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.
Welcome to a steamy Sunday in the Greater Toronto Area. I think you have probably read me referring to Yasushi Akimoto's（秋元康）harem of aidoru groups such as AKB 48 as the Alphabet Aidoru. Well, today to start this broadcasting day on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", I'll be providing some Alphabet Songs through their titles.
There's something here that is almost downright "Jeopardy" about this selection. I'll take Alphabet Songs for $200, Alex!
I was just posting about Fujimal Yoshino's（芳野藤丸）50th anniversary in the music business with his "50/50 Fifty-Fifty" this past weekend, and now I'm additionally happy to hear about an earlier milestone.
One of Yoshino's old bands, AB'S, with Makoto Matsushita（松下誠）and Yoshihiko Ando（安藤芳彦）, brought out their 7th album, logically titled "AB'S-7", in September 2020. Listening to one of the tracks, "Stay in the Night", it sounds as if they had never left the 1980s. Written by Ando and composed by Yoshino, the song is an elegant form of City Pop as the video shows those sky-high evening shots above the metropolis. The vocals come across a bit more gruffly and gravelly but I think that adds more character although maybe the gang probably needed some Sucrets after recording.
The last time that I wrote about the supergroup AB'S, it was back on Christmas Day 2020 for the smoothly sung "By the End of the Century", the first track from their third album"AB'S-3" released in February 1985. Reviewing some of their discography as recorded by Fujimal Yoshino（芳野藤丸）, Makoto Matsushita（松下誠）and Naoki Watanabe（渡辺直樹）and the others, I'm starting to get that hankering for more of their work since I just have their first album"AB'S".
Well, a little over a year later, I have another track from "AB'S-3". "Borderline" has nothing to do with the early Madonna hit (which has been covered in a ROY article), but indeed it's another ear-catching track by the guys.
Lyrics were provided by Gregory Starr and the melody may have been provided by bassist Watanabe, but man, it's the guy who was behind the keyboards (including one honky tonk piano) that nearly stole the show right from the beginning. Vocalist Yoshino does his usual smooth-as-butter delivery with some lovely harmonic help and then I also hear that great electric guitar. At the very end, that same keyboardist (not sure whether it's Yoshihiko Ando（安藤芳彦）or Hidetoshi Yamada（山田秀俊）), goes absolutely nuts on the keys. Would love to have seen a concert version of this.
Musically speaking, whenever I hear or see that expression which is in the title of this song by AB'S, "By the End of the Century", my mind wanders over to Donald Fagen's"I.G.Y. (What A Beautiful World)" and the singer's supposedly snarky opinions on what the future will bring (personally, I still think it's a wonderful thought).
When I was an elementary school student back in the inner city of Toronto, St. James Town, there was a book in the library there that I signed out at least a few times. It had the title "Automobiles of the Future" and it was written by Irwin Stambler. I was absolutely fascinated by his images of what cars would look like in the future but looking at them now, I can say that those amazing conveyances reflect more of the retro-future. Still, they are interesting to look at and although the book hasn't been put up in YouTube form, I did find this video by uploader TwoBrokeGuyz illustrating this very topic.
Getting back to AB'S"By the End of the Century", this was the first track on the band's "AB'S-3" released in February 1985. Written by Yoshihiko Ando（安藤芳彦）and composed by Fujimal Yoshino（芳野藤丸）, I'm assuming that this is the smooth-sounding Yoshino as the vocalist. It is what I've come to expect of the AB'S sound: the combination of percussion and guitars for that funkiness and those smooth vocals (it sounds like I'm describing some dark rum here), but this time, there is also that underlying synthesizer that brings in that subtle hint of technopop as if to emphasize what the title is all about.
Well, self-driving cars are just beginning to rear their AI heads. Let's see what the 2020s will bring.
Can't quite believe it's been over a year since I put up my last article on that really cool band of the 1980s, AB'S.
Well, I found another slick number by the group titled "Correspondence" from their 2nd album, logically titled "AB'S-2" from January 1984. Yup, it's got that urban contemporary feeling in there but with that relentless guitar plucking, I also got rather nostalgic for some of the Western pop hits of the time such as John Waite's"Missing You".
Written by band keyboardist Yoshihiko Ando（安藤芳彦）and composed by guitarist Makoto Matsushita（松下誠）who is unmistakably on vocals, I don't think AB'S ever did a music video for "Correspondence" (or perhaps any of their other material...not sure), but considering the title, I could imagine the band members playing make-believe as spies and counterspies as they skulk through the old buildings and dark alleys. Well, it's an idea anyways.
Another groovy track from "Light Mellow: Drive", you folks must have known that I had been waiting for a Friday night to put this one on.
So, why not start tonight's round of "Kayo Kyoku Plus" with a City Pop number that is titled "Friday Night". Performed and composed by singer-songwriter Toshikazu Miura（三浦年一）under his nom de plume, M. TOSIKAZ, this was originally from his lone 1983 album"M. TOSIKAZ I", and it has that hearty strut-and-shuffle arrangement by Naoki Watanabe（渡辺直樹）who was part of Spectrum and AB'S. Lyrics were provided by Yuuji Sato（佐藤雄次）.
In fact, all of AB'S was there in the recording booth helping M. out. Yup, AB'S' Makoto Matsushita（松下誠）, Fujimal Yoshino（芳野藤丸）, Hidetoshi Yamada（山田秀俊）, Atsuo Okamoto（岡本郭男）along with Watanabe and a few others backed him up here. Even M's old bandmate from Orange, Kyoko Omiya（大宮京子）was assisting on backup vocals. Not sure if "Friday Night" would be an ideal theme for Friday nights inShibuya or Roppongi in 2019, but perhaps back in 1983, this would have made for a really nice musical accompaniment with the horns as a nice gang of workers after work decide to paint the town aka.
Miura may have only had the one album but since then, he's provided music for a lot of other artists ranging from Miho Nakayama（中山美穂）to Mariko Takahashi（高橋真梨子）. Plus, he's also contributed to movie soundtracks and anime.
With the summer weather here in Toronto, I hope that a lot of you are enjoying those beers and cocktails out on the patios everywhere.
Gotta admit that this is one strange if cool animal by the amazing AB'S. The uploader for this video categorized it as "Comedy", and to be honest, there is a somewhat hilarious element in the lyrics by Gregory Starr. I mean, the refrain in "CIA" sounds almost like a schoolyard chant making fun of the two most famous intelligence agencies on the planet, although the rest of the words takes on a serious air of suspense.
And yet, Fujimal Yoshino（芳野藤丸）has produced one heavy-duty City Pop melody for this track on AB'S' 3rd album"AB'S-3" from 1985. It's car drive-friendly and good golly, that bass is killer along with the following guitar solo. An agent who's into this Japanese urban contemporary genre will probably want to have this in his/her collection as much as a good hand-held computer (apparently most CIA employees aren't issued guns). I would be willing to get the album just for "CIA" alone although the song also came out as a 12" single. And apparently, the song was also used on a Fuji tape cassette commercial (and not microdots).
My last line for the article on City Poppin' band AB'S'"In The City Night" was, and I quote, "Another potential purchase on the list." Well, you can take strike off every word in that sentence except for one and add a past tense ending to it...namely "purchased". Yup, charmed by that one track and the fact that AB'S is chock-filled with City Pop veterans including guitarists Fujimal Yoshino（芳野藤丸）and Makoto Matsushita（松下誠）, I bought the album that "In The City Night" came from, "AB'S".
Released in 1983 as their inaugural album, I quickly found "AB'S" to be an instant keeper among the other albums that I bought in my mid-year spending spree. One track that has quickly latched onto my brain is "Dee-Dee-Phone" which seems to be a master class in wailing guitar and percolating bass thanks to bassist Naoki Watanabe's（渡辺直樹）music against the backdrop of keyboardist Yoshihiko Ando's（安藤芳彦）lyrics of being beware of a very intimidating woman. The harmony is wonderful, especially when the guys do their "dee-dee-dee"s. The whole song makes me wonder what it must have been like in Tokyo in the early 1980s, and I think it still would have play as the accompanying tune for a drive on The Bayside Highway.
"Girl" was actually the first single that AB'S ever released, and Yoshino was responsible for the music along with Ando's lyrics. There is something rather 1970s with the arrangement and the harmonies come into play here as well. With the CD version, the single version has been added onto the album take, and the above is the former. As for what the song is about, it's theme is one of heartbreak and deciding never to fall in love again.
On Side B of the original "Girl" single is "Django" which once again is characterized by another percolating guitar riff. This time, it's Matsushita who comes up with the melodic goods as Ando talks about a night on the town. I had no idea where they came up with the title since I don't think there is anything in the song that has to do with the famous Gypsy Jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt. However, I found out on the J-Wiki article for the band that "Django" was actually the theme song for TBS radio program "Sound Storm Django"（サウンドストームDJANGO）which had a short run between August 1982 and March 1983. Like its Side A, both the single and album versions for "Django" are included on the CD.
My last track for this article, "Fill The Sail", is another Yoshino/Ando collaboration inviting that lucky lady to join a guy for some fun by the sea. Probably for that reason, I would perhaps categorize it as a J-AOR tune but only partially, since at certain parts, the song veers into funky territory...almost as if the band, the woman and some other groupies decided to have a dance session on that sloop. The guitars also remind me a fair bit of Yoshino's time with 70s band SHOGUN.
"AB'S" is another fine addition to the City Pop collection. Strangely enough, I made the "mistake" of viewing YouTube videos of future cities right after listening to "In The City Night", and now I can't help but think of cool futuristic metropolises when it comes to this album. Good news, though, is that AB'S have made 5 more original albums besides this one up to 2007 along with their combination of singles, a mini-album and a BEST album.
I realize that I should have put these guys up sooner considering their individual pedigree but, hey, better late than never.
For those City Poppers, AB'S is the equivalent of a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup (for those who love the classic chocolate confection) since it has Fujimal Yoshino and Makoto Matsushita（芳野藤丸・松下誠）, two guitarists and singers who are well known within the City Pop/J-AOR genre and who have some good representation in "Kayo Kyoku Plus". I've also come across their albums in my personal music bible "Japanese City Pop" but it's only been now that I am putting this first entry up.
"In The City Night" is a track from the band's self-titled debut album released in 1983. Lots of thumpy bass and guitars to go with the smooth vocals. The song was written by AB'S keyboardist Yoshihiko Ando（安藤芳彦）and composed by drummer Atsuo Okamoto（岡本郭男）who was Yoshino's bandmate from his old unit SHOGUN back in the 1970s.
I was wondering for the longest time about how the band got its name. Apparently it has all to do with blood types which is a huge deal in Japanese society since a person's personality can be determined (not particularly my opinion) by the type of blood one has. In the case of AB'S, Yoshino, Matsushita and bassist Naoki Watanabe（渡辺直樹）all have Type AB while Ando and Okamoto have Type A.
