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.
Ah, yes...Vachon's Half-Moon Cakes...which have nothing to do with the sweets during the Moon Festival in September. Actually, these were a part of my youth during lunchtime. When I got together with the guys for lunch at high school in front of our lockers, my mother would usually put one of these into my brown bag as the dessert segment. They came in lemon and chocolate versions and were (and still are) so sweet that they were responsible for the sugar crashes in the afternoon classes.
The above makes for a Canadian treat segue into this 20th single by Hiromi Ohta（太田裕美）"Koi no Half-Moon"(Half-Moon of Love) which was released back in March 1981. This was also the follow-up to Ohta's "Saraba Siberia Tetsudo"(さらばシベリア鉄道）that had come out in December 1980, and it was basically the same songwriting lineup for that one that was responsible for "Koi no Half-Moon", lyricist Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）and composer/arranger Eiichi Ohtaki（大滝詠一）with Masataka Matsutoya（松任谷正隆）helping on the arrangement of the strings and horns.
"Koi no Half-Moon" is an interesting one. It didn't impress me on first listen but it has started to grow on me. The notable thing is that it doesn't sound like a typical Ohtaki arrangement with that overall 50s and/or country-western twang that has become a staple of his melody work ("Saraba Siberia Tetsudo" is a classic in that way). In fact, I'd say that with some of the disco feeling in there, it sounds a bit more Electric Light Orchestra without the heavy synths. As for Matsumoto, he wove a story about a couple enjoying a night ride in the convertible and stopping off at their version of Inspiration Point in Japan, and if any of you have watched the old American sitcom "Happy Days", you'll know the significance of Inspiration Point. Hopefully, the only thing looking down at the soon-to-be very happy pair is the half-moon itself.
Although "Saraba Siberia Tetsudo" has become one of Ohta's trademark songs, it only scored a No. 70 ranking initially on Oricon, and looking through her discography on J-Wiki, it was evident that her big days (outside of what her most dedicated fans thought) were receding. "Koi no Half-Moon" peaked at No. 81.
The B-side, "Blue Baby Blue", was also created by Ohtaki and Matsumoto with Yasuo Arakawa（荒川康男）helping the former out on arrangement. Now, this sounds more like an Ohtaki production...yup, Richie and Mary Beth out on the porch swing in the 1950s. However, the lyrics are a whole lot sadder as someone is having some major regrets about breaking up with that special lass. Post-breakup blues never sounded more sweet and nostalgic.
Eiichi Ohtaki's Niagara sound, based on American pop music of the 1960s, was created from his own unique viewpoint of well-versed pop music historical knowledge, irrespective of whether it was Japanese or Western. The culmination of all that was his timeless masterpiece "A Long Vacation". The success of that album was especially due to the lyrics of Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）, I believe. When Matsumoto's prose, which came straight out of a page of vibrant youth like a watercolour painting, was layered onto Ohtaki's one-and-only Niagara sound, truly evergreen pop music was born.
The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised" (2020).
I didn't think that I would write such an article but after having watched NHK's travelogue "Otona no Wagamama Tabi"(An Adult's Selfish Trip) last night, I was rather inspired by the "soundtrack" pushing things along. The city for last night's episode was Taipei, Taiwan, and unfortunately, I couldn't find any sign of anything of the NHK show but I figure that the network had done its usual search-and-destroy mission of any signs of unpermitted NHK coverage on YouTube. However, I've found a fine video by Maibaru Travel as you can see above. I've been to Taipei myself once and all I can say after watching the episodes is that I still have much to discover about the city, especially when it comes to its gastronomy.
Anyways, about that eclectic "soundtrack", and yes, I have put it in quotation marks because I'm fairly sure that NHK is not going to put out an actual soundtrack but I thought it was nice to hear some of the old songs, a few of which were instrumental covers while others were the real McCoy. Here is what I heard as the actor/model on "Otona no Wagamama Tabi" was touring and eating his way through Taipei.
Yes, I do realize that Christmas ended two weeks ago today but I really couldn't let this one song go, especially I would have to wait another eleven months to activate this one.
To be honest, I only discovered this Xmas oddity a few days after December 25th. The late singer-songwriter Eiichi Ohtaki（大滝詠一）showed off his humourous side once more with "Christmas Ondo"(Christmas Folk Song). It was placed suitably as the penultimate track on his Xmas Day-release 1977 concept album"Niagara Calendar". Inspired by Julie London's 1956"Calendar Girl", Ohtaki's tracks follow along the theme of a calendar from New Year's to New Year's.
"Christmas Ondo" is a fun mélange of Xmas music and Japanese festival melody that includes excerpts from "Silent Night", "White Christmas" and "Jingle Bells". It makes me wonder whether some enterprising folks in Japan ever came up with a Christmas matsuri somewhere in the years since. One bit of trivia that I got from the J-Wiki article on "Niagara Calendar" was that Ohtaki had begged Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）to include and arrange a string section. Tats wasn't too keen on the necessity but Ohtaki insisted and somehow the deed got done.
Interestingly enough, Ohtaki got together with vocal group Chanels (before they became known as Rats and Star) at a Christmas Day 1979 concert and did their version of "Christmas Ondo". Methinks the guys had generous helpings of spiked egg nog to get them through it.
Chock-filled with the American pop of Aldon Music and the essence of the Spector sound, "Yume de Aetara" has been the gold standard model from Niagara for the Japanese pop scene, especially when it comes to the aidoru music from the 1980s onwards. The beautiful string arrangement by Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）that is even more Jack Nitzsche than Jack Nitzsche is also very affecting.
The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised"(2020).
I guess I'll leave Kayo Grace and her boyfriend to their tender moment alone. 💕Anyways, I was listening to Scott's "Holly Jolly X'masu" podcast from several days ago, and he was focusing on the album "Winter Gift Pops" from November 1997. It was compiled by singer-songwriter and producer Masamichi Sugi（杉真理）and it isn't strictly a Xmas album, but then again, the title is able to skirt that accusation since, well, gifts can be given on Valentine's Day and White Day which are still in the winter season.
Track 5 on "Winter Gift Pops" which starts at around 19:00 of the podcast is "Anata dake I Love You"(I Love Only You) by Miwako Saito（さいとうみわこ）. It sounds just like a song that either Sugi or the late great Eiichi Ohtaki（大滝詠一）would create, and guess what? It is indeed Ohtaki who wrote and composed this one while Yasuharu Ogura（小倉泰治）took care of the arrangement which adds a few more interesting bells and whistles to what is a 50s or 60s girl pop song.
Scott goes into Saito's history but I'll also come in here to say that the Tokyo-born singer began her career in 1978 as the vocalist for the girls' band Neko Musume（猫娘...Catgirl） before starting up another similar band Tango Europe（タンゴ・ヨーロッパ）in 1980 while attending Nihon University College of Art. The band broke up in 1984 after which Saito went on a solo singing career with four singles and seven full albums and mini-albums.
Since listening to Saito's take on "Anata dake I Love You", it didn't take long before YouTube steered me in the direction toward the original singer behind the song, Kaoru Sudo（須藤薫）. This was Sudo's 7th single from November 1981 with Ohtaki and Masataka Matsutoya（松任谷正隆）handling the arrangement which really brings back those girl pop vibes from sixty to seventy years ago, and Sudo was one of the masters of the genre. "Anata dake I Love You" was also found even earlier on her debut album"Chef's Special" which had been released in June 1980.
It's hard to believe that we're approaching the 11th anniversary of the untimely passing of singer-songwriter Eiichi Ohtaki（大滝詠一）. He really had that timeless voice which struck me as very much of an old-fashioned lonesome cowboy croon. There are so many examples but I can state one here which is "Shiawase na Ketsumatsu"（幸せな結末）, his November 1997 hit and theme song for the Fuji-TV drama "Love Generation".
But Ohtaki also had his sense of humour that up until recently never got noticed. In March 2023, a double-CD album was released, "Ohtaki Eiichi ~ NOVELTY SONG BOOK/NIAGARA ONDO BOOK". Disc 1 was the novelty songbook which features unreleased tracks with Ohtaki behind the mike and tongue firmly planted in cheek for at least some of the tunes. One such number is "Hormone Kouta ~ Genki de Cha-Cha-Cha"(The Hormone Song ~ Happy Cha-Cha-Cha) which had originally been created for singer-actor Akira Kobayashi（小林旭）back in 1976 for an album project but when those plans fell through, the song was shelved for the last few decades, except for one time when Ohtaki played it on Internet radio. In fact, it was so rarely heard that folks wondered if "Hormone Kouta" was nothing more than an urban legend.
Written by Tetsuro Hoshino（星野哲郎）and composed by Ohtaki, "Hormone Kouta" is a song about replenishing one's mojo that sounds like a mix between kayo kyoku and a march from Disneyland. Certainly, it's a different voice from Ohtaki who sounds as if he needs some of those aphrodisiacs listed in the lyrics such as liver, raw eggs and honey (hopefully not together). The tongue-in-cheek aim is to have the song aimed at the middle-aged and elderly to get some of the sexual energy back. It's definitely ironic in that this had originally been meant for Kobayashi since his reputation has been that of a virile and masculine personage.
Happy Monday! Well, the big event has come and gone. About 40 minutes ago, Toronto just got dark to the extent of dusk becoming full-blown night for a couple of minutes as the eclipse arrived. I'm assuming that Niagara Falls ended up looking like midnight for a few minutes.
Anyways, back to kayo kyoku business. I found out about this song, "Fjord no Shojo" (Fjord Girl), when I was doing the weekly Yutaka Kimura Speaks article on Shigeru Suzuki's（鈴木茂）"Sobakasu no Aru Shojo"（ソバカスのある少女）exactly a month ago. Kimura referred to those two songs (including "Saraba Siberia Tetsudo" [さらばシベリア鉄道]） and brought in "Fjord no Shojo" as tunes regarding young women fleeing a bad situation, often going far off into the northern territories of Earth. Maybe the cold is good for removing sad memories...I don't know.
I'd never heard of "Fjord no Shojo" and coming across the referral, I was curious by this song by the late great Eiichi Ohtaki（大滝詠一）. And sure enough, it is what I usually expect of an Ohtaki opus: his crooning vocals, the jangly guitar and the air of heading out bravely into the great unknown. According to the J-Wiki article regarding the song, Matti Luhtala of the Finnish band The Mustangs kindly contributed his guitar-playing prowess to Ohtaki's 11th single of November 1985.
Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）once again partnered with composer/arranger Ohtaki with his lyrics of a woman who has gotten tired of society and the poor protagonist and has probably escaped to Finland for a long respite. The single, officially titled "Fjord no Shojo/Bachelor Girl"（フィヨルドの少女/バチェラー・ガール）and the final analog single to be released under the Niagara label, reached No. 31 on Oricon. It also found a home on Ohtaki's album "Complete EACH TIME" which came out in June 1986 and peaked at No. 14.
A couple of years ago, I mentioned about folk singer-songwriter Sachiko Kanenobu（金延幸子）and her "Aoi Sakana"（青い魚）which was a track on the Osakan's first album"Misora"（み空...Beautiful Sky） from September 1972.
In the post for that song, I also stated that most of the members from the band Happy End（はっぴいえんど）helped out on the production of "Misora". Well, this is Eiichi Ohtaki's（大滝詠一）contribution through his composing talents while Kanenobu provided the lyrics. The introspective "Sora wa Fukigen"(Moody Sky) is a quiet and somewhat hopeful song sung beautifully by Kanenobu as a woman does the everyday while trying to forget a romance that has just ended. As with "Aoi Sakana", "Sora wa Fukigen" has that "smell-the-roses" feeling.
It was all the way back in 2014 when I wrote up a "Kayo Kyoku Plus" article on the very first single record of a Western pop song that I had ever bought and that was "Ai no Corrida" as originally sung by Charles "Dune" May. As I mentioned in that article, I first heard the disco or post-disco classic through a cover version done by a whole bunch of young 80s aidoruin one of the special segments of the 1981 Kohaku Utagassen on NHK. The single version was also a hit in Japan.
"Ai no Corrida" hit me with such good vibes that I soon ran over to the local Sam the Record Man shop to search for this unusually titled tune, and it was a surprise and delight that I could find the 45" single even in that tiny branch. The single version though was only a few seconds north of three minutes. I wouldn't find out for several years that the album version from Quincy Jones'"The Dude" has more than double the goodness. I stated this in the "Ai no Corrida" article as well, but the Jones version was also a cover for the Chaz Jankel original from the previous year.
Yup, "The Dude"...released in March 1981. It's an album that I wouldn't buy for several years since I was frankly intimidated by that cover. In fact, I finally bought it in Japan in the late 1990s, nearly 20 years after it had been first put onto record shelves. And since then, I've been happily catching up on what I'd missed by playing it in heavy rotation.
But let me get the accolades for "The Dude" out of the way. To lift a quote from the Wikipedia article for the album: "The Dude was nominated for twelve Grammy Awards (including Album of the Year) and won three at the 24th Grammy Awards: for Best Instrumental Arrangement; Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal; and Best Instrumental Arrangement (Accompanying Vocalists). It also earned Ingram three Grammy nominations for Best New Artist, Best Male Pop Vocal Performance (for "Just Once") and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance (for "One Hundred Ways"), which he won."
I also read somewhere that "The Dude" was the Michael Jackson album that Michael Jackson had never recorded. It's just that cool and special. So, without further ado, let me go through this classic album version of Reminiscings of Youth this week.
Second up on "The Dude" is the title track itself. And Jones himself is The Dude here with his kakkoii rap. Created by Jones, Rod Temperton and Patti Austin, one couldn't have a cooler power song for a patriarch of the neighbourhood. The backing vocals by Austin and others (including a certain one-gloved wonder...I believe I did cite him earlier), Ernie Watt's sax, James Ingram's heraldic vocals and those Jerry Hey horns come together magnificently to craft a potential theme tune that would come as a reassuring message to some and a warning to others.
One of the reasons that I've been happy with "The Dude" is that there is a good amount of variety in the types of music. Case in point, Track 3 is the late James Ingram's"Just Once", a pleasant soul-pop ballad that I had only known for years as a song that would frequently get played on AM radio before buying the source album. Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil were responsible for this second single (September 1981) to come out of "The Dude". I also remember it for its performance by Ingram on an episode of "SCTV" in which the singer was also more than happy to goof it up with the rest of the comedians. David Foster was on the keyboards here.
Smooth and velvety is how I would describe "Betcha Wouldn't Hurt Me" as performed by Patti Austin and created by the Stevie Wonder. This is the type of song that I wouldn't mind hearing in a car while heading down to paint the town red.
Austin was in front of the mike here, too, for "Somethin' Special", a truly special and slightly smoky urban cool tune which hits me like aural bacon. Rod Temperton took care of words and music here and I think that is Watts once more on the saxophone.
"Razzamatazz" is once more fronted by Austin and this is the track to hear when we are in the midst of painting the town red. Rod Temperton was also responsible for this disco flashback and another highlight is also hearing all of those background vocals percolating through the tune from all directions.
"One Hundred Ways" was the third and final single from "The Dude" which came out in December 1981. Sung by Ingram, the song was created by Kathy Wakefield, Ben Wright and Tony Coleman, and it's really a whimsical and heartfelt recipe on how to keep the heart lights glowing fiercely. Not surprisingly, this was also getting a lot of play on the radio, perhaps especially on Valentine's Day.
The penultimate track "Velas" by Ivan Lins and Vitor Martins is the lone jazz instrumental track on the album. It was the first time that I realized how soulful a harmonica can be since up until that point, I'd assumed that the instrument was used just in cowboy movies. I have to therefore give my compliments to the legendary Toots Thielemans for opening my eyes (he also provided the whistles). His work along with the creamy keyboard work by Greg Phillinganes and Johnny Mandel's silky strings add to a very romantic nightscape.
And we finally come to "Turn on the Action", another look back at disco and good ol' R&B by Rod Temperton and Patti Austin. As soon as I saw that title, I figured that I was going to get something from the old 1970s dancehalls.
I couldn't come anywhere near mentioning all of the players involved in "The Dude" here, so have a look at the personnel on Wikipedia. On America's Billboard 200, the album reached No. 9 while hitting No. 1 on the R&B and jazz charts. For the year, "The Dude" reached No. 25 on the 200 overall. Also, take a look at the article on the "EBONY" website.
With "The Dude" having its release in March 1981, what else was being put out there in Japan in that month?
Just like poetry which reads like that love story and with a melody that seems like a landscape photograph fluttering in the wind, one can spend a calm early afternoon at the setting of the Velvet Motel. Backed by a captivating Niagara rhythm pattern that spontaneously borrows from rock bandMAMALAID RAG, the banter with Rajie is also unique. It's a splendid battle of sharp wits with a few curve balls thrown in.
The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised"(2020).
Found within an excellent album that needs no explanation, "Ame no Wednesday"(Rainy Wednesday) is a stylish* ballad that stands out for its simple band sound from the lineup of Tatsuo Hayashi（林立夫）, Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）and Shigeru Suzuki（鈴木茂）. The interweaving of Ohtaki's（大滝詠一）unpretentious melody and Matsumoto's（松本隆）superb depiction of a scene is just like something out of the movies. Anyone who likes this song must have their own Volkswagen, a sea and that special someone.
*The word "stylish" is something that I came up with after seeing the original word of sumire iro（菫色）to describe the ballad. It literally translates as "violet" which had question marks popping up around my head. My usual dictionaries didn't go beyond the literal translation but going to a Japanese site regarding colours, I found out that the colour has been associated with haikara（ハイカラ）or "high collar" meaning "stylish" or "fashionable".
The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised"(2020).
The Niagara Girl Pop sound has been passed down from Celia Paul in the 1970s through Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）in the 1980s and then to Marina Watanabe（渡辺満里奈）in the 1990s. "Anata kara Tooku e" is a bossa nova cover of a track on Sachiko Kanenobu's（金延幸子）evergreen "Misora"（み空）that was produced by Ohtaki for the first time, and Marina's cute vocals gently cradle the dazzling Niagara sound. Akira Inoue's（大滝詠一）flowing strings are also splendid.
The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised" (2020).
I actually found out about this song from the "Japanese City Pop Masterpieces 100" section of the 2020 edition of "Japanese City Pop" as curated by Yutaka Kimura, so this will be getting handled for next Friday's Yutaka Kimura Speaks session.
"Anata kara Tooku e"(From You to Beyond) apparently was selected to also go into Sony Music's own City Pop compilation, but I think that there's more going melodically here than just some 1990s City Pop. As sung by tarento and former 1980s aidoruMarina Watanabe（渡辺満里奈）for a track on her 9th original album"Ring-a-Bell" from March 1996, I can hear the mellow bossa nova in there but there's some pretty old-style sophisticated pop as well thanks to Akira Inoue's（井上鑑）strings arrangement, so I'm starting to think Shibuya-kei, too, especially with some of the keyboard work. There's also a fellow by the name of Tarao Bannai（多羅尾伴内）who was in on the overall arrangement and, for that matter, the production of the album itself. It turns out that it's Eiichi Ohtaki（大滝詠一）.
Watanabe's song was actually a cover of the original as written, composed and performed by folk singer Sachiko Kanenobu（金延幸子）. I first wrote about her almost a couple of years ago when I covered her "Aoi Sakana"（青い魚）from her first album, "Misora"（み空...Beautiful Sky） released in September 1972. Arranged by Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）, the original version of "Anata kara Tooku e" which also resides on "Misora" has a folk/pop feeling which reminded me of the works of Carole King. The lyrics relate the tale of a woman who's struggling a bit as her significant other is no longer beside her in bed.
Forty years ago on March 21st 1981, the late singer-songwriter Eiichi Ohtaki（大滝詠一）released an album that would become his magnum opus, "A Long Vacation". It would get a ton of accolades and it finished just behind Akira Terao's（寺尾聰）"Reflections" as Oricon's No. 2 album of the year.
I've already covered the album along with some of the other tracks that I've covered individually, and in fact earlier today, some of us got together on Rocket Brown's "Come Along Radio" to go over "A Long Vacation" (which will be appearing on some platform sometime in the weeks to come). One song that I had yet to profile on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" was the second track on Side A, "Velvet Motel" that was a work between lyricist Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）and composer Ohtaki.
Imbued with that iconic Ohtaki sound that imbues most of the tracks on "A Long Vacation", "Velvet Motel" is kinda like that Act I in a romance-comedy: it's carefree and comical before the more dramatic elements enter and contrasts nicely with the epic "Kimi wa Tennen Shoku"（君は天然色） that begins the album. And interestingly enough, Matsumoto's lyrics actually relate a story of a couple checking into that titular motel with the guy ending up sleeping on the couch due to a tiff that night, although there is some amiable teasing back-and-forth between Ohtaki and special guest Rajie（ラジー）that becomes more prominent once the headphones are put on.
I found out yesterday that in November 2009, a tribute album to the works on "A Long Vacation" was released titled "A Long Vacation from Ladies" in which a number of veteran female singers do their cover versions of Ohtaki's tracks. Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）, Miki Imai（今井美樹）, Hiromi Ohta（太田裕美）and Ami Ozaki（尾崎亜美）are included in the list.
About a year has passed since the last article for Junichi Inagaki（稲垣潤一）and I would like to give one of the princes of City Pop/J-AOR another go before the year is out.
His 9th single from July 1985 is "Bachelor Girl", a brassy example of pop for Inagaki...yep, I wouldn't say that it's quite City Pop or AOR here for the Sendai-born singer. For a song about the impending end of a romance, the melody comes across as proud as a strutting peacock. Perhaps it's more of the triumph for the woman who's leaving the duo while the man can only stare as she slowly disappears beyond the horizon. And maybe that's because the composer is none other than the late Eiichi Ohtaki（大滝詠一）who I've seen as someone who can come up with the big and brassy. His songwriting partner is Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）, his old bandmate from Happy End（はっぴーえんど）.
As a detour, although I couldn't find the actual recording by Ohtaki himself, I did track down this wonderful cover of the songwriter's version by a fellow named Sammy Koiwa, and I think the arrangement is reminiscent of an Ohtaki tune. It feels like the synthesizers did the work here but the impression is that proud 60s Spector-ish sound that I've often put alongside his melodies. His version was released as a B-side for his 11th single"Fjord no Shojo"（フィヨルドの少女...Girl of the Fjords） which came out in November 1985 and managed to reach as high as No. 31 on the charts.
Meanwhile, getting back to Inagaki's single, the B-side for "Bachelor Girl" is "Ai wa Ude no Naka de"(Love In Our Arms) which is about as opposite as Inagaki can get from the A-side. Whereas "Bachelor Girl" is booming and melancholy, "Ai wa Ude no Naka de" is cozy and rosy as the crooner sings about reminding his lady love about the night they met...just before Labour Day at Harry's. I'll have to pick Yasushi Akimoto's（秋元康）brains on how he came up with that particular lyric.
The melody by Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）is pure City Pop including that exhalation of breath in the intro which may as well represent that bottle of Evian being poured (fluffy pink cardigan sold separately). In fact, I can posit that the melody reminds me in a glancing way of Al Jarreau's"Moonlighting", whose TV show starring Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis, I believe, premiered in that same year of 1985. In any case, with this Inagaki single, you've got the perfect yin-yang of bitter/sweet.
The last time I wrote an article on Eiichi Ohtaki（大滝詠一）was back on March 22nd for his December 1971 solo debut single "Koi no Kisha Poppo"（恋の汽車ポッポ）. At the time, COVID-19 was still preventing us from seeing the light at the end of the dark tunnel, but now about 6 weeks later, although I realize that this insidious virus won't truly depart until the vaccine is created, there are signs that though we're not out of the woods, perhaps the Toronto train is partially out of that tunnel at least. Our provincial premier has announced this afternoon that parks can now be opened (but not campgrounds) and if we're living close to them, we can visit those ones.
So, perhaps it's appropriate that I provide the B-side to "Koi no Kisha Poppo", "Sore wa Boku janai yo"(That's Not Me). The same fellows behind that song were also behind this one, lyricist Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）and Ohtaki as the composer. Unlike the rock beat of Side A, "Sore wa Boku janai yo" has a more languid country-folk vibe as Ohtaki sings about appreciatively observing a lover while asleep in the morning. It's kinda too bad that I never put up a Country category in Labels; I think it's so country (thank you, steel pedal guitar) that I see a lot of blue grass and hay bales out in my mind.
If I ever get back out to Japan in the next couple of years, I may want to get on an old-fashioned train, just like the one Ohtaki is riding on the cover of the single. Would be nice to really get a look outside of Tokyo while I have time.
My feelings about the COVID-19 terror that's been around us for the last little while and may continue around us for probably the bulk of this year have been having me go up and down somewhat like a kiddie's roller coaster. There have been some moments of sadness and there have also been some moments of "Avengers Assemble!".
Fortunately, one source that has been able to bring out more of the latter moments is the ability to talk with friends via social media or phone. I got to do that today with Rocket Brown from Come Along Radio for a couple of hours, and so we were able to chat on the wonders of City Pop from our respective homes in Canada and the United States.
A song that Rocket introduced me to today was the late Eiichi Ohtaki's（大滝詠一）debut single as a solo act, "Koi no Kisha Poppo" (Love Train Choo-Choo) which came out in December 1971. His band, Happy End（はっぴいえんど）would still be around for several more months, and for "Koi no Kisha Poppo", he still had his three other bandmates, Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）, Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）and Shigeru Suzuki（鈴木茂）help out in the recording studio. However, because he probably wanted his debut tune to stand apart from his Happy End material, the credits included the four being given wacky kanji pseudonyms instead. Still, though, it was Matsumoto's lyrics paired with Ohtaki's music. As another interesting twist, the Happy End guys even traded instruments during recording. For example, bassist Hosono took on the drums while guitarist Ohtaki was on bass. Incidentally, it was Matsumoto behind lyrics and Ohtaki handling the melody.
According to the liner notes for Ohtaki's self-titled debut album"Ohtaki Eiichi", which was released the following year in November, the single version for "Koi no Kisha Poppo", launched with a snare drum riff in tribute to the intro for Little Eva's classic "The Loco-Motion" (good job, Harry!), and apparently the comparison was enough for Ohtaki to get the cover photo for the song with him sitting on an old steam engine. I thought that the fellow was noshing on something when Rocket gently corrected me that he was most likely smoking a cigarette (he was a rock n' roll singer, you know).
Perhaps there was some DNA from "The Loco-Motion" intertwined in Ohtaki's debut tune, but I also thought that there was a certain roots rock feeling to "Koi no Kisha Poppo". And sure enough, the J-Wiki article bore my feelings out when it mentioned that the rock n' roll in there was reminiscent of Creedence Clearwater Revival. Maybe there is even some late-era Beatles in there, too. In addition, I noticed in that same article that the song has been dedicated to the aforementioned Little Eva but also to Neil Sedaka.
"Ohtaki Eiichi" also has the album version titled "Koi no Kisha Poppo, Dai Ni-bu"（第二部...No. 2）which has some different lyrics, some additional 60s Girl Pop feeling thanks to some background vocals, and a fade out at the end, compared to the hard stop at the end of the single version. The album peaked at No. 75 on Oricon.
In any case, during this long COVID-19 winter, don't hesitate to communicate with your friends and family whether by e-mail, Skype or phone.
I actually remember watching The Beatles' animated feature "Yellow Submarine" on CBS when I was a kid. For someone who was accustomed to watching cute animals via Disney and Warner Brothers, viewing this one had me creeped out and mesmerized at the same time. I think the squint that I had watching "Yellow Submarine" explains why my eyes look the way they do now.
Well, as I mentioned last night for that Mini-Moni article, "Uta Kon"（うたコン）a couple of nights ago had the mixed theme of spring songs and Beatles classics. Of course, there were the straight renditions but then there was this most unusual kayo-fied version of "Yellow Submarine" titled "Yellow Submarine Ondo" (Yellow Submarine Japanese Folk Song) performed by minyo singer Akiko Kanazawa（金沢明子）.
Released originally as Kanazawa's 16th single from November 1982, this Japanese take on one of The Beatles' most recognizable hits sounds as if The Fab Four had truly fallen in love with life in Japan and decided to stay. Some years later, Paul and John decide to whip up a tune for the local summer festival.
Actually, though, the idea to make an ondo out of "Yellow Submarine" came from a director by the name of Shinji Kawahara（川原伸司）who helped in the production of songs including "Aoi Sangosho"（青い珊瑚礁）by Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）and Yosui Inoue's（井上陽水）"Shonen Jidai"（少年時代）. He had been thinking about converting a Beatles song into a traditional folk tune, and after a few stumbles, he met up with singer-songwriter Eiichi Ohtaki（大滝詠一）who decided to help out. Initially, it had been thought that comedienne Kuniko Yamada（山田邦子）would be the one to record it, but Ohtaki balked at that, stating that if Yamada went behind the mike, the song wouldn't be taken seriously enough (although I think, regardless, it does come off as a pretty comical tune...parts of it sound like Krazy Kats).
It was decided then that singer Kanazawa, who hails from my former home of Ichikawa in Chiba Prefecture, would be the one to record this new version of "Yellow Submarine" with Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）providing the Japanese lyrics. Of course, the finished product still has the basic familiar melody by McCartney and Lennon, but according to the J-Wiki article on "Yellow Submarine Ondo", some inspiration from Charles A. Zimmerman's"Anchors Aweigh" and "Gunkan Koushin Kyoku"（軍艦行進曲...Warship March）by Tokichi Setoguchi（瀬戸口藤吉）was added. As well, the first few bars of "Yellow Submarine Ondo" also has the opening notes for "I Want to Hold Your Hand". To wrap up the trivia section, the guys who can be heard caterwauling in the back are Masamichi Sugi（杉真理）, Ginji Ito（伊藤銀次）, Kawahara, Ohtaki, and Motoharu Sano（佐野元春）.
This special ondo didn't too shabbily on the charts by coming in at No. 64. There were some concerns about it, though, since the remaining Beatles and/or their representativesbeginning from the 1980s were getting strict with the copyrights for their creations so that any covers of their past songs including any parodies with changed lyrics were no longer accepted. However, fortunately enough, McCartney himself listened to "Yellow Submarine Ondo" and gave his blessings.
For interest's sake, here is the famous "Anchors Aweigh", the fight song for the United States Naval Academy and march for the US Navy itself. Below is "Gunkan Koushin Kyoku" which was the official march for the Japanese Imperial Navy and then the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force.
Y'know, when I think of the term peppermint blue, the first thing that comes to mind isn't a lovely cocktail but a certain type of toothpaste that perhaps 9 out of 10 dentists would recommend.
And yet, the late singer-songwriter Eiichi Ohtaki（大瀧詠一）created this wondrous summer paradise around the title of "Peppermint Blue" as a track for his March 1984 album"Each Time". With Ohtaki behind his famous music and his old bandmate from Happy End, veteran wordsmith Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）, taking care of the lyrics, the former is in prime balladeer mode as he sings Matsumoto's lyrics of a woman enjoying a beach vacation, getting that suntan and sipping on that titular cocktail with perhaps blue curacao.
There's something about an Ohtaki song that can feel as cooling as a Japanese summer wind chime, or even better, a tall glass of Calpis. Perhaps it's that gallant falsetto of his, those sweet strings or the layering of his backing vocals. At the same time, with "Peppermint Blue", listening to it in the hammock or on a beach chair, one can be swept back to earlier days with any stresses hopefully being swept away in the time slip. The interesting thing I also picked up is that every time the refrain comes to an end, there is literally a note of uncertainty as if hinting that the paradise isn't something that will last. It'll be back to reality and the job, maybe.
"Each Time" hit No. 1, selling 600,000 albums and becoming the 8th-ranked album for 1984. I'm also writing this just a few weeks after what would have been his 71st birthday.
