Ikemen 3 -- Koi no Matenrou（恋の摩天楼）

 

The latest mega commercial complex got its grand opening in Tokyo on Friday. Azabudai Hills opened up its doors to the masses and it joins its Hills siblings: Roppongi Hills, Toranomon Hills and Omotesando Hills. There's been a lot of construction and change in my old stomping grounds since my last visit there in 2017, so I've got a feeling that I may need a new guidebook to grope my way around Japan's capital.

So, in tribute to that event, I was searching for any matenrou-based music since I've encountered a few such songs over the years. Well, it didn't take too long before I came across this new tune. "Koi no Matenrou" (Skyscrapers of Love) is a snappy and snazzy song about finding love among those steel and glass towers and holding on for dear life because the couple doesn't know what tomorrow will bring. 

The December 2009 song is so far the only single performed by Ikemen 3（イケメン3）. The three singers involved all have their own KKP files: Daisuke Kitagawa（北川大介）, Hiroshi Takeshima（竹島宏） and Keisuke Yamauchi（山内惠介）. Considering that they were put together as a male enka aidoru trio under the aegis of the predecessor of NHK's "Uta Con"（うたコン）, "Kayo Concert"（歌謡コンサート）, thoughts of Gosanke came to mind. Sure enough, the J-Wiki article for Ikemen 3 were given the nickname of the Heisei Era Gosanke. Not sure if there have been any reunions among the three but now that almost 14 years have passed by, I think the aidoru label can be taken off.

"Koi no Matenrou" was written by Koyomi Asa（麻こよみ）and composed by Kohei Miyuki（幸耕平）. It's again one of those songs that can be quite amorphous in terms of its genre. I can go with neo versions of enka and Mood Kayo but I can also use the convenient term of New Adult Music with a kick of Latin thrown in for good measure. In the end, it does feel like an adventure of romance in the big city.

Daisuke Kitagawa -- Omae wo Tsurete （おまえを連れて）

Well, the Canada Day weekend is just an hour from officially ending. However, I was able to get downtown earlier today and meet up with friends for some delectably Canadian fare...such as poutine pizza! No worries from me...I was quite accustomed to feasting on jaga mayo pizza (potato and mayonnaise) from the Tokyo branches of Domino Pizza for years.

Yesterday, I devoted one article which featured Ayumi Ishida's（いしだあゆみ）"Minato-Sakamichi-Ijinkan"（港・坂道・異人館）to Kobe's 150th anniversary. During my search for Kobe-themed kayo, I also found another one that I liked quite well.

Daisuke Kitagawa（北川大介）has already gotten his first article on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" thanks to Noelle, so I'm here to provide you with a second article about an enka ballad that had come out a bit earlier than "Hama no Odoriko"（横濱の踊り子）. Titled "Omae wo Tsurete" (Bringing You With Me), this came out as Kitagawa's 15th single in May 2009, and it is a more traditional enka about love blossoming and hopefully further growing in the titular city. Certainly Port Island would be the ideal spot for a date.

This was written by Toshiya Niitani（仁井谷俊也）and composed by Gendai Kanou（叶弦大）and although the instruments would befit something more Mood Kayo, I think the arrangement still keeps things within the enka realm. It went all the way up to No. 27 on Oricon.

I have to leave off by saying that he's got quite an interesting hairdo. It looks somewhere between a pompadour and Superman's spit curl.

Daisuke Kitagawa -- Hama no Odoriko (横濱の踊り子)

It's been a while since I've picked out a song from the Oricon enka-yo charts, so I thought I'd do so on Wednesday since the new weekly list was out. A couple of the singles I saw had been there for about half a year and I'm still trying to fathom how they are still within the Top 20, some are new releases that came out just last Wednesday, and some have been there for about a month or so. Falling into the last category is "Hama no Odoriko", sung by one of enka's Ikemen 3, Daisuke Kitagawa (北川大介). Frankly, I don't think the Ikemen 3 are particularly good-looking. I mean, Kitagawa is sort of cute with that snaggle-toothed, dimpled smile, but the other two - Keisuke Yamauchi (山内惠介) and Hiroshi Takeshima (竹島宏) - are... well... not much to behold. And then again, I have hugely differing standards for what is considered a handsome dude from the typical Japanese woman, as you already may have noticed.

Moving on, ever since it's release on the 1st of July 2015, I've seen "Hama no Odoriko" floating up and down the enka-yo charts - it did well on the regular charts too, peaking at 25th - and since it was one of the few singles up there that left me curious as to how it sounded like every time I left the ranking page, I finally decided to give it a listen.

"Hama no Odoriko" is a catchy, jaunty and very cabaret-ish enka tune. The disco ball and that clubby beat at the start of the MV already gives you a pretty clear indication of what you're in for. And then you have two ladies joining the husky-voiced Kitagawa in a Michael Jackson-like blazer that's as shiny as the disco ball dancing up a storm - choreographed by afroed dancer and talent Papaya Suzuki (パパイヤ鈴木), who also made a cameo. It's actually quite cheesy when I think about it. However, from what I saw in the video's description, the song focuses on nightclubs anyway and is supposed to be a throwback to the mid 50's, so I guess they are on point.

(Sorry but the video has been taken down.)

Well, he looks cooler in a black blazer.

Makoto Kitajo (喜多條忠) was the one responsible for writing the lyrics to "Hama no Odoriko", and Gendai Kanou (叶弦大) composed it. Ah dang it, now I want to see Kitagawa sing this on "Kayo Concert" or "Nippon no Uta".

Shiny.

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