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.
Showing posts with label Dreams Come True. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dreams Come True. Show all posts
And here I thought that all I needed for a bit of suspense during the Holidays was to watch "Die Hard". However, it looks like the next couple of days in Toronto will be seeing wind warnings which could lead to power outages. Not great during a cold time like now. A lot of folks here including myself still remember the Ice Storm of 2013 which knocked most of the city out for at least a couple of days and many for many days after that.
Still, I'm gonna still slog my way to 1000 articles as best I can. I've got another Author's Picks based on days of the week since I recall that certain Japanese songs have used days of the week in their titles and even their own artist names. All but one of the songs that will be included in the list are already represented on the blog.
(1993) Pizzicato Five -- Yasashii Mokuyoubi（優しい木曜日）
Yup, "Yasashii Mokuyoubi" (Sweet Thursday) is the odd group out this time, but it is most certainly not an odd song. It's a very pretty tune by Pizzicato Five evoking a pleasant spring walk in Paris on that day. With the feeling of Shibuya-kei, the Divine Ms. Maki Nomiya（野宮真貴）vocally gives her version of a waltz along the Seine. I had a bit of a time tracking this down regarding when the song was originally released but thankfully its inclusion in "The Band of 20th Century: Nippon Columbia Years 1991-2001" gave me the big hint. It was just a matter of looking up those albums under Columbia and finding out that "Yasashii Mokuyoubi" had been placed in the June 1993 album"Bossa Nova 2001"（ボサ・ノヴァ2001）.
It is (or was in Japan) July 7th 2025 which means another day to celebrate Tanabata, commemorating the star-crossed lovers Orihime and Hikoboshi. This year, though, is particularly auspicious because July 7th is falling in the 7th year of Reiwa (another way of saying 2025 in Japan) and so people noticing that it is the 7th day of the 7th month in the 7th year, much hay has been made out of it. For example, couples have been flooding their local city halls to register their marriages today and in a lot of supermarkets, some products have been priced at 777 yen.
Now, I've done my commemorating of the holiday sometimes on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" for specific songs in the past, but this time, I've decided to become a little more ambitious by applying a few gimmicks to this Author's Pick.
First off, let's provide three songs that have something to do with the number 7.
(1967) The Echoes and The Misuzu Children's Choral Group -- Theme from Ultra Seven （ウルトラセブンの歌）
Back in June last year, I posted up an article for the song "Dr. Yellow"（Dr.イエロー）by MoJo on hearing the announcement that the famous and beloved specialized train for diagnostics on the Bullet Trains was going to be retired over the next few years. However, when I watched NHK news this morning, it looks like JR Central's Dr. Yellow had its final run today (the one belonging to JR West will be retired in 2027).
Not surprisingly, there were huge billowing masses of fans at the final stop and any place where photographers could get a glimpse and shot of the yellow Shinkansen to say goodbye. On the NHK report, there was even a focus on one photographer who had become friends of a family whose young son had been suffering from leukemia. The photographer was able to get one final shot of Dr. Yellow in tribute to the boy who had passed away a couple of years ago at the age of 11.
I was thinking of paying a further tribute to Dr. Yellow but outside of the MoJo song, there doesn't seem to be any other kayo devoted to the train. Therefore, I've decided to put up an Author's Pick on providing songs of gratitude as I'm sure that a lot of the fans have their feelings of thanks toward the train.
When it comes to the long-running prime-time animated series "Family Guy", I've been somewhat of an in-betweener fan. I remember catching the early episodes back in the late 1990s and enjoying the show for all of the pop culture references via their famous cutaways and it got to the point that I ended up buying the first seven seasons of "Family Guy" on DVD in Japan. Since then, it's basically been just the cutaways that I've been watching since they've generally been more hilarious than the main story which has often gotten a little too dark for my tastes in recent seasons.
However, one thing that has generally remained the same all these years since 1999 is the opening credit sequence with Peter and Lois Griffin making like Archie and Edith Bunker as they sing on the family piano. Plus, there is that jazzy and snazzy theme song by Walter Murphy that reminds me of another theme song from another much older animated series. Murphy, strangely enough, is someone I've known about since I was a kid (although I didn't know the name at the time) because he was also the fellow behind the disco "A Fifth of Beethoven" all the way back in 1976.
Well, years later, I see him as the maestro of the swinging jazz orchestra that has often inhabited the soundtrack of "Family Guy", and I've been a big fan of the main theme. In fact, years later, I finally got the album "Family Guy: Live in Vegas" just for a full version of the theme by Murphy, and he, Seth MacFarlane (and his multiple voices), and the rest of the cast don't disappoint. One YouTube commenter said he hoped that this would be the version that would end the entire show once that comes to pass. I wouldn't mind that at all either...having everyone come on stage to do one big brassy take on the theme. Maybe the humour in "Family Guy" is often crass and cruel, but when it comes to the Murphy music, it's all class.
Yup, I know...this is really a Reminiscings of Young Adulthood more than Youth, but I just had to include this one. So, what was being released in Japan when "Family Guy" made its premiere in January 1999?
Well, I guess the Author's Pick articles keep on giving this month. I did the "Snow" songs last week and here we are with another one. But considering that we are at the end of the year, I guess having some of these compilations to commemorate the rush of "______ of the Year" lists is perhaps quite obvious.
This morning, Japanese news announced "The Kanji Character of the Year" and it turned out to be "kin"/"kane" which means "gold" or "money". It was chosen because of the gold medals that had been won by the Japanese athletes at the Paris Olympics back in the summer and also because of all of the money hijinks involving the ruling Liberal Democratic Party this past year (probably not the only party to be guilty of that). So, there is a good side and a bad side.
Anyways, I was thinking about putting up a few songs tonight that have some connection with gold or money and even just the presence of the winning kanji in the title. It wasn't that easy but I managed to find four of them who already have a presence on the blog.
Toronto got its first snowfall this morning with a couple of inches expected by the evening. I'm not sure whether this is the beginning of a snow-filled winter but as such, the accumulation may be enough for the local kids to take delight outside. Mayo, Kayo and Nayo Kyoku with Mr. Calico seem to think so. Anyways, I thought that it would be nice on this Hump Day to add at least one more Author's Pick to finish up 2024 since the last one in tribute to Casablanca. The theme here is songs with "snow" in the title.
To wrap up, I've already got Bing Crosby aboard "Kayo Kyoku Plus" so why not have him do his rendition of "Snow" from the 1954 movie "White Christmas"? Well, he's got his buddies helping him out, too.
The other day, NHK News devoted several minutes to the long-popular band Dreams Come True on occasion of their 35 years in show business, and I figured that since I hadn't posted any Author's Picks regarding the Hokkaido-based group, the time was here. Plus, the works of Miwa Yoshida（吉田美和）, Masato Nakamura（中村正人）and Takahiro Nishikawa（西川隆宏）were examples to me at least that the baton was passed from kayo kyoku to J-Pop.
Well, Valentine's Day has been finished in Japan for a couple of hours as of this writing, but we're still right in the middle of it. Hopefully, you lovebirds are or will be enjoying yourselves with lots of chocolates, wine, etc. I've just decided to give a short list of all of those Japanese pop songs with the word "LOVE" in their titles on behalf of the occasion. Ah, also you may want to take a gander at "Valentine".
Good heavens! It's been nearly five years since I put up a bona fide Dreams Come True song on the blog. I did go through all of the favourites that I knew and there was a feeling that my DCT file was done.
Then once again through the aegis of the good folks at Weathernews Japan via their "Weather Music" segment, I got to hear the familiar and lovely voice of Miwa Yoshida（吉田美和）a few days ago. It was nice to hear her again and it was through Dreams Come True's 38th single from March 2007, "Osaka Lover".
Written and composed by Yoshida and arranged by her DCT partner Masato Nakamura（中村正人）, it's a story of a young lady in a long-distance relationship who comes to Osaka to meet her boyfriend and undergoes her own sturm und drang about the relationship including whether she can handle the Osakan dialect (the music video does show a happy ending). Yes, I can definitely relate to that last part. The melody is one boppy disco arrangement and it has some intriguing matsuri-friendly percussion banging away there.
"Osaka Lover" peaked at No. 7 on Oricon and went Gold. The song was created in the first place to help advertise the Hollywood Dream The Ride at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka, although while one is on it, I doubt that the first thing that will come to mind is this song. Terror and a need to vomit, perhaps, but probably not the song.
A lot of us are coming out of the Easter weekend grumbling at the beginning of another work week. So I gather that the morning coffee was even more appreciated than usual. I've been a coffee drinker since around university; before then I'd been strictly on the Orange Pekoe tea. However, I cannot say in all honesty that I am a coffee connoisseur since I admit that I prefer to drink it with cream (no longer with sugar since my old flame was able to wean me off that years ago) and not black.
There's nothing like the aroma of freshly brewed coffee, though, to herald the beginning of that trek to the table for breakfast. Earlier today, NHK's"Asaichi"（あさイチ）was focusing on the healing power of smell and naturally that cup of java was targeted for its distinct aroma. Of course, when the announcer was grandly enjoying his cuppa, a famous made-in-Japan jingle played in the distance and you can hear it above at the 43-second mark of this commercial.
In the above commercial here, you can hear it once more at 36 seconds. It's been called "Dabada"（ダバダ〜）as an affectionate nickname due to the famous soft and heavenly scatting representing the pure enjoyment of taking in that hot dark liquid. The brand here is Nescafe's Gold Blend that's been around 1967 according to J-Wiki and aside from some musical tangents such as Kazumasa Oda's（小田和正）"Little Tokyo" in 1991, Gold Blend has always used "Mezame" (Waking Up) as its anthem.
The singer behind "Mezame" is Kayo Ishuu（伊集加代）whose career in the industry lasted between the late 1960s and the 2010s. She was also one of the jazzy co-scatters for the theme of the late-night NTV show "11 PM". But for "Mezame", it's all classy and refined as the Nescafe guys wanted it for their coffee. The above is the full version as composed by pianist and arranger Masao Yagi（八木正生）which I hadn't ever heard before until I began writing this article. Indeed, it sounds like background music for a tour of one of Europe's greatest castles...which hopefully serves coffee at the end of the tour. The accompanying cake had better be made by the best French bakers.
"Mezame" has apparently been given slightly different arrangements over the decades although for the most part, it's been Ishuu's scatting at the core. However in 2012, pop duo Dreams Come True came up with their own soulful version of the song in tribute to its 45th anniversary.
Well, that just happened! Last night, I was paying some tribute to the current World Cup in Qatar and wondered about any upsets to join the one in the aftermath of the Saudi Arabia-Argentina bout via King Gnu's"Stardom". And then, this morning, I found out that Japan did defeat Germany 2-1! Canada is playing Belgium as I type this, so will there be another shocker in the making?
Not surprisingly, Shibuya Scramble was scrambling with orgiastic fans lapping up the moment after the win. Yes, I realize that it's merely the first game, but every little bit helps.
As such, I've suddenly decided to put up an Author's Pick to commemorate this small but happy occasion with a few songs that have those certain words in the title and bring up those emotions in the byline...and joy and determination.
It should be a most interesting talk with my anime buddy on the phone tonight when it comes to the latest episode of "Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai"（かぐや様は告らせたい）which is approaching the end of an eventful Season 2. My impression on the show in general has been that it's been hitting me as a mix of "The Big Bang Theory", "Frasier" and "Family Guy", and Episode 9 which I caught on Saturday has especially struck me as that last show with all of the pop cultural references ("Peanuts", for heaven's sake!). In fact, I think even Seth MacFarlane might have gone "Whoa!".
But as I hinted at the top of the article, a lot of fans of the anime had been wondering whether there would be another cute little dance by one of the characters to level up with or even top The Chika Dance that surprised viewers at the end of Episode 3 in Season 1. Well, what it lacked in length (all of 20 seconds) was more than compensated by the main character's stab at voguing just to get that calming ritual to be able to stand up to Miyuki's perceived advances. Heck, there was no coyness in hiding that it was indeed a parody of Madonna's"Vogue" if the viewers caught that image on Kaguya's smartphone (the feather boas opening the sequence sealed the deal). Lady Donna and "Pose" indeed! Certainly, the reactors in the reaction videos were once again delightfully caught off-guard.
Not surprisingly, the space under the music video for Madonna's"Vogue" on YouTube have been liberally peppered since the weekend with comments about the fact that "Kaguya-sama" had sent the writers there. So, once again, I have another Reminiscing of Youth article.
To be more precise, though, it should be a Reminiscing of J-Canuck's 24th Year since that was how old I was when "Vogue" was released in March 1990. Knowing about her since she came up with her early 1980s hits of "Holiday" and "Borderline", Madonna kept on hitting home runs out of the park throughout the rest of the decade, and she did it again at the beginning of the final decade of the 20th century with this song accompanied by a newfangled hand jive.
I was in Gunma, Japan at the time and naively (capital N) tried to incorporate "Dick Tracy", the 1990 film starring Warren Beatty, Al Pacino and Madonna based on the original comic, into my lessons at the junior high schools that I was teaching at. But, really, it was no dice with the students. It was even hard with "Batman" the previous year. "Vogue" did end up on the soundtrack for the movie, which I think is an underrated work considering how much effort was placed into the setting, costumes and makeup, etc., and yep, along with the CD single of the song, I did buy that soundtrack and it's on the shelf behind me. I will have to listen to that one again this week sometime.
"Vogue" hit No. 1 in Canada, America and even Japan, and ended up as the No. 5 song on the US Billboard Hot 100 for the year.
So, what were the Top 3 singles on Oricon for March 1990 when one of Madonna's most famous songs was released?
As I write this, Japan is now in the last 24 hours of the Heisei Era, a period of time that I was happy to have spent much of in Gunma and then Tokyo/Chiba. Of course, being the sentimental and nostalgic guy I am, I've decided to put out a small list of the singers and bands which fairly screamed "HEISEI" to me. I'm not going to so much highlight any particular songs but rather put them up as representatives in this Author's Picks this time around...just the artists themselves. Moreover, this is a personal list; I'm not basing this on Oricon charts and numbers of albums sold. It's all about the affection for certain folks that hit the big time during this time, and to be honest, my picks will mostly be in the 1990s.
1. Wink
"Samishii Nettaigyo" was a title that I couldn't remember or say at all even though this was a Wink single that had just gone gangbusters when it was released in July 1989, a few weeks before my arrival in Gunma Prefecture to teach at the junior high schools there. All I could say was "that WINK song"! With expressions and movements reminiscent of porcelain dolls, Sachiko Suzuki and Shoko Aida struck me as being the anti-aidoru: no smiling and no skipping around. Their time at the top was relatively brief but boy, did they pack their hits in.
2. B'z
As I mentioned in the actual article for "Bad Communication", this was the song that woke me up during my mornings in the first year of my Gunma stay because of Rie Miyazawa in those computer commercials. Takahiro Matsumoto and Koshi Inaba did it fun and did it loud and have continued to do so right to the end of Heisei with other rockers such as "Be There" and "Love Phantom". I always wondered which would win the ultimate battle between Inaba's voice and Matsumoto's guitar.
3. Kazumasa Oda
(covered by Chris Hart)
Still awfully hard to find any of his original solo songs on YouTube but that hasn't deterred me to include the former member of Off-Course on the list since this was an artist who managed to come up with his own sound separate from the one that he and his bandmates created back in the 70s and 80s."Love Story wa Totsuzen ni" was just one example of how he put together those synthesizers and those other instruments to come up with tunes for himself and other singers that would put him up as an urban contemporary balladeer in the last decade of the 20th century.
4. Namie Amuro
I guess for a lot of people that when Namie Amuro announced her retirement from the music business a couple of years ago, they figured that the Heisei Era really was heading for its end. She was one of the first singers that I heard on landing at Narita to start my second stint as an English teacher, this time in Tokyo. She wasn't just dynamic, she was a dynamo! Dancing, singing, showing off her fashion, Amuro started off a pop cultural trend all her own for a few years and I think she was one of the factors in the Komuro Boom that took over J-Pop for the middle years in the 90s. In fact, I still remember being in an Ikebukuro game centre one Saturday night and while my friend was doing his games, I was in a music video capsule watching her "a walk in the park".
5. Ayumi Hamasaki
I wasn't ever a huge fan of Ayumi Hamasaki but as much as Amuro had taken the Japanese pop world by storm around the middle of the 1990s, Hamasaki carved her huge slice of the pop culture pie by the end of that decade and into the new century. There isn't too much exaggeration involved here when I say that ads plugging her next big single and her appearances on "Countdown TV" were basically everywhere.
6. Dreams Come True
This was another band that was making its mark especially in the early 1990s. When I saw that "Music Station" episode on my host family's TV back in 1989 and Dreams Come True make that introduction with a beaming ear-to-ear Miwa Yoshida declaring herself in English, I felt that there was a seismic shift in pop music. I had equated Dreams Come True as a Japanese version of Swingout Sister but that wasn't quite accurate. They also had their own unique voice of sunny uptempo songs and heartbreak ballads.
7. Sing Like Talking
These guys may not have become hugely known on television per se, but I am so glad that I found out about Chikuzen Sato's amazing band and purely by mistaken identity. Cool and urban with plenty of soul, Sing Like Talking was a group that I had thought was another band whose name and output have largely disappeared from my memory. SLT, on the other hand, has stuck with me all these years and I've got a number of their albums to show for it.
8. Misia
It was through the above video that I first got to know Misia. She among a few others symbolized my opinion that good ol' soul was coming back into Japanese popular music for a while from the late 90s, and that voice of hers was just incredible. One of my wishes that she will participate in the Opening Ceremonies for next year's Olympics...preferably to do a cover of Minako Yoshida's "TOWN".
9. Morning Musume
Just when I thought that the concept of female aidoru had gone onto the pop culture heap of history, Tsunku from Sharam Q took this group of runners-up in a television show singing contest and molded them into the core for Hello! Project. Morning Musume had some successes in their early years, but "Love Machine" in 1999 was the booster rocket that sent them soaring, and for a few years, the hits and the TV shows and the new members kept rolling in. It might be all about the alphabet teams now but for me and some of my contemporaries, Morning Musume was our beloved girl group.
10. SMAP
As was the case with Hamasaki, I was never a dedicated fan of SMAP's music although I did buy a few of their singles such as "Celery" and the super-catchy "Shake". But again, for many years, it just seemed that every one of their songs was destined to reach the top of the Oricon charts or at least hover in the Top 10 for several weeks. It didn't hurt either that all of the members achieved fame in other facets of mass media as well through dramas, variety shows, specials and commercials. I did enjoy my "Bistro SMAP", and wouldn't it have been something if it had still stayed on the air to host The Avengers?
My list is not a complete one by any means but I did want to keep things at 10, and obviously any music memories that you might have of the Heisei Era may be vastly different from mine. So I offer the invitation to commenters and fellow contributors alike...if you have your own Heisei list, by all means, let us know! Meanwhile, let's get ready for Reiwa.
I haven't heard this Dreams Come True song in years. Yet, "Ahaha" brought back memories of vocalist Miwa Yoshida's（吉田美和）brilliant smile and fine vocal cords. I was surprised that DCT's 22nd single from January 1998 didn't hit the Top 10, only getting as high as No. 19, and in fact, J-Wiki states that it was the first time in 7 years that a DCT song failed to break through into the Oricon Top 10.
Still, this chirpy "Ahaha", written and composed by Yoshida, about a woman challenging (perhaps rhetorically) a former beau to look at her wiser current incarnation has got plenty of DCT charm especially through the singer's delivery. When I heard it again after the longest while, I simply automatically relaxed. DCT apparently gives good ASMR!
I wasn't aware that there was an English version of "Ahaha". The original version was placed onto Dream Come True's 9th studio album"Sing or Die" from November 1997. Considering the time of release, it came in at No. 52 on the 1997 yearly charts while a year later, it ranked at No. 50.
When I first heard this Dreams Come True song, the band's 17th single from February 1995, the underlying music had this whimsical synth-flute sound that sounded rather familiar but for the life of me, I couldn't identify the source.
All I felt at the time was that "Thank You." was this down-home-in-the-country sounding song whose purpose seemed to be to put people at ease. And the lyrics by vocalist Miwa Yoshida（吉田美和）bring that message as a young lady expresses her gratitude to a loyal friend and hints that she may want to take things to the next level. Note to the friend: seize the day!
Back to the music by Yoshida and bassist Masato Nakamura（中村正人）. It wouldn't be years later when I got a BEST compilation of the Pat Metheny Group and heard the various songs there that I put 2+2 together and thought that perhaps "Thank You." may have been inspired by the works of Metheny. My only experience with him was through the 1980s collaboration between him and David Bowie,"This Is Not America" from the movie "The Falcon and the Snowman", and as much as I like the mystery and the wistfulness of the song, there was not all that much in common between it and the songs that I've heard on the BEST album.
I did find out there in the J-Wiki article for "Thank You." that the rhythm for the song was likely based on Metheny's "Slip Away". I actually gave it a listen on YouTube but didn't hear too much of a similarity between the two tunes; in fact, I thought "Slip Away" had more in common with the aforementioned "This Is Not America" strangely enough.
Still "Thank You." is another pleasant and laidback song that provided another hit for Dreams Come True. It peaked at No. 2 and became the 26th-ranked single for 1995. It also went Double Platinum, selling more than a million copies. The song also quickly became sold as a charity single following the Great Hanshin Earthquake that had occurred in January of that year. "Thank You." was also a track on DCT's 7th album"Delicious", hitting No. 1 for two weeks straight after its release in March and later becoming the No. 1 album of the year. It is currently the 22nd-ranked best-selling album in Oricon history.
This was before I saw them on that fateful Music Station episode, before Miwa Yoshida（吉田美和）with that wide-as-the-Mississippi smile launched into "Ureshihazukashi Asagaeri"(うれしはずかし朝帰り) when I first started out on the JET Programme.
Believe it or not, Dreams Come True did have two prior singles before "Ureshihazukashi Asagaeri" started the band on their way to super success way into the 90s. Their debut single was "Anata ni Aitakutte" (Wanting To Meet You) which came out in March 1989, and listening to it, I don't think I would put it among their most popular hits (and it didn't get into the rankings) but the ingredients of DCT were there: Yoshida's boomer voice, that synth sound that seemed to come in from another country, and, even watching her performing the song, that neck jive.
"Anata ni Aitakutte" was also on their debut album"Dreams Come True" which was released on the same day as the single. That release got as high as No. 27 on Oricon and actually ended up as the 88th-ranked album for the year 1993! Talk about late bloomers! From an original output of 8000 albums, by June 1994, that first album sold 900,000 copies, going Double Platinum.
From such humble beginnings, dreams came true for Dreams Come True.
Back in my Gunma days and in the early days of Dreams Come True, I used to think the original triumvirate of Miwa Yoshida, Masato Nakamura and Takahiro Nishikawa（吉田美和・中村正人・西川隆宏）was the Japanese equivalent of the UK's Swingout Sister with bombastic jangling synths. Probably one of the more evident examples was their 7th single from September 1990, "Sayonara wo Matteru" (Waiting for Goodbye).
Created by Yoshida and Nakamura, it's a plaintive song with Yoshida demanding that the soon-to-be-erstwhile boyfriend just not beat around the bush anymore and just plain tell her that the relationship is finito. I remember seeing the original music video on "MTV Japan" and being impressed by the shot of the saxophone player in the middle of the street during the instrumental bridge. That's why we have crane shots, people! Also, watching the video above, I was reminded of Miwa-chan's famous move in the form of her neck strut.
"Sayonara wo Matteru" struck No. 4 on Oricon and was the 91st-ranked song for 1990. It is also a track on their 3rd album, "Wonder 3" which was released in November of that year. That album hit No. 1 and despite the late release in the year, it became the 22nd-best selling release and even went higher a year later as the 14th-ranked album for 1991. Not surprisingly, it was a million-seller.
Apparently, Midori Karashima（辛島美登里）has done a cover version as a single which came out in January 2001 but unfortunately, I couldn't find that one online.
One of the last dramas that I watched over in Japan was a Tuesday night series on Fuji-TV called "Kyuumei Byoutou ni Ni-juu-yo-ji"（救命病棟24時...Emergency Room 24 Hours）in 1999. It was one of the ubiquitous hospital shows that have seemed to pop up at least once a season, but this one starred some pretty big names such as Yosuke Eguchi (from "Tokyo Love Story" fame almost a decade earlier...but without his long locks) and Nanako Matsushima.
And it was a show that was also notable for its theme song by Dreams Come True. "Asa ga Mata Kuru" (The Morning Will Come Again), as the title suggests, is a relaxing and reassuring song that made its rounds on the charts for a number of weeks. As has been the case with DCT singles, it was written by vocalist Miwa Yoshida（吉田美和）, composed by Yoshida and guitarist Masato Nakamura（中村正人）, and released in January 1999. The rumbling guitar just keeps on moving forward along with Yoshida's bright vocals ensuring that no one is left to stand around and mope.
The duo's 24th single hit No. 1 on Oricon, the first Dreams Come True single to do so in over 3 years since "Romance" as it went Double Platinum. By the end of 1999, it would become the 25th-ranked single of the year. "Asa ga Mata Kuru" was also a track on DCT's 10th album from April of that year, "the Monster" which also hit the top of the charts and later became the 22nd-ranked album of 1999.
Keeping on the Tanabata theme, there is one ballad that inevitably bubbles up in my head whenever July 7th comes around. It helps that the title incorporates that very date: "Shichi-gatsu, Nanoka, Hare" (Seventh of July, Sunny Day), and it is by that group famous for its love ballads, Dreams Come True.
As usual, DCT members Miwa Yoshida（吉田美和）and Masato Nakamura（中村正人）took care of this song which I was surprised to find out was never an official single, although, as JTM mentioned in his huge article on a BEST article on the band, it was used as the theme song for a 1996 romantic motion picture of the same title starring Arisa Mizuki（観月ありさ）. I do remember that "Shichi-gatsu, Nanoka, Hare" the song got as much promotion as the movie did, and personally speaking, I think it deserved it.
The song is a quietly soaring and epic piece which starts out as if it were the background music for the legend of Orihime and Hikoboshi with Yoshida plaintively calling out how much she wants to meet her Mr. Right but just cannot. Then from that intro, it does a dive into modern-day Japan through the music which sounds as if it has to be listened to at night when the stars are out...it almost sounds like City Pop. Then the melody starts to zigzag into different keys which could describe anything from a romantic but tumultuous flying carpet ride (a la "Aladdin") to a whirlwind romance in the metropolis or the modern-day version of the two aforementioned deities running from fate. But all of that is anchored by the reassuring and just-as-soaring vocals of Yoshida. It's been a while since I heard this one...good to hear it again.
The song may not have been a single but it was a track on Dream Come True's 8th album, "LOVE UNLIMITED∞" from April 1996 which hit No. 1 and became the 8th-ranked album for the year. It was also included on their greatest hits album, "The Soul" which JTM covers, and also the soundtrack for the movie "Seventh of July, Sunny Day".
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