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.
Just for the record, the above YouTube video comes from the channel Going Awesome Places with Will Tang and he's showing off some of the wonderful things to do in Alberta's Banff and Lake Louise, a place that I got to visit all the way back in 1990.
I mentioned in a recent Xmas-based article on KKP that not all Canadians want to celebrate the Holidays in their own country. Perhaps it's something about the fact that walking daily in a winter wonderland with the temperature at a slightly cool -280 degrees and the winds coming in at a breezy Mach 2 might not be the most enjoyable environment. 🧊🥶
I know that folks do like to head down south for days, weeks and even months at a time but I wanted to sate my curiosity about where Canadians like to go during winter once and for all. And I was surprised to find out that at least some of my fellow countrymen do like to keep things within the Great White North while others do desire something more tropical. As such, possessing that whimsical nature which often powers my Author's Picks, I've come up with five destinations while providing the appropriate songs to accompany them.
(1967) Jackey Yoshikawa and His Blue Comets -- Blue Chateau（ブルー・シャトウ）
Yes, I can understand their confusion. The legendary Swiss marksman William Tell and the legendary Lone Ranger John Reid are probably wondering what the deal is regarding their joint iconic theme song.
But let's provide some of that Reminiscings of Youth context first. I remember this one song popping up in a number of Warner Bros. cartoons, especially when there is a chase scene involving horses and Westerns. It grew on me very quickly because I thought it was of those rousing songs that fairly screamed "Time to save the day!". Just wanted to jump onto that steed right then and there.
(1:33:37)
And then, I found out that it had made its leap to the live-action screen via Bob Hope's "Call Me Bwana" from 1963. I remember having a good belly laugh when the rocket launched.
Not long afterwards, I realized that this was the theme song for "The Lone Ranger" that had its run on ABC TV from 1949 to 1957 but also previously on radio. So, it wasn't only "Time to save the day!", but "Hi Ho, Silver!".
However, I also got confused because I would eventually discover that the famous song wasn't called "The Lone Ranger Theme" but the "William Tell Overture". Wait! Wasn't William Tell the archer who shot the apple off of his son's head? Well, why would a cool cowboy hero theme be named after a bowman from centuries previously?
As it turns out, the reason is that the "William Tell Overture" actually made its presence known all the way back in 1829 when its composer, Gioachino Rossini, had created it for his opera "William Tell" based on the William Schiller play "William Tell" from 1804 based on the exploits of the famed archer. The overture was divided into four parts of which the finale "March of the Swiss Soldiers" makes up the famous theme for the Lone Ranger. The more you know, huh?
I have to admit that Hans Zimmer added some kickass booster engines to his take on the theme as part of the soundtrack for Gore Verbinski's 2013 motion picture take on The Lone Ranger. That scene with the train when the theme kicked in was probably what almost saved the picture.
Now, the Japanese pop culture angle on this is that I also remember the "William Tell Overture" being used for the 1981 Fuji-TV comedy-variety show "Oretachi Hyokinzoku" (オレたちひょうきん族....We Are The Wild and Crazy Guys) that loved to break all the rules. The show had its City Pop ending themes by EPO, her version of "Downtown" and then "Doyou no Yoru wa Paradise" (土曜の夜はパラダイス）. However, for the opening theme, it was the overture to prepare all viewers for one heck of a comedy trip.
I wonder how Rossini might be feeling from elsewhere looking down on how adaptable his composition has become in the centuries since.
Well, then, "Oretachi Hyokinzoku" premiered on May 16th 1981. So, what was on top of the charts on May 18th that year? I'll give you Nos. 1, 2 and 5.
I enjoy getting a little surprise in the form of yet another new discovery from a singer that I've always liked. Actor-singer Akira Terao（寺尾聡）has been someone that I've covered since the earliest days of the blog starting with his No. 1 "Reflections" album and his City Pop entries are very much cherished by me.
Well, whaddaya know? I found this one for the first time in his discography. "Long Distance Call" just happened to be Terao's 6th single from December 1982, and the same team who was helping out the singer-songwriter on "Reflections" gave their contributions here, too: lyricist Masako Arikawa（有川正沙子）and arranger Akira Inoue（井上鑑）. "Long Distance Call", a song about getting that unexpected midnight ring in the dark metropolis, is quite the rambunctious AOR tune most likely reflecting the tumultuous feelings roiling about the protagonist's mind and soul about this call from far away. The horns coming in near the end are a nice touch, too.
I remember placing my first long-distance calls while abroad in Japan. They weren't nearly as dramatic as Terao's phone calls but I had to figure out things such as collect calls, person-to-person, and station-to-station. Still not too sure about the difference between those last two.
The Tubes is a rock band from San Francisco that has been around since 1972, and they already have some representation here on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" due to their participation on the "Xanadu" soundtrack. In addition, vocalist Fee Waybill was also one of the backup singers on Kahoru Kohiruimaki's（小比類巻かほる）"Dreamer" hit in 1989.
This week's Reminiscings of Youth then will take us to my very first encounter with Waybill and the rest of the Tubes, and it happened to be on "SCTV", the beloved Canadian sketch comedy series from the 1970s and 1980s. When "SCTV" was hitting its peak, one of its segments was "The Fishin' Musician" which was a parody of another beloved Canadian TV program "The Red Fisher Show" that featured ol' Red fishing the lakes and rivers with friends. The parody had the late John Candy portraying Gil Fisher as he brought some of the more intriguing musical acts of the time for a round of fishing. And indeed, the Tubes came aboard for some mighty bass fishing while still dressed in their concert gear of suits with skinny ties (oh so 80s)
Of course, along with the good humour, the band brought their own song to perform at Scuttlebutt Lodge which is where I heard "Sushi Girl" and saw Waybill eat some rice out of a fish carcass. I just hope that the fish was properly washed.
"Sushi Girl" is a track on the band's April 1981 album"The Completion Backward Principle" and it's got a lot of the tropes that would have been known through Japanese pop culture. I thought that the performance on "The Fishin' Musician" was plenty bizarre but the song itself was good ol' New Wave with a rock beat that I could get into since it was around that time that I was starting to get into music big time. However, I did not know that there had been a music video for "Sushi Girl" until literally a few minutes ago and it's about as tongue-in-cheek as the song itself.
Let's go a little whimsical here and see what was in the Oricon Top 10 of April 1981 in the middle of the lineup. We will check out Nos. 6, 7 and 8.
Hello and welcome once more to the AI Gallery. It is indeed a quick comeback to the gallery considering that I had just put up a similar article a few days ago on September 25th. However, due to a busy schedule today (including a lesson tonight), I've only had time to concoct the previous article and then this one which doesn't require a lot of work.
Through this video, I've read that Akira Terao's（寺尾聰）"Natsu Arashi"(Summer Storm) is available on his compilation "Twin Best". But that was from 1998 and this song sounds like one of his bouncy tracks from his 1981 mega-hit album "Reflections".
As it turns out, "Natsu Arashi" is indeed a much earlier creation. In fact, it hails from his December 1983 album"Atmosphere", which has also been dubbed "Reflections 2". Sounding like it could have easily been included in "Reflections", "Natsu Arashi" also has the same folks from that album: Terao himself composing it, Masako Arikawa（有川正沙子）behind the lyrics and Akira Inoue（井上鑑）taking care of the arrangement. Accordingly with that bouncy homegrown City Pop beat, the lyrics also take on a similar form as to those from the singer's classic "Ruby no Yubiwa"（ルビーの指輪）in that they don't describe a happy situation as a couple's relationship seems to be coming apart at the seams, so that storm isn't really a meteorological one. Too bad about the kids but dang, is it fun to listen to!
I've got to admit that this quite a find and my thanks to YouTuber lovely record for posting this song onto the platform, and hopefully the channel won't mind too much about me going ahead and talking about it so soon following its posting a week ago.
Both Akira Terao（寺尾聰）and Yasuo Tanabe（田辺靖雄）are known to me. Of course, Terao started out in the Group Sounds craze in the 1960s but then in the early 1980s, he became an unexpected music superstar in the middle of his acting career when he hit pay dirt with City Pop fare such as "Shadow City". On the other hand, though Tanabe also began singing in the 1960s, he was more in the Mood Kayo realm with songs such as "Lullaby Tokyo"（ララバイ東京）.
Little did I realize or expect, however, that both Terao and Tanabe would get together in the mid-1970s to do a doo-wop duet called "Juu-roku no Natsu"(Summer at 16). It seems to have been a collaboration out of the blue although I admit that I don't know how close their relationship; maybe they have been good buddies all this time. In any event, August 1977 (the release date of the single) isn't exactly a time period where I would think about all that American 1950s leather jacket-and-bobbysoxer culture in Tokyo. Perhaps it was still a couple of years away. However, Terao and Tanabe were behind words, music and mikes with this nostalgic tune that could have had folks like Eiichi Ohtaki（大滝詠一）and Fonzie nodding in inspiration. And the bonus is that folk band Off-Course（オフコース）was also part of the plan as backup chorus. In fact, Off-Course guitarist Yasuhiro Suzuki（鈴木康博）and Godiego's（ゴダイゴ）Mickie Yoshino（ミッキー吉野）were behind the arrangement. I can taste the tall strawberry malted milkshake right now.
"Shadow City" is truly a fresh number with the idea of Terao（寺尾聰）scatting throughout the first half of the song. Even within this celebrated hit album arranged by Akira Inoue（井上鑑）, this song's arrangement still stands out when I listen to it and in addition, the backing performance by the members of the band Parachute is splendid. The aesthetic sense of Inoue, who saw a bit of Pierre Balou in Terao, really injected something into the Japanese music scene.
The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised"(2020).
I did forget that it's a KKP tradition (or my own tradition on KKP) that I put up a special ROY article during a national holiday. Seeing that it is Canada Day, we can try for some Canadian content and so I'd like to introduce one of the best television products that my country has ever given out: the beloved and hilarious "SCTV". Standing for Second City TV for the famous improvisational comedy troupe that has roots in both Chicago and Toronto (we just lost Alan Arkin, one of the most famous graduates from Second City...all my condolences), the show had a run for several years lasting from the mid-1970s into the early 1980s as it jumped from channel to channel.
Last Canada Day when I was providing the ROY article there, I used Geddy Lee's"Take Off", the theme song for one of the show's most famous segments "Great White North".
Of course, one of many fans' favourite parodies was for Perry Como's"Still Alive" concert tour. For those who may not know him, Como was a singer who was known for his very relaxed approach to performances, and well, "SCTV" expanded on that a hundredfold. I remember at the Emmy Awards when the singer was actually giving out the award for Best Writing for a Variety or Music Program for which the show was nominated, and the excerpt they showed on the screen was "Still Alive". I don't think I've ever seen an entire audience laugh up their guts like that; Alan Alda needed oxygen badly.
Considering all of the changes in production locations, channels and formats, perhaps it isn't a surprise that the theme song for "SCTV" also switched quite a few times. There were two that I remember which were basically zany comedy-themed instrumentals. However for the 1981 season at least, composer Ira Newborn whipped up my favourite theme which is just known as the theme from "SCTV". It wasn't goofy in the least but a really cool AOR instrumental (it's not surprising then that Newborn also became the musical director for the Manhattan Transfer since they were also performing some kakkoii urban contemporary at the time). I'm only disappointed that the theme doesn't have a full official version.
So, which songs were at the top of the May 1981 charts? I only choose this particular month because American network NBC picked up "SCTV" then as a 90-minute show to be broadcast late at night after "The Tonight Show".
One of the first ROY articles that I had done in 2019 was even before I officially came up with Reminiscings of Youth as a KKP Label. Basically, I did some retrofitting with The Go-Gos'"Vacation" which had been just something that I really wanted to write about as also a fan of the 80s music in my neck of the woods. It wasn't the first ROY though; I think that honour goes to Captain & Tennille's"Love Will Keep Us Together".
Anyways, I felt that it was time to bring back The Go-Gos after nearly four years and I'm feeling a little sheepish right now since this California band was a group that was one of my first attractions getting into pop music in earnest and perhaps I should have brought it up a whole lot earlier. I'm unsure whether it was the official music video above or one of their performances on shows like "Solid Gold" or passing by the local department store's record section where I first heard "Our Lips Are Sealed" which was the 2nd single by the band and their first single from their debut album"Beauty and the Beat" from July 1981. Its cover of the ladies wearing just bath towels and face packs was quite daunting at the time and I was tempted to buy it but I was wondering how I was going to explain that to my parents.
Hearing it again for the first time in a while, "Our Lips Are Sealed", which was released in June, has had me swooning once more for the heady days of musical discovery. It was all about Belinda Carlisle's slightly Valley Girl delivery, the jangly guitars and Jane Wiedlin's soft and adorable vocals in the bridge. All that nostalgic goodness crammed into less than three minutes. "Our Lips Are Sealed" went all the way up to No. 3 on Canada's RPM while in the United States, it reached No. 20 on Billboard.
So, according to Oricon, what was hitting the top three ranks for June 1981?
If you can take a gander at the Labels on the right side of the page (take your time, I'll wait), you can see the years with the largest number of articles on KKP: 1981 1982 and 1983. Well in recent days, there has been a pitched battle for dominance, a battle that had been led by 1982 by a good degree for many years. But the gap closed up and until a couple of days ago, there was a 3-way tie at 449 articles each. As of a couple of days ago, though, 1982 has inched forward once more with its 450th article.
However, 1981 isn't letting that go thanks to this article which is a sequel to last week's Gosanke（御三家）entry. That was my first imagined trio consisting of the first three female singers in Japan that I had seen for thanks to my trip there in that fateful year and repeated viewings of "The Best 10". Then I figured that if I could come up with a Sannin Musume（三人娘）according to that legendary music ranking show, then I can do the same with the male singers since I saw them as well for the first time. The genre base is a little wider for these guys, though.
Well, I only heard the news late last night right after I had finished the usual Thursday ROY article for Kim Carnes' "Bette Davis Eyes", but unfortunately Greek musician and composer Vangelis (Evángelos Odysséas Papathanassíou) passed away a few days ago on May 17th at the age of 79. He actually already has some representation on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" since I wrote about his moving contribution to the 2002 World Cup by Japan and South Korea through the tournament's official "Anthem".
And as much as he has been lauded for his work on "Blade Runner", I think that when the news came out on his death, most folks remembered the 1981 sports historical film "Chariots of Fire" starring Ben Cross and John Gielgud.
Pretty much everyone who saw "Chariots of Fire" and even those who never did will most likely remember the theme song by Vangelis and the footage of British Olympic athletes running barefoot along the sea. From what I read on Wikipedia, Vangelis didn't want to go full historical, musically speaking, but he also didn't want to go full electronic either, and so the end result was "Titles" according to the movie soundtrack list. However, for all those listeners and radio DJs out there, the song was known simply as "Chariots of Fire".
Just my opinion, but what Vangelis did in his contribution to the movie was akin to what John Williams had done with "Star Wars" a few years earlier. No one would have imagined Williams to come up with a swashbuckling score worthy of Errol Flynn to support a sci-fi movie, and so I think that it was pretty brave for Vangelis to bring in a Yamaha CS-80 among other electronic instruments to help score a movie about the 1924 Olympics in Paris, France. And yet in an age when the synthesizer was beginning to excite musicians and music lovers alike through pop music in general, "Titles" knocked the socks off of everyone as the theme for a serious movie with its combination of anthemic electronics and elegant piano illustrating something joyous, inspiring and proud.
Released as a single in March 1981, it reached No. 1 on America's Billboard chart and No. 4 in Canada. The movie itself won a couple of Oscars: Best Movie and Best Original Score. I remember it getting plenty of airplay on the radio for months. I offer my condolences to Vangelis' family, friends and fans.
Since Carnes' "Bette Davis Eyes" was also released in the same month and I've scoured through the Oricon chart there, I'll go with what won at the Japan Record Awards in 1981 to show what the big hits were.
Another warm one today. But anyways, good to have you all for a bit of urban contemporary this Friday on "Kayo Kyoku Plus". Hope you can stay a while.
If anyone asks me about actor and singer-songwriter Akira Terao（寺尾聰）, I'll always think of his laconic down-home form of City Pop from the early 1980s such as "Shukkou Sasurai" (舟航～SASURAI) among other metropolitan music that he's come up with. So, it's with some fascination when I hear the material from his February 1987 4th album"Standard", especially that opening track, "The Stolen Memories".
Tamami Shaku（釈珠実）came up with the English lyrics for Terao to quickly croon. The words almost seem to describe a story from a sci-fi film noir along the lines of "Blade Runner" as a man tries to remember a woman (and fails) who's left a deep impression but what that impression is escapes him. If a movie had ever been made of this, I think Terao would have been the star for sure.
Composer Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）and guitarist-arranger Tsuyoshi Kon（今剛）were behind the nighttime strutting and plucky melody that feels like a late 1980s City Pop although there is a reminder of where Terao came from, musically speaking, with that wailing electric guitar. For anyone like me who's wondered how the actor/singer would handle another form of City Pop, I can happily lead them to "The Stolen Memories".
Time for another weekly ROY article. Steely Dan made their presence known on the radio when I was a kid through multiple songs with arguably the most famous one for me being "Peg" from their famous 1977 album"Aja".
Another song that managed to filter into my brain through heavy rotation over the airwaves was "Time Out of Mind" from Donald Fagen & Walter Becker's 1980 album"Gaucho". I've got "Aja" but I have to admit that "Gaucho" is not up on my shelves as of yet, although it and "Aja" have vied among the Dan fans to be the best album that they've ever put up.
"Time Out of Mind" actually came out as a single from the album in March 1981, and when I was listening to it on the strawberry milk-pink Sony, I never knew that the lyrics were referring to drug use (then again, I also didn't pick up on the lyrical content of "Peg" until many years later), and little did I know that Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler handled the guitar solo.. As I've said a number of times on the blog in the past, I was far more of the melody persuasion than I was for lyrics (although "perfection and grace" did enter my brain), and "Time Out of Mind" was another one of the funky and cool shuffles by Steely Dan alongside "Peg". If I only had appreciated them back then as I do now.
So, who was in the Top 3 of Oricon for March 1981?
If I'm not mistaken about my date, July 5th will be an auspicious one for me. Tomorrow will be 40 years to the day since I boarded that Air Canada (or was it Canadian Pacific?) flight with the rest of my graduating class from the Toronto Japanese Language School for that one month in Japan. Over the years of writing for "Kayo Kyoku Plus", I've mentioned about that fateful summer 1981 trip in various entries, probably mostly for 1981 songs, in which being in Tokyo, Nagoya, Nara, etc for that one month changed my life so much that it became all about learning of Japanese culture for me. Of course, that Japanese culture also included pop music.
As such, on this personally special ROY article, I thought that I would end this blogging day by listing all those songs that I remember hearing during my time there and then watching on the TV music ranking shows over and over again. Initially, I'd thought about just listing the Oricon Top 10 for July 1981 but seeing that I've already done that, well, this particular list is more heartfelt.
Perhaps it's a tad over-the-top, but without that July 5th departure for Japan, there would be no fascination for the nation of my heritage, there would be no decision to major in Japanese Studies, no life and music in Japan for close to 20 years, and no "Kayo Kyoku Plus". It's been quite the ride and I hope to not get off the bus quite yet.
One of my earliest articles for "Kayo Kyoku Plus" (March 2012) was dedicated to the classic City Pop album, "Reflections", by singer/musician/actor Akira Terao（寺尾聰）. Of course, being the lazy bum that I was (and still am), I only provided a couple of tracks in that article, Oricon's No. 1 single for 1981"Ruby no Yubiwa"（ルビーの指輪）and another hit single "Shadow City". Since then though, I've written up articles on some of the individual tracks: "Shukkou Sasurai" (舟航～SASURAI), "Kita Wing"（北ウィング）, "Yokisenu Dekigoto"（予期せぬ出来事）and "Nagisa no Campari Soda"（渚のカンパリ・ソーダ）.
However, it says something that despite handling all these other tracks on "Reflections", there are still a few more tracks that have yet to be covered. Therefore, over 9 years later, I'm taking another crack at Oricon's No. 1 album for 1981 as a follow-up and finish off at least the remaining tracks recorded on the original LP.
A piece of trivia that I learned from reading the J-Wiki article regarding "Reflections" that I hadn't caught onto when I wrote the first article is that the famous cover for the album was photographed on the fly. Oddly enough, Terao had been so busy filming his scenes on his cop show "Seibu Keisatsu"（西部警察...Western Police） at the time that he and the photographer only had time to take that iconic shot of him smoking and tracing out the LOVE letters between scenes so that shot was actually taken in a corridor at the television studio.
Now, I did mention up above that "Reflections" was this classic City Pop album. Well, that's not exactly true since listening to the album a number of times over the years, I've found that the album seems to be split down the middle in terms of genres covered. Side B comes across as the more down-home City Pop side while Side A is more of an international travelogue with some City Pop elements and more rock and New Music hints in there (although the exception is the final track of the side which just happens to be "Ruby no Yubiwa").
Case in point is the first track on Side A is "Habana Express". It launches the album at a pretty frenetic pace as our hero is loving, leaving and sprinting across Cuba in what seems to be multiple whirlwind romances. I hear the City Pop but also the tropical and spritzes of rock thrown in like a many-ingredient cocktail. As is the case for most of the tracks on "Reflections", Masako Arikawa（有川正沙子）is behind the lyrics while Akira Inoue（井上鑑）handles the arrangement for Terao's melody for all of the tracks.
Track 3 on Side A continues the international travel as Terao heads for South Africa in "Kibouhou"（喜望峰...Cape of Good Hope）. Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）, this time, has the lyricist duties for a song that actually sounds more reggae. There's nothing really City Pop with the track but those familiar sounds and chords that I've associated with Terao's material are still there.
The track just before "Ruby no Yubiwa" is "Niki Monogatari"（二季物語...A Tale of Two Seasons）. With Arikawa on lyrics, it's by far the longest track at over eight minutes, and I gather that this is Terao's version of Billy Joel's"Scenes from an Italian Restaurant". It's an epic reporting of a once-happy romance that has since withered on the vine with the first half being the languid and melancholy aftermath as Shigeharu Mukai（向井滋春）provides a trombone solo. But then, a little over halfway into the song, the story shifts back in time to a snazzier and brighter past when the love was still there. Terao himself fairly tap dances vocally during this latter half.
Now, the final track for the original album that I've covering is the Side B"Dial M". It's the same trio of Arikawa, Terao and Inoue, and I'm not sure if any of them were big fans of Alfred Hitchcock when they came up with the title. It's that down-home City Pop that "Ruby no Yubiwa" belongs to with the crooning singer and the Latin rhythm bubbling underneath.
As for the "down-home" part that I've mentioned twice now, I have to admit that my good friend Rocket Brown of "Come Along Radio" was a little confused by my term when I first said it to him since images of country hoedowns entered our heads. To explain a bit more clearly, a number of Japanese City Pop songs have been clearly influenced by Steely Dan, the Doobie Brothers or Airplay so when I say "down-home", I merely mean that the City Pop sounds very Japanese or kayo without those American AOR influences. And you know, when I first heard "Ruby no Yubiwa" all the way back in 1981, my extremely limited musical vocabulary forced me to initially categorize it as really funky enka!
In 2007, there was a re-release of "Reflections" with four bonus tracks which consist of the totality of Terao's 2nd and 3rd singles released in October 1974 and August 1977. The A-side for that 2nd single is "Honto ni Hisashiburi dane"（ほんとに久しぶりだね...It Really Has Been a Long Time） which was actually written and composed by singer-songwriter Ken Murata（ケン村田）with Mickey Yoshino（ミッキー吉野）of Godiego（ゴダイゴ）fame handling the arrangements. A happy-go-lucky summery tune, it's about as far from City Pop as Terao can get as the lyrics relate the story of a re-encounter of what I assume are two former flames. "Honto ni Hisashiburi dane" was actually used as the theme for an NHK program "Osaka, San-gatsu, Sannen"（大阪、三月、三年...Osaka, March, Three Years）.
Nope, this time, this Akira Terao（寺尾聰）song doesn't come from his magnum opus album "Reflections", but from his 1983 "Atmosphere".
We did get a lot of rain today; in fact, we received a month's worth of precipitation overnight last night. That is good news for some of us since we've had a very dry number of weeks but we more than made up for that within 6 hours. Anyways, getting back to the song at hand, I am talking about "Ame no Fukei" (Rainscape), and as mentioned above, although this song didn't come from "Reflections", of course, Terao and his City Pop/AOR comrade at arms, lyricist Masako Arikawa（有川正沙子）, did come over from that legendary release to provide this appropriately atmospheric number.
"Ame no Fukei" begins with the sound of rain before launching into a pleasant yet dreamy AOR melody with a touch of melancholy mood. Terao is at his usual crooning best as he describes his opinion that it's always raining when the inevitable end of a short-lived romance (one-night stand, brief torrid fling) comes to fruition.
The overall arrangement feels as if "Ame no Fukei" could have ended up on "Reflections", so all the merrier for it to be on "Atmosphere". I'm especially drawn to the delivery of the refrain of "Wakare wa itsumo ame no fukei"（別れはいつも雨の風景...It's always a rainscape when parting） since there's a seemingly wiser-but-sadder C'est la vie message in there from the romance expert who is Terao apparently.
When I think of actor Akira Terao（寺尾聰）when he was singing in the 1980s, I always think of his shibui City Pop classic album from 1981, "Reflections", especially of course his No. 1 hit"Ruby no Yubiwa" (ルビーの指輪).
Well, this June 1985 single by Terao, "Koi no Trans Cosmos" (Trans Cosmos of Love), is still plenty shibui but instead of the concrete jungle of skyscrapers and hotels of West Shinjuku, I "hear" the environment of Shonan. Y'know...there is all that sea and sand and resorts there. The cover of the single certainly reflects that.
Indeed, there is the crooning and comforting voice of Terao along with that strumming guitar but the beat is more on the summery beach side of things. His melody may be a little too upbeat to be merely AOR (although I have still categorized it as such) but it even includes some Dixieland jazz as we enter the second half involving some bossy 50s-style baritone sax and even a Tijuana Brass type of trumpet.
As for the lyrics by Masako Arikawa（有川正沙子）who collaborated on the majority of the tracks on "Reflections", it seems as if Terao absolutely couldn't get to sleep and has decided to hop into his car and drive some 47 minutes to some house to: 1) clear his mind and 2) maybe make up with his girlfriend after a fight. I don't know what the Trans Cosmos in the title is, though. Is it a made-up brand of sports car that the singer is driving? I tried looking it up but I couldn't come up with anything...the only thing close is a Trans-Am. Ultimately, it doesn't matter..."Koi no Trans Cosmos" is a different but still shibui tune by Terao.
It's one of those YouTube browsings that provide an interesting story and an enjoyable adventure. However, I will start from the finish, as it were, namely this song.
Not that I had intentionally known that I would show up here, but the destination was just so darn fascinating. I discovered this song called "Alligator Bogaloo" by this Group Sounds band, The White Kicks（ザ・ホワイト・キックス）, which only lasted for this single from May 1968. Listening to some of this late 60s fuzzy-and-buzzy psychedelic rock, I was seriously tempted to search for some John Lennon glasses and a flowery headband, although the only "drug" that I would be willing to indulge in is some Cadbury Milk Chocolate. Digging under a bit of that guitar, there were also some nice harmonies especially right at the end.
The other intriguing thing is the lineup of this short-lived band. The bassist happened to be Akira Terao（寺尾聰）who later pursued a long acting career and achieved success in the City Pop field, and he came over from another GS band, The Savage（ザ・サベージ）. Keitaro Miho（三保敬太郎）, I believe, was the leader who was also a jazz pianist, and there was one other member, Taeko Morino（森野多恵子）, who was the spark behind my browsing which led to The White Kicks. I will be writing more about her very soon under her future stage names of Tan Tan and Harumi Ohzora（大空はるみ）. The other band members included drummer Masatsugu Kawate（河手政次）from The Launchers, guitarist Kenkichi Hayashi（林廉吉）and flautist Yasuo Shimura（志村康夫）.Yuka Matsushima（松島由佳）came up with the Japanese lyrics.
The White Kicks'"Alligator Bogaloo" was actually the rock cover of the original funky jazz song by saxophonist Lou Donaldson, the title track from his album of August 1967 that became an unintentional success. According to the Wikipedia article (originally from the "Let's Cool One"website from 2009), Donaldson and his quintet, which included guitarist George Benson, found themselves a little short on material, so apparently the producer just told him to make up something. Well, the sax player came up with a riff and everyone followed his lead, and thus "Alligator Bogaloo" was born.
