Devo -- Whip It

 

There have been a few times in the past when a bunch of us have gone out to dinner. Certain couples were with us and one time, at one restaurant where some hit music was playing over the speakers, the male half of the happy duo stated that the next song to play will be their song. Well, much to everyone's hilarity, it turned out to be Depeche Mode's "Master and Servant". I'm sure that their relationship took a turn there, and once again, the safety word was indeed APPLES.

I never experienced that situation ever again and probably never will (things on that level of funny are truly one-of-a-kind events). Still, I think this week's entry on Reminiscings of Youth could be another song that no couple would want as their go-to song, but man, it's still fun. 

Several years ago, I posted Devo's "Jocko Homo" which was the first song by the band to get up onto the blog but actually, the first ever song that I'd ever heard by The New Wave Boys of Akron, Ohio was "Whip It" that was their August 1980 single. And as I explained on "Jocko Homo", I first came across the catchy and absolutely weird and kinky "Whip It" through a K-Tel compilation record commercial which showed a part of that (in)famous music video including a bunch of dude ranch tourists, a motherly type whipping up some cream, a couple of other ladies in various stages of undress (well, one only lost her shoes), and the band itself festooned in red flower pots and sleeveless turtlenecks. Man, those were wild and woolly days in music video production!

Not only was it the first time I got to know a little about sadomasochism (so, whips can be fun😈) but I also got informed on what New Wave was all about. The strange lyrics which could be taken as motivational encouragement against any and all challenges or a first-round exercise in S&M paired with the herky-jerky delivery of the vocals and those synths definitely made "Whip It" one of the most famous songs of the 1980s. In a way, the Devo song seared the image of New Wave bands as stoic and robotic performers at their keyboards.

"Whip It" just missed the Top 10 by that much on either side of the world's longest unmilitarized border with it coming in at No. 11 on Canada's RPM and No. 14 on America's Billboard. Of course, a lot of folks liked to do their covers of "Whip It", including the late great Catherine O'Hara as Brooke Shields (2:10 of the video below)..

Remember...when in doubt: WHIP IT GOOD!😁

Now, what was hitting the record store shelves of Japan when "Whip It" came out in August 1980? We have a few here.

Hiromi Iwasaki -- Ginga Densetsu（銀河伝説）

Mayumi Itsuwa -- Koibito yo （恋人よ）

Yoshimi Iwasaki -- Anata Iro no Manon （あなた色のマノン）

The Works of Fumiko Okada（岡田富美子）

 

I never expected to see her name up on television but recently I saw that veteran lyricist Fumiko Okada had received some sort of award for her decades of work via an NHK report. From that, I thought that it would be time to post a Creator article regarding her.

But first a bit of background from her J-Wiki file, Okada hails from Hiroshima Prefecture. When she gradated from university, her parents pressed her to get a job at television broadcaster TBS working as a timekeeper for music programs. However, knowing herself as someone who never really enjoyed the rigors of an average job or career, she was pretty miserable. Also, she developed insomnia but one night, she gained the urge to write poetry and found out that the words flowed out of her surprisingly easily. Then one day, after amassing her poems into a collection and having some faint interest in becoming a songwriter, she was noticed by the manager of a famous arranger at work. Noting how unenthused young Okada looked, he asked her what she really wanted to do for which she replied "I want to become a lyricist". A mere few days later, that manager suggested Okada to a record company as a rookie lyricist. At least, one song with her lyrics got into a music festival and that apparently was all she needed to write...literally. She started getting requests for her words, something that has been continuing for her for close to 55 years.

(1972) Young 101 -- Kaiju no Ballad（怪獣のバラード）

In a desert where the blood-red sun set

A great big monster lived there in peace

One morning when he woke up, he heard a bell from a caravan off in the distance

He suddenly screamed out

I wanna see the ocean! I wanna love people! Monsters have hearts, too, you know!

Let's leave the desert behind and head to where love and the ocean reside

Although I didn't note this in the original KKP article for "Kaiju no Ballad", this was apparently Okada's first work as a professional lyricist. 

(1981) Ruiko Kurahashi -- Glass no Yesterday （ガラスのYesterday)

Yesterday

I danced all night with you

Yesterday, although we can never meet again

We said "See you later" and parted

You're the one who embraced me while saying

I can't love you on mere kindness

Whenever Okada's name is mentioned, I will always first remember Fashion Music specialist Ruiko Kurahashi's（倉橋ルイ子）songs since the lyricist provided a number of her works to her. 

(1986) Shibugakitai -- Sushi Kui ne! （スシ食いねェ！）

This is the No. 1 sushi restaurant in Japan

Gotta eat sushi! Gotta eat sushi! Gotta eat sushi!

Green tea! Green tea! Green tea! Pickled ginger! Picked ginger! Pickled ginger!

In contrast with the elegance of Kurahashi's signature song, the raucous "Sushi kui ne!" comes under the catchphrase of "Okada wrote this one?!". She must love her sushi.

(1987) Kiyomi Suzuki with Rats & Star -- Lonely Chaplin (ロンリー・チャプリン）

Lonely Chaplin

Time passes...and even if you fade away

I will always wait for you

Smile like the little boy you are

You want to come home

Into my arms, don't you?

As long as your dreams are unfulfilled

Oh, do what you wanna do again

Oh, do what you wanna do again

Man, didn't know that Chaplin was that lucky a guy!

(1979) Asami Kado -- Fascination (ファッシネイション）

I love you. Stop it because you make me feel so helpless

Stop it if you're only going to kiss me once

I love you. I got myself all psyched up

I hate you stalling for time

Nothing like pouty coquettishness to spice up a relationship!

Akina Nakamori -- Ame no Requiem（雨のレクイエム）

 

Just to echo my friend, fellow KKP administrator/contributor and occasional lunch/dinner buddy, Larry Chan, Happy 61st Birthday to Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）. As I mentioned in my comments to him following his article on "Gomen to, Suki to"「ごめんと、好きと」, it used to be the tradition on the blog whenever we celebrated July 13th that we gave our greetings in the form of nervously hoping that Nakamori was doing OK wherever she was. Well, in the last couple of years, it looks like she is feeling fine and so I'm ready to retire the tradition and know that she's in pretty good spirits.✌

Reading the previous article, I was more than happy to have our annual July 13th Akina article written by Larry with my blessing since it's been another tradition to alternate our contributions, year by year. But then I thought why not have the two of us providing articles on this hot summery day? Mind you, both of us gave our Favourites lists a dozen years ago: "Larry's Akina Top 6 Picks (post-1991 era)" and "J-Canuck's Favourite Six Akina Songs"...man, time flies quickly!

Since a lot of us on the blog put up a lot of Akina tunes from early on in KKP's history, it's been a little difficult as of late to find something "new", but I was able to once again scour the early B-sides of the lass' singles. As a result, I was able to find this one titled "Ame no Requiem" (Rainy Requiem) which was the flip side to her September 1983 single "Kinku"（禁区）. That song, coincidentally enough, was the very first Akina song I heard and it was the song that she sang during her first appearance on NHK's Kohaku Utagassen at the end of that year. 

"Kinku" was that rather dramatic technopop hit composed by Yellow Magic Orchestra's Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）, and so I figured that knowing that, "Ame no Requiem" would most likely be a much softer ballad vocalized by Akina in that high and feathery love song style that she used to do in her earliest years to contrast with the deeper voice that powered songs like "Kinku", 

Well...yeah..."Ame no Requiem" was definitely a different kettle of fish. It came off as being so French that while I was listening to it, the taste of garlic and butter escargots popped into my mouth along with a glass of Bourgogne Aligoté. The surprising thing was that the composer was none other than Koji Tamaki（玉木浩二）, lead singer of Anzen Chitai（安全地帯）; never realized that he had that much of the City of Lights in him. He definitely brought in the Fashion Music for Akina! Rui Serizawa（芹沢類）was the lyricist while Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）took care of the arrangement (he probably helped out with the French flavourings, too).

If you have any B-sides of Akina that you've enjoyed, please let us know!

Keiko Goto/Junko Sakurada -- Mado（窓）

 

I don't watch French movies...although I did catch a few scenes of "Les Parapluies de Cherbourg" on television (warning: make sure you have the Kleenex next to you, especially in the last scene). As a rule of my imagination (and my apologies to all those fans of the Nouvelle Vague), I always envision old French movies with scenes like these: a man or woman sitting forlornly next to a window on a cold rainy day, letting their breath hit the pane with condensation. This lasts for two hours. FIN

Strangely enough, I've encountered this song titled "Mado" (Window) sung by Keiko Goto（後藤啓子）. In fact, this was her debut single from 1981 although it apparently was also a track on her 1980 album "Aimez-vous Sagan". I've posted about Goto once before for her 1981 song "Me wo Tojite"（目を閉じて）which was quite the bouncy City Pop tune.

"Mado" is probably more in tune with her days as a singer at Gin-Pari（銀巴里）in the 1970s, the famous chanson cafe in Ginza that I mentioned only a few days ago when I paid tribute to the recently departed Akihiro Miwa（美輪明宏）. I'm not sure if "Mado" would fall under the chanson category but it's still quite the spirited French waltz of a kayo kyoku as written and composed by Shigeru Inumaru（犬丸秀）*. Maybe I can give it the Fashion Music label. It certainly doesn't have Goto breathing sadly on a window pane for a couple of hours.

One interesting thing happened while I was searching how to read the lyricist/composer's name. I found out that "Mado" had gotten a cover version via aidoru Junko Sakurada's（桜田淳子）37th single from August 1982. If anything, it's even breezier and an accordion has been thrown into the arrangement, to boot, for that enhanced Gallic flavour.

*Not totally sure on the reading of the above name. If anyone can confirm or deny it, let me know.

Kokusyoku Sumire -- Towa ni Uruwashiku Sumire no Hana yo（永久に麗しく、すみれの花よ）

Charron Freres Accordion by Uberprutser

It's hard to believe, but the very first time I posted anything about the eclectic accordion-based sister duo Charan-Po-Rantan（チャラン・ポ・ランタン）was over a decade ago in 2015 with their "Moebius no Ikitomari"（メビウスの行き止まり）. The sisters Matsunaga struck me as being unique within Japanese pop music.

But then, not too long ago, commenter YMOfan04 informed me of another duo who have a similar style and actually debuted around half a decade earlier than Charan-Po-Rantan. Kokusyoku Sumire（黒色すみれ）, which translates into Black Violets, started up in 2004, and they specialize in pop and retro kayo kyoku. There's Yuka（ゆか）who's the vocalist, accordionist and pianist while Sachi（さち）is on the violin and a number of other instruments.

On listening to "Towa ni Uruwashiku Sumire no Hana yo" (Beautiful Violet Forever) which comes from their 2nd album "Ander Meruhen Kakyokushuu"（アンデルメルヘン歌曲集...Andersen Fairy Tale Lieder Collection） from January 2006, Yuka and Sachi on their instruments brought that feeling of music from Old World Europe of a certain age as well as what I would imagine Taisho Era non-Japanese-style music was like a century ago. Not sure what Yuka, who wrote and composed "Towa ni Uruwashiku Sumire no Hana yo", was inspired by when she created it, but I've had hints of Russian folk music, Argentine tango and maybe even some of that Fashion Music essence from Japan. Maybe YMOfan04 can provide further insights, too.

Kokusyoku Sumire has continued recording up to the present day with thirteen albums including their most recent release, "Kinsei Club"（金星倶楽部...Venus Club） which came out last month.

Tomoyo Harada -- Soushun Monogatari（早春物語）

 

Back on March 26th, I provided an article on Tomoyo Harada's（原田知世）"Hoshi no Deja Vu"（星のデジャ・ヴ）, a pleasant and wistful song that works fine with the aidoru's soft and purring vocals. It was also the B-side to her7th single from July 1985, "Soushun Monogatari"（Early Spring Story）.

So, finally we've come to the A-side, and "Soshun Monogatari", which was also used as the theme song for a Harada movie of the same name, is a pretty different animal. Written by Chinfa Kan（康珍化）and composed by Hideya Nakazaki（中崎英也）, it was arranged by Masaaki Omura（大村雅朗）into this ballroom waltz style in triple time according to the J-Wiki article. It's quite the moody and bittersweet affair but it doesn't quite encapsulate the plot of the movie which is pretty wild from what I could read on its Wikipedia page. 

"Soshun Monogatari" reached No. 4 on Oricon and ended up as the 73rd-ranked song for 1985, selling a little over 160,000 records. Harada made her first appearance on the Kohaku Utagassen that year singing this one.

Mayumi Hara -- Kuro no Clair (黒のクレール)

 

One song by Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）within her long and varied discography that has always stuck with me all these years is her "Kuro no Clair" (Black Clair) which begins her 1982 album "Cliche". It's that lush Fashion Music creation sent up to the max as if the genre had been forced to watch every televised or cinematic version of "Wuthering Heights" or read some of the Gothic plots in a Harlequin romance. 

Over the decades since the introduction of "Kuro no Clair" in the early 1980s, the song has been covered by at least ten artists including Kirinji（キリンジ）and Hiromi Iwasaki（岩崎宏美）. Another one is Ritsuko Kazami（風見律子）who included her more contemporized version of the song within her 1986 album "Aventurier"（アヴァンチュリエ）. It's more like enjoying that glass of wine in a Parisian bar of that decade rather than savoring one in a castle a couple of hundred years prior.

Then we have singer and actress Mayumi Hara's（原真祐美）take on "Kuro no Clair" from her second album "Vert Clair"（ベール・クレール）from February 1984. It starts with a melody that could be a remnant from the previous track or just a whimsical little interlude that fades out 40 seconds later before the familiar strings of "Kuro no Clair" elide in. The way that Ohnuki had woven one of her masterpieces, it would be very difficult to excise the Fashion Music essence, and I think Hara's cover is somewhere between Ohnuki's original and Kazami's more contemporary version. I can get that seaside castle-under-an-overcast-sky vibe from this one.

Blondie -- Rapture

 

I can't quite remember how records and tapes by the big artists were being distributed back in my teenage years, and the reason I'm starting out this way is that the first time that I'd heard Blondie's "Rapture" was actually through one of those K-Tel compilation records in which there was one quick cut of the music video where Debbie Harry was holding her head while she purred the title. Now, I would think by that point, the song had long been released as a single and as part of an album, and so I was wondering why I hadn't heard of this one before. Blondie was already big in the world so I should have heard this one already on the radio or television.

Well, in any case, I eventually did hear the totality of the song and caught the video after it had been released in January 1981. "Rapture" was basically the first time that I ever heard rap in any form. Harry was talking in some rhythmic pattern about eating Cadillacs and entire bars which struck me as being some sort of weird New Wave-y thing. I think the only time that I heard anything similar to that was when I was watching a segment on "Sesame Street" featuring a cartoon bear pattering the first five numbers to a beatnik jazz beat.

In any case, Harry apparently had two parts to the song: the first part had her singing in those fluffy light vocals which reminded me of "Heart of Glass" and then the rap part in the latter half had her utilizing those richer and lower tones from "The Tide is High". Looking back at the song after so many years, "Rapture" certainly doesn't strike me as the usual rap tune with the tubular bells and the disco rhythms in there. Plus, I'm sure when the video was first shown, maybe there had been a disclaimer stating that one shouldn't be under the influence while watching it. Aside from Harry, the one other character that I still remember is the so-called "Man from Mars" in his white suit and top hat.

"Rapture" hit No. 1 in the United States while it reached No. 3 in Canada. I also recently found out through the YouTube comments for the song that it had become part of the lore in "The Boys" with Soldier Boy doing a cover on "Solid Gold". Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing Captain America trying it out himself.

Anyways, right on the day that "Rapture" was released, these three songs were at the top of the Oricon chart.

1. Masahiko Kondo -- Sneaker Blues (スニーカーぶるーす）

2. Harumi Miyako -- Osaka Shigure （大阪しぐれ）

3. Mayumi Itsuwa -- Koibito yo （恋人よ）

Tinseltown-ish Tunes

 

By chance, did anyone check out the Oscars last night? To be honest, and I have most likely mentioned this in past articles, I had once been a regular watcher of the Academy Awards when I was a kid because of the glitz and the fact that it was Hollywood celebrating Hollywood. But living in Japan all those years gradually weaned me off due to the fact that the live presentation was happening while I was at work.

Then when I returned to Toronto for good in the early 2010s, I realized that I had lost interest in the glitz and the celebration of celebrity. Plus, my track record of seeing those Oscar movies is frankly abysmal. The last Oscar-nominated movie I caught was "Oppenheimer" back in 2024. I don't really consider myself a cinephile and yet, I still cherish some of the older stuff such as "Casablanca" and "Roman Holiday" (as for newer stuff, there is "Inception" and a few of the MCEU movies). And to be frank, when I occasionally catch a movie, the purpose is to get away from reality for a couple of hours and be entertained...not necessarily to be educated or moved.

OK, I'll just jump off my rapidly sinking soapbox and give you my latest Author's Picks. Over the years, I have discovered that from time to time, certain songs pop up which have at least a titular connection with Hollywood or movies, so here's a short but varied list.

(1977) Ikue Sakakibara -- Al Pacino Tasu Alain Delon Yori Anata (アル・パシーノ＋アラン・ドロン＜あなた)

(1978) Hiromi Go -- Hollywood Scandal （ハリウッド・スキャンダル）

(1979) Kenji Sawada -- Casablanca Dandy （カサブランカ・ダンディ）

(1981) Ruiko Kurahashi -- Last Scene ni Ai wo Komete （ラストシーンに愛をこめて）

(1985) Picasso -- Cinema （シ・ネ・マ）

Kozo Murashita -- Fuyu Monogatari（冬物語）

 

In the post-Snowmageddon days, the one thing that I've had to endure are the rocky and slippery unplowed sidewalks. My leg muscles have gotten quite sore from the workout they've been getting trying to navigate the streets. It may be the only time that I have something in common with professional speed skaters...and hey, we've got the Winter Olympics coming up, don't we?

Anyways, keeping up with the winter theme, let's take a listen to this B-side from the late singer-songwriter Kozo Murashita's（村下孝蔵）August 1983 single "Odoriko"（踊り子）, "Fuyu Monogatari" (Winter Story). In contrast to the fairly jaunty A-side, "Fuyu Monogatari" is a beautifully arranged piano ballad of still pining for a past love. The song sounds as if it had a setting of somewhere in Europe but there is mention of a clock tower at least a couple of times in Murashita's lyrics, so I'm wondering if he'd been walking through Sapporo in Hokkaido instead. 

The protagonist in the song has apparently been without his now-ex-paramour for over a year so he's been through the emotional wringer. I can only ask him to find a stylish cafe somewhere close by and get some cocoa to alleviate his symptoms.

On the J-Wiki article for "Odoriko", I found out that "Fuyu Monogatari" had been covered in 1987 by Hong Kong singer Sandy Lamb. It's known as 「也許當時年紀少」.

Kazuhiko Kato/Akiko Yano -- New York Confidential（ニューヨーク・コンフィデンシャル）

 

For the final song for this edition of Urban Contemporary Fridays on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", I decided to leaf through the pages of the original "Japanese City Pop" if I could find something that I hadn't discovered in my many browsings of YouTube.

Well, it wasn't too too difficult. At the bottom of Page 103, there was singer-songwriter Kazuhiko Kato's（加藤和彦）September 1983 album "Ano Koro, Marie Laurencin"（あの頃、マリー・ローランサン...At That Time, Marie Laurencin）. Marie Laurencin (1883-1956) was a French painter known as a member of the Parisian avant-garde back in the day. 

But according to Kato himself, his aim with this particular album was to provide some elegant music for all of the business workers in Tokyo who had forgotten about the worth of music once they got home to their tiny cubicles of apartments. Very sporting of the fellow to give some metropolitan BGM, but of course, with Kato this wouldn't be merely Muzak. Incidentally, all of the tracks on "Marie Laurencin" were composed by Kato, written by Kazumi Yasui（安井かずみ）and arranged by Kato and Nobuyuki Shimizu（清水信之）.

Track 3 is one fine example. "New York Confidential" is a pretty lush creation that actually sounds more like the night life of the Big Apple rather than the urban scene in Tokyo, although perhaps that was what those Japanese junior executives were searching for...New York music for the Tokyo metropolitan moderns with that City Pop, jazz and Fashion Music. It sounds like having that peaceful and romantic candlelight dinner in any of the penthouses of Manhattan, above the madding crowds and bustling trains.

There were a number of bigwig musicians helping out in the recording of the album, including Akiko Yano（矢野顕子）who was playing the piano on "New York Confidential". Apparently, Yano was so moved during the recording of the song that she wept and so was afraid that she had ruined the take. But it was kept in. In fact, many years later in 1995, she covered the song herself in a much quieter and more introspective style for her album "Piano Nightly".

Yumi Seino -- Itte Mon Amour（いってモナムール）

 

Several years ago in 2017, I posted the first article on singer Yumi Seino（清野由美）, and it just happened to be "Katamuku"（傾く）,  a track from her January 1983 album, "Continental". I would later find out from her earlier albums that Seino had been one for the City Pop boom but perhaps within "Continental" and specifically "Katamuku" itself, there was a transitional feeling between that City Pop and a more refined sophisticated pop with a European flair...along the lines of what Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）was doing at around the same time.

A little over a week ago, one commenter was wondering about the rest of "Continental" and I had to answer the person that I didn't know since at the time, there was perhaps only the one example of the album on YouTube, which was "Katamuku", and for some reason, other videos with the tracks simply didn't show up on my recommendations although at least a few of them have been around since 2020. But the commenter did point out that they are up now, and so I've opted to try one more track from "Continental" out.

I should have realized from the Impressionistic art on the cover and the title itself that this wasn't going to be a straight-out City Pop release from Seino. And indeed, the one track "Itte Mon Amour" (Tell Me, Darling) is far away from the streets of Tokyo and probably out somewhere in France, Italy or Spain in some techno cabaret. Masami Sugiyama（杉山政美）came up with the lyrics while a number of others including Seino herself had a hand in the composition of the melody which strikes up images of slow dances and tangos on the evening ballroom floor. Yet at the same time, in the chorus of "Itte Mon Amour", there is still something kayo kyoku in its heart since I could hear something like this on some old Japanese music-variety show from the 1950s to the 1970s.

Mieko Inoue -- Kaze no Shoutaijou（風の招待状）

 

Yes, "Seibu Keisatsu"（西部警察）...the one Japanese cop show that could even make The Untouchables and Al Capone shake at all of the ammunition fired in a single episode. Mind you, it also generated some very shibui theme songs. There was the Mood Kayo of star Yujiro Ishihara's（石原裕次郎） "Yoake no Machi"（夜明けの街）and "Yuusha tachi"（勇者たち）, and although this song wasn't officially part of the "Seibu Keisatsu" grand soundtrack, I've always thought that Akira Terao's（寺尾聡）"Ruby no Yubiwa"（ルビーの指輪）had a stake in the series since the singer-songwriter and thespian had played one of the maverick cops on the show as he was coming up with this City Pop hit and its source album "Reflections".

Well, for the third instalment of "Seibu Keisatsu" which ran from April 1983 to October 1984, the ending theme was some refined sophisticated pop in the form of Mieko Inoue's（井上美恵子）"Kaze no Shoutaijou" (Invitation of the Wind). I couldn't find any single piece of information on this singer outside of the fact that she had sung this particular song which spurs on thoughts of classy nights on the Riviera and pleasant evenings in Shinjuku hotel bars. 

Takako Ozawa（大沢孝子）was behind the words while Kentaro Haneda（羽田健太郎）took care of the music. The bossa nova-spiced arrangement has me thinking Keiko Maruyama（丸山恵子）while the vocals by Inoue reminds me slightly of Machiko Watanabe（渡辺真知子）. If anyone out there can inform us a bit more of Inoue, that would be greatly appreciated.

Hiroko Taniyama -- Glass no Kyojin（ガラスの巨人）

 

I already have several KKP articles in which singer-songwriter Hiroko Taniyama（谷山浩子）is involved either as the main singer or as a contributing songwriter to another singer's work, and so maybe I have already mentioned this. Like Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）, she's someone that I had heard in the wind over the years but didn't really know any of her material. Over the past several years, I've gotten to know Ohnuki very well and I'm now proud to say that I have her first several albums. The same cannot be said about Taniyama; I have yet to own a single album of hers so I'm still getting to know her.

This song, "Glass no Kyojin" (Glass Giant), which started life as a B-side to Taniyama's August 1986 18th single "Yuuyake Ringo"（夕焼けリンゴ...Sunset Apple）, definitely has my attention. Now, there are apparently two different versions of the song, the original B-side and an album version which belongs to her 12th album, "Mizutama Jikan"（水玉時間...Polka-Dot Time）, which was released just a couple of months following the aforementioned single. I don't know which is which but the two versions are bracketing these paragraphs. 

The one above, which was set up by YouTuber Avie Yahika well over a dozen years ago, is notable for its rich but lonely piano and a bohemian saxophone. Taniyama's lyrics seem to highlight a theme of deep sadness brought about by the termination (intentional or not) of a relationship (romantic or not) and the wish of becoming a huge skyscraper-like figure towering above all, beyond the need for emotions or companionship.

The one below has a lusher Fashion Music arrangement with strings and oboe or bassoon backing Taniyama, and it made me wonder whether the singer had ever collaborated with Joe Hisaishi（久石譲）or anyone at Studio Ghibli, because this "Glass no Kyojin" seemingly sounds perfect for one of Hayao Miyazaki's（宮崎駿）animated features. The other remarkable point is that Taniyama wasn't responsible for the melody. It was actually Kenjiro Sakiya（崎谷健次郎）, someone that I would usually associate with City Pop. But then again, Hisaishi, someone that I would usually associate with those orchestral Studio Ghibli pieces, has given his own contribution to the urban contemporary.

Keiko Maruyama -- Takai Biru no Mado kara（高いビルの窓から）

 

First off, may I say that is one gorgeous picture of Keiko Maruyama's（丸山圭子）visage there. I only have the one album by the singer-songwriter, "Tasogare Memory"（黄昏めもりい）, and she doesn't smile there so it's nice to see her give the big beautiful grin on the cover. OK, now that I have geeked out, let's move on.

The photo belongs to the March 1981 album of hers, "More Ai" （MORE 愛...More Love）, and there's one track titled "Takai Biru no Mado kara" (From a Window in a Tall Building) which gave me a little bit of an ominous feeling. I know that heartbreak can make people do crazy things, but... 

However, the Maruyama-penned song is more melancholy than tragic thankfully. And yep, I think it has to do with a young woman going through a sigh-worthy post-romance moment from her apartment which she may have shared with her now erstwhile paramour. The interesting thing for me about "Takai Biru no Mado kara" is that it doesn't follow the usual bossa nova or City Pop line that I often see Maruyama treading. This sounds like something more Parisian...Fashion Music with a bit of bubbly pop infused, perhaps. It's quite the different tune and I like the harmonies that help the song to fade away at the end. Makes me think about what more intriguing music is there on "More Ai".

SPANK HAPPY -- Forever Mozart（フォーエヴァー・モーツァルト）

Wikimedia Commons

There was a time when Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had the biggest pop culture boom when I was in high school, starting or culminating with the 1984 film "Amadeus" which won a ton of awards including a Best Picture Oscar. I think it was about the same time that the singer Falco had a hit with the song "Rock Me Amadeus". And even Japanese pop music wasn't immune to his charms since there was a popular Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）song around that time based on the Austrian composer. Not sure whether the spirit of the classical music master was amused or bemused.

The last time I spoke about the technopop duo SPANK HAPPY, it was for the title track from their April 2002 maxi-single "Angelic" which sounded like they were channeling some Daft Punk. Well, later on in September, leader and songwriter Naruyoshi Kikuchi（菊地成孔）and vocalist Hitomi Iwasawa（岩澤瞳）released the album "Computer House of Mode" which contains the track "Forever Mozart". Written and composed by Kikuchi, I don't know whether he was actually aiming for something reminiscent of Mozart's style but there is something about "Forever Mozart" that feels like a combination of Fashion Music, technopop and even early 1980s Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）. I can imagine white powdered wig and ballroom gown-wearing robots skating on a grand floor in Austria.

The Works of Kisaburo Suzuki（鈴木キサブロー）

From Discogs

It's been a while since I've done a Creator article and the name Kisaburo Suzuki had been spinning around in my head for a while, so I've decided to pay tribute here. He's one of those prolific musician-songwriters that has created so many songs for so many singers that he's at the level of the question "He wrote THAT?!".

According to his J-Wiki profile, Suzuki（鈴木喜三郎）was born in the city of Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture in 1952. At the age of 15, he started learning the guitar and ukulele from his older brother and began becoming inspired by the works of the legendary B.B. King. In 1972, he made his way down to Tokyo and from the following year, he backed up a lot of singers including Masatoshi Nakamura（中村雅俊）, Akira Fuse（布施明）and Naomi Chiaki（ちあきなおみ）. A few years later in 1977 following an encounter with lyricist Osami Okamoto（岡本おさみ）, he set about to become a composer. Then in 1980, Suzuki would pick up his first award for providing Kenji Sawada（沢田研二）with "Sakaba de DABADA"（酒場でDABADA）.

With the probable exceptions of enka and Mood Kayo, Suzuki has covered all of the genres in Japanese music including anison and aidoru tunes. When I finally started paying attention to the songwriters in the industry, my impression of Suzuki was that he was quite the master at coming up with pop melodies in the 1980s which combined shimmering orchestra strings and wailing electric guitar. Mariko Takahashi's（高橋真梨子）"See You Again...Kaze ni Kuchitsukete"（SEE YOU AGAIN ・・・風にくちづけて...Kiss The Wind） was one of the first examples of this that I had ever heard and it was the first composition by Suzuki that I ever came across. However, there was one notable exception to the tradition of strings and guitar, and that was for one of Akina Nakamori's（中森明菜）biggest hits, "Desire". Anyways, the following is just a mere sample of what he has created.

(1983) H2O -- Omoide ga Ippai （思い出がいっぱい）

(1981) Saburo Tokito -- Kawa no Nagare wo Daite Nemuritai (川の流れを抱いて眠りたい）

(1981) Ruiko Kurahashi -- Last Scene ni Ai wo Komete （ラストシーンに愛をこめて）

(1986) Akina Nakamori -- Desire

(1982) Toru Watanabe -- Yakusoku (約束）

(1982) Cherish -- Come On, Sunshower (カモン・サンシャワー)

(1982) Mariko Takahashi -- See You Again...Kaze ni Kuchitsukete （SEE YOU AGAIN ・・・風にくちづけて）

Narumi Yasuda -- Tropical Mystery（トロピカル・ミステリー）

 

Yeah, it's been tropical here for the past several days but we might get a break within the next several hours in the form of a thunderstorm which might bring some much-needed rain. Meanwhile, the air conditioner is going full tilt and I'm hoping that we won't be suffering any more micro outages or even worse due to an overload of the electrical system.

Speaking of tropical, I have a Narumi Yasuda（安田成美）song here for the first time in a couple of years on the blog. "Tropical Mystery" was the actress-singer's 2nd single from April 1984 and it was also included on her debut album "Yasuda Narumi" which was released on the same day as the single. 

The first time that I heard this one, I swore that the song had been created by singer-songwriter Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）just because of that bouncy whimsical arrangement that weaves between Fashion Music and regular pop. Ironically, Ohnuki's first time as an album producer was for Yasuda's 2nd album "Ginger"（ジィンジャー）in 1988. Another reason for the assumption is that "Tropical Mystery" sounds rather similar to Ohnuki's "Natsu ni Koi Suru Onna Tachi"（夏に恋する女たち....The Women Who Love In Summer) which came out the previous year.

However, the melody was actually composed by Masaaki Omura（大村雅朗）and arranged by Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）with Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）supplying the lyrics. Yasuda isn't the steadiest of singers but it seems as if her vocals match the whimsy and fantastical romantic feeling emanating from "Tropical Mystery" perhaps even more here than was the case with her most famous song "Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa" (風の谷のナウシカ), which is also available on "Yasuda Narumi".

Catherine Catherine/Emiko Yamauchi -- Warawaseru janai ka（笑わせるじゃないか）

 

Over here in Toronto, the local news channel CP24 has its four-hour weekday morning show called "CP24 Breakfast" with one of the hosts being the vivacious Jennifer Hsiung. Along with at least a few of the other broadcasters on the channel, Hsiung has had an interesting past in terms of previous occupations. She was once a standup comedian and there's some of that in her patter which has led to some impolitic outbursts occasionally. In a way, she reminds me of a somewhat more toned-down Phyllis Diller or Joan Rivers.

Now, the only reason that I'm even mentioning Ms. Hsiung is that the singer of note here has a glancing resemblance to our CP24 anchor. This is Catherine Catherine（カトリーヌ・カトリーヌ）whose real name is Ayane Miura（三浦綺音）, a model, actress and singer. She's also had some interesting points in her career, one of which is that she portrayed Sadako in the 1995 Japanese TV version of the famous horror franchise "Ringu". I have to say that her hair looks much lovelier and silkier here.

As for her singing career, she, under that stage name of Catherine Catherine, released three singles and two albums, with the last single being "Warawaseru janai ka" (Well, Aren't You Funny?). Released in September 1998, there's something of the indies pop vibe with the guitar and the singer's whispery vocals. 

Now, the song was written and composed by Miyuki Nakajima（中島みゆき）and apparently she did cover it herself as the B-side to her more famous 1981 single "Akujo"（悪女）, but not surprisingly, any actual YouTube videos of Nakajima's version don't exist. However, back a few years in the 1970s, she did offer it to another actress and singer Emiko Yamauchi（山内絵美子）who is also appearing on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" for the first time. The Hokkaido-born Yamauchi released "Warawaseru janai ka" as her fifth single in February 1977 and there is a jaunty Old World feeling to this original version that takes it into the Fashion Music realm.

Speaking of Hokkaido, I've also been monitoring the situation in Japan due to some tsunami warnings that could be affecting the entire Pacific coast. I'm hoping that everyone there, especially one regular commenter who may be living in one affected area, will be fine.

Ai Kanzaki -- Today

 

Still a bit miffed that the first two entries in the Ai Kanzaki（神崎愛）file have had to be put into mothballs because their videos got cease-and-desisted into oblivion. However, we move on and plus, there are still the two remaining articles including the most recent one from May for "Koibito-tachi no Rondo"（恋人たちのロンド）.

If I'm not mistaken, all of the entries for Kanzaki have ended up on her 1980 debut album "Today ~ Kanzaki Ai First" （TODAY/神崎愛ファースト）, and I've gotten the impression that the album veers between City Pop and slightly headier New Music. "Koibito-tachi no Rondo" does the New Music thing, but I think another one from "Today" is the title track that takes things straight into Fashion Music land. I could only find out that Yasuo Higuchi（樋口康雄）was the composer and arranger for "Today" which begins somewhat like a sad 1970s pop ballad but then it evolves into a classy waltz for a romantic couple in some Lichtenstein castle. Along the way, it even picks up some Bacharach in the brass. Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）would be so jealous!😇