Yasuko Agawa -- I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus and Santa Claus is Comin' to Town

 

I have probably mentioned this somewhere in the blog over the past dozen years or so, but I think jazz and Christmas have made a natural fit. I've got Xmas albums with Frank Sinatra, the Manhattan Transfer and Diana Krall, and they've all got their razzle-dazzle thrills.

A few months ago in September, I was lucky enough to hear Scott's podcast "Holly Jolly X'masu" when he focused on jazz chanteuse Yasuko Agawa（阿川泰子）and her 1990 seasonal album "Come In Christmas". Whenever a mighty swing jazz band gets started on those Xmas songs, call me a happy camper, and such was indeed the case when I heard Agawa put out those dulcet tones with the backing of that orchestra. After listening to the podcast, I searched YouTube for any of those songs, and sure enough, I was able to track down with some ease a couple of my favourites from the album.

"Santa Claus is Coming to Town" has always been a favourite when given the jazz treatment and again Agawa doesn't disappoint. I've not been the biggest fan of "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" since it's often given the kid-glove treatment but over here, the singer and brass give it that stylish and sophisticated touch that makes one put on the tuxedo and head over to the top of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel for the special Christmas concert.

Hiroshi Uchiyamada & Cool Five -- Blue Night in Kobe（ブルーナイト・イン神戸）

 

I've always gotten a chuckle out of the above AI image I created months ago. The Mood Kayo Avengers is what I would dub it.

Not trying to make fun of the veteran Mood Kayo group Hiroshi Uchiyamada and The Cool Five（内山田洋とクール・ファイブ） here but when I look at lead vocal Kiyoshi Maekawa（前川清）and his men in the thumbnail of the video above, I can't help but think that these guys look like a bunch of elite plainclothes cops on Japanese TV along the lines of "Seibu Keisatsu"（西部警察）and "Taiyo ni Hoero"（太陽にほえろ）. Plus, the song of note here would have made for a great ending theme for a cop show based in Kobe.

Yes, indeed. "Blue Night in Kobe" is another stop at the famous Japanese seaport by The Cool Five after their far more famous "Soshite, Kobe"（そして、神戸）from 1972. Apparently, "Blue Night in Kobe" was placed onto their 1981 album "Onna Konuka Ame"（女・こぬか雨...Woman ~ Light Rain） but never released as a single in itself. Written by Kazuya Senke（千家和也）, who was the same lyricist behind "Soshite, Kobe", and composed by Andy (?) according to the JASRAC database, the song, for the lack of a better way to express it, sounds like a more sophisticated pop version of the regular Mood Kayo, so maybe it can be one of the earliest forms of New Adult Music. It is quite contemplative in arrangement...as in examine the ice cubes in the tumbler of Old Parr after a bad day at work contemplative, which is why I thought of it as the ending theme of a cop show rather than the more bombastic opening theme.

Aya Katsuragi -- Nijuu-ichi Banme no Kanashimi（21番目の悲しみ）

 

Thanks to the YouTube channel Nameless Songs, I've been able to discover songs by the more obscure singers of all stripes from Japan. If you have a chance, head over there and explore!

I have a feeling that a lot of those selections consist of aidoru from the 1970s and especially the 1980s because the revolving door of teenybopper singers spun so hard that it ended up dislocating itself from its central axis. And here today, I have Aya Katsuragi（桂木文）from Nagoya who had a fairly long run in the geinokai between 1978 and the early 2000s according to her J-Wiki profile, much of it probably due to her time as an actress.

And indeed, her debut in show business happened due to her selection out of 40,000 applicants as Hiromi Go's（郷ひろみ）love interest in the late 1970s in his show "Muu Ichizoku"（ムー一族...The Muu Family）. Katsuragi also had a pretty brief time in the recording booth as an aidoru between 1978 and 1982. She released three singles in the late 1970s with a lone album coming out in November 1982, "Hitoribocchi no Concerto"（ひとりぼっちのコンチェルト...A Concerto All Alone）.

One track from the album is "Nijuu-ichi Banme no Kanashimi" (Lonely for the 21st Time) which was composed by Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）and written by Hiroko Asano（浅野裕子）. The interesting part, aside from the fact that Ohnuki came up with the moderately melancholy melody, is that no fewer than four people participated in its arrangement including Nobuyuki Shimizu（清水信之）. I'm not sure if that is a good sign or not since I've often heard that if the number of writers on a certain TV episode reads like a long Xmas wish list, then it was probably a troubled assignment. Listening to the nearly-four-minute song feels like a trip through different nations with the first port-of-call being a particularly refined aidoru tune and the final one ending up as a truly exotic technopop march of some majesty. However, through it all, I found Katsuragi's vocals to be quite non-aidoru and pure of heart, and even somewhat similar to those of Ohnuki herself.

From last.fm

Kumiko Ohsugi -- Mattete Goran（まっててごらん）

 

I remember those old Swiss Miss Cocoa commercials on TV. Mind you, I don't think I ever drank any of it since over here in Canada, we have the Cadbury variety. Considering today's weather, I wouldn't mind a cup of it right now although I'm unsure whether my teeth or insulin levels would be able to take it at my age.

Of course, seeing Swiss Miss on the telly there reminds me of Heidi as in the 1974 TV anime "Alps no Shojo Heidi"（アルプスの少女ハイジ...Heidi, Girl of the Alps）. Several years ago, I posted the famous opening theme by Kayo Ishuu（伊集加代子）with Nelly Schwarz contributing the yodeling. But I was also curious about the ending theme. Schwarz was once again yodeling away but this time, "Mattete Goran" (Wait and See) was provided by Kumiko Ohsugi（大杉久美子）who would later provide the far more famous "Doraemon no Uta"（ドラえもんのうた）.

Created by the same tandem behind the opening theme of "Oshiete"（おしえて）, composer Takeo Watanabe（渡辺岳夫）and lyricist Eriko Kishida（岸田衿子）, the ending theme "Mattete Goran" retains the same adorable spirit as the opener. Apparently, according to a special interview with Ohsugi for her 40th commemorative CD collection in 2010, Watanabe had pulled the singer through the wringer trying to get the best out of her for the theme song for the volleyball-based anime "Attack No. 1"（アタックNo.1）some years earlier. In comparison, recording "Mattete Goran" was a breeze this time around.

Hiroaki Igarashi -- Fuyuko no Asa（冬子の朝）

 

It was over a dozen years ago on the blog when I posted singer-songwriter Hiroaki Igarashi's（五十嵐浩晃）hit single "Pegasus no Asa"（ペガサスの朝）from November 1980. The song has been notable for being one of my musical signposts of the decade with its up-and-at-'em arrangement and the feeling that it could have been used as a theme tune for any of the American adventure-thriller TV shows back then.

Well, on the flip side of this No. 3-ranking song is "Fuyuko no Asa" (Fuyuko's Morning) which is about as different as one can get from the A-side in terms of tone. A ballad of impending loss, it begins with a very contemplative piano and an eerie synthesizer before an acoustic guitar and Igarashi's plaintive vocals attempt to reassure us about the loss of romance due to death or other reasons. Written and composed by Igarashi with Minoru Ohsugi（大杉実）helping out on the lyrics and former Happy End band member Shigeru Suzuki（鈴木茂）as the arranger, it's a lovely if melancholy love song with an appealingly twangy guitar solo. Here's hoping that Fuyuko recovers.

Minoru Komorita -- Rinjin wa Santa Claus（隣人はサンタクロース）

 

Well, welcome to December! Unlike this time last month, we in Toronto are finally getting seasonal weather in the form of cold temperatures and a lot of snow up north. The big city hasn't seen a flake yet but I'm sure that will change in the next few weeks. Maybe we will get a White Christmas this year.

To continue with the Christmas season here on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", I've got another seasonal tune by singer-songwriter Minoru Komorita（小森田実）. "Rinjin wa Santa Claus" (My Neighbour is Santa Claus) is a track from his third original album "Panorama" released in August 1991. This one is a techno jazzy boogie about someone making a huge discovery in his neck of the woods but it's not quite as bizarre as a similarly arranged tune that he put out years later titled "Bunny, Bunny". However, it's the same songwriting duo of composer Komorita and lyricist Hiroshi Yamada（山田ひろし）. I also hear hints of New Jack Swing in the rhythm although I could be wrong, but in any case, it's a fresh new take for me on the usual J-Xmas fare.