightfly" from 1982. Last but not least, the smooth vocals of Kyosuke Kusunoki（楠木恭介）that I remember from his own wonderful album "Just Tonight" groovily caress the whole she-bang. By this point, though, Kusunoki had already changed his first name to Yukoh（楠木勇有行）. The music was provided by Sakurai with arrangement by him and Yuji Toriyama（鳥山雄司）while the lyrics were written by Masako Arikawa（有川正沙子）. If you have a chance, you can give the first track "Refresh!" a try as well.
As I first did last Friday, I'm back with the AI gallery but I figured if I could do so with some of the female representatives of City Pop, why not give the male representatives a chance, too? Just to remind readers, I threw in three famous song titles in the Bing art generator to see what I could get in terms of images. For a couple of them, I invited Kayo Grace since earlier attempts got supposed real-life figures with very unnerving smiles.
On the theme of Hachi and Mr. Nakano being my 2-in-1 dose of fangirling, this article will also be a 2-in-1: It will both be an addition to the Hachiro Kasuga (春日八郎) Centenary Project and a nod to Tadaharu Nakano's (中野忠晴) 115th birthday.
A few months back, I did an article introducing some of Hachi's works that were composed by Mr. Nakano. At the time of writing, I mentioned that I'd yet to go through every single Hachi-Nakano piece. I still haven't, but I'd been digging around for more since that article. One such tune I uncovered was "Kiso wa Koishiya" (Yearning for Kiso/Beloved Kiso).
"Kiso wa Koishiya" was released on October 1960. Going by the title, I would consider it a bokyo kayo, a song about homesickness. From my understanding, Hiroshi Yokoi (横井弘) painted us a picture of a Nagano native who'd moved to the big city (likely Tokyo). Life in the concrete jungle makes our protagonist yearn for the grand mountain ranges, clear blue rivers, and warm hometown festivals back in Kiso. Adding to that bokyo atmosphere, I feel, is Yokoi's inclusion of the Nagano minyo "Kiso Bushi" within the lyrics.
According to the J-Wiki, as the title implies, the "Kiso Bushi" is the native minyo to the Kiso region in southwestern Nagano. Basing off the Kiso kawa-nagashi (川流し), or boatmen who ferry logs around the region's rivers, the "Nakanori-san" featured refers to the boatmen stationed in the middle of the flat wooden boat. Nagano's tallest mountain, Mt. Ontake, got a shout-out as well. Sandwiching this minyo into the kayo brings to mind the image of the protagonist breaking out into their hometown's folk song in a fit of nostalgia.
You can hear the original "Kiso Bushi" in the video below.
Accompanying Yokoi's words was Mr. Nakano's mambo/cha-cha-inspired melody. Having heard the "Kiso Bushi", I'm inclined to say that the Cuban styled music blends well with it despite the seemingly wildly contrasting images. Personally, it conveys a rather cool and refreshing atmosphere that matches the image of the Nagano mountains and rivers in Yokoi’s words. The fun vibe of the mambo beat on top of the trilling flutes and rattling bongos also makes one feel like you're in the midst of a summer festival. On the note of the flutes and bongos combo, I noticed that that seemed to have been one of Nakano's favourite styles between the late 50s and early 60s. And within this combo, the flute somehow gives the composition a somewhat Japanese-leaning flavour, while the bongos provide the Western spice... Butter in miso soup.
I like mambo-inspired kayo just as much as I do its early day brethren, the tango-influenced kayo. And so, it's no wonder that I enjoy "Kiso wa Koishiya" A LOT. I think we have a new contender for my Hachi Favourite list. Y'know, I began listening during trip to Fukushima in early April, so it was often on repeat as I took in the mountains, rivers, and villages/towns of that Tohoku prefecture. Admittedly, it felt kinda weird to listen to a Nagano song in Fukushima, especially now that I know that it had strong inspiration from the "Kiso Bushi". And as a result of the constant repeats, "Kiso wa Koishiya" is now ironically tied to Fukushima in my head. If you happen to be from either Nagano or Fukushima, please do not come after me.
The other day, I received a comment from YMOfan04 underneath my posting on Yuki Saito's（斉藤由貴）"AXIA" album regarding another song of hers, "Mizu no Haru" (Spring by the Water). It is actually not on the June 1985 "AXIA", but on her third album"Chime"（チャイム）which was released in October 1986.
Even before playing it, I was struck by "Mizu no Haru", which I hadn't heard before because it wasn't part of a single and I never had a chance to listen to "Chime". The composer and arranger for the song was Kenjiro Sakiya（崎谷健次郎）, a singer and songwriter that I usually equated with groovy City Pop, and I had never known Saito to have tried the urban contemporary uber-genre; that was more Momoko Kikuchi's（菊池桃子）realm. Incidentally, Satoshi Takebe（武部聡志）co-arranged "Mizu no Haru" with Shun Taguchi（田口俊）providing the lyrics of a happy girl and her boyfriend enjoying a date along a pond.
Beginning with a boogie rat-a-tat drumming from a marching band, "Mizu no Haru" didn't turn out to be a City Pop tune. It was actually more of a jolly synthpop number that, if I hadn't checked the liner notes, I would have assumed to be something by the winning combo of Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）and Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）. So I'm happy to hear that there were others who could come up with catchy and perky technopop tunes for aidoru singers of the 1980s.
Well, we're still about a month away from official summer. However, it's definitely been feeling like summer here in Toronto over the past couple of days with the temps going into the 90s and plenty of sun. Besides, this ROY song for this week has been getting played again via a commercial for some sort of drink...maybe it's beer or a wine cooler.🍻
"Summer Breeze" is a song that I hadn't heard in years but it was a pretty frequently played tune on AM radio when I was a kid. The crazy thing is that the duo behind it, the soft rock Seals and Crofts, was a group that I always confused with Sid and Marty Krofft, the pair behind the bizarre kids' show "H.R. Pufnstuf". For that matter, I also got them confused with "arts and crafts", probably because the musical duo and the hobby both seemed so down-to-earth. For the record, it's James Eugene Seals and Darrell George Crofts.
The song was released as their second single in August 1972 and as the title track for their fourth album which came out in September. In both Canada and the United States, the mellow-as-can-be "Summer Breeze" reached No. 6 and it even was considered the No. 13 song on Rolling Stone's"Best Summer Songs of All Time" list. Listening to it once more after so long, I could imagine that "Summer Breeze" could have been one of the inspirational songs for Japanese groups such as Bread & Butter and Makoto Matsushita's（松下誠）The Milky Wayduo. And the title was also adopted by City Pop band Piper for their own album in the 1980s.
Now, there were two singles which were released in August 1972.
The Japanese expression "toryanse"（通りゃんせ）was something that I hadn't been too clued in about for the longest time, and yet I heard it all the time without being aware of it. It's often been the cute chime that plays during the WALK signal for intersections including the closest one to my old apartment in Ichikawa City.
So, the rhetorical question of the day is "Why play this here?". Well, "Toryanse" happens to be an ancient Edo era children's nursery rhyme turned into song. And the poem-turned-song comes across as this (the translation is from Jon Wilks Online):
Let me pass, let me pass
What is this narrow pathway here?
This is the narrow pathway of the Tenjin Shrine
Please allow me to pass through
Those without good reason shall not pass
To celebrate this child’s seventh birthday,
We’ve come to dedicate our offering
Going there is fine, but to return is frightening
I am scared, but let me pass.
Let me pass . . .
Yes, indeed there is the aspect of being permitted to cross which is why "Toryanse" was adopted as the chime music for pedestrian crossings. According to Wikipedia, the song also included the element of celebrating a child's 7th birthday since during the time of the song's creation, child mortality was high so even making it to seven was an occasion for great celebration. Being allowed to pass the entrance into the temple facilities within a famous castle (supposedly Kawagoe Castle) was only done during special occasions such as these. As one person online mentioned, "Toryanse" is a rather haunting tune.
I have heard the term being used in other kayo kyoku including a Mariko Takahashi（高橋真梨子）song whose title escapes me for the moment, and I think it's been added as a way of putting a bit more wistful pathos into the song. However, that's certainly not the case for the topic tune here.
By the way, the reason that I've brought in Atarashii Gakko no Leaders（新しい学校のリーダーズ）today is that I found out last weekend from my brother (which is pretty ironic because he's not really a fan of Japanese music at all aside from a few tunes by Hiromi Iwasaki and Anzen Chitai) that the wild n' crazy quartet will be returning to Toronto. Suzuka and the gang are holding a performance later this fall on October 6th at the HISTORY venue close by where Greenwood Racetrack used to be just a stone's throw away from Lake Ontario.
Earlier this year, I'd posted their February 2024 single"Hello (from The Tiger’s Apprentice)". Well, just a couple of weeks earlier than that, Atarashii Gakko no Leaders had put up another single titled "Toryanse" which uses the original poem/song as a motif. Nothing wistful or pathos-laden here, though. It's more like hit the dance floor and bounce, and according to the J-Wiki writeup, AGL has incorporated some Brazilian funk into the electronica dance beats flying all about. I definitely get the setting in the music video, and it looks like Rin, Mizyu and Kanon also get their chance to sing out their parts a bit more. Plus, we get their usual nifty dancing.
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