Good heavens! It's September already! Time sure has flown in 2026. But as it is, autumn is just around the corner, school will be starting up again here and NHK will officially announce that the Kohaku Utagassen will be broadcast once more on December 31st. Ironically, though, for a summer that really hasn't been all that blazing hot this year in Toronto, today's been a really hazy and humid affair. But no worries, things will cool down by this long weekend.
Anyways, I'm dusting off the KKP category of The First once again. I began this one with "The First -- J-Canuck" almost a decade ago with a rambling recounting of some of the first Japanese songs that I heard and then a few years later, I posted "The Firsts by J-Canuck" where I selected some of my other firsts via genre. Other writers on the blog have also chimed in with their firsts.
Well, being whimsical me and acknowledging the fact that today is September 1st, I've decided to put up some of the first songs I heard by five artists. I also acknowledge that I'm putting up a couple of examples of "September" since I'm so shamelessly enthralled by them nearly fifty years following their release, but I'll defend myself with Blog Founder's Prerogative.
(1978) Earth Wind & Fire -- September
Yup, this was my first exposure to the legendary guys at Earth Wind & Fire thanks to my pink SONY radio. I always wondered why these guys were so funkily devoted to the ninth month of the year but the disco and the dancing kept distracting my (soul) train of thought. I hope the guys at Area 51 have another great time this year, too.
(1979) Mariya Takeuchi -- September
The whole Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）thing began with this song on "Sounds of Japan". It put my whole impression of aidoru voices in a different perspective because up until this tune, I'd thought that female Japanese singers had to sing up in the ionosphere. I actually thought Mariya was Mario for a few days because her vocals were so low. As the years and decades have passed, I've come to realize that her "September" is pretty unique: a combination of 50s/60s girl pop, a bit of disco and contemporary pop.
(1983) Akina Nakamori -- Kinku （禁区）
I always remember my first and for Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）, it was "Kinku". I hadn't known anything about the singer or the image that her handlers had wanted to convey (misunderstood punk student) or the fact that the song was an example of techno aidoru music. At the time, it struck me as being this enigmatic and dramatic tune sung by a teenage girl whose vocals also went down to the basement.
(1983) EPO -- U, Fu, Fu, Fu, (う、ふ、ふ、ふ）
If EPO had actually gone with her first choice for a career path which was (I believe) a gym teacher, she would have had her young charges whipped into shape with that boomer voice of hers. Thankfully for me and the rest of her fans, she has used her vocals to provide brightness and spark into the music sphere. Her surrounding musical arrangement has frequently followed suit. "U, Fu, Fu, Fu" may come off as one of the most unusual titles in Japanese pop, but the entire song can have the power to transport listeners to happy and joyful 80s Tokyo.
(1990) Tatsuro Yamashita -- Endless Game
Indeed, it was neither "Christmas Eve" nor any of his City Pop classics that served as the introduction to Tatsuro Yamashita's（山下達郎）works. It was the theme song to the 1990 TBS drama "Yuwaku"（誘惑）that caught my ear due to its class and moodiness...and that trombone! Who was bringing a trombone solo into a late 80s pop tune? It wasn't City Pop per se but it sure was urban and urbane.
OPINION ONE: Akina’s voice was cool and strong, much stronger than it is today. Her whisper-like singing can be fun to listen to, but I like her style back in the early to mid-80s.
ReplyDeleteOPINION TWO: In Kinku (禁区), Akina Nakamori’s tone is relatively low and dusky, especially compared to the very bright and high-pitched idol vocals prevalent in early-1980s J-pop and even today. She often maintains a slightly chest-dominant and covered sound, giving phrases a weighty and almost smoky quality. However, she doesn’t sing the song as a full dramatic belt; much of the tension comes from her restraint. The phrasing is particularly distinctive. She tends to attack notes cleanly and then pull back, sometimes allowing the ends of phrases to soften or fade away. This creates a cool and withholding quality, which is appropriate for a song whose emotional atmosphere revolves around danger, temptation, and crossing boundaries. Her vibrato is generally controlled and selective, not constantly present. On sustained notes, it often arrives late, after a comparatively straight opening. That makes the voice feel poised rather than sentimental. Small changes in volume and vocal color do a lot of expressive work: she can move from an almost detached delivery to a more urgent, cutting sound without dramatically increasing the overall volume.
OPINION ONE: I first heard Earth Wind & Fire 1978 hit "September" while watching a drama called「続・平成夫婦茶碗」（第2期）
OPINION TWO: The September songs you mentioned and
Neil Diamond's "September Morn" are probably my favorite September songs.
OPINION ONE & TWO: EPO was on UTA-CON on Tuesday night and that was a nice surprise. Yeah, EPO brought a lot brightness and fun to Japanese pop music in the 80's.
Hello, Brian.
ReplyDeleteAs for your opinions on Akina, I would agree. I've preferred her earlier vocal style over the whispery style for the past several years although I think her overall health has probably been a factor. One reason that Akina was often compared to Momoe Yamaguchi, the star aidoru of the previous decade, was because of her ability back then to go from high on ballads to the lower registers in her faster-tempo songs.
Along with the "September" songs above, I also have a soft spot for Tohoku Shinkansen's rendition of "September Valentine".
Yup, I did see EPO finish up the 80s theme night with "Downtown" and "U, Fu, Fu, Fu". It was nice that "Uta Con" acknowledge a bit of City Pop.