It was less than a week ago when I posted up "Tokyo Songs" which of course would have to include Shogo Hamada's（浜田省吾）"Tokyo"（東京）, a not-so-positive but probably more realistic account of what life in the big city could be like at the time. Maybe it was released as a counterpoint to Kenji Sawada's（沢田研二）hit "TOKIO" which was also out there in the same year.
Well, I was curious then to hear what the B-side of Hamada's "Tokyo" was like, so I came across "Kayaku no You ni" (Like Gunpowder). With that title, I had been expecting something quite hard rock and explosive, but it's actually quite the cordial rock n' roll story about a couple of high school buddies who choose to skip class and hop onto the motorcycle and hit the beach to play music and scope out the ladies. Ahhh...life in 1980 Japan...or maybe even 2026 Japan, I don't know.🤷 Hamada was behind words and music with Kimio Mizutani（水谷公生）arranging everything.
Time for a crazy coda for this article. As I was looking over the information on "Kayaku no You ni" on J-Wiki, I found out that the song was actually Hamada's own self-cover of a track that he'd provided aidoru Momoe Yamaguchi（山口百恵）all the way back in August 1977 when her 12th studio album "Golden Flight" was released. It was titled "Ai no Twilight Time" (Twilight Time for Love) at the time, had different lyrics about lost love by Akira Ito（伊藤アキラ）, and though Hiroshi Kato's（加藤ヒロシ）arrangement kept things in rock, it had more of a honky-tonk style with a bit more in the production. "Golden Flight" hit No. 3 on Oricon. Always fascinating to hear a new Momoe tune and this one is no different.
Momoe Yamaguchi, the charismatic girl or woman figuratively speaking, possessed a remarkable ability to transform into various personas. Her voice takes on a distinct character when she sings “愛のTWILIGHT TIME,” contrasting sharply with her other songs that portray a cool, cold, or street-wise persona. It’s evident that she possesses a range of vocal octaves. Regarding the song about Tokyo by Shogo Hamada, I’m certain that his perspective on the city remains relevant to some individuals today. Tokyo is a place where ten people can have vastly different experiences, each unique to them. Even if these experiences or viewpoints seem contradictory, they all yet are true.
ReplyDeleteHello, Brian. I think her growing dissatisfaction with show business probably added to her mystique going into the late 1970s. I've also seen that dichotomy between her earlier (if still somewhat suggestive) songs sung rather sweetly and then those world-weary hits in the latter half of her career under the aegis of Uzaki and Aki.
DeleteYeah, I also think that Hamada's take on Tokyo is quite relevant today especially when I think of what goes on in Shinjuku and Shibuya.