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.
"Hoho ni Yoru no Akari" is the quintessential twilight-loving Minako Yoshida（吉田美奈子）song with its splendid hues and first-rate mellow groove. The horn and string parts had been recorded in New York City and the performance includes David Sanborn's wonderful sax solo, so in a blink of an eye, I'm transported to a flight going over to the Big Apple. To have that lady look at me with those unusually kind eyes while on a street enveloped by the sunset is a truly attractive moment.
The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised"(2020).
I had been meaning to cover this song in a ROY article sometime this year and now I get to do so this week, but unfortunately, it's under sadder circumstances since I only found out last night from a commenter that jazz saxophonist David Sanbornhad passed away on May 12th at the age of 78. Although this is Sanborn's first article on KKP, he has already been represented on the blog right from the beginning because I noted his singularly splendid sax solo on Minako Yoshida's（吉田美奈子）1982 "Hoho ni Yoru no Akari"（頬に夜の灯）, one of City Pop's greatest ballads. It's also the article where I got last night's comment telling me about Sanborn's passing.
The Florida-born Sanborn became known to me first through his frequent appearances on "The Late Show with David Letterman" back in the 1980s, and he had this distinctive style that one critic has dubbed a crying sort of sound. His name was such that since then, whenever I encountered his name in liner notes for any song or heard it on television or radio, it was very tempting for me to take notice. In terms of looks, with his leather jacket and mullet, he reminded me a lot of another famous David in the pop music industry: David Foster.
One day though, my ears and eyes went on alert when I heard that Sanborn had released a number titled "Chicago Song" in 1987 as the opening track of his album "A Change of Heart". Composed by keyboardist and producer Marcus Miller (who was also performing in the song), the saxophonist was able to weave what sounded like a typical day living and working in the Windy City. There was very much of a "Let's get at it" vibe and the general message was work hard but also play just as hard. It's quite the funky strut that hit radios on heavy rotation, at least here in Toronto.
All my condolences to Sanborn's family, friends and fans.
So to give out the usual songs that had come out in 1987, let's go to some of the Gold Prize winners of the Japan Record Awards for that year.
I've heard about Minako Yoshida（吉田美奈子） for many, many years as this amazing singer/songwriter/composer/arranger and compatriot of other kayo kyokuNew Musicians such as Yumi Matsutoya（松任谷由美）, Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎） and the Yellow Magic Orchestra. In fact, Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）and YMO's Harry Hosono（細野晴臣） encouraged Yoshida to go into music during her high school days. Initially, she went into the direction of Carole King and Laura Nyro but she also gradually got into funk and R&B.
After reading her entry on "Japanese City Pop", I took the plunge and bought her 1982 album, "LIGHT'N UP". And the second track, "Hoho ni Yoru no Akari"(The Light of the Night on Your Cheek), was pure City Pop heaven. The critic in "JCP" remarked that the album was worth getting for this song alone. And he is right. It is a tune to be played in the car stereo while driving on the highway at night...with that special someone. The horns are SO mellow and then David Sanborn comes in with his sax solo. It's gotten a lot of play on my stereo since I got it.
