Chage and Aska -- LOVE SONG

It's been a couple of weeks since my internship at AVA has ended, and while I'm definitely glad that I don't have to do anymore live fish experiments - the fishes' fate was usually grim, so I didn't enjoy it - I can't help but miss some of the people from there. There's this chatty middle-aged gentleman whose hobby seems to be treating everyone and anyone to (especially) food; there's the elderly, Sudoku-loving lady who tried to help me in every way she could experiment-wise... And then there's this nutso Nishikigoi maniac who loves harassing me at any given point of the working day. For easy reference I shall call him Mr. J.

Indulgence Part I: Birthday cake. It's
corn flavoured. Weird, but it was good.

The latter sounds like quite a nightmare compared to the first two, and believe me, he kinda did drive me up the wall during the first couple of weeks. However, after settling in and getting used to Mr. J's lighthearted brand of madness/chaos, I got to see the softer and caring side of him. I think we hit it off well as he was willing to share stuff regarding his passion for Koi fish and dogs, and in turn it made me comfortable enough to share about my interest in enka and my "Japanese old men", something I don't really like to do outside this blog. When I hit a wall in my experiments or admin work, Mr. J would usually be the one to help me work around it; and when I got stuck in a pit of misery (partially self-dug) after getting harassed (this one's in a bad way) by the ever absent supervisor, he'd be the one to haul me out. To top it off he's got an indulgent streak that often brought unexpected but delightful surprises. He was able to bring out my happy side, which is by no means an easy feat.

With all that he had done, I knew halfway through the attachment that I was going to do an article on KKP to dedicate something to Mr. J as one way of thanks. But the thing was figuring out what song or what bit of a song should best summarize what I had been wanting to convey. Eventually, I picked Chage and Aska's "LOVE SONG". Now, let me make it clear that although "LOVE SONG" is easily one of C&A's romantic ballads, that's definitely not what I mean. So why did I pick it? Well, firstly, I'd think he'd find this mellow J-pop piece fronted by the familiar vocals of Aska to be easy on the ears, as compared to the Mood Kayo that was my other choice. Secondly, a few lines written by Aska (he did the melody too) resonated with me, the first of which being:

Kimi ni deai honoka ni koi wo shite

Nagai aida uchiakerarezuni 

Those are the classic tropes of a romantic movie: The protagonist falls in love with this special one when they meet for the first time, but is unable to confess. It's only after a long period of time when he plucks up the courage to profess his feelings for her. Good story material right there. In my case, it was more of being surprised at how easily I could converse with Mr. J at the start. Then, as time went by and aforementioned the events happened (post chaos), the urge to tell him how much I appreciated his efforts was strong but I kept saving it till the last few weeks because... it would've been awkward otherwise... ... 

Anyway, the other line that caught my attention was the one that ultimately decided which tune I was to choose. It also happens to be my favourite line from "LOVE SONG":

Kimi ga omou yorimo boku wa kimi ga suki

I am really bad at expressing my feelings in the real world so I tend to come across as rather aloof or shake things off easily even though I feel the opposite. This line, which means "I like you more than you think I do", aptly represents that. I very much enjoyed Mr. J's wacky company and the horribly funny inside jokes we had. Dang, he really is the uncle I wished I had.

Okay, that's enough sentimentality to last my entire lifetime - let's move on to the stats for "LOVE SONG". It originally came out in 21st June 1989 as C&A's 24th single. At that time, it fared respectably on the Oricon charts by placing 20th on the weeklies. A few years later on 25th March 1992, during the band's heyday, it was re-released with another late-blooming hit, "WALK", and their best selling album to date, "SUPER BEST II", where both songs were included. It was then when "LOVE SONG" managed to peak at 1st place on the weeklies, became a certified Platinum Record, and was one of the works that allowed the duo to win "Artist of the Year" for the second time in 1993. 

Another thing I read on the J-Wiki was that the working title for "LOVE SONG" was "SOUL". The latter sounds more interesting, but perhaps it wasn't as direct/simple as the former and as a result may not have been as attractive, hence the change?

Aska's new version.

Aska himself did a self-cover of "LOVE SONG" in 2010 and is a track in his album "12", where he covered twelve C&A songs. His new rendition has got a more upbeat and modern rock vibe to it which I find quite refreshing.

"LOVE SONG" is at the 1:06 mark.

As for other covers, one that I was surprised but glad to find was by Naoya Urata (浦田直也), the leader of the song-dance unit AAA. Released in his cover album "UNCHANGED" from 2013, his version is smooth with a R&B vein, his falsetto almost sounds like Aska's own delivery at times. I think he did a pretty good job with "LOVE SONG".

Indulgence Part II: Arnie the mastiff. My best
friend from a dragon fish farm.

"You are horribly (that and/or other exaggerated adjectives) spoiled rotten..."

"Says the one who's spoiling me right now."

AAA -- NEW

I didn't think I would ever write an article about the group AAA but I just found their latest single from June 2016, "NEW", pretty catchy when I first heard it on an episode of "Uta Kon"（うたコン）a few weeks ago. For me, it was the drums that made it an earworm for me.

"NEW" is their 51st single. I've seen this group of 7 men and women on a number of music shows including the Kohaku Utagassen but wasn't aware that they have been around for over 10 years. And to be honest, when I first heard of these folks, I kept thinking about that other Triple-A in America where the tow truck comes to your aid. I think it's safe to say that any of the members would look a whole lot prettier than the average tow truck driver.

The song was written by Takaki Mizoguchi（溝口貴紀）and composed by Atsushi Sato（佐藤あつし）with the rap part taken care of by one of the members, Mitsuhiro Hidaka（日高光啓）. It reached as high as No. 3 on Oricon. It has also been used as a campaign song for Sprite, and AAA is even seen in the music video that was filmed in Los Angeles knocking back some of the stuff. My uncle in Osaka was a huge fan of the drink and he got me hooked on it as well.

AAA -- Koi Oto to Amazora (恋音と雨空)

Oooooh, it's pronounced as Triple A not A-A-A. Triple A definitely has a better ring to it.

When I did my article on my views of the 66th Kohaku, I mentioned that there were a few non-enka acts that managed to gain my approval, otherwise known as not completely ignore/zone out during their performances. Some of those included were Gen Hoshino, EXILE, and AAA. At that time, while I was familiar with the first two, I couldn't say the same for the latter who appeared on the Red team as a group with seven members (two ladies and five gentlemen), so it was nice that they sang something that was easy on my ears. They seemed like an aidoru group at first glance, but somehow they didn't give off that aidoru feel and look. I thought they looked pretty slick in their red suits (if I'm not wrong).

AAA's song of choice that night was "Koi Oto to Amazora", and though I couldn't really recall how it went after the entire year-end sh-bang I managed to keep in mind that I should revisit it sometime. That "sometime" happened to be just a few days ago when I got reminded of it via a karaoke video of it on YouTube's suggestion corner.

Wow, hipster fashion!

I'd describe "Koi Oto to Amazora" as one smooth tune to listen to, from the delivery of all the members to the melody. What I like best about the music is this flute-like sound effect that's probably from the synths as it gives an element of fun, plus I can imagine rain falling from a somewhat cloudy and grey sky when hearing it. A cool, modern edge is also added by that nice beat and a rapping portion about midway through. Yosuke Okamura (岡村洋佑) was responsible for the lyrics and music, and Mitsuhiro Hidaka (日高光啓) did the rap lyrics - he's the one who does the rapping too. It's just the kind of song that'll be great accompanied by members' dance moves... But I do find one part of their choreography where they look like they're holding up a serving tray to be rather odd, for want of a better word. That aside, I'm glad I managed to keep "Koi Oto to Amazora" in mind after that Kohaku appearance as I don't think I would have found this gem otherwise.

"Koi Oto to Amazora" was AAA's 38th single released on 4th September 2013. Not surprising that it ranked high on the charts, peaking at 3rd place on the Oricon weeklies, and it became a certified Platinum record, and allowed the group to bag the "Outstanding Work Award" at the 55th Japan Record Awards. So besides 2015's edition of the Kohaku, AAA had performed "Koi Oto to Amazora" during their 4th appearance out of 6 in 2013.

amazon.co.jp

To round off the article, here's a little background on this band. Formed in 2005, AAA, or Attack All Around - probably because the members were trained to tackle all sorts of stuff in the world of entertainment, like singing, acting, and dancing - was supposed to only have six people which included Takahiro "Nissy"  Nishijima (西島隆弘), Misako Uno (宇野実彩子), Naoya Urata (浦田直也) as the leader, the aforementioned Hidaka, Shinjiro Atae (與真司郎), and Shuta Sueyoshi (末吉秀太). But it was later decided by their company, Avex, that Yukari Goto (後藤友香里) and Chiaki Ito (伊藤千晃) should be added. AAA then debuted on 14th September that year with "Blood on Fire", which was the theme song to the "Initial D" the live action movie. Two years later, Goto decided to leave the group and from then on the group remained as what you see now.