Roberta Flack -- Killing Me Softly with His Song

 

As noted earlier in the first ROY article for today, I was going to put up a second ROY article for the Fourth of July holiday, and if it hadn't been for finding out that Eddie Murphy was back for another round of "Beverly Hills Cop", I would have just focused on this classic ballad instead.

Now, Roberta Flack already has representation on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" through a 1983 duet that she did with Peabo Bryson called "Born to Love", but of course, I just had to include what is arguably her most famous song, "Killing Me Softly with His Song". Released on January 22nd 1973, I used to hear this on AM radio as a kid but there was one time when the classic really hit my soul...as cornball as that may sound. 

When we were little, it was frequently the case that my family would visit other families for New Year's Day or simply just to socialize. The visits would go fairly far into the night, and if there were other kids involved, we would be playing with them in the basement while the grownups chattered in the living room. My brother and I would get dragged reluctantly back to the car for the drive home. Not surprisingly, we would be getting drowsy in the back seat and the car radio would be on. The radio was usually on CKEY Toronto which used to play music like any other station before it became multicultural CHKT in the early 1990s. In any case, at that time at night, a lot of the romantic ballads would come on, and guess what, one of those ballads was indeed Flack's "Killing Me Softly with His Song". As I was in that twilight zone between wakefulness and sleep, the song hazily entered my ears while the night sky and lights were speeding by and some of the cool breeze was flying through the slightly ajar window. It made for a perfect environment for a soulful lullaby as the singer's dulcet tones gently lay me down to sleep, bracketed by the mellow tones of the DJ. I don't particularly like to remember much from my childhood but that one memory will always stick with me.

"Killing Me Softly with His Song" went to No. 1 in the United States, Canada and Australia, and according to Wikipedia, the ballad spent five non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 in America which beat every other record that year, although Billboard would ultimately rank it at No. 3 for 1973. Once again, I've been left surprised on finding out that the Roberta Flack single was actually a cover for the original by Lori Lieberman who had provided the lyrics with Norman Gimbel with Charles Fox composing the melody. That original was released in 1972 but wasn't successful.

Just by luck, I was able to find the Top 10 on Oricon for January 22nd 1973. Allow me to show you what came into the top 3 slots.

1. Shiro Miya & The Pinkara Trio -- Onna no Michi (女のみち）

2. Naomi Chiaki -- Kassai （喝采）

3. Mari Amachi -- Futari no Nichiyoubi (ふたりの日曜日)

annie the clumsy -- I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire

 

I was reading "The Toronto Star" earlier today when I came across Page 1 in the Culture section and there I saw a couple of celebrities beaming at the camera. Both looked vaguely familiar to me (sorry, I don't really watch dramas of any sort anymore); the one on the left was Japanese actor Hidetoshi Nishijima（西島秀俊）and on the right was American actor Rashida Jones, daughter of Quincy Jones and one of the stars from "Parks and Recreation". They're both due to star in an Apple+ drama in about a week called "Sunny" which is some sort of sci-fi mystery-thriller taking place in Japan. 

The trailer does have some familiar faces from the geinokai with one surprise being Judy Ongg and another being YOU, both of whom have had their singing days and also plenty of appearances as tarento on TV. I have to say that YOU looks both dotty and psycho at the same time.

Another name I saw in the newspaper article was annie the clumsy who supposedly plays "...a hot bartender". Wait a minute! I know that name...she's appeared on the blog a couple of times now as a songster who has taken on hip-hop and some old-fashioned tunes on her ukulele . And to be honest, it was because of that name that I went to YouTube to look for any trailer for "Sunny". I kinda feel like a proud cousin telling everybody about her new shiny show.

In any event, here is her ukulele cover of the classic "I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire", originally by The Inkspots in 1941. She does take on a snazzy old-fashioned appearance with the hairdo and glasses, and with that huge microphone, she may as well have truly appeared at NBC Studios in Manhattan way back in the day. Quite the nice mellow and chocolate-y vocals, too.

Ginger Root -- Better Than Monday

 

Of course, when it comes to tiny television stations trying to make a go of it with some distinctive programming, there is "SCTV" and one of their famous shows "Great White North" with the McKenzie Brothers.

Looks like Cameron Lew , aka Ginger Root, is in the same boat. Apparently, he was kicked out of his former station and is now attempting his own broadcasting enterprise. But of course, things go awry just minutes away from launch which means a lot of improvisation among the motley crew who come in like an A-Team of sorts (or a G-Team).

Meanwhile, the adventure is accompanied by Ginger Root's latest single from a couple of weeks ago, "Better Than Monday". Of course, the gloppy 80s synthpop is his thing but I can also pick up on a bit of slightly minimalist Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan in the arrangement. The wonderful thing about it all though is that Ginger Root provides that bridge between the nostalgic funky goodness of the past and the freshness of non-mainstream catchiness in the present. "Better Than Monday" is also available on his next album "SHINBANGUMI" scheduled for release later this September.

P.S. I found this video from more than a year ago when Ginger Root was a guest on Haruomi Hosono's（細野晴臣） radio show. He and I do share one thing in common in that we both had YMO to introduce us into the wonderful world of Japanese pop music. One thing that we don't is that while Cameron was very calm and assured in the interview (especially speaking in Japanese), I probably would have been speaking in tongues in absolute terror.

Harold Faltermeyer -- Axel F

 

To all those KKP readers in the United States, Happy Fourth of July! Actually, I'm hoping that all of you are really enjoying barbeques and baseball rather than reading a middle-aged guy's writings on kayo kyoku; c'mon, it's America's birthday!

Axel Foley has returned to Beverly Hills as of yesterday via Netflix in "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley", so I figure that for this week's Reminiscings of Youth, what better way to celebrate the 4th than to bring in one of the more representative theme songs of Hollywood in the 1980s.

Harold Faltermeyer would later come up with the ultimate instrumental hymn for all naval aviators later in 1986, but here, it was all about the synthpop behind one of the most famous movie cops. "Axel F" was released as a single some months after the release of the first "Beverly Hills Cop" in December 1984. Coming out in March 1985, I remember it being a virtual heavy rotation hit on radio and TV to the point I was starting to get sick of the song. Absence does make the heart grow fonder because it was actually nice hearing it again after so many decades of not hearing it.

According to the weekly charts around the world on Wikipedia, "Axel F" reached No. 2 in Canada and then No. 3 in America, while it hit the top spot in Ireland and the Netherlands. And perhaps the song was probably cemented as Eddie Murphy's theme tune, too.

So, what else was hitting the record store shelves in March 1985?

Akina Nakamori -- Meu Amor e（ミ・アモーレ） 

Seiko Matsuda -- Train (album)

Kiyotaka Sugiyama & Omega Tribe -- Futari no Natsu Monogatari （ふたりの夏物語）

Because it is a holiday south of the border, I'll put up another ROY article later tonight.

Kouhei Fukuda -- Hokugen Kaikyo（北限海峡）

 

Just looking at the videos from YouTube's Kuga's Travel, I'd assume that every ferry sailing around Japan would have the Royal Caribbean line green with envy. Of course, not every ferry looks quite that luxurious but heck, I wouldn't mind spending an overnight cruise on the Ishikari.

I couldn't help but remember that Kuga's Travel video when I heard this enka tune, although Kouhei Fukuda's（福田こうへい）"Hokugen Kaikyo" (Strait at the Northern Tip) is far more of a rustic description of the northernmost end of the main island of Honshu...basically the northern tip of Aomori Prefecture. There are plenty of shout outs to the local geographic features including the Tsugaru Strait which has been the target for many an old-fashioned kayo kyoku, the Shimokita Peninsula and the island of Hokkaido. 

Written and composed by enka veteran Ikuzo Yoshi（吉幾三）, those lyrics bring up the bracing atmosphere of the environment surrounding that northern area by the sea with high waves rising up the cliffs and the coming blast of winter. I really shouldn't be thinking of a grand staircase and a buffet restaurant on board the Ishikari, but that's how it is. In any case, "Hokugen Kaikyo" was a track on Fukuda's 10th album "Kodama"（谺 〜こだま〜...Spirit of the Trees） from November 2017, and it's another song that I heard on "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新・BS日本のうた...Songs of Japanese Spirit） along with Yuiko Kinoshita's（木下結子）"Hokasarete"（放されて）. Unlike the various genres that I added for "Hokasarete", though, "Hokugen Kaikyo" is 100% zesty enka.

Maika Matsuya -- Neko no Ko（猫の子）

 

The anime "Love Lab" may not have become a huge hit but it's been doing fine by me due to all of the zany humour including that spouted out by the lovely but nutty Maki, especially when she takes on her male persona of Makio.

And guess what? That's who I'm reminded of when I watch this charming video by singer-songwriter Maika Matsuya（マツヤマイカ）. "Neko no Ko" (Kitten) takes on both female and male personae in a high school while I get to hear some of that 1980s-style music which is reminiscent of what I've heard from Ginger Root. Like her creamy vocals as well.

Matsuya hails from Saitama Prefecture and has been made clear in the video, she's into dance and music. Plus, I'm guessing that she's been quite the social influencer since she's not only on YouTube but also on TikTok, Instagram and other platforms. 

Yuiko Kinoshita -- Hokasarete（放されて）

 

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I was watching "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新・BS日本のうた...Songs of Japanese Spirit） on Jme which was celebrating Sachiko Kobayashi's（小林幸子）60th anniversary in the recording industry. I also stated that I had come across some intriguing and attractive kayo kyoku for the first time.

One of those songs is "Hokasarete" (Being Let Go), a melancholy ballad about the aftermath of a romantic relationship in which at least one of the now ex-lovers didn't want to end. Written by Ou Yoshida（吉田旺）and composed by Koji Tokuhisa（徳久広司）, this was the 1984 debut single for Yuiko Kinoshita（木下結子）, who I hadn't heard of before. It took a bit of doing but I found some information on her at the Holiday Japan website. A native of Osaka, she had been working in a company and doing some commercial jingle recording on the side following high school for a couple of years before it was time to go behind the microphone in the recording booth.

"Hokasarete" is one of those 80s tunes that aren't easy to peg into one genre hole which makes it all the more interesting to me. It's got the Kansai dialect bluesiness, pop and some rock guitar in there so I also threw in the New Adult Music into Labels. Plus, the arrangement also reminds me of a far more famous ballad "Love is Over" originally by Feifei Ouyang（欧陽菲菲）right down to certain string sequences. In fact, I could easily imagine Ouyang or Ruiko Kurahashi（倉橋ルイ子）covering "Hokasarete" in terms of the melody and the lyrics. I was struck by one line, though, where Kinoshita sings "Watashi wa yappari enka desu"（私わやっぱり演歌です...I'm an enka ballad after all）. Of all the genre names that I've included, enka is definitely not one of them but I'm gathering that the protagonist in the song is comparing herself to a typical sad traditional ballad considering her current plight.

Magokoro Brothers -- Endless Summer Nude

 

Hope your summer is getting off to a good start. We in most of North America are in that temporal corridor between Canada Day and the Fourth of July which possibly translates into cross-border tourism. I don't know about weather in other places but things are actually a little cool here in Toronto which will gain a lot of envy from the folks in Japan who are now sweltering slightly earlier than usual.

"Uta Con"（うたコン）was back on as scheduled and the theme this time around was songs used in the semi-annual Koshien High School Baseball Championships since the summer version will be coming up within the next number of weeks. However, after all that was done, some of the remaining guests appeared to do some of their old favourites and new songs.

One act was the rock and soul duo Magokoro Brothers（真心ブラザーズ）. Several years ago, I covered their 12th single from April 1995, "Summer Nude"（サマーヌード）, which was a tune that I accepted right off the bat because of its cool funkiness and a sound that reminded me of Original Love and, though I didn't mention them in that article, Flying Kids, too. Well, Hidetoshi Sakurai（桜井秀俊）and Yoichi "YO-KING" Kuramochi（倉持陽一）were on the show to do what has become their "Summer Nude" 2.0, so to speak. 

Apparently, a couple of years later following the release of the original single, the two of them realized that as wonderful as the original "Summer Nude" was, perhaps it had been rushed out a little too quickly and that it needed some further proper polish. So, they brought in songwriter and arranger CHOKKAKU and what everyone got was an even more oomphed-up version now known as "Endless Summer Nude" as their 17th single in July 1997. And man, does it have even more brassiness! Time to twist on the sands there. It hit significantly higher on Oricon than its ancestor by coming in at No. 41 and it's a track on Magokoro Brothers' 7th album "I Will Survive" from April 1998 which ranked in at No. 7.

Sounds like "Endless Summer Nude" was so infectious that it got its remix covers with one being by Tomita Lab（冨田ラボ）which he provided as the first track on "Magokoro Covers"（真心COVERS）, a tribute album of their songs done by other artists. That was released in September 2004 with a No. 25 ranking. The Tomita Lab sound goes quite well with this particular song especially. In fact, it's quite amazing when I look at the long line of cover versions on J-Wiki.

Ryuichi Sakamoto -- 1919

 

The first time I heard of this song was when it was used for a Mitsubishi cellphone ad a few decades ago. Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）was playing the piano most seriously when a cellphone had kept on ringing after which he stood up and gently asked for silence. Then, he provided the solution...a cellphone with a quieter vibration function. 

As for the song itself, I just went "Yup...that's the Professor for you. Doing the avant-garde stuff again, I see." It was good ol' Sakamoto. It's titled "1919" and was so titled because it includes a speech by one Vladimir Lenin that had supposedly been given in the titular year. From what I can hear, it's Sakamoto providing some forceful and to-the-point piano with strings buzzing away incessantly. Not sure what it all means aside from speculating that it could have been describing Lenin's mood at the time.. The song itself was included as a track on the master's May 1996 album, logically titled "1996".

Paul Janz -- Go to Pieces

 

As mentioned in the previous article, it is Canada Day so being a holiday, we have a special Reminiscings of Youth on July 1st. Of course, I wanted to keep on the Canadian theme so I'm bringing some good ol' Canadiana pop and rock from the 1980s.

Alberta-born Paul Janz may not have become a superstar but he did come up with one really catchy pop/rock number in 1985. "Go to Pieces" has one of the best choruses I've heard in a pop tune on either side of the border, and it's one reason that I've remembered it for so long (GO!). All about going ga-ga over a certain young lady, watching the music video after so long reminded me of those 1980s perms, mullets and sleeveless T-shirts. And good heavens...all those pastels!

Janz's hit reached No. 29 in Canada and is also a track on his debut album "High Strung", also from 1985. The singer himself was raised within a musical family with the whole group performing together from the early 1970s. He stopped recording for the most part in the early 1990s and he was once the Professor Emeritus of Philosophical Theology at King's College London before retirement.

The only other thing I would have wanted from "Go to Pieces" was a 7" remix version but I guess that never came about. In any case, I don't know in which month the song was released in 1985, so why don't we go with what was coming out as Japanese singles in July of that year?

Onyanko Club -- Sailor Fuku wo Nugasanaide （セーラー服を脱がさないで）

Yukiko Okada -- Kanashii Yokan （哀しい予感）

Meiko Nakahara -- R-R-R-Russian Roulette（ロ・ロ・ロ・ロシアン・ルーレット）

Just for Fun...The J-C AI Gallery -- Masaaki & Yoko, Junko O. and Yosui (Canada Day Edition)

 

Happy Canada Day! Yep, the Great White North is 157 years old today so it's a statutory holiday here. Hopefully, my fellow Canadians are enjoying BBQs or ribfests or other holiday-themed activities from Vancouver to St. John's. As such, I felt that today may be a good opportunity to provide a Canada-themed exhibition at the J-C AI Gallery with some of our kayo kyoku.

Masaaki Hirao and Yoko Hatanaka -- Canada Kara no Tegami (カナダからの手紙）

Junko Ohashi & Minowa Central Station -- Canadian Lullaby （カナディアン・ララバイ）

Yosui Inoue -- Canadian Accordion （カナディアン アコーデオン）