Ken Hirai -- ABC

Hello, J-Canuck here. Once again, we have commenter and occasional contributor Fireminer with an article for KKP. Following the video, he'll take over.

Following the failed Cool Japan initiative, the Japanese entertainment industry has been emphasizing more on using manga, anime and games as vectors to popularize their products abroad. It’s no eureka moment but only an acknowledgement of reality. Foreigners have discovered and fallen in love with Japanese fashion, music, literature, etc. through those mediums for decades. But what about discovering American music through a Japanese game?

Many millennials can recall the period when rhythm games reigned in the 2000s. And while the second half of the decade was dominated by the likes of Rock Band and Guitar Hero, the first half was the time of Japanese rhythm games like Konami’s Dance Dance Revolution and Beatmania who brought contemporary Eurodance, disco fusion, trance, etc. into the home and no doubt familiarized many people with acts like Smile.dk, Captain Jack and E-Rotic.

A lesser-known but nonetheless celebrated Japanese rhythm game from the time was Elite Beat Agents on the Nintendo DS. It’s a follow-up to the Japanese exclusive Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan and put you in the shoes of government agents who cheer people so they can power through tough spots. It’s bizarre, colorful, upbeat and most importantly accessible to both rhythm game heads and casual gamers such as myself.

Elite Beat Agents' music left a strong impression on me, not least because of the music selection. Fit for a game helmed by Keiichi Yano (矢野慶一) of Gitaroo Man’s fame, Elite Beat Agents featured pop hits from nearly every decade since the 1970s onward. Here you can find Queen’s I Was Born to Love You and Stray Cats’ Rock This Town next to Madonna’s Material Girl, Avril Lavigne’s Sk8er Boi, and the subject of this article, The Jackson 5’s ABC.

ABC is pure uncut bubblegum pop, ‘nuff said. And it works perfectly with the band. The yawp-like voice of young Michael Jackson (backed by his brother Jermaine) goes well with the funky and goofy kiddie-pop tune like hands and gloves. Then come the jubilant guitar and bongo that just radiate optimism. This is Motown, this is the 1970s. ABC is about the pure joy of discovering love, and it’s unadulterated joy you will get from it.

Now we move to Ken Hirai’s (平井 堅) cover of ABC from his 2003 album Ken's Bar, the first in a series of acoustic cover albums. You would think it wouldn’t have worked with the ultra-smooth Hirai, but it worked. Hirai works best for me when he is goofy, and though the cover is less silly than the original (every kid under 15 trying to tell you about love will be silly), it still sounds like a fun time. The falsetto and bongo liven the mood like they did with the original.

Ken’s Bar is also the name of a series of live shows whereas Hirai plays the role of a bar host who sings his favorite songs for his guests while they sip the wine he picks for them. It makes sense then for him to cover ABC like that. He has been doing these shows almost annually since 1998, and while COVID-19 brought a five-year absence, the show finally returned one more time last May.