Mariko Nagai -- Kanashi ma nai de（悲しまないで）

From Discogs

 

Wow! Those were the days back in the late 1980s and early 1990s when the Bubble Era was about to burst like an overripe grape. Yet, the good times were still rolling on Japanese TV with all sorts of fluffy trendy dramas showing young beautiful folks celebrating the good life but not quite hitting the mark in the romance department.

I don't know which trendy drama was being played in the above video although I can recognize at least early 80s aidoru Iyo Matsumoto（松本伊代）. And at the same time, I'm wondering whether this Mariko Nagai（永井真理子）song "Kanashi ma nai de" (Don't Be Sad) was the theme song. I hadn't done this one before although as soon as I heard the playful piano tinkling in the intro, I could recognize it as a Nagai tune, and Nagai was quite the sassy and brassy lass during that turn of the decade.

"Kanashi ma nai de" was the coupling song to Nagai's April 1989 single "Ready Steady Go!" I have yet to hear or re-recognize "Ready Steady Go!", but "Kanashi ma nai de" is the perfect Nagai vehicle for its stupendously upbeat arrangement involving a friend helping another friend out of the blues. Listening to this a few times will probably get anyone in a funk doing a jig on the floor. Lyrics were by Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子）under her pseudonym Airin（亜伊林）and the melody was by Mamoru Taniguchi（谷口守）. The single itself went up to No. 32, and it was only some months away before Nagai got her first Top 10 hit in "Miracle Girl"（ミラクル・ガール）. 

BanBan -- Ichigo Hakusho wo Mou Ichido（『いちご白書』をもう一度）

 

It's interesting when I go down an especially deep and winding rabbit hole, figuratively speaking. This time, it's led me to a 1970 movie called "The Strawberry Statement" which was an American comedy-drama revolving around the 1968 Columbia University protests. It starred a couple of folks who I've usually associated with sci-fi: Bruce Davison who I've always seen in much later movies as these smarmy corporate/political types such as in the very first "X-Men" as Senator Kelly, and Kim Darby who had earlier guested in the first season episode "Miri" of the original "Star Trek". Never thought I would see a young Davison playing an idealistic good guy.

Well, what led me down to the burrow in the first place was this song titled "Ichigo Hakusho wo Mou Ichido" (The Strawberry Statement One More Time) that I heard performed on either "Uta Con"（うたコン） or "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新BS日本の歌）recently. It's a folk-rock song that was first recorded by the folk group BanBan（バンバン）as their 5th single in August 1975. And just to hold you off the pass for a minute, this isn't the other sibling folk duo Billy BanBan（ビリーバンバン）that I've spoken about in the past on the blog. Yep, same genre, similar name and same time period but BanBan and Billy BanBan are two different entities in the music industry.

Anyways, BanBan was actually a trio consisting of Hiroshi Takayama（高山弘）, Hiroshi Imai（今井ひろし） and Hirofumi Bamba（ばんばひろふみ）. Bamba has been on the blog ever since KKP's inaugural year due to his 1979 solo hit "Sachiko", but BanBan is getting its first due here. Incidentally, the name of the group came about from Bamba's own nickname. The group had been kicking around since 1971 and Bamba had been a popular late-night radio DJ but he was wondering about the state of his band since it wasn't making any hits. As a last resort before deciding to break the band up, he decided to see if up-and-coming singer-songwriter Yumi Arai（荒井由実）could create a song for them because he had been entranced by her works and he'd seen her as a one-of-a-kind. So, he pulled every string and met up with Arai's future husband and musician Masataka Matsutoya（松任谷正隆）who then had Bamba and Arai meet up.

The result was a song that, in Bamba's words, extended BanBan's lifespan by at least a few more years before they officially called it a day in 1977. It's a melancholy and bittersweet tune about a man seeing that his local movie house was showing the aforementioned "The Strawberry Statement" once more and then reminiscing about going there with a now ex-girlfriend during a pretty successful date. Personally, it's probably the most different Yuming（ユーミン）creation that I have ever heard although that may have been due to Ichizo Seo's（瀬尾一三）arrangement. There's quite a bit of rock in there that I wouldn't have expected a Yuming song to have. And the ironic thing is that Bamba was much more of a rock guy than a folk guy; in fact, according to the article on the song, he had found folk musicians to be no better than country hicks which led him to found BanBan just to supposedly show them how it's really done. 

"Ichigo Hakusho wo Mou Ichido" occupied the top spot on Oricon for about six weeks near the end of 1975 which probably meant it was quite the slow burner considering its release back in the summer. It ended up as the No. 13 single for the year and then at the end of 1976, it was even ranked No. 31. It sold a little over 750,000 records. It was also the lead track on BanBan's 2nd and final album "Kisetsufuu"（季節風...Seasonal Winds） which came out in November 1975.

Yuko Sugita -- Kira Kira（キラキラ）

 

Yes, the above video was so soothing that despite its ten-second run time, I almost got hooked into its sneaky clutches. Beware the glitter!

But you should be totally OK with this video showing singer-songwriter Yuko Sugita's（杉田優子）"Kira Kira" which coincidentally enough means "Glitter". For one thing, "Kira Kira" was written and composed by Sugita herself and despite what the title might imply considering its release in 1978, it's not a disco number at all. In fact, I'd say that it belongs more on the farm with its most congenial and cheerful arrangement of country, although I can still hear the synthy haze effect of City Pop and some other electronic keyboard stuff. The song was a track on Sugita's album "Monsoon Baby" along with "Senritsu"（旋律）.

KAN -- Iezu no I Love You（言えずのI LOVE YOU）

 

Unfortunately, I have to start this week of KKP with another fuhou（訃報）. She wasn't a singer...at least, not a professional one, but Tamao Nakamura（中村玉緒）had been an actress and entertainer since 1953. She had also been the wife of the burly actor Shintaro Katsu（勝新太郎）who didn't suffer fools gladly and suffered media and medical experts even less apparently. Nakamura passed away on June 9th at the age of 86 from pneumonia.

However, I got to know Nakamura through her appearances on commercials and variety shows where she usually played the role of a sweet-tempered kimono-wearing lady with a slightly dotty personality. And the main show that I knew her from was TBS' "Sanma no Super Karakuri TV"（さんまのSUPERからくりTV...Sanma's Super Tricky TV） which lasted from 1992 to 2014. Broadcast on Sunday nights, it was basically the big Kansai comedian, Sanma Akashiya（明石家さんま）, talking trash with his regular panel of tarento including Nakamura while various segments played out on the telly.

Nakamura would often be involved in some of those segments herself with the usual humorous results as her personality would allow.

As would be the case for any long-running variety series on Japanese TV, "Sanma no Super Karakuri TV" had its fairly long list of ending themes. The first one of those was "Iezu no I Love You" (The "I Love You" That I Can't Say) by the late singer-songwriter KAN who left this mortal coil about three years ago. Released in March 1992 as his 12th single, "Iezu no I Love You" was written and composed by the singer with Akihiko Matsumoto（松本晃彦）handling the arrangement. It's an adorable and slightly jazzy tune that would have a lovably hangdog expression as a face...which matches with KAN's visage. 

It reached No. 13 on Oricon and was a track on KAN's "Girl to Love" album which was actually released in June 1988, so I gather that "Iezu no I Love You" was a very belated release from that LP. The album did quite modestly by scoring a No. 86 ranking, but that was before the singer hit the big time with "Ai wa Katsu"（愛は勝つ）a few years later.

In any case, my condolences to Nakamura's family, friends and many fans.

Natsu No Hi (夏の陽) - Stardust Revue

Circus Town is one of my favorite albums of all time, and one of my top five favorite Tatsuro Yamashita (山下達郎) albums. As someone who’s been to New York, I think it captures the aura of the Big Apple very well. It’s got some well-known bangers like the title theme, “Windy Lady,” and my personal favorite, the doo-wop classic “Last Step.” 

Although, in my opinion, the most underrated song is easily the closing number, “Natsu no Hi” (夏の陽). It has that typical ’70s folk-rock sound, but the ethereal backing chorus, combined with Tat’s signature belting, gives it a whimsical touch

.

Unfortunately, it’s nowhere near the first song you think of when you talk about Tats, so color me surprised when I found out that the theatrical jazz-pop band Stardust Revue did their own a cappella cover of the song in 2008 for their album Always. This might be my favorite version.

I’ve heard a lot of Tatsuro Yamashita covers in my time, but this is one of the few that surpasses the original. Doesn’t surprise me one bit. The American revue-inspired band, hence the name, has a knack for creating excellent vocal harmonies and combining them with music you’d hear in some kind of vaudeville act. Plus, the lead singer, Kaname Nemoto (三谷泰弘), has performed live with Tatsuro in the past. Nemoto, joined by Tats and J-rock star Shōgo Hamada (浜田省吾 ), once performed a live a cappella version of Ben E. King’s “Stand by Me.”

When you get a chance to listen to Stardust Revue, make sure to check out their 2008 album ALWAYS. It's filled with great  acapella and acoustic covers of various kayokyoku classics. 

Hiroshi Wada & Mahina Stars -- Tokyo no Hito（東京の人）

By Basile Morin via Wikimedia Commons

I came across this quintessential song by Mood Kayo group Hiroshi Wada & Mahina Stars（和田弘とマヒナスターズ）recently so of course, I was going to post something about it. But for whatever reason, I couldn't find any sign of it on the band's long discography originating from 1958 on J-Wiki. However, when I dug elsewhere, I found Mahina Stars' website via Japan Victor and found out that their discography goes back even further to 1953! Indeed, this particular song "Tokyo no Hito" (Man of Tokyo) was released in 1957.

"Tokyo no Hito", which was written by Takao Saeki（佐伯孝雄）and composed by Tadashi Yoshida（吉田正）, has that mournful arrangement that Mahina Stars were especially famous for, thanks to the delivery of the voices and the Hawaiian steel pedal guitar that seems to cry out its melody. Not sure if this is what the songwriters had had in mind, but in the immediate postwar era, a lot of young able-bodied people (perhaps as young as middle school graduates) were heavily encouraged to come from the countryside to the cities to man the engines to drive Japan back to economic prosperity. A certain genre of kayo kyoku played upon the homesickness that many of these urban workers in the factories and office buildings probably felt and perhaps one of those songs is "Tokyo no Hito". A good song to drown out one's sorrows, n'est-ce-pas?

Hidemi Ishikawa -- Kanashimi no Blizzard（哀しみのブリザード）

 

Well, along with the bear incursions, the weather was becoming rather belligerent throughout Japan last week with some very intense rainstorms and hail coming down like meteorites in a sci-fi flick. Some of the footage looked as if a blizzard had suddenly blanketed entire regions.

And with that segue, I give you "Kanashimi no Blizzard" (Blizzard of Sorrow) which was the third single by 80s aidoru Hidemi Ishikawa（石川秀美）from October 1982. The setting is actually a hot summer seaside but young Hidemi's heart is filled with a raging snowstorm after suffering a major breakup with a guy. You can thank Kaoru Asagi（麻木かおる）for the lyrics.

I learned something interesting regarding Ishikawa's beginnings as an aidoru and perhaps this might have been true for many aidoru. Composer Yuuichiro Oda（小田裕一郎）was responsible for Ishikawa's first four singles including the No. 29-ranking "Kanashimi no Blizzard", and apparently, he got the first three done even before the lass made her debut in early 1982. In fact, there were discussions on which of the three would become Single No. 1: a song with a refreshing melody, one with a sentimental atmosphere and one more with a so-called London sound. 

Well, the refreshing one "Yousei Jidai"（妖精時代...Fairy Age） became the debut single (I'll have to cover that one soon enough), the sentimental one "Yu-re-te Shonan"（ゆ・れ・て湘南）was the follow-up, and then that London sound ended up as "Kanashimi no Blizzard" (although Oda had preferred Single No. 3 as Single No. 1). I guess that London sound was represented by the (possibly synth) horns although first listening to the song, I would never have guessed it being influenced by swinging London. Overall though "Kanashimi no Blizzard" is quite the peppy and distinct tune with some quick key changes and though Ishikawa's delivery is very "aidoru", it's still quite the fun thing to listen to. In fact, I think it has a kissing cousin in the form of Ginji Ito's（伊藤銀次）"Cherry Night" even though that song wouldn't come out until 1986. By the way, Makoto Yano（矢野誠）provided the arrangement. 

Kyoko Yoshizawa -- Ame Agari no Koi（雨あがりの恋）

 

Commenter YMOfan04 had a brief exchange on an actress-singer that I hadn't covered in several years, Kyoko Yoshizawa（吉沢京子）. And that was enough for me to take a look at my friend's suggestion.

It just so happens that her "Ame Agari no Koi" (Love After the Rain) was the B-side to her August 1970 sophomore single "Suttobe Seishun"（すっ跳べ青春）which was my first article on the Tokyo native. While the A-side is a pretty intrepid kayo march, "Ame Agari no Koi" not surprisingly takes the opposite tack of being a lovelorn ballad supported by that popular combination of flute and violins. Written by Tokiko Iwatani（岩谷時子）, composed by Taro Morimoto（森本太郎）and arranged by Makoto Kawaguchi（川口真）, it's about as sighworthy as one can get for a lass going through the falling-in-love blues.

Hiroshi Miyagawa -- Teresa no Tameiki（テレサのためいき）

 

Going back to my youth, I remember those over-and-over reruns of "Uchuu Senkan Yamato"（宇宙戦艦ヤマト...Space Cruiser Yamato）, aka "Star Blazers" outside of Japan, with the original seasons of the Iscandar mission and the Comet Empire saga. That penultimate episode of the latter season when it looked like the evil Prince Zoldar and his empire finally crumbled only to reveal a Super Star Destroyer filled with absolute revenge arguably represented one of the greatest anime cliffhangers.

Of course, sticking with the "Star Blazers" line, the finale had to wrap up some loose threads along with the main one involving the Comet Empire. What happens to the crew of the Argo and what of helmsman Mark Venture who supposedly gave up his life in defense of the ship a few episodes earlier? And what of Trelaina of Telazart, the sylph-like whistleblower who began the entire story and ended up falling for Mark?

Well, in the original "Yamato" series, Trelaina was actually named Teresa which I guess sounded exotic enough for Japanese viewers (although the late singer Teresa Teng was already well-known in Japan), although folks in North America must have wondered whether if the lass had sisters named Mabel and Connie. Anyways, along with the iconic Comet Empire theme done by the legendary composer Hiroshi Miyagawa（宮川泰）, another constant musical piece in the second season was Teresa's own theme titled "Teresa no Tameiki" (Teresa's Sighs). 

The song as I remember it was a sad and lonely one for Teresa and even her relationship with Mark was all too brief before she seemingly had to make the ultimate sacrifice for Earth. On Christmas Day 1978, Miyagawa released a concept album connected with "Yamato" titled "Fumetsu no Uchuu Senkan Yamato: New Disco Arrange"（不滅の宇宙戦艦ヤマト ニュー・ディスコ・アレンジ...The Indestructible Space Cruiser Yamato: New Disco Arrangement） where some of those familiar tracks from the series received some more syncopated oomph. I don't think the treatment given to "Teresa no Tameiki" is particularly disco but it's more of a mild City Pop thing with some of that haunting voice which was common to a fair number of Miyagawa pieces in anime. Had to laugh a little at the name of the group performing the tracks: Yamato Discotheque Orchestra.

Hi-Fi Set -- Mabushii Anata（まぶしい貴方）

 

For my fifth and final song for Friday, I'd been thinking of putting up that NHK theme song for the World Cup coverage that's been playing for months during the nightly sports segment, but the closest I could get was a mere TikTok excerpt. So, let's return to City Pop!

And we're going back to February 1977 when vocal trio Hi-Fi Set（ハイ・ファイ・セット）released "Love Connection" which would end up as the No. 1 album of the year. A little less than a month ago, I posted one track "Crystal Night"（クリスタル･ナイト）which had all sorts of elements of rock, disco, country and New Music. Usually, I would wait the entire month before putting in the same singer or group onto the blog.

However, I can break and bend the rules for Hi-Fi Set, especially with a No. 1 album. And with this other track from "Love Connection", it's worth it. "Mabushii Anata" which can be translated into "You Are Dazzling" (although one other YouTube video with the same song has it as "Putting It Down To The Way I Feel About You") isn't nearly as chock-filled with genre influences as its track mate "Crystal Night", but it's a straight-on nighttime breezy City Pop tune of the 1970s that would make for a pleasant drinking companion on a patio in some bar. I especially love those strings and the usual polished Hi-Fi Set harmonies.

Mieko Arima（有馬三恵子）and Kazue Ohashi（大橋一枝）provided the Japanese lyrics for the song which was composed by Ken Gold and Michael Denne with Ichizo Seo（瀬尾一三）providing the relaxing arrangement. I was curious about the composers...were they truly from America or elsewhere or were the names merely pseudonyms for coy Japanese songwriters? Well, as it turned out, after a bit of investigation, I found out that Gold and Denne were indeed bona fide songwriters who had created a song titled "You to Me Are Everything" for the British soul group The Real Thing in 1976. There's some similarity in the first verse when comparing this one to Hi-Fi Set's "Mabushii Anata" but in the end, they are different songs. Still, have a listen for comparison's sake.

Masayoshi Takanaka -- Breezin'

 

Indeed, it has been breezing here today and this is such a relief after the stifling heat and humidity from yesterday. Just kinda wish that I could get some of those breezes here in my room.

This brings me to my next article for today, Masayoshi Takanaka's（高中正義）cover of "Breezin'" from his November 1978 album "ON Guitar". When I was scrolling up and down Takanaka's J-Wiki file for the album, I couldn't find it in the usual place but then I did find it within his brief list of concept albums. "ON Guitar" was Takanaka's instructional album about how to play the guitar (I can only imagine just from hearing "Breezin'" that this is more for the advanced students). Considering how popular the musician has become recently via X/Twitter, perhaps he should consider re-releasing the concept stuff.

Anyways, as I said above, Takanaka is covering "Breezin'" which was originally created by American singer and musician Bobby Womack and then recorded by Hungarian jazz guitarist Gábor Szabó for the latter's 1971 album "High Contrast". Compared to the original, Takanaka wanted to add a bit more of a festival atmosphere to his version. Definitely good for the beach set.

For the album, Yellow Magic Orchestra's drummer Yukihiro Takahashi（高橋幸宏）and bassist Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）helped as part of the backup band. Interestingly enough, "ON Guitar" was released on the same day as YMO's debut album.

Toshinobu Kubota -- Dance If You Want It

 

Haven't seen J-funkster Toshinobu Kubota（久保田利伸）for a while. Hope he's doing fine wherever he is. From time to time, I come across an old song and I react "Why hadn't I written about this one before? I've known it for ages!". It seems like the windmills of my mind have had some rips in the vanes recently.

Anyways, with Kubota, I rediscovered "Dance If You Want It". I remember hearing and listening to it all the way back in my university days and then during my stint on the JET Programme in the 1980s going into the 1990s. It's got quite the funky strut but I'm wondering if this would fall under the New Jack Swing category as well (I'll be waiting for opinions). Written by Kubota and Masumi Kawamura（川村真澄） with the former also handling the melody, it was the lead track on his September 1988 3rd album "Such a Funky Thang!" (and he looks terrifyingly happy on the cover) and apparently it was so catchy that a few months later, the song got its own mini-album or maxi-single treatment which hit No. 2.

Spinning Plums -- Monochrome Syndrome

 

Always enjoy new discoveries. Spinning Plums is a new band to me that I discovered only a few weeks ago. They don't seem to have their own website outside of an Instagram account but I managed to find an introduction regarding Teruko, Kishin, Oshu, Daniel and Saishin:

Spinning Plums is a five-member band based in Tokyo. Their music blends the essence of 1990s-2000s indie rock with rich guitar-driven sounds, complemented by the clarity of synthesizers and the harmony of twin vocals. The bass and drums, rooted in funk and soul, create a pop-infused, dynamic ensemble. Each member brings a unique background, harmonizing their individuality to shape their distinctive sound. With a strong focus on live performances, they continue to actively refine their craft. Pushing beyond genre boundaries, they aim to deliver fresh musical experiences and expand their creative reach.

--Tunecore

Spinning Plums, a five-piece band from Tokyo, Japan, craft gentle yet powerful walls of noise infused with indie pop and city pop shimmer, led by intertwined male–female twin vocals. Drawing from post-2000s indie rock and shoegaze influences while grounded in reggae- and funk-rooted rhythms, the band has steadily gained attention in Japan and overseas, including an appearance at the 2024 Ringo Music Festival.

--Gerpfast Records

I'm listening to one of their tracks, "Monochrome Syndrome" from their latest EP this year, "Spinning Hours" (although it's gotten its own single release, too). With lyrics by vocalist Teruko and melody by the entire band, the song is rather esoteric, to say the least, as a girl seems to be wrestling existentially with her past and present now that those two selves are quite different now. For a shoegaze tune, it's quite the upbeat and happy ditty that starts out with what sounds like a toy piano infused with the soul of Tom Waits. No one's really looking down at the floor here; it's more gazing at the shiny metal towers around them.

MANNA -- Horohoro Zoushi（ほろほろ草紙）

 

It's a nice day for a World Cup opener in my hometown. It's sunny, a bit breezy and a whole lot drier and cooler than it was yesterday when we were swimming in atmosphere and being threatened by thunder and lightning. Hope Canada and Bosnia-Herzegovina play a good one in a couple of hours.

Anyways, I hadn't been sure if this track from MANNA's 1979 album "Chabako Trick" was considered to be a City Pop song but after listening to it a couple of times, "Horohoro Zoushi" (Crumbly Ol' Notebook), the arrangement and instruments in use here made me see the light. Plus the title didn't exactly make me think of tall skyscrapers, beautiful people and speeding convertibles. But in the end, the groovy bounciness and the instruments turned me around.

Written by Tetsuya Chiaki（ちあき哲也）and composed by Yu Imai（今井裕）, I'm not sure what the song is about. Perhaps it's all about some fellow's or lady's notebook from high school with all sorts of doodled phrases, pictures and other silliness...and many years later, the adults are taking another look. Embarrassment ensues, possibly. Anyways, "Horohoro Zoushi" shares track space with "Yellow Magic Carnival" which I believe is one of the first of MANNA's songs to be covered on the blog.

ABBA -- SOS

 

Welcome to another Reminiscings of Youth article where I go over some of the songs from America, Canada, the UK and other nations outside of Japan that resonated happily in my ears and brains when I was a little tadpole. 

ABBA already has a small but growing file in KKP. "Dancing Queen" was the big hit of theirs that did become a part of my musical memories because of folks loving to sing it at karaoke both in Toronto and Tokyo. However, their earlier June 1975 single "SOS" was something that I first heard via those K-Tel record compilation commercials when I just kept hearing the chorus. "SOS" became one of those builder-uppers as I started getting more of their parts together. After the chorus, I finally got to hear the beginning with the somewhat contemplative piano and then the mournful lyrics by vocalist Agnetha Fältskog. It took a while but I finally got the entire song into my head. As for the music video above, they really liked their crane shots and reflective mirrors. No need for CG or AI here although those of course wouldn't be around for a few more decades.

On Canada's RPM, "SOS" made it up to No. 17 while in America, it peaked at No. 15. It did hit No. 1 in Australia, Belgium, New Zealand, South Africa, and West Germany.

Not only have I brought "SOS" to KKP just a little after its 51st anniversary but it's being posted about a year after my last ABBA tune, "Super Trouper". So, what was hitting the top of the Oricon charts a day before the release of "SOS"? I have Nos. 1, 2 and 4.

1. Akira Fuse -- Cyclamen no Kaori （シクラメンのかほり）

2. Downtown Boogie-Woogie Band -- Minato no Yoko, Yokohama Yokosuka （港のヨーコ・ヨコハマ・ヨコスカ）

4. Sakura to Ichiro -- Showa Kare Susuki （昭和枯れすゝき）

Guts Ishimatsu -- Ishimatsu Otoko Bushi（石松おとこ節）

 

Well, I wrote too soon when I posted my previous article on Shocking Lemon's "Under Star" in tribute to the recently departed former boxer and TV personality Guts Ishimatsu（ガッツ石松）who had passed away nine days ago at the age of 76. Coming up with a boxing-themed anison in tribute to the man, I hadn't been aware that Ishimatsu did put out his fair share of records from 1974 to 2015.

His debut single came out in September 1974 in the form of "Ishimatsu Otoko Bushi" (Ishimatsu the Man, the Melody). Given an enka arrangement, it's a languid song with that sharp trumpet to cut through like an upper hook. It was written by Masato Fujita（藤田まさと）and composed by Koumei Sone（曽根幸明）for Guts to sing in a rather forlorn way as someone who's been going through the meat grinder of life and has only himself to rely upon. It almost sounds as if he'd endured twelve rounds with the eventual unanimous winner and then ambled over to the nearest watering hole for a few hours of liquid solace before hitting the recording booth.

Shocking Lemon -- Under Star

 

We've had a few people in the music industry on both sides of the Pacific pass away in the last few weeks. However, I'm surprised to hear of a familiar face and name who has also left this mortal coil. TV personality, actor and former WBC Lightweight champion Guts Ishimatsu（ガッツ 石松）passed away on June 2nd at the age of 76 from pneumonia. As with a lot of people in Japan who knew of him, I was shocked since, although my exposure to Japanese television is rather limited now, I'd had no idea that Ishimatsu was even ill.

I didn't know anything about his boxing career but I got to know Ishimatsu as the amiable if seemingly slow-off-the-mark tarento on many variety shows (although when he was a color commentator on boxing broadcasts, he was sharp as a katana in his observations and assessments). I'm sure that a lot of folks in Japan were tickled pink to see him in a small role as one of the bad guys in Michael Douglas' "Black Rain". I noticed a lot of condolences beneath the above video, and I would also like to send my condolences to his family, friends and fans.

Guts, who was born Yuuji Suzuki（鈴木有二）in Tochigi Prefecture, was also the man who came up with what is called in Japanese, the Guts Pose, due to his special victory gesture that has been picked by many an athlete and pretty much anyone else in the nation who has won anything. Yumi's English Boot Camp below will give a Japanese explanation on the expression itself.

I wasn't quite sure how to pay tribute to Guts Ishimatsu. I was thinking about something from boxing-themed anime although I'm not a fan of the sub-genre itself. But I do remember one awkward and funny scene from the 2000 anime (the usual sax helped sell it) "Hajime no Ippo"（はじめの一歩...The First Step） which I'd wrongly assumed was a far older show from the animation style.

There were a couple of opening credits theme songs for the series, the first one being a third single "Under Star" by the rock band Shocking Lemon, released in December 2000. Not surprisingly, the song, which was written and composed by guitarist Hideki Taniuchi（谷内秀基）, has that rapid-fire jangly rock arrangement which comes to mind whenever I think of anime openers. The rest of the band consisted of vocalist Takahiko Ogino（荻野隆彦）, bassist Makoto Sakata（坂田誠）and drummer Toshiki Shimizu（清水俊樹）. "Under Star" was their major debut as a band although they started up in 1993. After four singles and three full albums, Shocking Lemon broke up in 2007.

POLTA -- Tooku e Ikitai （遠くへ行きたい）

 

Now, before all of you kayo veterans see the title and assume that this is a cover of the old Jerry Fujio（ジェリー藤尾）classic, nope this isn't a cover. Same title yes, but this is a wholly different song.

"Tooku e Ikitai" (I Want To Go Far Away) by the alternative rock band POLTA was written and composed by band bassist Suguru Fukuda（ふくだ傑）and is sung by his partner and guitarist Ai Onae（尾苗愛）. Furthermore, unlike Fujio's desire to flee from heartbreak or some other similar disaster, POLTA's "Tooke e Ikitai" seems to be more about getting out there in the world or at least some of the other areas within Metropolitan Tokyo such as Koenji and Ebisu for a bit of fun exploration. I can totally understand that. 

Apparently, the music video of the song was put out there in 2012 but the actual song didn't get any representation for audio enjoyment until it was included in POLTA's first album "Sad Communication" in July 2015. The band itself has been around since 2008 and although a couple of albums came out in 2015 and 2018, it's been pretty much singles since then up to 2025.

Mai Yamane -- Kibun wa Fairness（気分はフェアネス）

 

My Hump Day this week has been a little more eventful than usual. I was heading to check up on the snail mail when I encountered one of my elderly neighbors after he had apparently fallen down the short stairs and couldn't quite get up on his own. He was OK...just a little rattled but I got him back home to his wife.

Anyways, let's start the Wednesday edition of KKP off with something nice and jaunty from singer-songwriter Mai Yamane（山根麻衣）. This was her August 1982 5th single "Kibun wa Fairness" (I Feel Fairness) which slots in somewhere in between her earlier City Pop material such as "City Drive" from 1980 and then her rock music including her contributions to the anime "Cowboy Be-Bop". Written by Ririko Shimano（島野凛々子）and composed by Junichi Tagiri（田切純一）, it's a cordial pop/rock song about a woman who was heads-over-heels over some guy named J.B. (James Bond?) Before we get too metaphysical about the title, the song was used as a jingle for a Shiseido brand named Fairness.

Akiko Kosaka -- Saigo no Love Letter（最後のラブレター）

 

All the way back in 2012, I stated my surprise that singer-songwriter Akiko Kosaka（小坂明子）didn't have any other major hits besides her debut single "Anata"（あなた）from 1973. In the years since though, I've learned that even if a singer's discography doesn't translate onto Oricon, it doesn't mean that the singer hasn't made any good songs of worth...not at all. There are also the dedicated fans who will also stand up for their oshi's works.

Case in point: Kosaka's B-side to her third single "Oka no Ue no Kyokai"（丘の上の教会...The Church at the Top of the Hill） from October 1974 is "Saigo no Love Letter" (Final Love Letter). I haven't heard the A-side yet but "Saigo no Love Letter" packs quite a punch with some of that guitar and electric piano (organ?) work. It strikes me as being a folk tune but one that is a bit more muscular than average although the song lasts barely above two minutes. Kosaka was responsible for the melody while Osamu Souya（相谷修）took care of the lyrics.

Well, Jme, If We Can't Have Uta Con Because of the Beatles...

 

This week, we're not watching any "Uta Con"（うたコン）on NHK which was a bit weird because I swore that I'd seen "Uta Con" concierge Shosuke Tanihara（谷原章介）give out the lineup at the end of last week's episode for this week. And then, I figured something was up. Indeed, something was up...the number of non-Japanese songs being sung on the June 9th episode. Notably, the show's theme tonight was all about The Beatles, and this was confirmed by commenter Brian Mitchell in my last article yesterday. 

I've mentioned it before but our streaming provider of Japanese programming here in North America is Jme, and they've given us the heads-up on their website, but when it comes to the performance of American, British or any non-Japanese songs by Japanese artists in Japan, due to copyrights and all that legal stuff, they simply can't allow them to be heard. Usually, if it's one or two songs, Jme will put up the warning blurb at the top of the screen in Japanese and then mask the aural performance with Muzak although viewers can still see the singers doing the cover. However, when there's a whole bunch of foreign music played on a program, then Jme basically can't allow the episode to be shown. This has happened once before with "Uta Con" when the theme for that episode was Disney music.

This time, it's the Beatles. Not that I'm a huge fan of the Fab Four although there are several songs that I do like by Paul, John, Ringo and George, but it still gets rather annoying to have something that my family looks forward weekly get cancelled due to legal and money stuff (and personally, I did want to see Hiromi Iwasaki and Junko Yagami give their covers). Therefore, just off the top of my head, I've decided to put up some covers of the Beatles discography by Japanese singers...simply for the heck of it.

B'z -- Let It Be

Masayoshi Yamazaki -- All My Loving (and he's performing this in front of Sir Paul himself!)

Yellow Magic Orchestra -- Day Tripper

Mone Kamishiraishi -- Yesterday

Akiko Kanazawa -- Yellow Submarine Ondo（イエロー・サブマリン音頭）

Yuko Hara -- Koi wa Go-Tabou Moushiagemasu（恋は、ご多忙申し上げます）

 

As I mentioned in my previous article, I had been scrolling down the Top 50 singles of 1983 when I discovered Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi's（長渕剛）"Good Bye Seishun"（GOOD-BYE青春）at No. 49. Well, it turns out that I didn't know the song at No. 50 either, so why not finish up Monday's entries with another 1983 hit?

On first listening to Yuko Hara's（原由子）"Koi wa Go-Tabou Moushiagemasu" (Too Busy for Love) which was released in August of that year, I'd assumed that much like "Good Bye Seishun", this one also fronted a television drama as the theme. However, it was actually used as another campaign song for Shiseido. According to the J-Wiki article, this was the Southern All Stars（サザンオールスターズ）keyboardist's first big solo hit (her own 4th single hitting No. 5 on the Oricon weeklies) and as written and composed by her husband, SAS vocalist Keisuke Kuwata（桑田佳祐）, there is something quite reminiscent of Phil Collins' take on "You Can't Hurry Love" from 1982. Heck "Motown" is even mentioned in Kuwata's lyrics.

Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi -- Good Bye Seishun（GOOD-BYE青春）

 

Welcome to Monday! I was looking down the Oricon Top 50 singles for 1983 on J-Wiki and perhaps not all that surprisingly, we've managed to cover pretty much all of them in the 14+ years that "Kayo Kyoku Plus" has been in existence.

However, one that I had yet to cover was singer-songwriter and actor Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi's（長渕剛）"Good Bye Seishun" (Good Bye Youth) which ended up as the 49th-ranked single of 1983 after hitting No.5 on the Oricon weeklies following its release in September 1983. Strangely enough, the intro for "Good Bye Seishun" was familiar to me so I had heard it sometime in the past as it reminded me a bit of "El Condor Pasa", and indeed, Nagabuchi had based the melody on Central and South American songs created into this folk-rock tune.

Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）was responsible for the lyrics which don't give a particular happy glow to someone's days of youth. It seems like the protagonist went through some very hard times as a teenager and is more than happy to wash his hands of all of it before taking those steps into adulthood. Still, the song is plenty jaunty.

"Good Bye Seishun" was Nagabuchi's first major hit since his 1980 "Junko"（順子）. It not only got him more appearances on television but it was also used as the theme song for the 1983 TBS drama "Kazoku Game"（家族ゲーム...The Family Game） which was also a starring vehicle for him.

Crazy Cats -- Hondara Koushinkyoku（ホンダラ行進曲）

 

The above image by Doryana02 is about the closest that I could get to a crazy cat through Wikimedia Commons. To be honest, I think the little one is quite cute and adorable actually and approaching something approaching a feline haute couture.

But it's all to introduce the comical band Crazy Cats（クレイジーキャッツ）with another one of their zany songs from the 1960s. The band, which included Hitoshi Ueki（植木等）, Hajime Hana（ハナ肇）and Kei Tani（谷啓）, was known for their wild n' crazy antics while dancing and singing about nothing in general...which was the point. They reveled in being portrayed as the most irresponsible representatives of Japanese society (while still wearing suits, mind you) through movies and novelty songs such as "Musekinin Ichidai Otoko"（無責任一代男）.

Another one is "Hondara Koushinkyoku" (The "Well, Then..." March) which was released as Crazy Cats' 5th single in April 1963. Created by the same duo behind "Musekinin Ichidai Otoko", lyricist (and future governor of Tokyo) Yukio Oshima（青島幸男）and composer Hiroaki Hagiwara（萩原哲晶）, it's another goofball tune set to some raucous orchestral marching music as the gang sings literal nonsense for the most part with the overall message being that any particular action will ultimately be meaningless so why even bother taking it? Aoshima did admit to a bit of nihilism in his approach. I'm not sure how popular the song got but I can imagine a bunch of drunken salarymen shaking off the tension at the local watering hole by singing this one.

Perfume -- Cold Sleep（コールドスリープ）

By Gene Wang via Wikimedia Commons

I'm starting to get those Arashi（嵐）retired/not retired vibes when it comes to the group Perfume. Up to now, I'd gotten the distinct impression that Nocchi, Kashiyuka, and A-chan were on an indefinite hiatus after spending a quarter century with each other, mostly creating technopop treats for the masses. Well, I know now that Arashi has officially retired, but I should have reminded myself that "indefinite hiatus" doesn't mean "permanent retirement". 

In fact, when I finally read the fine print of their current status, Perfume stated that they were entering a phase of "cold sleep", and when the time is right, they will return as a different form of Perfume. And interestingly enough, to emphasize the point, Perfume and songwriter/producer Yasutaka Nakata（中田ヤスタカ）put out the group's latest digital single "Cold Sleep" on May 15th. 

Quite the bubbly and percolating Perfume song with some nostalgic synths (and some nicely syncopated vocals, to boot) for a group that is supposed to be in cold sleep, the ladies seem to be trying very hard to make sure their fans don't forget their old selves and style. "Cold Sleep" is also supposed to be the theme song for an upcoming documentary commemorating their 25 years in show business.

Jitterin' Jinn -- Yakeppachi no Doncharami（やけっぱちのドンチャラミー）

 

The last time I wrote about the rock band Jitterin' Jinn（ジッタリン・ジン）, it was back in 2022 when I posted about one of their earlier songs "SINKY-YORK" from 1989.

Well, here is a song that is from their 10th anniversary album "TENTASTIC!" which was released in October 1999. "Yakeppachi no Doncharami" sounds as if ten years hadn't gone by at all. It's that Jitterin' Jinn sound with the guitars and the rat-a-tat drums and of course Reiko Harukawa's（春川玲子） vocals. As for the title, that last word seems to be a squished melding of the phrase "Don't You Love Me?" so I gather that the title can be defined as "I'm Yelling Don't You Love Me?". Jitterin' Jinn guitarist Jinta Hashi（破矢ジンタ）took care of words and music.

Senri Oe -- Wallabee Nugi Sutete（ワラビーぬぎすてて）/Glory Days

 

You're getting the 2-for-1 deal today with singer-songwriter Senri Oe（大江千里）. Yup, two songs in one article...neither of which I have heard from him before.

First off, I was curious about how Oe when he was a pop star in the 1980s got his start since I've known him from the latter half of that decade and I've known him for his distinctive upbeat sound. Well, he made his debut in May 1983 with the single "Wallabee Nugi Sutete" (Kick Off Those Wallabees). 

From Amazon

I think right from the start Oe has had that happy "Aw, gosh!" pop/rock style with "Wallabee Nugi Sutete" which struck me as being quite fast, and then I discovered that it's barely over three minutes. Couldn't ask for a poppier song. Masaaki Omura（大村雅朗）arranged everything by the way.

Personally, I've never worn a pair of Wallabees before but they certainly look comfortable. However, Oe's encouraging the guys to take them off, ostensibly to have that beachside barefoot walk with the girls they like. "Wallabee Nugi Sutete" didn't seem to make it onto the Oricon charts but for those Oe fans, this should be part of their collection. The song was also included on the singer's debut album which came out the same month as the single "WAKU WAKU" and according to the J-Wiki article, "Wallabee" had some big guns in the recording studio such as bassist-songwriter Tsugutoshi Goto（後藤次利）and drummer Jun Aoyama（青山純）.

Seeing the music video for the song, I'm convinced that I had seen it before decades ago when the Canadian music show "The New Music" did a special on the music of Japan. They showed a part of this video, specifically the part where Oe was walking on the audiotape in the middle of it.

I'd already had Oe's debut single in the backlog for a few weeks when I discovered that one of his later singles has become part of the "Ganbare! Nakamura-kun!!"（ガンバレ! 中村くん!!）ending theme family. His 14th single "Glory Days" gloriously finished off a nerve-racking Episode 10 of ever-tense Nakamura-kun waiting to get an autograph from his favourite manga author. 

Oh, isn't that an adorable pair look for Nakamura and Hirose! Anyways, "Glory Days" was released in August 1988 and once again, Omura was there to arrange Oe's words and music. It was also a part of his 10th album "1234" which not only hit No. 6 on Oricon but was voted Best Album of the Year at the 3rd Annual Japan Gold Disk Awards. 

"Telephone" Songs

Infrogmation of New Orleans via Wikimedia Commons

I can say that the above looks just like the first telephone that I ever saw in my apartment in the late 1960s. The good ol' rotary phone. Never got to use the even older model where people had to crank it up and yell "Maisie! Is that you? I'm calling Pennsylvania 65000!".

Earlier today, the first article for Urban Contemporary Friday on KKP was Mariko Tone's（刀根麻里子） "Private Number" and that got me thinking that among the many different themes I've had for Author's Picks, one common object that I had yet to highlight was the telephone. And yet, as soon as I put up "Private Number", suddenly all these phone-themed tunes came back to mind. So, to finish my contributions today, I'm putting up my telephone or denwa songs. Not all of them are City Pop, mind you, but enough of them are including the one with City Pop's most famous number.

(1973) Finger Five -- Koi no Dial Six-Seven-Oh-Oh （恋のダイヤル6700）

(1976) Akiko Yano -- Denwa Sen （電話線）

(1981) Kyoko Endo -- Kokuhaku Telephone （告白テレフォン）

(1981) Junko Ohashi -- Telephone Number

(1987) Junko Yagami -- Telephone Number

(1988) Keiko Kimura -- Denwa Shinai de （電話しないで）

Junko Ohashi -- Shiroi Gogo（白い午後）

 

It's approaching the third anniversary since Junko Ohashi's（大橋純子）passing and listening to this particular ballad brings about some more of that poignancy.

"Shiroi Gogo" (White Afternoon) from Ohashi's 1976 "Paper Moon" album starts with some ominous drops onto piano keys, and though I haven't been able to access any of Machiko Ryu's（竜真知子）lyrics, I get the impression that the titular white afternoon may refer to a very lonely afternoon that used to be filled with someone. The melody and arrangement by Ohashi's husband, Ken Sato（佐藤健）, is wonderfully slow and soulful with some added rock/fusion by guitarist Kiyoshi Sugimoto（杉本喜代志）and an ending breeze-like backup chorus that hints at something hopeful around the corner.

Kenichi Fujimoto -- Alone

 

It appears that we may be having one of those KKP situations in which one singer or band's file is basically based on one album.

And yep, I'm talking about Kenichi Fujimoto's（藤本健一）"Aperitif" album from 1986. But it does say lots about the album especially if one's a City Pop or sophisticated pop fan. This time, the track is "Alone", and for a track titled "Alone", it sure doesn't feel alone. As written by Akira Ohtsu（大津あきら）and composed by the singer himself, it's the equivalent of a fancy dinner out in Aoyama...crisp white linen, sparkling champagne flutes and bone-white china, and all that. Fujimoto may have been channeling some of his inner Henry Mancini when he came up with this one. Those strings approach a near-boogie level of emanation and of course, the sax is cooking up some richness.

Keiko Nishina -- Koi no Shocking Town（恋のショッキング・タウン）/Umi no Ue no Restaurant（海の上のレストラン）

 

Several years ago, I posted an article about the 1981 debut single, "Koi no Kirakira Dance"（恋のキラキラダンス） , by an obscure aidoru named Keiko Nishina（二科恵子）. As mentioned there, she only released four singles in 1981 and 1982.

Well, I found a succeeding single titled "Koi no Shocking Town" (Shocking Town of Love) sometime in 1982 (maybe Nishina loved her 恋). Written by Fumiko Okada（岡田富美子）and composed by Yuuichiro Oda（小田裕一郎）, compared to the more conventional "Koi no Kirakira Dance", "Koi no Shocking Town" infuses a bit of Doobie Bounce for a more AOR flavour. Meanwhile, the B-side which begins at 4:08 of the above video, "Umi no Ue no Restaurant" (The Restaurant on the Top of the Ocean) has that popular 50s or 60s girl pop arrangement. Dapper singer-songwriter Ryohei Yamanashi（山梨鐐平）provided words and music for that one.

Mariko Tone -- Private Number

 

Happy Friday! Well, things are supposedly falling into place for Toronto's contribution to the World Cup next week. I'm casually interested in the soccer that's to be played but to be honest, I was looking more at what restaurants representing the other nations in Canada's group will be cooking up.

Speaking about what someone is cooking up, it looks like Mariko Tone's（刀根麻理子）protagonist in her song "Private Number" is getting quite hot and bothered about her beau. Must be early times in the relationship but she's more than happy to give the lad her special phone number. "Private Number" starts out a bit tinny tropical but then the synth thrums in along with the persistent percussion before things get all funky and even some Motown. Of course, gotta have that City Pop saxophone and the horns in there, too.

"Private Number" is available on Tone's June 1986 3rd album "Naturally". It was written by Linda Hennrick, composed by Goji Tsuno（つのごうじ）and arranged by Shiro Sagisu（鷺巣詩郎）.