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.
I was in my fair share of coffee shops while I was living in Japan. Along with my regular jobs, I did have my side gigs of teaching students there. The kissaten that I frequented (although even in my past age, I don't know whether that term had already been rendered extinct) were pretty much the same classy places with masters of coffee-making manning the fort, although the one that was just around the corner from my second major school of employment in the Ichigaya area was known for its waitresses decked out in maid costumes...this was years before the Akihabara concept of maid café was formed.
Certainly, decades before I ever darkened many a wooden décor in the Tokyo area, there were coffee shops that offered gramophones playing classical music or jazz stuff (I think a few still do). And it's one such establishment playing the former genre that is the setting for "Kissaten no Katsumi de" (In a Corner of the Coffee Shop). An April 1955 single by the Yamaguchi Prefecture-born Utako Matsushima（松島詩子）, it's a kayo kyoku with a feeling as reassuring and calming as that wisp of steam emanating from a cup of java as a young couple gets together in a more intimate area of their favourite kissaten while Chopin is playing. Ryo Yano（矢野亮）was behind the lyrics while Tadaharu Nakano（中野忠晴）took care of the melody.
You can also have a listen to Matsushima's duet with Isao Hayashi（林伊佐緒）, "Ginza Yakyoku"（銀座夜曲）.
Kinda weird our weather but we Torontonians have known that for decades. Meteorologists would love to reside here...or not. Yesterday we had Humidex readings of 30 Celsius but this morning, the wind chill factor was -3 C! And in between, we had a five-minute thunderstorm around the dinner hour which seemed to be filled with a dozen thunderstorms worth of rain. Power went out for a few seconds in my neighbourhood but I consider us to be lucky; there are some other areas in the city which were still out as of this morning.
So I gather that for this week's Hump Day, we can start with a song titled "Weather Report". The last time I wrote on Naomi Kawashima（川島なお美）, it was back in early 2023 for her finger-snapping City Pop opening track "Brunch ga Dekiru made"（ブランチができるまで）from her July 1983 3rd album "Shower no Ato de"（シャワーのあとで...After Takin' Shower）. "Weather Report" just happens to follow after that.
Written by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）and composed by Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）, the second track takes on a calmer West Coast AOR line. Kawashima sings about how the change in weather can compare to her romantic fortunes. Perhaps this would be the ideal song after that brunch while still savoring the mimosas.🍹
Yesterday's article on the rock band One Ok Rock fronted by Takahiro Moriuchi（森内貴寛）was partially sparked by the revelation through a commenter that his father was none other than enka singer Shinichi Mori（森進一）. He's someone I've known for decades because of his raspy voice and the fact that he kinda looked like a Japanese Ensign Chekov when he was much younger.
Well, out of coincidence, when I was searching for some enka YouTube to show my enka-loving father, I just happened to come across a Mori tribute video, and though KKP has its fair share of his music, I hadn't known about his 28th single from October 1973, "Fuyu no Tabi"(A Winter Journey).
Filled with emotion as any enka tune should have, Mori was definitely the right singer for this one as he can be very heart wrenching with his vocals. This song created by lyricist Yu Aku（阿久悠）and composer Kosho Inomata（猪俣公章）is as bitter as can be, as a brokenhearted lover seethes angst, frustration and anger about the end of the two-year relationship and hopes that the former partner is as trapped in the existential trek in the cold as he is (freezing gusts of wind and a forlorn chorus start the ballad off). Yeah, no sweetness to this bitterness at all. "Fuyu no Tabi" reached No. 3 on the Oricon weeklies and ended up as the 23rd-ranked single by the end of 1974.
In the last several weeks, I've been able to introduce singer-songwriter Maimi Tanaka（田中マイミ）and singer-actress Chie Kobayashi（小林千絵）onto KKP. Tanaka, as I've mentioned before, is famous for coming up with the Don Quixote jingle while Kobayashi is an Osaka celebrity who I debuted onto the blog with her folksy "Hotel Osaka"（ホテルOSAKA）. It's just too bad that my most recent article for Tanaka, the only video showing off her 1981 "Namida no Lonely Boy"（涙のロンリー・ボーイ）has been taken offline for the usual copyright reasons.
Still, I can show off a project that involved both Tanaka and Kobayashi. The latter's follow-up single to "Hotel Osaka" is "Kimagure My Love"(My Capricious Love) was released in July 1986 and it was written and composed by Tanaka. With arrangement by Shigeru Suzuki（鈴木茂）, this is a more lighthearted tune in comparison to the slightly heavier "Hotel Osaka"; in fact, I think it almost approaches an aidoru tone although Kobayashi was never treated as such.
I think this particular song would apply as one of the more eclectic examples even within the distinctive discography of Pizzicato Five（ピチカート・ファイヴ）.
"Fushigi na Futatsu no Candle"(Magic Twin Candle Tale) is a track from P5's 11th studio album"Playboy, Playgirl"（プレイボーイ プレイガール）from October 1998. Sounding like a combination of whimsical fairy tale, a typical P5 Shibuya-kei song and some Beatles stuff circa "Sgt. Pepper's" with the help of that cello, I gather that it's a love song represented by a couple of candles burning brightly during a starless night. I've still thrown in the Duet label in there although I had to listen very carefully to pick out the folk/City Pop duo Bread & Butter（ブレッド&バター）since their backing vocals layered so finely with Maki Nomiya's（野宮真貴）voice that they basically sounded like one person...which would probably explain the "...featuring Bread & Butter" tag.
From the recent article on Mariya Takeuchi's（竹内まりや）"Plastic Love", I've received a number of comments (as I'd been expecting) regarding the popularity of certain Japanese bands, singers and songs around the world, and one such band has apparently been One OK Rock (pronounced One Oku Rock). For me, I've only known the name of the band but otherwise that's about it as for my knowledge. Commenter Brian Mitchell was kind enough to give me a primer along with a few recommended songs.
One of the first points of information is that the lead singer for One OK Rock is Takahiro Moriuchi（森内貴寛）. And this is where I feel like the usually unsociable guy finally being coaxed out to a school reunion and meeting for the first time since Ronald Reagan was president a couple of former buddy classmates who have since gotten married to each other and had kids. "Wow! You mean your son is a Grammy-winning musician?!" was my somewhat ersatz analogue to my reaction on finding out that Moriuchi is one of the sons of veteran kayo kyoku singers Shinichi Mori（森進一）andMasako Mori（森昌子）. Both of them have fairly long files here on KKP but again, I had no idea that their kid was even into music let alone being part of one of the most popular Japanese bands worldwide. So, now I can place all of the Moris up thee with Hikaru Utada（宇多田ヒカル）and Keiko Fuji（藤圭子）along with Ryoko Moriyama（森山良子）and Naotaro Moriyama（森山直太朗）as succeeding generations of Japanese singers (there are many more, I know).
Some other information that I've gleaned regarding One OK Rock is that Moriuchi and the band have been around since 2005, and have covered subgenres of rock ranging from alternative rock to pop punk. One of the songs that Brian recommended to me was "Wasted Nights", which was their February 2019 single that also has a placement on their ninth studio album"Eye of the Storm" that came out in the same month.
I'd probably say that "Wasted Nights" is more of a pop-rock piece created by Moriuchi and looking at the stylishly grainy video, I had initially assumed from it and the title that the band had wanted to give a grand lament about kids wasting their nights away doing nothing and neglecting the future. Kinda sounds like a Mom and Dad sort of message. However, in actual fact, Moriuchi is exhorting his song as a grand anthem about not wasting those nights away and savoring every moment with your buddies and living every moment to their fullest since they will not return again. The video is there to help safeguard those precious memories. As a fellow who's not too far away from getting his pension, I can probably try to hammer that home to my niece's generation but I've got a feeling that "Wasted Nights" would be more effective.
And it did send the message home well. "Wasted Nights" became the most popular song on Japanese radio in the first half of 2019, according to the Wikipedia article on the song, and it peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart.
In all of my years listening to Japanese music, I hadn't heard of any song titled "Take"(Bamboo), and yet, I should have known that there would be such a tune. It would fit perfectly in the enka genre as a singer would note bamboo's fast growth, strength, durability, utility and downright Japanese-ness.
But wouldn't you know it? Of course, it would be the Great Man of Enka himself, Saburo Kitajima（北島三郎）, who released "Take" as his June 1997 single. Composing it under his usual pen name of Joji Hara（原譲二）with Kozo Nomura（野村耕三）providing lyrics, Sabu-chan gives his admiration to the largest member of the grass family and hoping probably that it can apply to anyone making their way in the world. The bamboo is indeed the ideal subject for an enka song and Kitajima is the ideal singer to tackle it with his oaken vocal technique. Incidentally, I'm sure that a lot of singers of the genre have covered it including Hiroshi Miyama（三山ひろし）below.
Two points I'd like to make here: 1) I've been a sucker for old-time diner décor and food and 2) I don't think Japanese pop culture ever fell out of love with the aesthetics of 1950s Americana. As for the first point, I love having my meat loaf sandwich with gravy along with a tall cold strawberry milkshake in any place that looks like Arnold's from "Happy Days" (and there have been a few places over my life here in Toronto and Tokyo that tried to emulate that style like Toronto's Lick's). Point Two has me remembering all of that 1970s and 1980s weekend Harajuku phenomenon of girls dressing up like teenaged bobbysoxers in poodle skirts and guys decking on the leather and pompadour haircuts as they twisted again.
And though that Harajuku scene has largely disappeared from the pop culture zeitgeist, the 1950s style has still popped up in Japan here and there on occasion. I encountered one very florid example only recently when I saw this music video of "FLASHBACK 50" by the collaboration between (M)otocompo and now-defunct synthpop unit Kit Cat. A track from the former's one-and-only album thus far "POPLOT TIMES 2016" released in September 2016, although both groups have enjoyed their synthesizers, "FLASHBACK 50" dives headfirst into the good old mid-century rock and roll and pop with some fine harmonies and a catchy arrangement that had me thinking about those Formica counters, jukeboxes and gingham table covers.
(M)otocompo is indeed a spinoff unit from the former MOTOCOMPO electropop group consisting of Dr. Usui and chiho which had its time between 1997 and 2010. From 2010, chiho left while Dr. Usui dropped most of the all-caps and added brackets along with several other musicians. He also opted for a bit more ska and New Wave to his electro. As for Kit Cat, they'd been around since at least 2013 when they had their first live event until they called it a day in 2018. The three members were Jose, Asuka and Eve.
Feeling pretty tired all told to the extent that I don't even really want to write another article for the rest of the day today. Plus, I've got my student later tonight and some blog maintenance that I have to do, so I'm just gonna handle a Top Ten list for a date almost fifty years ago.
All this time, I've occasionally mentioned the cocktail Orange Mimosa in the blog articles. That came about because I first heard about it on "The Incredibles" years ago. And yet, I'd never sampled the stuff myself, so above is the recipe. I didn't know that it was that easy to make.
Interestingly enough, I heard from a commenter for the Tom Tom Club article stating that Ayumi Hamasaki（浜崎あゆみ）put out a new digital single recently. It's been a long time since I've heard from the singer and the last article on her was posted near the end of 2024 by Fireminer.
At one point, Hamasaki was pretty much the Queen of J-Pop. I was living in Japan at the time and around the early 2000s, it was a rare day that I didn't see her visage in the window of some store, a display in a record shop or on the television screen. Practically every single by her was meant for a Gold stamp and tons of purchases. But then, as we all went further into the 21st century, she did a slow fade from the charts. I knew that she had been suffering from some hearing issues (something that I've been dealing with for some time as well) and I'm hoping that the fact that she's popped up again with a new song, those issues have been rectified.
"mimosa" is her 19th digital single that was released on April 8th and when I heard those first syllables from her, I noticed that her voice had dropped in tone a bit but by the end, it sounded like the Queen was back. With words by Hamasaki, the elegiac melody and arrangement were handled by Kunio Tago（多胡邦夫）and Yuta Nakano（中野雄太）respectively, and there is something about the music which takes me back to those high-flying Hamasaki days. Hamasaki's lyrics are more bittersweet than the usual Orange Mimosa in that they involve having to deal with a lot of sturm und drang in life but staying determinedly on course and not giving up.
The music video is interesting in that it seems to take place in an Ayumi Hamasaki art gallery of sorts with AI helping to animate some of the most famous shots of the singer herself. "mimosa" reached No. 6 on the Oricon Digital Download chart.
Head arrangement was said to be the preferred method of recording for Yumi Arai and the band Caramel Mama（キャラメル・ママ）, and it involved deciding on an arrangement as recording went along on a case-by-case basis while swapping opinions without any detailed meetings beforehand (producer Kunihiko Murai（村井邦彦）, who had been the initiator of the technique in Japan, had witnessed this at a Carole King recording session at A&M Studios).
Incidentally, the musical background of Caramel Mama, which was a hybrid of the bands Happy End（はっぴいえんど）and Four Joe Half, followed the American rock of groups such as The Band and The Section (which backed up James Taylor). In contrast, Arai had a deep interest in British progressive rock bands such as Procul Harum along with European music and bossa nova.
This led to the evergreen masterpieces of "Hikoki Gumo"（ひこうき雲）, "Misslim" and "Cobalt Hour" which were born from these different combinations of music, and when speaking of the history of Japanese City Pop, these are extremely important elements.
There's no doubt that almost all of the albums introduced here in this book more or less can be thought to contain these elements of different combinations. Rock and pop, to be sure, but also soul, jazz, bossa nova and so on. City Pop was born from this masterful fusion of different genres of music, and especially the refined pop created from the collaboration between Yuming（ユーミン）and Caramel Mama should be considered to be the very first appearance of this. Certainly, this would be the brilliant and shining monument to the dawn of Japanese City Pop.
Afterwards, when Yuming became the First Lady of Japanese Pop once she turned into Yumi Matsutoya, what would become the core of her music can be said to have been nurtured during her days as Yumi Arai.
The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised" (2020).
I mentioned at the beginning of this KKP broadcasting day on the tribute to Sugar Babe's"Downtown" that the auspicious anniversary for the band's one album "SONGS" wasn't the only target of a special anniversary for a Japanese music piece.
April 25th 2025 also happens to be the 41st anniversary of the release of Mariya Takeuchi's（竹内まりや）single "Plastic Love", a song whose original YouTube video not only launched 7 million views in a few months but helped start along with a few other songs from Japan, the City Pop boom beginning in the late 2010s.
I first wrote about "Plastic Love" and the rest of the album "Variety" back in 2012, some years before that one corner of YouTube exploded with joy and discovery of this particular song. I was no Nostradamus so there was no way that I could have predicted how incredibly popular it would become, but even back then, I wrote down how cool and urban "Plastic Love" was and how it compared to Steely Dan's material and even the more adult contemporary songs that the Manhattan Transfer sang in the late 70s going into the early 1980s. Before then, I knew her primarily for her very early stuff bringing together 50s/60s girl pop along with country music and her much later pop balladry.
It was just that one short paragraph for "Plastic Love" in the article for "Variety", so I had always wanted to write something fuller since the song's fortunes dramatically changed from the late 2010s forwards. For a song that has become one of my favourites when it comes to Takeuchi's huge discography, it's ironic that I wouldn't even know of the song's existence until 2008, almost a quarter-century after its release, and I had been a Mariya fan since I first heard her sing "September" in 1982 on the local radio program "Sounds of Japan". 2008 was the year of my discovery of "Plastic Love" through her hit BEST compilation "Expressions" which was released to much fanfare in October of that year. I had bought her previous BEST album "Impressions" back in 1994 but "Plastic Love" hadn't been included in that one.
During my years in Japan, I'd wondered from time to time if there would ever be a Japanese pop song that could be the second coming of Kyu Sakamoto's（坂本九）"Sukiyaki" song (1961) in terms of surprising out-of-the-blue worldwide popularity. Names including Hikaru Utada（宇多田ヒカル）, Dreams Come True and Toshinobu Kubota（久保田利伸）came to mind but none of them really hit the global big time. But then came along "Plastic Love" via YouTube as "Sukiyaki" did through radio DJ booths in the UK and the US, and suddenly an unlikely hit was born. Mind you, "Plastic Love" hit the ceiling outside of Japan over three decades after its initial release, but my long-awaiting question was finally answered.
I've heard a few secondhand reports but my new question is still out there. How has Ms. Takeuchi felt about this second wind to "Plastic Love"?
With a stage name like AATA, this singer-songwriter from Tokyo will find herself up high on the Labels list. Her real name hasn't been revealed on J-Wiki, but her genres are pop and hip-hop. She began music by taking up the acoustic guitar and songwriting during high school. She then became half of the duo Pandaful Life（ぱんだふるらいふ）before going solo in 2013.
AATA began releasing singles and albums in 2019 with her first album"Blue Moment" coming out in December of that year. One track was written and composed by Cunimondo Takiguchi（クニモンド瀧口）of the band Ryusenkei, "Tropical Playboy". I'd probably say that the song seems to be far more into the Neo-City Pop vein than hip-hop but then again, Takiguchi was the composer so the genre is a given. It's quite the fast-moving groovy tune with AATA's voice sounding like that of a 1970s Motown chanteuse along the lines of a Minnie Ripperton.
It's been a while since I've put up anything from the Seizo Watase（わたせせいぞう）"Heart Cocktail"（ﾊｰﾄｶｸﾃﾙ）collection. Feeling the stress build up over the past several days, I can do with something musically relaxing.
When I began the "Heart Cocktail" file near the end of 2022, the first article in there was the 1986 "Glass ni Yubiwa"（グラスに指輪）by the duo which went by the names Tony's Show or WISE. Well, I brought them back again but this time, it's for an instrumental titled "Omoide One Cushion"(One Cushion of Memories). This comes straight from the Tony's Show YouTube channel and it's listed as a 1987 creation with it being included as the first track from "Heart Cocktail Vol. 3" although I couldn't track down the exact "Heart Cocktail" vignette that it accompanied on NTV. Apparently, it's also included on "Heart Cocktail Original Soundtracks" which was released last year.
Those opening keyboard notes and the soft summery afternoon vibes have been enough to take a bit of the load off my shoulders. In addition, the trombone solo contributes some good old nostalgia. Takumi Yamamoto（山本拓己）of WISE was responsible for both composition and arrangement.
Y'know, the other day, I saw this adorable little teaser from Sony Music Japan's YouTube channel.
Cartoon cutouts of the members of the legendary New Music band Sugar Babe（シュガー・ベイブ）appear and do some minimalistic moving around while their "Downtown" track is playing. Then the announcement comes out that their one and only "SONGS" album from April 25th 1975 is getting its special 50th anniversary release today.
Well, there was no way that I could let this one slide by KKP, especially on Urban Contemporary Friday. I did get my own special version of "SONGS" years ago at the old Shibuya RecoFan...I think it was the 30th anniversary edition and I wrote about the album way back in 2013, so that's all said and done. Plus, I had even written about the arguably most famous track "Downtown" more than a year previously in the first few weeks of the blog's existence.
However, as I said above, I'm not about to ignore the significance of this opportunity. Therefore, I've opted to provide as many of the cover versions of "Downtown" as created by composer Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）and lyricist Ginji Ito（伊藤銀次）that I've known and written about here including one that I discovered only last night.
As for why "Downtown" has been popular among listeners and musicians alike, I mentioned in the original article for the song that my favourite version among the covers has been EPO's 1980 City Pop take since it was not only the first version that I had ever heard, but also because it was just a bright and happy and welcoming song about enjoying a Saturday night in the big city, aka Tokyo. And I think despite all of the different arrangements that "Downtown" has undergone depending on the band or singer, that feeling of optimism and fun hasn't been diminished. Starting with Sugar Babe, the song dares listeners to come to the metropolis. Imagine what it must have been like back in 1975 or 1980 with the Sugar Babe original and then the EPO cover respectively when Tokyo and Japan were further going up in the world and the economy.
Sugar Babe (1975)
I have to admit that the original by this band took a while to grow on me since I was so attached to the EPO cover version. However, I can say that Tatsuro's take is also some rollicking rock n' roll fun which sounds like the gang busking about in Shibuya or Shinjuku.
EPO (1980)
EPO's EPO-tastic version is something that I will always put up alongside Mariya's "Plastic Love" and Miki's "Mayonaka no Door" as a City Pop anthem. Whenever I listen to it, I get those images of West Shinjuku and its skyscrapers at sunset and how they eventually got me to come over to Japan finally.
Another City Pop Queen, Haruko Kuwana's（桑名晴子）cover of "Downtown" is available on her 1982 album"Moonlight Island". Compared to Sugar Babe's rollicking original and EPO's groovy cover, Kuwana's take goes into a funkier and just-as-fun direction but it is no less City Pop.
YMCK and DE DE MOUSE (2008)
Apologies to DE DE MOUSE that I couldn't include him in Labels but I got the warning from Blogger that I reached my 20-label limit; I'll compensate on the original article since until today, I hadn't known that the chip tune band YMCK had collaborated with DE DE MOUSE on this cute-as-all-heck techno cover.
Maaya Sakamoto's（坂本真綾）"Downtown" was a pretty cool take because it incorporated a couple of genres into one cover: ska and jazz. Plus, the fact that it was being used as the opening song of an anime brought me lots of joy since it would mean a new generation of folks were getting their share of this song.
Heck, even the contemporary aidoru group Juice=Juice was having their fun with "Downtown". Sounding like a spacy version of EPO's "Downtown", I wouldn't mind visiting Odaiba in Tokyo Bay while listening to this one as accompaniment. Nice oomphy percussion!
the band apart (2024)
And we come full circle with the latest version that I've gotten to know. the band apart has actually been around since 1998 and in July 2024, they came up with their "Downtown ep". Their take is more along the lines of Sugar Babe's original, and the bright and glossy music video above signifies what I've always imagined about the song vis a vis Tokyo. I'll see if I can find another song to cover by the band soon.
Strangely enough, April 25th is also an anniversary for another City Popclassic.
To wrap up today's trio of articles, last night I received a contact from Edward and since you see the apple pie up there, the KKP veterans know that this is the blog symbol for an All-Points Bulletin.
However, the APB isn't for the title and/or singer of a mystery song. There is no aural sample here this time. Edward is searching for an album that is City Pop-related from the 80s or 90s but doesn't know the singer or title here. He did give me a general description, though.
-girl standing in front of a yellow wall
-album title appears above her in bold black letters
-she's wearing a black skirt but no information on the shirt
I decided to play Police Sketch Artist and tried to come up with something through the Bing AI generator. The above is the result but of course, I wasn't trying to come up with anything amazing that could resemble the album cover. It's just a general idea and maybe that could be enough to jog some City Pop-loving minds out there about what this album is and who the singer is. Maybe someone out there actually owns it. Let's see if there's a nibble.
April 25th 2025: Looks like we've had a quick and happy resolution to the mystery. Edward was able to find and identify the album that he'd been searching for. It's Seiko Sato's（佐藤聖子）"Bright Lights" from 1992. The track below is "Moonlight Wolf".
Considering its release date of September 1981, Tom Tom Club's"Genius of Love" came to my attention at about the same time that I had really gotten into music in general. Its New Wave nature with some slow funk and those hushed vocals have left an impression that has stayed with me all these decades, as well as its music video that will remain one of the trippiest that I've ever seen, especially with that hyper pup. If I'm not mistaken, I first caught it on an episode of CITY-TV's "The New Music", the local music show that often presented some of the more cutting-edge videos of the day.
I would later find out that Tom Tom Club was a side project of Talking Heads with guitarist and singer Tina Weymouth and her husband, fellow Talking Head Chris Frantz, at the front. "Genius of Love" was the second single from their debut album"Tom Tom Club". Although I did catch some of the names dropped in the song such as James Brown, I also later realized that the song was a love letter of sorts to other Black artists including Smokey Robinson and Hamilton Bohannon. I don't think I ever heard "Genius of Love" on the radio but much later on, part of the song was used for Mariah Carey's hit "Fantasy". On US Billboard's Top 100, the original single peaked at No. 31.
What was being released in Japan in September 1981?
Being an original Miyuki Nakajima（中島みゆき）song and all, it's no surprise that there are no videos currently showing the singer-songwriter herself performing "Omoidegawa"(River of Memories), her 6th single from August 1978. There are the many cover versions on YouTube and I was able to find a LINE excerpt of the song right at this link. Kei Wakakusa（若草恵）took care of the arrangement of the Nakajima-penned song that deals with drinking one's sorrows after another failed romance. I did love the metaphor from the lyrics of the ship of sand sailing on the titular river of memories.
Otherwise, we're going to go with the cover versions by other singers. According to J-Wiki, there were two done in the following years with the first one being 70s aidoru Junko Sakurada（桜田淳子）as a track on her 1978 album"Hatachi ni Nareba"（20才になれば...When I Turn 20）. The pacing is a little jauntier than the folksy Nakajima original and I think Sakurada was tilting toward a more mature take vocally, perhaps to follow the Nakajima style. the album managed to reach No. 28 on Oricon.
Then in December 1982, Naoko Ken（研ナオコ）, who has sung other Nakajima-penned tunes such as "Hitoribocchi Odorasete"（ひとりぽっちで踊らせて）in the past, recorded her cover of "Omoidegawa" as aB-side to her 30th single, "Furareta Kibun"（ふられた気分...The Feeling of Rejection）. Wakakusa also arranged Ken's cover as he did the original by Nakajima in 1978, but this time, the feeling is a melancholy City Pop take thanks to a darker piano. Ken seems to be ideally suited to take on those sad girl-done-wrong songs because of her voice which often takes on a heartbreaking quality. Ken's "Omoidegawa" also made it onto her 1984 album"Again".
That was a declaration by Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）when she appeared at an Oita Prefecture music festival which was held on April 19th and 20th. Larry Chan, fellow KKP co-administrator, foodie partner, good friend and Akina fan had informed me over the weekend that the Tokyo singer had made a comeback there by singing some of her old hits. Good to see that her health is getting back into gear. Now, let's see about getting her to Toronto for a few concerts. 😃
In celebration, I'm posting up another B-side from one of her earlier singles, "Twilight - Yugure Dayori"（トワイライト -夕暮れ便り-）which was released in June 1983. As soon as I saw the title "Drive", I immediately thought some raunchy rock (well, at least, enough that could be permitted on an aidoru tune back then) and Akina on the back of some high-speed motorcycle on the highways and byways of Japan while her high school punk boyfriend is fleeing from the authorities. After all, "Twilight" is an aidoru ballad with the singer in high-toned voice. In comparison, I would expect such a B-side with Akina plumbing the lower depths of her vocals to contrast with the more innocent A-side.
However, "Drive" doesn't go into that direction at all although it is still quite different from "Twilight". her voice does go a bit lower and softer compared to the higher and more strident of that A-side. Nope, I'd say "Drive" is Akina in classy City Pop mode with a goodly amount of bossa nova for that added metropolitan feeling. Written and composed by Jun Horie（堀江淳）, famous for his "Memory Glass"（メモリーグラス）which was the subject of the very first article for KKP back in 2012, and arranged by Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）, the mode of conveyance here is simply an unidentified car with a young couple taking that trip in the evening while the lady is hoping for some further escalation in the relationship. Maybe a stop at Inspiration Point is called for. 💕
Anyways, instead of me hoping for Akina to be in better health as I have usually done for years, I can see that she is in better health. May that continue for a good long time.
It is indeed another Hump Day here so why not perk things up a tad? We often celebrate anniversaries such as birthdays here and we're gonna do so once again with Kayo Grace Kyoku and Mr. Calico.
The news was coming that the 20th anniversary of YouTube was near but I hadn't realized that it was actually today. However indeed, on April 23rd 2005, the first YouTube video was uploaded onto the new site with one of the co-founders Jawed Karim putting up a 19-second presentation of his very calm observation of elephants at the San Diego Zoo. Of course, from such humble beginnings, a video empire evolved including tons of music from over the past century, recipe videos from home, soothing ASMR stuff and vicarious drives all over the world among other imaginative ideas.
Also because "Kayo Kyoku Plus" could only work with the representation of Japanese songs from now and yesteryear existing on YouTube, I have to extend my gratitude to all those uploaders over the years (although perhaps certain companies and artists may not be thrilled). It was always my feeling that a Japanese music blog wouldn't work with just some prose about the songs that I knew and loved; the actual songs just had to be there for listening.
I had actually considered only putting up the Top 10 list of singles for April 23rd 2005 but seeing that most of the top 10 were unknown to me, I quickly ditched that idea. Instead, what I will do is provide songs by certain artists that were released in the 20th year of their time in show business (checked J-Wiki), whether or not they were put out as official 20th-anniversary songs.
Singer-songwriter Akiko Kobayashi（小林明子）has had me as a fan for a very long time so getting into "Kayo Kyoku Plus" the way I did, it wasn't too long before I put up a whole ton of posts in the early years of the blog regarding her. Frankly, I thought that I was pretty much done with the Akiko Kobayashi file some years ago.
Luckily though, I spoke perhaps a little too soon. For example, I've rediscovered this single which came out in July 1990 (according to J-Wiki) titled "Machiwabite" (Tired of Waiting). I don't think it ever showed up on any of Kobayashi's original albums although I have heard it before, so I figure that it has appeared as a track on her many BEST compilations. Written by Natsumi Tadano（只野菜摘）with the singer handling the melody, it's a dreamy and wistful song about a very bitter situation in which a woman has finally pulled the plug on hoping for some love reciprocation from a guy who simply doesn't bite. Hopefully, there are other fish in the sea for her.
Recently, there have been YouTube channels such as Pokke ASMR featuring cute anime cats providing tender loving ASMR care to those other cute animals who have gone through the wringer at work. Who doesn't need a massage and/or head spa after a hard day? I have to say that the sound effects are rather scrumptious.
I heard this one on a recent episode of "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新BS日本の歌）. "Kougen no Yado"(Highland Inn) was an April 1955 single released by Isao Hayashi（林伊佐緒）with the singer taking care of the melody while Kikutaro Takahashi（高橋菊太郎）took care of the lyrics. It's a soothing kayo kyoku about heading up to that titular highland inn away from the city for some well-needed rest and recreation. The slow languid rhythm along with the bird-sounding flute help with the aural therapy.
To be honest, I was initially surprised about the existence of such a hedonistic song in the midst of a very tough postwar period of economic regrowth. However, I figured that even back then, workers simply needed some sort of R&R although I don't know whether they could afford something like a highland inn. Perhaps just a car ride into the countryside and perhaps a stay at a rustic ryokan would do the trick.
Heck of a photo from "Myojo"（明星）that I picked for this Chiemi Hori（堀ちえみ）article, and it's been almost three years since the 80s aidoruhas been back on the KKP byline. It's definitely wintry in the picture but when I woke up this morning, the temperature was only entertaining one lonely degree Celsius out there with a wind chill factor of -5 degrees. Nope, we're still far away from summer.
And yet, we are talking about Hori's sophomore single"Manatsu no Shojo"(Midsummer Girl) released on the first day of summer 1982. Written by Tsuzuru Nakazato（中里綴） and composed/arranged by Shigeru Suzuki（鈴木茂）, it certainly feels summery with some intriguing key changes worthy of Yumi Matsutoya（松任谷由実）. It sounds as bright and happy as the titular lass who is ready to greet the summer day with lots of brio. However, I've awoken to plenty of summer days in Japan, and I know that I was never ever anywhere near as fresh as her. I gobbled down my orange juice like a ragged man coming out of a desert. Needed a morning shower, too.😖
In any case, Hori's single peaked at No. 26 on Oricon. It's also available as a track on her 2nd album"Yume Nikki"（夢日記...Dream Diary） which came out in November 1982.
Back in high school, our teachers were woven from fairly standard cloth. However, one English teacher was definitely someone who went to the beat of his own drum. His raw intelligence, appearance and reputation were all quite massive, and he tended to go off on rather mighty tangents within class. Some of our comic relief students were more than willing to play off of him. My desk in his classroom was right in front of his desk, and he often confided to me through a whisper and a straight face just before class began, "Should I actually teach today, J?".
One rare thing that unfortunately I never got to see in his class but was witnessed and felt by some of my old classmates was THE TRIBAL EXPERIENCE. It's hard to describe but apparently Shakespeare could sometimes trigger that and when my English teacher was going through "MacBeth" and he came across the quote "...shall never vanquished be, until Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill Shall come against him.", that sparked a major march with everyone in class participating as he himself led the troops to defeat MacBeth of Scotland. It must have been quite THE TRIBAL EXPERIENCE in 5th period in the afternoon.
Perhaps in a way, the video and title song which launches Susumu Hirasawa's（平沢進）July 2021 solo 14th album"Beacon" is something akin to THE TRIBAL EXPERIENCE that I never got to feel in my teacher's class. It's been referred to as a religious experience and an avant-garde opera in the Hirasawa style. Seeing the man himself in the video in his dark "Matrix" cloak with that distinct white hairstyle while armed with that guitar and that distinctive voice, I can easily see him as a futuristic man of the cloth commanding a starship somewhere other than Earth. As for "Beacon" the album, it scored a No. 12 ranking on the Oricon weeklies.
Just staring at the cover for Takao Kisugi's（来生たかお）December 1979 album"Natural Menu", I felt like he should have gotten a gig for a cooking show on NHK. That is one lovely kitchen, and as it turns out according to the J-Wiki article on "Natural Menu", that was no set but his real kitchen after he had just gotten married. The photo itself inspired Kisugi to name the album "Natural Menu"!
Today is a Sunday and in keeping with that relaxed Sunday morning theme along with Takao himself enjoying that Western breakfast of toast, sunny-side egg, orange juice and coffee, I give you one of the tracks "Yuruyaka ni Ai ga..." (Love Slowly...). Composed by the singer, written by his sister Etsuko Kisugi（来生えつこ）and arranged by Masataka Matsutoya（松任谷正隆）, it comes across as the ultimate Sunday brunch song with that relaxing rhythm, the old-style pop feeling (something Gilbert O'Sullivan-ish) and Takao's crooning vocals. Heck, I've even read that Yosui Inoue（井上陽水）was helping out in the background chorus although I couldn't quite pick him out.
Happy Easter! I posted up the latest Yutaka Kimura Speaks a couple of days ago, and it was about singer-songwriter and musician Shigeru Suzuki（鈴木茂）. In doing so, I was able to listen to what I am realizing is one of the seminal albums for City Pop and New Music, his "Lagoon" from 1976.
I've already posted on a couple of tracks from "Lagoon": the charming "Lady Pink Panther" and the jazzy "Hachibu Onpu no Uta"（８分音符の詩）, but seeing that this is Easter, I've decided to take a riff on the holiday's official animal, and post yet another track from the album called "Hashire Rabbit"(Run Rabbit). Of course, this has nothing to do with Miharu Koshi's（コシミハル）1985 "Hashire Usagi" （走れウサギ）though the translation is the same.
"Hashire Rabbit" was written by his old Happy End bandmate Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）and composed by Suzuki as this very welcoming Caribbean tune that greets you as you disembark from the cruise ship. Apparently on this island of rabbits, it's all about the jazz, the tropical and the dancing/hopping around. Enjoy the rum punch!🍹
I heard this song on an episode of "Uta Con"（うたコン）, I believe, several weeks ago. When I did, I figured that this must have come from the 1960s or early 1970s since it involved pretty much every guest to sing in a Sunshine Pop style.
Indeed, the song was "Namida wo Koete"(Rising Above the Tears) and it was originally sung by the choral band Sing Out（シング・アウト）. Almost a couple of years ago, I wrote about a similar group called Young 101 which basically acted as the in-house singers for the NHK music show "Stage 101"（ステージ101）. Well, apparently, Sing Out was the 12-person predecessor for Young 101 which had their time between 1969 and 1971. As was the case with Young 101, certain members of Sing Out would go their own very successful solo ways such as singer Seri Ishikawa（石川セリ）, songwriter and producer Yasunori Soryo（惣領泰則）and composer Yasuo Higuchi（樋口康雄）.
"Namida wo Koete" was the first of three singles released by Sing Out in November 1969. Written by Koji Kaze（かぜ耕士）and composed by Hachidai Nakamura（中村八大）, it's a very lively, upbeat and inspiring song that had me thinking The New Christy Minstrels, an American group that used to get onto AM radio a whole lot back when I was a moppet.
As for the song, it peaked at No. 53 on Oricon. Not surprisingly, Young 101 would provide their own cover of "Namida wo Koete" on their April 1971 album"Stage 101".
On Friday, NHK's "Asaichi"（あさイチ）program had its usual Premium Talk segment and the guest just happened to be the one and only Tomoyasu Hotei（布袋寅泰）, a musician whose reputation certainly preceded him as the hosts looked pretty nervous and tongue-tied around the man initially, and it wasn't just because he towered over everyone at over 6"1' (that's still considered very tall in Japan), although still not quite as tall as Shohei Ohtani.
However, in his gray hair, spectacles, and a one-button blazer that looked almost like a comfy cardigan around him, Hotei looked practically grandfatherly (which I shouldn't say because his daughter isn't even married yet) and nothing like his hellraising self on stage with all of the leather and spiky hair. And he was very self-effacing in his talk about his life in London and his approach to his guitar, although we also all found out that he is one heck of a whiz in the kitchen and he has a green thumb.
But getting back to the music, I found this one track which acted as the final track of his March 2002 8th album"Scorpio Rising". His composition "Dreaming in the Midnight City" sounds something like a good way to finish up the album as it has this rather elegiac feeling with Hotei exhorting Yukinojo Mori's（森雪之丞）lyrics of being someone who's gone through the late nights of paying one's dues to get where he is today. I'm not sure if Hotei was indeed singing about himself or about certain people in general but he's definitely gone the anthemic way about it. "Scorpio Rising" itself reached No. 6 on Oricon.
