I've been a fan of Japanese popular music for 40 years, and have managed to collect a lot of material during that time. So I decided I wanted to talk about Showa Era music with like-minded fans. My particular era is the 70s and 80s (thus the "kayo kyoku"). The plus part includes a number of songs and artists from the last 30 years and also the early kayo. So, let's talk about New Music, aidoru, City Pop and enka.
Credits
I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.
I haven't seen "Uta Con"（うたコン）today but according to what I heard last week and seen on their schedule, this week's episode will be the annual tribute to the Queen of Kayo Kyoku, Hibari Misora（美空ひばり）, who would have been 89 years old on May 29th. Just looking at the lineup, it appears that I've already covered the songs to be performed such as the triumphant "Yawara"（柔）, so I've opted to find one of my own from her vast discography to pay a KKP tribute.
This time, I'm going way back into her career. In fact, I'll be focusing on her 8th single from September 1950, "Uramachi Paradise"(Back Street Paradise). Written by Toshio Nomura（野村俊夫）and composed/arranged by Hideo Hirakawa（平川英夫）, it's a pretty jaunty kayo kyoku about meeting that significant other and realizing that everything...even the dark and ominous streets of the city...can be filled with light and hope as a result. It's a stroll-worthy tune and let's remember that Misora was all of thirteen years of age when she recorded this.
I've wondered what one of the world's most expensive neighbourhoods, Ginza in Tokyo, must have been like in the immediate postwar period. Perhaps it hadn't been quite as rich, bright and neon-populated before Japan began its gradual economic rise from the ashes but maybe even back then, it was a bustling area.
Singer-songwriter Isao Hayashi（林伊佐緒）and singer Utako Matsushima（松島詩子）released a single in 1949 called "Ginza Yakyoku"(Ginza Nocturne) which turned out to be quite the happy trot of a kayo kyoku, so maybe it's safe to assume that things were doing all right on the street. Written by Ryo Yano（矢野亮）and composed by Hayashi himself, it's an upbeat tune which makes for a refreshing change since I've often thought of Ginza being melodically memorialized through the bluesier Mood Kayo.
This is Matsushima's first entry in "Kayo Kyoku Plus", so a little attempt at a biography will be given here. Born Shima Utsumi（内海シマ）in 1905, she hailed from Yamaguchi Prefecture and as a young woman in her twenties, she was teaching at elementary school and high school in her home province. However, in 1932, Utsumi was bitten by the singing bug and made her debut behind the mike. After a few name changes, she settled on Utako Matsushima in 1935 in which she earned her first hit, "Yuube Honoka ni"（夕べ仄かに...Last Night, Faintly）.
Methinks that the above isn't the version that was put out in 1950 with just Hayashi singing "Ginza Yakyoku" as a single. However, I do like this cover for its tropical lounge arrangement. I wonder if cocktail shakers were used as part of the percussion.
Now the reason that I chose this kayo is that "Ginza Yakyoku" as performed by Hayashi was one of the songs that got onto the very first Kohaku Utagassen（紅白歌合戦）on January 3rd 1951 via NHK Radio. Interestingly enough, Matsushima was also invited onto that 1st edition, but to perform her own contribution. Both singers became quick veterans on the annual special with Hayashi appearing 11 times while Matsushima performed 10 times. Matsushima would release singles well into the 1980s; she passed away in 1996 at the age of 91.
I think that KKP's resident enka/Mood Kayo expert Noelle Tham has been the one to write about Isao Hayashi（林伊佐緒）, although I've also contributed a few articles on his behalf. From Noelle's article on Hayashi's "Mamurogawa Boogie" (真室川ブギ) from 1954, I was struck by the fact that he has been known as Japan's first singer-songwriter, and the song that he provided kayo legend Hachiro Kasuga（春日八郎）in 1964, "Rosario no Shima"（ロザリオの島）, is one of the first and most haunting Japanese pop songs that I'd ever heard. However, despite those years mentioned above, it's important to note that Hayashi had been around as an entertainer since the early 1930s.
Back in October 1950, though, he composed and recorded a somewhat maudlin and moody tune called "Dance Party no Yoru"(The Night of the Dance Party). Paired with lyricist Takao Wada's（和田隆夫）words, Hayashi croons this ballad about meeting a lovely woman in red at the dance hall one night, having a wonderful affair with her, and then having to sadly part permanently for some reason at another dance party. Not only are the horns and strings there, but there is also a jazz clarinet included as a solo which makes it sound as if the song were even older by a couple of decades or so.
In his J-Wiki file, it's noted that Hayashi had his peak songwriting period during those 1950s with songs such as "Dance Party no Yoru" being huge hits for his record label, King Records.
In recent years, I've been made aware of this particular kayo titled "Iyomante no Yoru" (The Night of the Sendoff Ceremony) sung by enka veteran Takashi Hosokawa（細川たかし）. But this isn't an enka song. When I first heard Hosokawa perform it a few years ago, he didn't particularly sing it; it was actually more of a bellowing of what sounded like an incantation for something to happen at that ceremony of the title. It was raw, operatic and the rhythm felt like part of a soundtrack from an old 1940s adventure in Africa. What the heck was "Iyomante no Yoru"?
Well, we have to go all the way back to an old NHK radio drama called "Kane no Naru Oka"（鐘の鳴る丘...The Hill on Which the Bell Tolls） which had been broadcast between the summer of 1947 to the end of 1950. A story by playwright and lyricist Kazuo Kikuta（菊田一夫）, the plot featured a demobilized soldier who ends up living in a communal facility in a mountain village on a hill and becomes well acquainted with some war orphans.
Famed composer Yuuji Koseki（古関裕而）, who had worked with Kikuta before to create "Francesca no Kane"（フランチェスカの鐘）in 1948, came up with "Iyomante no Yoru" as the theme representing the woodsmen in the drama as he improvised something while performing on a Hammond organ. It was originally meant to be performed with just the "Ahhhhh..." bellowing, but singer Hisao Ito（伊藤久男）, who had recorded Koseki's iconic "Eikan wa Kimi ni Kagayaku"（栄冠は君に輝く ）, occasionally listened to "Kane no Naru Oka" and fell in love with "Iyomante no Yoru".
Both Kikuta and Koseki eventually got together with Ito and came up with the revised "Iyomante no Yoru". The lyricist had some experience with Ainu songs so he adapted some of the language of this East Asian ethnic group native to Hokkaido and added it to the lyrics for the song. In fact, the word iyomante is Ainu for a sendoff ceremony. A 45" single was sold in stores as of January 1950.
However, according to the J-Wiki article on "Iyomante no Yoru", despite the Ainu influence in the language, it was found that with the arrangements which included an African tom-tom drum and the fact that in spite of the title hinting at a night ceremony, any actual sendoff ceremonies in Ainu culture were almost always performed in the daytime, there were opinions raised that the song really didn't musically reflect the Ainu.
Another interesting point of trivia found in the J-Wiki article is that the NHK singing program "Nodo Jiman"（のど自慢）during the period of 1950-1952 found almost all of the male contestants asking to sing "Iyomante no Yoru" which put the judges in a bit of a tizzy. During the show in modern times, I've occasionally seen a few guys come up to perform the song, even high school boys.
But it hasn't been just the amateurs tackling the song. A number of singers have covered it, too, including tenor Masafumi Akikawa（秋川雅史）who gained national fame for his rendition of "Sen no Kaze ni Natte"（千の風になって）in 2006, as well as enka singer Aya Shimazu（島津亜矢）. I think with "Iyomante no Yoru", there is probably that "muscularity" in there that has attracted the kayo singers like a workout machine attracting the gym athletes.
A couple of days back, I received a message from a lady in London who was interested in Hibari Misora's（美空ひばり）famous "Kanashii Sake"（悲しい酒）, and so I decided that it was perhaps time to put up another Misora song onto the blog. I was a few lines into "Namida no Beni Bara"（涙の紅バラ）when I realized that I had already written about her 3rd single from March 1950 more than two years ago. I think I did mention about my aging memory last night.
However, I will not be deterred when it comes to the legendary Ms. Misora, so I went to the flip side of "Namida no Beni Bara", which was "Watashi no Boyfriend" (My Boyfriend), a very straight-ahead title. It's that playful mix of jazz and kayowith the nearly 13-year-old Misora singing happily away about her new beau.
What was interesting about Yutaka Kadota's（門田ゆたか）lyrics, though, was the amount of English in there. English has been used tons in Japanese pop music for some decades but I had never really expected it in a Hibari Misorakayo early in the postwar period, but here she is starting the verses off with a "One, two, three, four..." instead of "Ichi, ni, san, shi...". Plus, she refers to her beau as her knight while she herself is the queen; I guess the knight has a bit more of an exciting swagger than a dusty ol' king.
Rokuro Hara（原六朗）, who also composed a few other songs for Misora including the later "O-Matsuri Mambo"（お祭りマンボ）, came up with the swinging melody for her giddy performance. At first, I had assumed that "Watashi no Boyfriend" would be one of those tunes that hadn't been revisited by the singer since it just seemed so...well, kiddy, and it was a song that I had never heard before today, but it looks like even well into adulthood, she could still bring the fun and swing into her performance without sounding corny.
Even though the B-side to her 3rd single may not be a major contribution to her vast discography, "Watashi no Boyfriend" is a pleasant ol' kayo and makes me wonder about a lot of her other "hidden" B-sides and non-single album tracks, especially in the first couple of decades in her career.
Tonight's "Uta Con"（うたコン）, which only finished here a mere 10 minutes ago, took the geographical kayo way outside of Japan to countries like Turkey and even my nation of Canada.
America was also included in the musical whirlwind tour and it was represented by Hamako Watanabe's（渡辺はま子）"San Francisco Chinatown". There were a lot of songs that got my memories going but I never knew the title and the original singer for this number that also sparked my engrams. And what specifically sparked them was the cheerful singing by Watanabe that was almost a yodel.
Released in November 1950, "San Francisco Chinatown" was written by Takao Saeki（佐伯孝夫）and composed by Shunichi Sasaki（佐々木俊一）. And it was a song that was performed by Watanabe on the very first Kohaku Utagassen on January 3rd 1951 when it was only broadcast on NHK Radio. The singer would perform it three more times on the televised versions of the New Year's Eve special in 1956, 1964 and 1973.
I only got to visit San Francisco once in 1990 so far, and although I missed out on getting that wonderful view of the Golden Gate Bridge because of...and it's no surprise...fog, my group and I were able to enjoy a fine dinner in Chinatown. I would proudly put up Toronto's Chinese cuisine against any of the equivalent fare around the world, including that in Hong Kong, but I have to say that dinner in San Francisco that one night was one of my finest culinary experiences ever. I would say more but I don't want to have Larry blush too much.😋
Welcome to March, folks! As is obvious to anyone who has been steadily surviving my articles over the past 5 years, I've enjoyed Japanese music from way back in the late 19th centuryto the present day. Despite all that, though, sometimes I've wondered if cosmic confluences interfered so that I was born a generation too late. To wit, I like watching the old stuff on Turner Movie Classics and some of the old television shows from the 50s and 60s. And of course, I do like my jazz whether it be ragtime or swing or bop.
The above is not jazz, though. It's a pop song by Dinah Shore called "Buttons and Bows" that was first released in November 1947 and was created by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans. I believe I mentioned Dinah before in another article and remarked how much of a regular TV presence she was in my life; in fact, I remembered being surprised to find out that she had been famous as a singer since I had only known her as the congenial talk show host on NBC.
"Buttons and Bows" had that friendly country swing feeling to it bringing back memories of the old days, and it was a huge hit, peaking at No. 1 on Billboard and lasting 24 weeks on the charts. It's been covered by a number of artists including Bob Hope and Bing Crosby (separately).
Now, lest readers suspect that I'm entering my first totally non-kayo kyoku-related entry here, rest easy. And that is because in 1950, a cover was recorded by singer Mariko Ike（池真理子）with the title of "Botan to Ribon" (Buttons and Ribbons). I found the change in title a bit strange because although the lyrics were transmuted into Japanese by lyricist Katsu Suzuki（鈴木勝）who would become Ike's husband for a few years, the original "buttons and bows" phrase would still be in the Japanese version and would even become a popular catchphrase (battenbou...バッテンボー) during that time.
The interesting thing about "Botan to Ribon" is that instead of the slow country swing of the Shore version, the Japanese take was arranged so that it sounded as if it were recorded by an orchestra in the 1930s. As someone who used to watch "The Little Rascals" on TV and remembered some of the background songs of Japanese cover songs that had been played over the speakers at the Mash 4077 on the venerable sitcom (or dramedy) "MASH", I think "Botan to Ribon" would have been on Radar O'Reilly's playlist.
The song was another hit for Ike who had debuted in the late 1940s after graduating from her time with the Takarazuka Troupe. At the time, Japan was riding the wave of American music so with Ike debuting with "Ai no Swing"（愛のスウヰング....Swing of Love）, the Kyoto-born singer was quickly thrust into the limelight as a hit singer being crowned as the Queen of Swing. She also had her time as a regular participant in the early years of the Kohaku Utagassen, having been invited from the 2nd to 8th shows between 1952 and 1957.
The link between Ike and American pop culture didn't end there. Apparently, her nickname was "Ike", pronounced in the English way, a la "I Like Ike", the old Dwight D. Eisenhower campaign slogan.
Japanese music historians were probably popping open the champagne yesterday when they saw the above feature on the NHK prime-time news broadcast as I did. Apparently, a lost movie was re-discovered in a Kobe movie museum of all places. The movie in question titled "Nankai no Jouka"（南海の情火...South Seas Passion） wasn't itself the big find (although it was significant) but the 40-second appearance of a prepubescent Hibari Misora（美空ひばり）in the movie was the huge gold nugget. Strangely no one had any idea that the future legend was in "Nankai no Jouka" although the J-Wiki article on Misora did have the movie and her role in it listed along with the song that she sang, "Namida no Beni Bara" (Red Rose of Tears).
According to the news report, the studio that had produced "Nankai no Jouka" went out of business soon after the movie had been released and so probably aside from its initial run, it was never seen again in public. However, I'm sure the song has popped up here and there in the media and certainly since it was sold as a single, many Hibari fans have heard it over the decades through records, audiotapes, CDs and perhaps even downloaded MP3s. But the main point is that the movie that had featured the song, however briefly, has been re-found after 60 years. The song, by the way, was written by Yashio Okuno（奥野椰子夫）and composed by Takio Niki（仁木他喜雄）...had to dig into Misora's website to find that out and then figure out how their kanji were read.
Misora had been featured in film before this particular movie, most notably in "Kanashiki Kuchibue"（悲しき口笛）in 1949, and then soon after "Nankai no Jouka", she hit it big with "Tokyo Kid"（東京キッド）so perhaps for a lot of folks who are not fans of the late singer and actress, they may be wondering what the big fuss is all about. Well, speaking as someone who is also not a die-hard fan but still enjoys a number of her songs, I gather that any discovery of long-lost paraphernalia related to Misora this far into the 21st century is worthy of a news feature. Such was the power of this lady who only stood 153 cm but managed to terrify many a fellow singer with her presence.
One of us will probably devote an article on the new NHK kayo/J-Pop show "Utakon"（うたコン）sometime in the near future. I've just seen the second episode of the show which replaced the long-running "Kayo Concert"（歌謡コンサート）this month, and the new kid on the block has definitely been shifting things to include some more of the J-Pop. I've got no problems with the new format per se although a couple of slip-ups did pop up in last night's sophomore outing such as Hiroshi Miyama（三山ひろし）missing out on one line in his first song and Toko Furuuchi（古内東子）giving a surprisingly subpar performance of her arguably most famous song "Dare Yori Suki Nanoni"（誰より好きなのに）. I continued to be surprised about who showed up and Toko, who I had never seen appear on a TV show, was one of the biggies but then was given another (unfortunate) surprise when she sounded off-tune during her performance. Generally speaking, I think "Utakon" is still going through some growing pains but I'm hopeful that things will become a well-oiled machine bringing the generations together every Tuesday.
One of the highlights from last night's show was "Hoshikage no Komichi" which translates into the romantic Starlight Lane. I remember it primarily for the words of "I love you, I love you..." which I had originally thought was just part of an elaborate commercial jingle for one of those Kirin drinks. But when I heard Risa Junna（純名里沙）perform it on the NHK stage, those famous words juggled those old memory engrams and it was then that I found out about how long ago "Hoshikage no Komichi" had been created.
Written by Ryo Yano（矢野亮）and composed by Ichiro Tone（利根一郎）for release in April 1950, the original version has that "Wah, wah, wah" ballad sound which I've associated with the sweet music sung by crooners back in the early half of the 20th century. In fact, according to the J-Wiki article on the song, composer Tone molded "Hoshikage no Komichi" to have Minoru Obata's（小畑実）distinct voice reflect more of a Bing Crosby delivery, although Der Bingle had that deeper baritone. And what I also found out was that during an age when the usage of English lyrics was rare in a kayo kyoku, Obata's crooning of "I love you" became quite the talk of the town after the single's release. The talk of the town translated into sales of 200,000 copies...a huge hit no matter the decade.
(karaoke version)
Over 40 years later in December 1992, Naomi Chiaki（ちあきなおみ）very briefly came out of her retirement from the music industry to record her version of "Hoshikage no Komichi". And speaking of Minoru Obata, Chiaki is another balladeer with a unique set of vocal cords. Those dulcet tones of hers approaching the more smooth jazz/Latin arrangement make for a nice little urban lullaby. However, Yano's lyrics deal about that cool nighttime stroll down a lane for a couple very much in love.
(Sorry but the video has been taken down)
"Hoshikage no Komichi" has become a kayo standard considering the number of other singers who have covered it such as UA (below) and Frank Nagai（フランク永井）. The above is Midori Karashima's（辛島美登里）version which was recorded onto her 2001 album"Eternal-One". At the same time, the song has become a favourite in advertisements. Not only has it been used for those Kirin products, but it was once used in 1985 to hawk instant coffee and in 1992 for Audi.
This was a song that has popped up on NHK's"Kayo Concert" a couple of times including the previous episode last night (so glad that it's back)...and no surprise; it just seems to be tailor-made to be performed on stage.
"Kaimono Boogie" (Grocery Shopping Boogie) is a rapid-fire report on the craziness of doing the daily shopping by kayo boogie queen Shizuko Kasagi（笠置シヅ子）. Written and composed by Ryoichi Hattori（服部良一）in June 1950 for some Nichigeki revue show (ah, no wonder it's great on stage), the song gained a great reputation so it got its own single release. I think Kasagi was definitely the big factor here as she sings out the role of a harried-but-tough-as-nails housewife hitting the fish market and fruits-and-vegetable shop while bantering about in the Osakan dialect non-stop...and if there's a group of people who can talk and shop at the same time, it's the Osakans. There was no Oricon at the time (and there wouldn't be for the better part of a couple of decades), but I can only wonder how it would have done on the charts since "Kaimono Boogie" managed to sell about 450,000 records.
As I've said before, nostalgia has had a huge hand in Japanese pop culture, and when something as snappy as "Kaimono Boogie" is created, it's pretty much rendered immortal. So unsurprisingly, the 1950 song has been covered by a number of artists including Osaka-born UA for her 2010 album"KABA". Here she is performing it on stage.
(Sorry but the video has been taken down.)
Glad to see you again, Sachiko Kobayashi（小林幸子）. She was actually on Tuesday night's "Kayo Concert", and this is her performing "Kaimono Boogie" on stage with all of the trappings of mid-Showa Era living. I'd say that it was a tribute to Kasagi when she performed it as part of the stage show, and Kobayashi plays it up to the hammy hilt. It would be nice if she could come back to the Kohaku Utagassen to act out something like this on the Shibuya stage and leave the planet-sized costumes to posterity.
One of my supermarkets in the neighbourhood: Y's Mart.
Good ol' Minami-Gyotoku was truly blessed with no less than
4 supermarkets and a good sprinkling of convenience stores.
Not too long ago, I managed to find this video that had Makoto Fujita (藤田まこと) making a guest appearance on Yoshio Tabata's (田端義夫) concert, or at least that's what it looked like. While the one above only shows the tail end of that meeting, the full version had the two late veterans discussing about the upcoming song. Fujita was saying that he had done an impression of Batayan in his younger days, or at least something on that line, and the song he sang while doing so was none other than "Ame no Yatai". That was followed by the both of them singing this very song, Fujita taking the lead and demonstrating his decent interpretation of the electric guitarist's quivering vocal delivery, and later joined by Tabata himself. And just as much as I was enthralled by these old-timers - well, not really... yet - performing side by side, I enjoyed "Ame no Yatai".
Listening to what I thought was the original recording of "Ame no Yatai" in the video here, it sounded like a fun little ditty with it's happy-go-lucky, jolly score that brings the image of someone skipping along the streets in a carefree manner under the pouring rain. The metallic notes from the electric guitar, the strings, and the breezy way Batayan's high voice bounces (for want of a better description) over the words really makes this newer version - as I had later learnt - of "Ame no Yatai" sound like one of those stereotypical tunes that you'd hear coming out from ancient gramophones when one of these contraptions is depicted in some modern day show.
Scratchy...
As for the original from 1950, it's a lot slower in pace and it actually sounds a little more on the forlorn side. So rather than skipping and reveling in the rain, our lead is probably sitting at home or at a bar and looking out of the water-streaked windows and musing at the fact that its pouring out there again. I prefer the new version of "Ame no Yatai", it's more amusing to listen to.
Before I forget, "Ame no Yatai" was written by lyricist Ryo Yano (矢野亮), who had also penned a number of songs for enka oldies like Hachiro Kasuga (春日八郎) and Michiya Mihashi (三橋美智也). And the music was composed by Ichiro Tone (利根一郎).
www.teichiku.co.jp
Hmm, I'm starting to like Batayan quite a bit... wonder if it's his distinctive vocal delivery or the weird way he always plays his guitar.
Can't believe this is my first entry for the year 1950. I also can't believe it's been a year since I wrote a Hibari Misora（美空ひばり）article regarding the anniversary of her passing. For that one, it was on "Kanashiki Kuchibue"（悲しき口笛）, the somewhat melancholy ballad featuring a 12-year-old Misora in that iconic tux and tails.
Well, tomorrow will be the 26th anniversary so of course, NHK's "Kayo Concert"（歌謡コンサート）did their tribute to the Grand Dame of Kayo Kyoku tonight via TV Japan, and one of the guests performed another really early Misora classic, "Tokyo Kid". Released in July 1950, just like "Kanashiki Kuchibue", this song was also created by Ko Fujiura and Tadashi Manjome（藤浦洸・万城目正）, and there was a movie with the same title attached to it starring Misora which came out later that year in September.
Instead of the formal tux, though, the 13-year-old Misora was clad as a regular kid trying to make some yen (or sen) in the shoeshining business. And the kid sang something that was quite a bit more starry-eyed and hopeful. Listening to the song, I just thought that this would have been a song that perhaps a vaudeville moppet would have trilled a couple of decades earlier when the Great Depression occurred. The early years of the postwar era were uncertain ones for Japan but I think they were also ones in which people had some image of light at the end of that dark tunnel, and maybe "Tokyo Kid" and the Tokyo Kid were reflections of that feeling. I was especially drawn to that one line in the song: "Dreams in my right pocket, some chewing gum in my left pocket". I could imagine her looking optimistically up at the new buildings going up and determining that she'll be at the top of one of them someday.
