Yutaka Kimura Speaks ~ Japanese City Pop Masterpieces 100: Motoharu Sano -- Manhattan Bridge ni Tatazunde（マンハッタンブリッヂにたたずんで）

 

Number: 082

Lyricist: Motoharu Sano

Composer: Motoharu Sano

Arranger: Motoharu Sano

From the 1982 album: "Niagara Triangle Vol. 2"

"Manhattan Bridge ni Tatazunde" is not simply a stoic rock tune; it also shows Motoharu（佐野元春）at his most charming whenever he sings this sort of romantic love song. The combination of his tough voice and the Spector-like pop sound is also marvelous. Along with his remarkable abilities as a melody maker, there is a lively sense of reality within the "city" that occasionally displays a cynical view that is difficult to express as a professional lyricist.

The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised" (2020).

Machiko Watanabe -- Midnight（ミッド・ナイト）

 

Midnight in Japan for me was illustrated by a tired old English teacher finally reaching his apartment past 12 am after a long commute from the other side of Tokyo back to Chiba Prefecture. My neighbourhood in Ichikawa City was relatively dark although there were street lights, but it was quiet and completely safe. Plus, my two wonderful vending machines just a few metres away from the steps to my home always greeted and plied me with cold drinks.

I would also think that a song and a final album track titled "Midnight" would offer the same sort of deal in the form of a ballad. However, on singer-songwriter Machiko Watanabe's（渡辺真知子）album "Fog Lamp"（フォグ・ランプ）from November 1978, that wasn't the case at all. It is actually quite the spirited finish to Watanabe's 2nd original album with its disco and City Pop showing off some type of action-thriller aural piece. There's probably a car chase squeezed somewhere among the notes woven together by Watanabe herself. 

Just a few minutes ago, I had finished off the latest Yuko Asano（浅野ゆう子）1970s disco tune "Potsuri Potsuri"（ぽつりぽつり）. Lyricist Akira Ito（伊藤アキラ）and arranger Motoki Funayama（船山基紀）had their hands in that one, and so they did with this one, too. "Midnight" also shares track space with Watanabe's "Blue" on the album.

Yuko Asano -- Potsuri Potsuri（ぽつりぽつり）

 

Back in August, I covered the B-side of Yuko Asano's（浅野ゆう子）October 1977 single. The song was called "Sunset Seaside"（サンセット・シーサイド）and it was a stately disco kayo.

Well, that A-side is titled "Potsuri Potsuri" (Little by Little). It can also be translated as "Drip, Drip" for those who like their onomatopoeia, and perhaps the story is about something taking its sweet time. Compared to "Sunset Seaside", "Potsuri Potsuri" maybe goes a bit harder into the Donna Summer disco although Asano's vocals here remind me of those belonging to a young Junko Yagami（八神純子）. As with the B-side, this particular song was also created by lyricist Akira Ito（伊藤アキラ）, composer Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）and arranger Motoki Funayama（船山基紀）.

Signal -- Slow Down

 

Several years ago, I discovered a folk group called Signal（シグナル）whose 1975 debut single "Hatachi no Meguriai"（20歳のめぐり逢い）was a big hit that year. The song would also be covered by Hiromi Iwasaki（岩崎宏美）on her album "Sumire Iro no Namida"（すみれ色の涙）from November 1981.

Well, as has been the case for many a folk singer or group in Japan back in those days, Signal apparently also made a jump into groovier seas, and in the same year that Iwasaki recorded that cover version of "Hatachi no Meguriai", the original band made the move to a new company, Polystar, and got more into rock, pop and City Pop. Yes, in September 1981, Signal released "Passing Shower" and one of the tracks is the relaxing "Slow Down". Written by guitarist Akio Asami（浅見昭男）and composed by fellow guitarist Masanori Sumide（住出勝則）, it's an AOR-friendly tune that can be compared with some of the output by other bands from that time such as H2O and Bread & Butter.

One tidbit of trivia that I've gleaned is that Asami's wife is none other than singer and seiyuu Mitsuko Horie（堀江美都子）. She's no stranger to City Pop herself.

Risa Yamamoto -- Dance de Kizutsukete（DANCEで傷つけて）

 

Welcome to November! Hopefully, Halloween was an enjoyable one for you with those candies and other treats. Looks like the first day of the month will begin with the usual Urban Contemporary Friday on KKP.

Today, we're starting off with a new name to the blog. Singer and actress Risa Yamamoto（山本理沙）was born Rieko Susa（諏佐理恵子）in Osaka although she did spend a lot of her high school years up in Sapporo. A lot of her TV career from the mid-1980s while she was in her teens involved a number of variety shows, dramas and commercials. However, she also had a brief recording career with five singles and one original album.

That May 1986 album, "You're In", included the track "Dance de Kizutsukete" (Hurting Through Dancing), which was created by lyricist Keiko Aso（麻生圭子）and composer Takashi Tsushimi（都志見隆）. I think the song straddles the line between City Pop and pop although the rhythm has that champagne-and-caviar form of City Pop. It's not too bad especially with that horn section in there but that banging synthesizer before the verses can get a bit grating.

Yamamoto ended her career in 1989.