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.
Mother's Day was the theme for the most recent episode of "Uta Con"（うたコン）a couple of days ago, and singer-songwriter Ayaka（絢香）was on stage to provide an old favourite as her contribution to the holiday for mothers.
During the talk segment, she also had her turn on the microphone. She's been taking care of a couple of daughters as a mother herself which includes having the entire family learn how to downhill ski. Then, she introduced her most recent single which got out on May 6th titled "OK! GO!". Sounding quite upbeat and inspirational, it has an arrangement which reminds me of some Motown soul from the 1970s; maybe there's even a bit of gospel soul beating in there as well. Cute video, to boot; it looks like unmalicious Monty Python.
It was just last night when I posted Issei Okamoto's（岡本一生）"Moon Magic"（ムーン・マジック） as part of the Urban Contemporary lineup for Friday. And then, today I noticed that it was September 13th. For anyone who's into science-fiction, that date should be notable since it was on that day in 1999 when the Moon was blasted out of its orbit through magnetic radiation via the show "Space: 1999". Heck, I even devoted one ROY article to the theme song!
Well, in honour of September 13th 1999 (and thank heavens, we still have the Moon out there [although no Moonbase Alpha😢]) and the fact that all those moon-based traditions are happening this month, I've got another Author's Picks...this time, honouring all those songs that have something to do with the moon, and these definitely only represent the merest of a fraction because as I recall, kayo kyoku do love their moon tunes.
Characters of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" have finally been happily and safely retired and that includes Data the android who has finally reached his desired goal of being fully human. We Trekkies can return to those old scenes of TNG and look fondly on Data when he was still grasping on what it meant to be human and causing unwitting embarrassment and humour. The character, just like Mr. Spock and Constable Odo, was just one of many of the "alien" crew members on the various shows in the "Star Trek" franchise to point out the strengths, weaknesses and idiosyncrasies of humanity from the outside.
I never saw the drama myself but I think the premise that I described above for "Star Trek" was what has been imbued into the 2003 manga and then its 2008 live-action adaptation "Zettai Kareshi"（絶対彼氏。...Absolute Boyfriend）, starring Mocomichi Hayami（速水もこみち）as the titular robot created to be the ideal beau for anyone.
Strange thing is that I've known Hayami more as a handsome fellow with mad cooking skills on his own NTV show, "MOCO's Kitchen", whipping up all sorts of wonderful goodies.
Anyways, getting back to the drama, singer-songwriter Ayaka（絢香）was the one who performed the theme song for "Zettai Kareshi". "Okaeri"(Welcome Home) had struck me even before I knew about its status as a drama theme tune as something that was probably used in that fashion. It just sounds so wistful and uplifting. Ayaka was responsible for words and music with Yoshihiko Nishio（西尾芳彦）also helping out on the composition. Released as her 8th single in May 2008, "Okaeri" peaked at No. 6 on Oricon. It was also a track on her 2nd album"Sing to the Sky" which came out a month later.
Happy Canada Day! And perhaps it's a happier Canada Day than most for Torontonians. It's hot, sunny and summery...the annual Ribfest at Centennial Park is shoveling out the zesty spareribs and funnel cakes. Plus it was announced that our NHL team Toronto Maple Leafs have just experienced the biggest free agent acquisition in years with the signing of superstar John Tavares. Not that 90%~95% of folks reading this from around the planet will really know or care, but hey, just wanted to put it out there.
So, being the 151st birthday of my country, I was thinking about what kayo I could put up which has any connection with Canada. Perhaps there was some sort of momiji-themed enka or folk song out there, since momiji does refer to the Japanese maple.
However, I decided to go with singer-songwriter Ayaka's（絢香）"Nijiiro" (Rainbow Colours) which was the theme song for the NHK morning serial drama "Hanako to Anne"（花子とアン...Hanako and Anne）broadcast for the bulk of 2014. The connection lies in the fact that the drama dealt with the life and times of Hanako Muraoka（村岡花子）, the first translator of "Anne of Green Gables" into Japanese, and of course, Anne Shirley is so beloved by the Japanese that perhaps she's as much an icon there as she is over here. I think there are still quite a number of Japanese tourists making the pilgrimage over to Prince Edward Island where Anne lived.
"Nijiiro" was Ayaka's 13th single released in June 2014 and it's a sweet and mellow pop song about getting through life with hope and optimism despite any setbacks. I think it's an appropriate tune to adorn both Muraoka and Shirley, and now it's gotten to the point where if I ever think of Prince Edward Island or "Anne of Green Gables", "Nijiiro" will be the image song. In fact, it's replaced "Mikazuki"（三日月）as my representative Ayaka tune.
(short version)
The song hit No. 8 on Oricon and went Triple Platinum. Plus, "Nijiiro" provided Ayaka with her 7th appearance on the Kohaku Utagassen later that year. It was also a track on her 4th album "Rainbow Road"（レインボーロード）from April 2015 that reached No. 3 on the album charts.
My family made its own way to PEI back in 1980. We did visit the Green Gables farmhouse in Cavendish and even enjoyed a lobster buffet nearby.
The famous line from the original "Ghostbusters" (nope, haven't seen the new one yet) with Bill Murray yelling "Cats and dogs living together...MASS HYSTERIA!!" came to mind when I saw this ad for the Nissan Cube in Japan. There are a lot of those commercials for the Cube on YouTube but for some reason, I couldn't find the one that I was looking for rather ardently.
And it's a pity too since it had the campaign song with the most soul. Popular singers Ayaka（絢香）and Kobukuro (コブクロ) appeared one day on Fuji-TV's venerable "Music Fair" program and apparently enjoyed the experience working together so much that the former visited the latter in their dressing room after the taping. She then asked if they would like to collaborate again at the Warner Music Japan Convention Live concert since the two of them not only belonged to the same label but were also due to perform there anyways. Kentaro Kobuchi（小渕健太郎）of Kobukuro then counter-proposed that they all create a song just for the occasion.
Thus, "WINDING ROAD" was born. It was performed for the first time in the summer of 2006 but didn't actually get out as a single for several months until February 2007. The music video of the three on that rotating stage got a lot of heavy airplay as I recall.
Furthermore, I'm sure that "WINDING ROAD" probably got a lot of play as a karaoke song as well. It's a rousing tune with plenty of heart and that aforementioned soul but when I hear Ayaka and Kobukuro sing their internal organs out for this song that is officially listed as J-Pop, I hear some of the old country songs that used to be performed in grand cooperative style by singers on one of my parents' favourite programs "Hee Haw". And maybe The Grand Ol' Opry comes to mind also. Another reason could be the title itself. When I see that title, I imagine those big rigs traveling across America that were often the topic for a country ballad performed by folks like Jerry Reed and Alabama. However, imagining an 18-wheeler trying to navigate a winding road in the Rockies could be somewhat concerning.
Well, in any case, a cute little Cube car and not a huge truck got "WINDING ROAD". And the collaboration between Ayaka and Kobukuro was very successful. The single went Platinum, broke 2 million in sales, along with hitting No. 2 on Oricon. It just barely missed getting into the Top 10 of the year by peaking at No. 11. The song was even performed at the Kohaku Utagassen at the end of 2007 with the effect being that after it had left the Oricon Top 100 weeklies, its performance helped to gush the song back up to the 20s in the first week of 2008.
If the sheep and wolves had come back for the commercial with "WINDING ROAD", I'm pretty sure that the meadow would soon have been filled with the adorable sight of hybrid sholves and weep.
This was another one of those songs that was all over the airwaves for months after its release. Singer-songwriter Ayaka's（絢香）"Mikazuki"(Crescent Moon) was just one of those ballads that especially pulled on the heartstrings as she sang in the music video on top of a light post. My impression is that a lot of folks will always see her in that position whenever they reminisce about the song.
Released in September 2006 as Ayaka's 4th single, the highlights for me are that intro, her vocals right at the refrain and that middle section when the melody abruptly goes into something more R&B. Yoshihiko Nishio（西尾芳彦）also helped Ayaka out in the composition of the melody which happily doesn't go overboard on the drama but fairly quietly enhances the singer's lyrics about that crescent moon overlooking a woman looking back and declaring that she will be fine after a romantic breakup.
"Mikazuki" hit the top spot on Oricon and became the 49th-ranked song for 2006, earning a Newcomer's Prize forAyakaat the Japan Record Awards. Its popularity as a karaoke song was made perfectly clear as well since it was the No. 1 song on the Oricon karaoke charts for 2007. Hard to believe that it's almost been 10 years since it was released.
