Last night's "Uta Con"（うたコン）was a pretty entertaining episode, all told. We had new popular group Monaki（モナキ）with their senpai group Junretsu（純烈）, an old favourite in the form of an Anzen Chitai（安全地帯）and Yosui Inoue（井上陽水）duet that my friend and I used to sing at karaoke in the late 1980s, and quite a bit of soulful stuff. As well, there was a brief announcement of the passing of enka singer Nobue Matsubara（松原のぶえ）.
As for the soulful stuff, Crazy Ken Band（クレイジーケンバンド）appeared with their leader Ken Yokoyama（横山剣）to sing their latest digital single from July 2026, "Shinpai Muyo Bushi" (The No Worries Song). Usually when I add the Labels for this group, it's pretty simple: the music is always gonna be J-R&B. Ahhh...but this time, I have to add an extra genre...that of enka. Crazily enough for Crazy Ken Band, "Shinpai Muyo Bushi" may have the usual funk and soul in there, but even my mother could distinctly hear the traditional undercurrent of enka popping in and out of Yokoyama's melody. I had been thinking of whether to apply the hybrid New Adult Music tag, too; however, the enka and funk n' soul were in there but separate rather than blended so I just kept it as enka and J-R&B.
Lyrically, it's all about brushing off any of the problems since after all, they really don't even amount to a hill of beans in the grand scheme of things. With good ol' Ken by your side at the bar, the song is the reassurance that everything will be A-OK!
Apropos of their new album release, I came here specifically to see how you would categorize the Crazy Ken Band (only to find the latest post is literally about that!). I have always thought of them as outside of time, with a heavy influence from *something*; I don't know what, which is why I came here. I'm not sure what divides enka from old Japanese pop, but I'd say ~1/4 of every album is devoted to whatever that old crooning Snack bar music is.
ReplyDeleteHello, Steven. Thanks for your comments. My history with the old Japanese music has been one of also not being 100% sure regarding the links between enka and kayo kyoku. Before I started the blog in 2012, I'd initially thought that enka was a part of kayo kyoku along with Mood Kayo. However, I then came to a slow realization that whereas enka is about traditional Japanese lyrical themes such as heartbreak, fighting against adversity, and romance in a certain city often with Japanese instruments such as the koto and shamisen, kayo kyoku is, as you said, old Japanese pop...often equivalent to the old American standards that pleased all demographics with a full orchestra backing them up. Often the melodies of kayo kyoku are quite cheerful though the lyrics may be bittersweet.
DeleteThe Crazy Ken band is always fun to listen to, and "Shinpai Muyo Bushi" did not disappoint! It is smooth and fun to listen to! And the album cover is equally interesting.
ReplyDeleteHello, Brian. Ken loves his soul but he also likes being somewhat tongue-in-cheeky. 😁
DeleteThank you for publishing all these info! Please keep them up!
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading. Keep it up!
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