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.
A few nights ago, I was wondering about all-night radio after having taken another look back at my article on my fantasy radio show. I then punched in "All-Night Radio" into the YouTube search engine. I'd been expecting at least a few excerpts on how the DJs sounded back then on their midnight-6 am shows, but I got nothing. Instead, though, I did get a lot of videos featuring singer-songwriter Ado and something "All-Night Radio".
Well, this was interesting, I thought. Up to now, I've always seen her as the enigmatic rock chanteuse who can soar up and down the vocal range like an express elevator powered by a ramjet. But with "All-Night Radio", which was released as her October 2023 single, it actually sounded like a very perky and upbeat pop tune that was ready-made for radio. In fact, it came across as a disco-inflected Neo-City Pop song that could have a lot of nightcrawlers cheerfully turning up that dial. Mind you, it may be a little too upbeat for the beginning or middle of a 6-hour all-night broadcast. Perhaps this could be the song to finish it off just when the sun peeks over the horizon in the morning.
Created by Mitchie M., "All-Night Radio" was used as the theme song for some sort of stage play on the Nippon Broadcasting System radio station, and its lyrics happen to be about getting ready for that radio show. There's even a shoutout to Mood Kayoand Frank Nagai（フランク永井）. The song reached No. 12 on Oricon.
Recently, when I hear the words "cat's eye", my short-term memories tend to dig up one notorious scene from "Alien: Earth". Therefore, especially for lovers of the feline, I consider the above video to be viewers' discretion advised.
However, in a far less gory example, I'm happy to hear that an anime remake of the original 1983 anime of "Cat's Eye" has been made and is now showing as of this month via Disney Plus. So, fans can once more marvel and gawk at the Sisters Kisugi: Hitomi, Rui and Ai as they pull off their derring-do art heists.
Of course, that also means we gotta have the original theme song "Cat's Eye" along for the ride. Used as the ending theme for the current incarnation of the series, I remember the song as the first Anri（杏里）tune that I had ever heard and that was on her appearance on the 1983 Kohaku Utagassen. Didn't know what the song's significance was at the time; I only knew it as one dynamic performance by the tropical looking Eiko Kawashima（川嶋栄子）.
This time around, "Cat's Eye" has been recorded by another female professional mononymed singer whose name starts with the letter "A". Ado, who was first brought aboard KKP by Joana, has been quite the cat's meow for the past few years due to her huge vocal range and her mysterious countenance, and perhaps that is why she was asked to perform this anison classic. The new version has a bit more sophistication thanks to those strings and some more oomph due to the rock guitar. But it's obviously still Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子）and Yuuichiro Oda（小田祐一郎）behind words and music respectively.
As someone who has strayed away a bit from J-idols compared to the past, there are not that many songs from that genre on repeat for me these days. I find myself going back more to older idols like my usual Akina, Wink, Yuki Saito and Miporin fare. There are, of course, exceptions to the rule.
I still do sometimes venture into the "100 Latest Japanese Idol Songs" playlist on YouTube, which I have been following for years at this point, and each time add a couple songs into my playlist. One of these times, I stumbled upon this one music video from a group which I hadn't yet heard about, but I noticed it had a significant number of views.
It was this music video for "Kimi to XXXX Shitai dake" (キミと✕✕✕✕したいだけ) by idol group Phantom Siita (ファントムシータ), the second single release for the group. Anyone who is not familiar with this group probably has heard of producer Ado, one of the most influential Japanese artists of the last couple of years. A few seconds into this song, it's already noticeable how distinct the singing style is, very much resembling Ado's.
However, what really shines to me about this song is the instrumental. Phantom Siita's concept is "retro horror" and it sounds as retro as you can get, especially the intro, which hits you like crazy. My first thought was how much this sounds like Akina's "I MISSED THE SHOCK" with all the orchestra beats and strings. The following notes sound somewhat more modern, the short beats and repeating words, with the chorus tying everything together, being insanely catchy and leaning into the "horror" part of the concept with the wordplay around "chu" (kiss) and "chi" (blood). The song was composed and written by Kikuo (きくお), a well-known Vocaloid producer, and the group has been collaborating with different artists for each of their songs.
Phantom Siita, composed of members Mona, Miu, Rinka, Hisui and Moka, released their first single only June this year and is already very successful. They have been showing up on variety shows as a sort of "face" to Ado, whose appearance remains hidden in the shadows. They are lining up for their first album release later this month, as well as a Budokan concert.
This kind of "retro horror" concept has been a longtime preference of mine, as one of my favorite idol groups is the three-member group Wyenra (ゑんら). Being self-produced, they have unfortunately always remained in the more underground scene and I remember them having financial difficulties at points, which always had me wishing they could receive their big break or the kind of backing Phantom Siita has for a similar concept. Another underground group with this kind of vibe is Jyujyu (じゅじゅ), leaning more into a gothic visual, which "Kimi to XXXX Shitai dake" is very much about. I thought they had disbanded, but found out while researching for this post that the group restarted only one month after Phantom Siita's debut.
There is still a couple of months left until the end of 2024, but this song by Phantom Siita is probably my personal favorite of the year. It's just right up my alley, connecting the past and the present of Japanese music and visuals with the big wrapping bow of idols.
