Cats★Eye -- Mekkiri Tsumetaku Narimashita（めっきり冷たくなりました）

Good Free Photos
via werner22brigitte

 

Uh...no. This article has nothing to do with Anri's（杏里）classic "Cat's Eye" or the famous manga-turned-anime from the 1980s. But in fact, there was a brief time when this duo existed in the late 1970s known as Cats★Eye（キャッツ★アイ）.

It was somewhat providential then that I had written a Pink Lady article yesterday afternoon since Cats★Eye was born in the throes of the Pink Lady boom starting from the mid-1970s. Consisting of Chikae "Non" Ohtani（大谷親江）and Nana Yamanaka（山中奈奈）, the duo made their debut around mid-1977 and released a mere four singles and an album before the show was all over for them sometime in 1978. 

Their second single was "Mekkiri Tsumetaku Narimashita" (It's Become Really Cold) which was released in September 1977. Just judging from their performance above on what I think is "Yoru no Hit Studio"（夜のヒットスタジオ）, I gather that they were going for some of that Pink Lady choreography although their singing style was more akin to Candies. Written by Akira Ito（伊藤アキラ）and composed by Yukinojo Mori（森雪之丞）, it's one upbeat tune that sounds a bit reminiscent of those 1950s pop ditties, specifically "Please, Mr. Postman", although Ito's lyrics are a woman not just describing the coming cold of an autumn turning into winter but also the same thing happening with a romantic relationship. 

Speaking of things going cold, according to the J-Wiki article on Cats★Eye, apparently Non went no-no to the rest of her singing career and basically fled the geinokai. Yamanaka tried to hold the fort as best as she could, but as I said above, the duo was done like dinner later in 1978.

Pink Lady -- Kanpai! Ojou-san（乾杯!お嬢さん）

 

As is the case in English, the Japanese language is chock-filled with portmanteaus. There is kopipe（コピペ）for "copy-and-paste" and the now-extinct pokeberu（ポケベル）which used to represent the pre-cellphone technology of a pocket bell or as it was properly called, the pager. This morning, I learned a new Japanese portmanteau via NHK: supepa（スぺパ）which stands for space performance...along the same lines as cost performance. Basically, it's the economization and more efficient use of limited space in the big cities of Japan due to the lack of it in houses and apartments. The above video by the YouTube channel "Never Too Small" gives a fine example.

The video is actually a couple of years old and I don't think the concept of supepa is a new one since cities like Tokyo have always had a battle within for space for domiciles. Plus, a few years ago, I used to subscribe to a Japanese YouTube channel which focused on the more unusual residences for rent within the nation, so I used to see my fair share of supepa places. By the way, supepa can also extend to the furnishings and appliances that could go into such a residence. I used to have a rather cute and petite fridge for my own Ichikawa 2K apartment although in comparison to some of these supepa apartments, my abode was absolutely massive.

Anyways, being a perverted fan of the terrible pun in both English and Japanese, I would have taken this opportunity to segue masterfully to the Pink Lady hit "Pepper Keibu" (ペッパー・警部) by referring to a supepa advisor as a "supepa keibu", but I will save you from that monstrosity because I had already written about "Pepper Keibu" all the way back in May 2012. In fact, it was the second Pink Lady KKP article that I posted.

However, I can go on ahead with the B-side to this No. 4-ranking success for Mie and Kei, "Kanpai! Ojou-san" (Here's To You, My Lady!). Created by the same duo behind "Pepper Keibu", lyricist Yu Aku（阿久悠）and composer Shunichi Tokura（都倉俊一）, the melody and arrangement have that very familiar Pink Lady disco aidoru sheen but Aku's lyrics are notable in that they actually treat the autumn as the perfect opportunity for love to bloom and continue forth. Usually in the kayo kyoku realm, the fall is the time for love to fall and break into a thousand pieces, but apparently such isn't the case in the Pink Lady universe. Good for them!

Tunnels -- Yabusakadenai（やぶさかでない）

 

I saw and heard the news on NHK a couple of days ago, but comedian Takaaki Ishibashi (the taller, louder and even crazier one) of the duo Tunnels（とんねるず）announced that he was suffering from esophageal cancer and would be leaving the entertainment industry for a little while to get it treated. He mentioned that it was in the early stages so it's still very treatable and here's hoping that he makes a full recovery.

Still remember this outtake from their Thursday night Fuji-TV variety show "Tunnels no Minasan no Okage desu"（とんねるずのみなさんのおかげです）from the turn of the decade (80s to 90s). I gotta say that as outrageous as the duo could be, they did suffer for their art.

Also, I've had to remind myself that the Tunnels had their time in the recording booth cutting some raunchy records. The first time I even heard their name was through an "Eye-Ai" issue in which one of their records was being sold. I think it could have been their 1985 "Ame No Nishi Azabu" (雨の西麻布) which was their parodic take on the enka genre. Supposedly, the boys hated enka but I think they certainly did a nice job with that one.

But their 7th single from May 1986, "Yabusakadenai", was definitely not from the traditional Japanese genre. No, this was a rockin' boogie stomp by Takaaki and his partner Noritake Kinashi（木梨憲武）. Written and composed by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）with arrangement by Akira Mitake（見岳章）, I couldn't find the lyrics but from what I could hear, I don't think I can really describe the situation in a family-oriented blog, but let's say that Nori was feeling really randy.

As for the translation of the title, I found out that there had been an original meaning of doing something with gusto but in recent years, that meaning of yabusakadenai has been considerably watered down to mean "Well, I'm not opposed to doing it, but...", and apparently it was jargon within the business world. In any case, "Yabusakadenai" reached No. 2 on the Oricon weeklies and ended up as the No. 59-ranked single of the year. The song was also used as the theme for the TBS drama (well, comedy really) "O-Bocchama ni wa Wakarumai!"（お坊っチャマにはわかるまい!...You Wouldn't Understand, Kid!）which starred the Tunnels.

Yutaka Kimura Speaks: Eiichi Ohtaki（大滝詠一）

 

Eiichi Ohtaki's Niagara sound, based on American pop music of the 1960s, was created from his own unique viewpoint of well-versed pop music historical knowledge, irrespective of whether it was Japanese or Western. The culmination of all that was his timeless masterpiece "A Long Vacation". The success of that album was especially due to the lyrics of Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）, I believe. When Matsumoto's prose, which came straight out of a page of vibrant youth like a watercolour painting, was layered onto Ohtaki's one-and-only Niagara sound, truly evergreen pop music was born.

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

Miwako Fujitani -- Dry Flower（ドライフラワー）

 

At this writing, I think there are only two or so of these YouTube videos showing "OIOI TOKYO TASTE ROOMS", so they are quite precious. Now, I've mentioned this show a couple of times in the past, going all the way back to 2013, and I have to make some clarifications here since I was rather loose with my details. For one thing, I referred to the show as just "Rooms"; well, the full name is now above us. For the second thing, I'd assumed that the show ran on for a few years when in fact, it was just for a year on late-night Fuji-TV between 1994 and 1995.

But I guess such was the impressive style and panache that the producers behind "OIOI TOKYO TASTE ROOMS" placed onto this mere 10-minute vignette that it was like getting that video version of a great midnight snack. And indeed, the program ran at around the 12:30 am time period as it focused on the more interesting apartment layouts of urbanites ranging from their late teens to thirties. Having a passing interest in architecture and interior décor, I have to admit that it was some late-night catnip to me as I watched from the comfort of my futon.

Of course, being sponsored by the department store Marui, having the show get into viewers' eyes and minds probably had them snoozing and perhaps dreaming of furniture and other interior goods that they could get from stylish Marui itself. If I'm not mistaken, there was also a rather bizarre segment of about a minute in length in which a famous actress or female Fuji-TV announcer in character or even a viewer would leave a phone message on some existential matter.

However, it was the ending theme that did catch my ear, and in the past, I have posted about a couple of those themes: Kenjiro Sakiya's（崎谷健次郎）"ROOMS" and Kaya Saeki's（佐伯伽耶）"Perfume wo Nokosenai" （パフュームを残せない）. Today's theme is "Dry Flower" which was singer/actress Miwako Fujitani's（藤谷美和子）July 1994 2nd single following her hit duet with the late Yoshiaki Ohuchi（大内義昭）, "Ai ga Umareta Hi"（愛が生まれた日）which had been released earlier in February. Written by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）and composed by Tsugutoshi Goto（後藤次利）, although I have put on the City Pop label for it because of its overall urbaneness, it doesn't have that usual groove but it does have some of that sophisticated pop and dramatic balladry. I'd say that it fit the "OIOI ROOMS" ethos quite well with the resident of that refined apartment or condo sighing about love and all that jazz. Still, after waking up the following morning, I didn't get that urge to buy a tapestry or a OIOI bookshelf.

Kenichi Fujimoto -- Moon Light

 

It's certainly sounding like Kenichi Fujimoto's（藤本健一）1986 "Aperitif" album is one of those secret City Pop masterpieces. I haven't written about him since 2020 when I posted the article for one of its tracks, "Memories".

Not too long ago, I encountered another one of the tracks, "Moon Light", which was written and composed by Fujimoto with co-lyricist credits also going to Mike Dunn. There's nothing like a bluesy urban sax to start things off and then a nice nocturnal Fender Rhodes leading the way along with Fujimoto's crooning vocals. 

Darlin' -- Highway no Mukougawa（ハイウェイの向こう側）

Wikimedia Commons
from Marco Ober

 

Although I think that J-R&B had a bigger boom at the turn of the century, I also believe that a decade earlier, there had also been a sizable upward trend in the revelation of the genre, partially fueling the transition from kayo kyoku to J-Pop. I was in Gunma when acts including Toshinobu Kubota（久保田利伸）, ZOO and Da Bubblegum Brothers were hitting it big on the charts.

However to be honest, I had never heard of the duo Darlin' before. Formed in 1987, they released three singles and two albums and have been categorized on J-Wiki as a rock and pop unit with Masato Ishida（石田正人）as the vocalist while Jiro Takada（高田次郎）was the guitarist. From their March 1991 2nd album "Love Education", I offer the track "Highway no Mukougawa" (Beyond the Highway), a cool-down urban ballad that sounds more soulful than rock or pop. Could make for the ideal midnight drive song. It was written and composed by Ishida with Katsuya Koga（古賀勝哉）being the co-lyricist.

There is no record of any other activity past 1992 under the Darlin' name, but in 1994, with the addition of bassist Keisuke Goshima（五島圭介）and drummer Tatsuya Suzuki（鈴木達也）, a new four-piece group named NONSTOP was formed with one single being released in November of that year. I'm assuming that's Ishida on the left of the "Love Education" album cover looking all sheepish after admitting to wearing a Jackson Pollock painting as his shirt.😎

Saki Kubota -- Alfama no Musume（アルファマの娘）

Wikimedia Commons
by Ingo Mehling

 

Recently, some of my family were able to visit Lisbon, Portugal for the first time and they had a really good time there. They kept things to the city and though the rest of us gave them the third degree about what they did, what they ate, etc., I wasn't quite sure if they had mentioned touring around the Alfama district which is the oldest neighbourhood of the city.

Interestingly enough, I begin Urban Contemporary Friday on KKP with more of an exotic kayo tune here that's titled "Alfama no Musume" (The Girl From Alfama) by Saki Kubota（久保田早紀）. Kubota, of course, is well known for "Ihojin"（異邦人）, one of the exotic kayo classics from the late 70s/early 80s although it had ironically had its genesis solidly set in central Tokyo. 

Well, on the other hand, "Alfama no Musume" is one of the tracks from the exotic kayo A-side of her third album "Saudade"（サウダーデ）from November 1980, and all of that A-side had been recorded right in Lisbon itself with the more New Music B-side being recorded in Tokyo. That bi-city nature of creating an album reminded me of Mariya Takeuchi's（竹内まりや）City Pop-friendly "Miss M" from the same year in which her Side A was recorded in Los Angeles. Kubota would have her own City Pop moment with her following album "Air Mail Special"（エアメール・スペシャル）from 1981 (and my previous article on one of her songs is from that album).

But getting back to "Saudade", the A-side starts off with an acoustic version of "Ihojin" with the second track being "Alfama no Musume", a short-but-sweet-and-oh-so-flavourful kayo of the region. Kubota sings as if she's toe-dancing on the cobblestones of some of those Alfama streets. The original "Ihojin" may have been a rousing adventure along the Silk Road but "Alfama no Musume" is definitely more of a romantic stroll in Portugal. Kubota was responsible for words and music with Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）taking care of arrangement for all of the tracks on the album.

Yukio Hashi and Sayuri Yoshinaga -- Wakai Tokyo no Yane no Shita（若い東京の屋根の下）

 

One of the earlier posts on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" was for the classic kayo "Itsudemo Yume wo"（いつでも夢を）by entertainers Yukio Hashi（橋幸夫）and Sayuri Yoshinaga（吉永小百合）, a huge hit that also reached my ears early in life.

Well, that was all back in September 1962. But I'm sure that everyone involved was thinking about whether lightning could strike twice with Hashi and Yoshinaga. Sure enough, going into 1963, the songwriters for "Itsudemo Yume wo", lyricist Takao Saeki（佐伯孝夫）and composer Tadashi Yoshida（吉田正）, went to work and created "Wakai Tokyo no Yane no Shita" (Under the Roof of Young Tokyo) for recording and release in April of that year.

Not surprisingly, "Wakai Tokyo no Yane no Shita" was another big hit, officially known as Hashi's 34th single, as it sold a million records. It continues the same sort of happy-go-lucky beat from "Itsudemo Yume wo" as youth enjoy life in an emerging and vibrant Tokyo. A few months later, a movie was concocted based on the song. Yoshinaga starred in it and Hashi was supposed to have been in the film as well, but an incident involving him and others had landed the singer in hospital and so he wasn't able to fulfill the role which was then taken over by actor Mitsuo Hamada（浜田光夫）.

Carly Simon -- Anticipation

Wikimedia Commons
via EEIM

 

Welcome to another edition of Reminiscings of Youth where I present some of the non-Japanese songs that I grew up with as a kid, teen or even young adult. And this time, I would like to go with another example of a negative being turned into a positive...at least, where marketing of a product is concerned.

When it came to condiments, I think that there were a fair share of people who couldn't stand having to wait for mustard or ketchup to slowly drag itself out of the bottle and onto the hamburger or hot dog. For me, that was indeed the case until I learned the inertia method many years later. However, the good folks at Heinz Ketchup took that logistical weakness and made it into something to be savored...anticipated, you might say.

Yes, it was the waiting that was part of the joy of having some of that ketchup on your burger or dog, and what helped it was the usage of a classic 1970s pop song, appropriately titled "Anticipation" by Carly Simon. What I was surprised about was that "Anticipation" had been released so early in the 1970s...November 1971, to be exact...since those Heinz commercials were more of a late 1970s/early 1980s phenomenon. However, listening to "Anticipation" a few times, I can now understand that it was an early 1970s tune with the laidback rhythm and piano.

"Anticipation" reached No. 9 in Canada while in the United States, it hit No. 13. The original song may have been about the giddy and nervous feelings about how a romance might play out, but for me, it'll always be about the ketchup. So, now I've got a Bond movie and a fabric softener plus a ketchup ad that has helped me cotton onto Carly Simon.

At the Japan Record Awards that were handed out at the end of 1971, there were two songs that won for Most Popular Kayo.

Koji Tsuruta -- Kizu Darake no Jinsei （傷だらけの人生）

Masaaki Sakai -- Saraba, Koibito （さらば、恋人）

Seiko Matsuda -- Shapes of Happiness

 

First off, happy belated birthday to the Eternal Aidoru, Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）, born on March 10th. A few days ago on Monday, I was alerted by a commenter that in commemoration of her 45th year in show business, Matsuda would be releasing her latest BEST compilation, "Eien no Aidoru, Eien no Seishun, Matsuda Seiko ~ 45th Anniversary Kyuukyoku All-Time Best"（永遠のアイドル、永遠の青春、松田聖子。〜45th Anniversary 究極オールタイムベスト〜...Eternal Aidoru, Eternal Youth, Seiko Matsuda. ~ 45th Anniversary Ultimate All-Time Best）. Yes, quite the mouthful, but it is quite the anniversary and the album is coming out on June 4th. According to the J-Wiki article for the compilation, things are still in flux when it comes to the multi-disc lineup so consider what you see there as not totally etched in stone quite yet.

I haven't even seen the latest single put up on the playlist, so I'm definitely thinking that the album is still getting tweaked. "Shapes of Happiness" just came out on YouTube in the last few days. Written and composed by singer-songwriter Noriyuki Makihara（槇原敬之）, yes I realize that it might be hard calling this an aidoru song when the aidoru herself is a few years away from earning her first old age pension, but hey, Seiko-chan is the Eternal Aidoru after all. Look at that brilliant smile!

"Shapes of Happiness" is a very sunny and upbeat tune by Mackey that even has that hint of disco in there, perhaps to remind folks when Seiko-chan made her debut. Yup, it was that long ago. The lady may have gone through a lot of sadness in the last few years but here's hoping that she is marching forwards and looking upwards.

Ichiro Toba -- Umi no Inori（海の祈り）

 

Once again, NHK's "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新・BS日本のうた）came to the rescue with another new enka discovery although the actual song is a few decades old.

Enka singer Ichiro Toba（鳥羽一郎）has been famous for his debut single and hit "Kyodai Bune"（兄弟船）from 1982, and I'm gathering that he may leave this mortal coil (not soon, I certainly hope) being known as the oceangoing enka master.

What he sang on that episode of "Shin BS Nihon no Uta" was another enka devoted to the sea, "Umi no Inori" (A Prayer for the Sea), which was his 8th single from May 1985. Created by the same duo behind "Kyodai Bune", lyricist Tetsuro Hoshino（星野哲郎）and composer Toru Funamura（船村徹）, you couldn't have another more manly-man enka than "Umi no Inori" with its blasting trumpet, tempestuous strings and gentle guitar representing the fickleness of the great blue. Just like "Kyodai Bune", there's very much of a man in his grand element...his home and mate for life is the great blue ocean.

fhana -- Kimi to Iu Tokuiten（君という特異点）

 

The last time I posted something on the band fhana was back in the middle of 2021 when I happily noted the opening theme for the second season of "Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon"（小林さんちのメイドラゴン...Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid）, "Ai no Supreme!"（愛のシュプリーム！）. Right from the snazzy opening credits, it was a loud and proud declaration that Kyoto Animation was back up and running after its own horrible tragedy a couple of years previously.

Well, I'm going back a little further in fhana's discography...in fact, all the way back to their debut single "Que Sera Sera"（ケセラセラ）from August 2013. Indeed, it's been considered to be the perfectly-fitting ending theme for the anime "Uchoten Kazoku"（有頂天家族） and I can agree with that wholeheartedly. I used to hear this all the time during anison hour at my friend's place since he was also a fhana fan.

Another song that got played during anison hour was the coupling tune to "Que Sera Sera", "Kimi to Iu Tokuiten" (Singular You). With those strings in the intro, I'd wondered if this would be a modern-day Fashion Music tune, something that I'd talked about yesterday for one article, but as it was, the rest of the song was good ol' pop. At the time, I hadn't known that "Kimi to Iu Tokuiten" was the coupling song but with those repeated playings, it's become a rent-free resident in my memories.

Chika Ueda + Karyobin -- See You Again ~ Hatsukoi（シーユーアゲイン・初恋）

 

Ahhh...the image of the chaise lounge, international symbol for all things Fashion Music or the Japanese take on Baroque Pop. It's been a while since we've seen a song from that area so allow me to present another one.

I think the last time I posted on the late Chika Ueda（上田知華）along with her string group Karyobin was last year with their "Minuet" from 1978. Well, this time, we're going ahead a few years to 1981 when they released their 6th single "See You Again ~ Hatsukoi" (First Love). The lovely music and arrangement provided by Ueda address those lyrics of someone gently coaxing the person she loves out of his shell, realizing that it will take a fair bit of time. Those lyrics were provided by Kenji Kadoya（門谷憲二）, a writer who's had his fair share of Fashion Music experience with another singer, Mieko Nishijima（西島三重子）. 

Ikimonogakari -- Koi suru Otome（コイスルオトメ）

 

Well, indeed, it is April 1st and though it is April's Fools Day here, in Japan, it takes on a bigger meaning since it is also the first day of a new fiscal year with all sorts of staff transfers and new recruits beginning their adult corporate lives. That also goes for the television industry including NHK and the weekly music program "Uta Con"（うたコン）. 

Let's see...tonight's episode had a new co-host although her face hasn't been placed onto the website as of yet, frequent guest group Junretsu（純烈）is now down to a trio and a new nostalgic segment has been added to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the network. But the main theme of the show was a mixture of the veterans and a fresh spring, so we heard "Seishun Jidai"（青春時代）, "Sakura"（さくら）, "Mizuiro no Ame" (みずいろの雨）, "Nagasaki wa Kyou mo Ame Datta" （長崎は今日も雨だった）and "La-La-Sunshine".

At the same time, I got to hear the band Ikimonogakari（いきものがかり）perform one of their very early hits, their 3rd single "Koi suru Otome" (A Girl in Love) from October 2006. A pure and innocent love ballad created by band guitarist Yoshiki Mizuno（水野良樹）, "Uta Con" couldn't have asked for a more appropriate song on their episode of new beginnings and spring love. 

However, according to the J-Wiki article for the song, when it was first created, Mizuno had so effectively written the lyrics in such a feminine way that it was hard to believe that it had even been written by a man, and even vocalist Kiyoe Yoshioka（吉岡聖恵）admitted that she herself couldn't fathom ever singing it. Furthermore, despite it earning a No. 15 ranking on the Oricon weeklies and Platinum status, "Koi Suru Otome" ended up as Ikimonogakari's lowest-selling single (so imagine how much more successful their really big hits have been). The single is also included on the band's first major album "Sakura Saku Machi Monogatari" (桜咲く街物語...The Story of Town Where Cherry Blossoms Bloom) and it was used as the ending theme for the NTV variety series "Love Katsu"（恋愛部活）.