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.
Here I was about to start the Urban Contemporary Friday round of songs on KKP with Ginji Ito's（伊藤銀次） percolating "Cherry Night", only to find out at the last minute that I had already provided an article about this track from his 1986 album"Get Happy" back in 2023, almost exactly four years ago. Oh, dopey me!😵
It took some scrolling but I was able to find something Ito and City Pop and it's from the album that followed "Get Happy", his 1987 "Nature Boy". "Heart and Soul" had the same songwriters: composer Ito and lyricist Youta Yumeno（夢野よう太）, but this time, the result isn't overcaffeinated and happy. Instead, it's a more sultry and soulful combination on the side of sophisticated pop, which was a genre that was getting added to the City Pop mix in the late 1980s. Not sure if the song included real horns or synth horns, but hey it's all good.
Early last month, I introduced 1980s rock-n-rollin' singer Sayaka Ito（伊藤さやか）to the blog with her "GO! GO! POP-TOWN" from 1982. Wasn't sure whether the song was just that one foray into the 1950s and 1960s that a lot of those Harajuku dancers were into at around the same time.
Well, it looks like the old-fashioned rock-n-roll music life was just the thing for her. In June 1983, Ito released her 5th single, "Broken Generation", and this time, compared to "GO! GO! POP-TOWN", she's eschewed the New Wave aspect and went for the basic old school. In fact, I'd say that the melody by Ginji Ito（伊藤銀次）and arrangement by Tsugutoshi Goto（後藤次利）was more reminiscent of the stuff that Motoharu Sano（佐野元春）would make up. I get images of a 1950s motorcycle gang living the free and untamed life and roaming the byways and highways of the city and life in general. Heck, even the singer herself in the thumbnail above looks like she could have been the gang leader's girlfriend (get a load of that hair!). Hitoshi Shinohara (篠原仁志...aka Heart Box) was the lyricist here.
I've mentioned the above book "Nantonaku, Crystal"（なんとなく、クリスタル...Somehow, Crystal） by future Nagano Prefecturegovernor Yasuo Tanaka（田中康夫）as one whose reputation preceded it for years upon years after its publishing in 1981. That was also the year that I fully got into the whole thing about Japan after my graduation trip through the nation as a high school student. Hearing about this novel which delves into a part-time model's hedonism with tons of references to various consumer goods and songs piqued my interest for years until I finally bought it a few years ago. Back in 2021, I posted an article on its namesake song created for the movie based on the novel so I'll let you see about my further thoughts on "Nantonaku, Crystal" without repeating myself.
The reason that I'm bringing up the novel again is that recently singer-songwriter Motoharu Sano（佐野元春）made his guest appearance on NHK's "Asaichi"（あさイチ）during the Friday Premium Talk segment. I've only seen Sano in two televised interviews: this one and the one that he did on Downtown's "Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ" music talk show back in the 1990s. Of course, for the latter show, he was the target for the comedic duo's good-natured hits as was the case for most of the singers. For "Asaichi", he was a very affable and generous guest talking about his past and present.
Well, during the interview, Sano brought up his second single, "Glass no Generation" which was released in October 1980. Even those very early students of the Japanese language can figure out that the translation for the title is "Glass Generation", but its official English name is "Crystal Generation". Sano was behind both words and music with Ginji Ito（伊藤銀次）arranging everything into a very jaunty and pleasant song of the times, reminding me a bit of his later "Sugar Time". There is something about the music of "Glass no Generation" that is reminiscent of people like Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen and even The Beatles in their respective early periods.
Interpreting those lyrics though lit some light bulbs over my head. It's about a couple having such a great time with each other that they hope it never ends with the lyric of note being "I don't want to be a boring adult". Of course, I was reminded of the phenomenon of the Crystal Tribe describing those young folks in contemporary Japan back then who were all for the trendy goods, music and other parts of pop culture mentioned in "Nantonaku, Crystal" and who were named after the novel. Just to remind readers, "Glass no Generation" came out in late 1980 while the novel was out in 1981. I haven't read anything in the information regarding either Sano's song or Tanaka's novel that would hint at any sort of inspiration from the former into the latter but I still wonder if there was a connection.
In any case, "Glass no Generation" gave off the scent of the promise of all that the Economic Miracle could provide and did provide for the following decade. The song was also part of Sano's 2nd album"Heart Beat" which was released in February 1981. From that "Asaichi" interview, I also found out that back in January this year, Sano and his group known as The Coyote Band re-recorded the song under a somewhat different arrangement with a new title which was the lyric that I was referring to in the previous paragraph: "Tsumaranai Otona ni wa Naritakunai"（つまらない大人にはなりたくない）. This time, the arrangement seems to be focused on speed rather than bounce.
If any of you regular "Kayo Kyoku Plus" readers see that song title on the byline and find it familiar, then you must have been around the blog for a very long time and I thank you for that. "Konuka Ame"(A Light Rain) was first posted back in 2014 and it was created in 1977 by singer-songwriter Ginji Ito（伊藤銀次）, a member of Sugar Babe（シュガー・ベイブ）. I provided not only the original by Ito but also some cover versions by EPO, jazz singer Rika Tanaka（たなかりか）and even Sugar Babe itself. It was especially comparing the original dreamy 1970s City Pop song by Ito with the sunny and upbeat cover by his old band and the contemplative take by EPO in the mid-1980s.
Now, the whole reason behind providing yet another cover version of "Konuka Ame" over a decade later can be explained through a commenter finally solving a riddle under the article for Kinokuniya Band's（紀の国屋バンド）"Hangin' Around". At the time, I hadn't been able to discover who was responsible for words and music of the song. Well, that commenter just happened to be the vocalist for Kinokuniya Band, Masako Takasaki（高崎昌子）and she informed me that it was the late singer-songwriter Shizuru Ohtaka（おおたか静流）behind "Hangin' Around". Once again, I'd like to thank her for that.
Takasaki herself joined the "Konuka Ame" club back in those 1970s herself by providing her cover of the song in the female vocalist-only 1978 compilation album"Loft Sessions, Vol. 1"（ロフト・セッションズ VOL.１）, which also included the aforementioned Ms. Ohtaka for "Black Coffee"（ブラック・コーヒー）. Takasaki's gently rolling take on the song occupies an area between the dreamier original by Ito and the happier version by Sugar Babe, accompanied by some funky bass and keyboards.
Beginning with EPO, many singers have covered this City Pop classic "Downtown", and in the purest sense of the word, this is a true collaboration between Ginji Ito（伊藤銀次）with his lyrics for the hook and Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）with his additions. In terms of the sound, the synchronization of the clavinet and Stratocaster gave birth to the comfortable rhythm, and the fact that all the elements were random and yet organically overlapped is also worthy of a masterpiece.
The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised" (2020).
"Skylight ni Poplar no Kareha" (Autumn Poplar Leaves in the Skylight) is a sentimental medium-tempo tune with Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）providing the background chorus. For Ginji Ito（伊藤銀次）, this may have been during his Beat Pops period*, but whenever he reveals his romantic side, he is more charming than anyone else out there. His sweet vocal quality is also most excellent. As we get deeper into autumn each year, I pull out his record and I just listen to this song.
The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised" (2020).
Hi, J-Canuck here. This is another song that I hadn't covered before its appearance as one of the 100 songs on Kimura's list, and the reason here is that it's the first time since I began covering all of these masterpieces that I could not find a complete original version of the song as of this writing (considering that we are almost halfway through the list before hitting our first blank, so to speak, isn't too bad though). However, I was able to track down an excerpt which you can listen to here, and in fact, it sounds so cheerfully wintry that it may be downright Xmas. I was able to find the above video from YouTube which is, as mentioned, a lovely acoustic guitar take by YouTuber kompeitou7 from over a decade ago. Incidentally, according to Discogs, the official English title for "Skylight ni Poplar no Kareha" was supposedly "Autumn Scene".
*I have no idea what Kimura is referring to with the "Beat Pops" period. The only thing that I could find when I put in the term into Yahoo Japan search engine was a popular Japanese radio program from the 1960s. I can only assume that the journalist was talking about a time in the 1980s when Ito was perhaps handling more upbeat pop fare but if there are any Ito fans who can illuminate me, that would be greatly appreciated.
"Konuka Ame" (A Light Rain) had been performed under a band arrangement during his days with Sugar Babe, but this solo version by Ginji（伊藤銀次）has rewritten lyrics and a slower pace. The impressive arrangement which includes Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）on the Fender Rhodes possesses a sweet soulful style, but maybe this was influenced by Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）. The melody is also great and I love Ginji's romantic lyrics.
The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised" (2020).
Although a continuation from "Shiawase ni Sayonara"（幸せにさよなら...Happy Goodbye） by Niagara Triangle (J-Canuck: the music group composed of Ito, Tatsuro Yamashita and Eiichi Ohtaki), "Kaze ni Narerunara" is an even more refined song that has the Ginji-style of pop music in full bloom. The contribution of that refined aspect is through Ryuichi Sakamoto's（坂本龍一）string arrangement and Taeko Ohnuki's（大貫妙子）breezy ("windy") backup chorus work leading to a refreshing song noteworthy for its romantic and splendid lyrics.
The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised" (2020).
"HOW COULD YOU FORGET, J-CANUCK?! AFTER ALL THESE YEARS!"😭
All right, mea culpa from me. I had forgotten about Mariya Takeuchi's（竹内まりや） birthday yesterday until I saw one of my fellow Twitter buddies mention the fact. But in my defense, I did remember a day ahead of schedule last year when I put up her "Kanashiki Night & Day"（悲しきNIGHT & DAY）. And let's be honest, I was never good with birthdays outside of the members of my own family.
Regardless, a Happy (Belated) Birthday to Ms. Takeuchi! As such, I am going with the B-side to her September 1981 8th single"Special Delivery", "Crying All Night Long". The singer came up with the all-English lyrics about a woman doing some heavy-duty expulsion of lachrymal fluid since her guys may have decided to leave her for another woman. Meanwhile, singer-songwriter Ginji Ito（伊藤銀次）came up with the interesting mix of country and perhaps some disco-infused pop. I'm getting some Melissa Manchester vibes from this one.
I'm now going to Gibbs slap myself upside the head with one of her pictures.
From japansmusic.com (This was the only thing close to angry Mariya I could find.)
Not sure what's being intimated by the title "Cherry Night" but I'm half-expecting that it doesn't have anything to do with a special at a restaurant for a certain fruit. It could be more like some fellow scoring big, if you know what I mean.😏
Anyways, "Cherry Night" happens to be the lead track on singer-songwriter Ginji Ito's（伊藤銀次）"Get Happy" from July 1986. I still haven't gotten an overall handle on Ito's music in the 1980s but so far, my impression is that it's got some of that urbanism but it's not totally on the mainstream. There are also some appealing tangents. And I get that same feeling for "Cherry Night" which has got some quick and boppy synthesizers and percussion underpinning Ito's melody line of keyboards and swift horns. It certainly has had me swaying side to side in my chair. Good ol' Jake H. Concepcion is back on the sax while Youta Yumeno（夢野よう太）handled the lyrics.
From looking through the discography page on their website, I don't think that the band Yogee New Waves have put their cover of "Downtown" into an actual recording, but their take on the classic so resembles Sugar Babe'soriginal that I just had to put them onto the blog. That galloping rhythm, the flirtatious guitar and the delivery by everybody certainly had me wondering if Yogee New Waves was a clone band for Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）and Taeko Ohnuki's（大貫妙子）old group. Incidentally, the above video was supposedly of a late 2018 live performance at Zepp Diver City Tokyo right by the bay which is how I will label the year.
Yogee New Waves began in 2013 as a duo consisting of guitarist/vocalist Kengo Kakudate（角舘健悟）and bassist Naoki Yazawa（矢澤直紀）who were childhood friends since elementary school and later became involved with a funk band as high school students. Drummer Tetsushi Kasuya（粕谷哲司）joined later on and there were a few other lineup changes including Yazawa's departure in early 2017 to be replaced by guitarist Fumiya Takemura（竹村郁哉）. The current lineup has Kakudate, Kasuya and Takemura. J-Wiki has listed the band as one delving into rock and City Pop.
Up to now, Yogee New Waves has released four albums, four EPs and six singles. The fourth and latest album is "Windorgan" from October 2021 which managed to reach No. 27 on Oricon. One of the tracks from that release is "Night Sliders" written and composed by Kakudate. It's undeniably a YNW tune but I think that it may have also inhaled the spirit of not only Sugar Babe but 1990s Original Love as well. If either of those great bands had decided to release a tune these days, "Night Sliders" could have been the result.
The music video may have really wanted to focus on the flora of what I assume is Tokyo, but the lyrics seem to be about a night owl in the pandemic era trying to get that feeling of excitement, perhaps with that special someone. Maybe the two just want to feel alive again outside while no longer having to be cooped up in the apartment.
Yesterday, I was reading Rocket Brown's fine and detailed review of Ginji Ito's（伊藤銀次）"Deadly Drive", released on May 25th 1977. I usually don't put out the exact date of release but on that particular one, a little movie called "Star Wars" came out, and I just saw the highlights of the final episode of "Obi-Wan Kenobi" yesterday. The franchise as a whole is definitely flawed and disappointing to me (prequels and sequels), but that final episode was likely the most emotionally powerful of any of its entries.
Anyways, getting back to "Deadly Drive", I've covered a couple of tracks already: the light and mellow and dreamy "Konuka Ame"（こぬか雨）and the soulful and soaring "Kaze ni Narerunara"（風になれるなら）. Well, on reading Rocket's review, I decided to take a look at another track from the album, so here is "Ano Toki wa Doshaburi"(There Was a Downpour Back Then), written and composed by Ito. Contrasting with the other two tracks, this particular song has the singer-songwriter going into light salsa mode, and that's interesting since it seems that lot of the Japanese pop stars including Junko Yagami（八神純子）and Keiko Maruyama（丸山圭子）were also exploring a lot of the Latin side of New Music at around the same time.
I also found out another tidbit of trivia for "Ano Toki wa Doshaburi" from the August 1983 issue of the music journal "Music Steady"（ミュージック・ステディ）in which an article focused on Ito (via J-Wiki). Apparently, the song saw its genesis when Ito wondered about taking the Hachiro Kasuga（春日八郎）1957enka "An Tokya Doshaburi"（あん時ゃどしゃ降り）which is a dialectal variant for "Ano Toki wa Doshaburi" and making it into a New Music tune. Admittedly, it is part of the reason that I wrote up an article for Kasuga's tune earlier this afternoon. However, I think, aside from the title, both songs are wholly different animals and Ito even points out that doshaburi, which means "downpour" or "heavy rain", has a much more figurative definition here since he meant it to signify "social upheaval".
On May 24th 2017, a 40th anniversary deluxe edition of "Deadly Drive" was released with two discs included with extended remixes of the original tracks. "Ano Toki wa Doshaburi" was no exception, so dance away!
Welcome to Monday! I haven't really spoken on COVID here for a while but the mayor of Toronto has lifted the city's state of emergency after 777 days. Honestly speaking, I had completely forgotten that we were still under a state of emergency. But the daily infection rates have dropped quite a bit and for today at least, we haven't had any deaths and hospitalizations seem to be down, so we may be coming out of the 6th wave.
I gather then that we can start off this business week with something nice, light and bright. We have here a nice, light and bright "Destination" by singer-songwriter Ginji Ito（伊藤銀次）from his March 1987 album "Nature Boy". Written by Keiko Aso（麻生圭子）and composed by Ito himself, "Destination" is one upbeat song with a slightly growly electric guitar but otherwise surrounded by some City Pop goodness in the sophisticated pop vein.
Looking at that cover of a very posh-looking Ito sitting on that stool on the cover, it looks like he as well as "Destination" were going for some The Style Council style, especially with that brass blowing away. It's quite the different look for him when compared to his appearance on the cover of his"Deadly Drive"album from a decade earlier, and "Destination" certainly gives a nice attractive sheen to life in the big city.
Nice to bring back Ito to the blog as a singer again since the last time I wrote about him on that level was for a Xmas tune by him back in 2018.
Still digging out of the mess that Monday's storm left us although things are definitely improving. It continued to be a trek just getting the newspaper and some lunch today for everyone. At least, it was sunny out there. ☀
Months ago in August 2020, "Uta Con"（うたコン）introduced me to balladeer and songwriter Okayu（おかゆ）, and in her "Aishite yo"（愛してよ）, she was seen as this new talent for some of the old enka and Mood Kayo. However, herJ-Wiki file also lists her as a pop singer/musician, and with her third and latest single from June 2021, "Hoshitabi", her words and melody take her completely out of those traditional genres and into J-Pop/rock.
In fact, with some of that arrangement, I was even reminded of the late trumpeter Shin Kazuhara（数原晋）and his project Tokyo Ensemble Lab, especially via their "Lady Ocean". In accordance with release date of "Hoshitabi", there is something naturally very let's-hit-the-surf summery about the song which I could translate as "Star Trek" but I think that a certain sci-fi franchise has already taken that title so I'll go with "Star Voyage" instead. Anyways, the song also comes across as a tune that could even fit in as a theme song for any of the more dynamic anime, strangely enough, as Okayu and her guitar demonstrate. I think part of it is because her lyrics talk of a couple taking on the challenge of taking that big leap forward together despite any and all obstacles.
Also on the single is Okayu's take on the City Pop classic "Downtown" originally by Sugar Babe, and yep the arrangement follows the band's style. At this rate, the song will end up earning its own Label.
Summer doesn't officially arrive until 11:32 pm tonight but with the weather looking very sunny and hot outside and me needing to put on the ancient fan inside, I think that I can jump the gun by several hours and provide something of the season here.
(short version)
Why not go with some Beat Takeshi（ビートたけし）then? Yes, indeed this is the comedian-turned-international cinematic auteur that we're talking about here. Around New Year's Eve in 2019, I provided the first Beat Takeshi song on KKP with "Asakusa Kid"（浅草キッド）, an autobiographical ballad with him humbly singing about his origins in show business. This time, though, I give you his 2nd single, "Itaike na Natsu" (Nice Summer) which came out in February or June 1981.
"Itaike na Natsu" wasn't a Beat creation but a song written by Kiyotaka Norishige（教重清隆）and composed by Kunihiko Kase（加瀬邦彦）and arranged by Ginji Ito（伊藤銀次）. I'd been wondering about providing another song whose melody was made by Kase since I'd provided an article yesterday involving his efforts with the band Takeshi Terauchi & Blue Jeans（寺内タケシとブルージーンズ）, and it looks like providence has given me a hand. Indeed, "Itaike na Natsu" sounds like some "Beach Blanket Bingo" tune with the boss saxophone, lanky guitars and the overall doo-wop feel of it all...a perfect fit for that Harajuku 50s fad that was going on at the time. And would you get a look at young Beat Takeshi on the cover? He's got quite the mullet beginning to come in with the surf.
Back in February, I put up the first article for the Hello Projectaidoru group Juice=Juice and their KAN-penned "Pop Music"（ポップミュージック）and at the end, I stated that I was looking forward to their cover of Sugar Babe's"DOWNTOWN".
Well, that cover arrived on April 28th as the group's 14th single on CD and I got reminded of the fact from Juice=Juice's appearance tonight on "Uta Con"（うたコン）.
Now, let's see...there is the 1975 original by Sugar Babe, the 1980 City Pop cover by EPO (which still remains my favourite version), an English-language cover by Haruko Kuwana（桑名晴子）on her 1982 album"Moonlight Island", a chip tune take by YMCK in 2008, the jazzy version by Maaya Sakamoto（坂本真綾）in 2010, and finally we have a contemporary aidoru group tackling "DOWNTOWN" this year. This version starts off pretty spacey and there seems to be a bit of a guitar riff giving a fond shoutout to the EPO cover before we get a "DOWNTOWN" that goes for the dance beats as each of the members hand off the mike to each other.
This new "DOWNTOWN" has done pretty well on the charts by coming in at No. 3. Again, all compliments to lyricist Ginji Ito（伊藤銀次）and composer Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）. 46 years later, it's still fun to go "DOWNTOWN".
I guess that another one of those fine instrumental ingredients in a good City Pop song would be that light-fingered piano dancing to a Latin beat.
And indeed, that's what I hear in Miki Matsubara's（松原みき）"Chandelier Mirage", a track from the late singer's 6th album"REVUE" from September 1983. Of course, I can't forget to mention the boppy bass as well. Written by Shun Taguchi（田口俊）, composed by Ginji Ito（伊藤銀次）and arranged by Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）, "Chandelier Mirage" works in the daytime as well as at night, as Matsubara sings about the search for that mysterious Chandelier Mirage. Not sure if she's referring to some spy with a pretty bizarre code name or a particular brand of eye shadow (no mention of it being tied up with some cosmetics commercial in J-Wiki), but the song sounds all sorts of sophistication in the big city.
As for "REVUE", it managed to get as high as No. 73 on Oricon. Have that glass of champagne while listening to this one.
Well, I'm keeping part of my promise to cover individually some of those songs that influenced one of City Pop's greatest figures when he was a kid via the first part of the two-article series of "Who Influenced Toshiki Kadomatsu?"
The first one is "Kyou wa Nandaka"(Today, Somehow) by New Music band Sugar Babe（シュガーベイブ）which had members who would become stars on their own: Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）, Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）and Ginji Ito（伊藤銀次） among others. One of the tracks on their lone 1975 album"SONGS", "Kyou wa Nandaka" is as joyful to hear as it is to read. The lyrics by Yamashita and Ito read off a very happy man's realization that love is about to come around; it's only a matter of time.
May I also add that Tats' music is sublime with that clarion call piano in the intro and the end along with the free jazz at the end as well? "Kyou wa Nandaka" is the melodic equivalent of a fun and rollicking car ride with the top down anywhere in the big city, and there is that riffing guitar that pops up a few times in the song that reminds me of a motor revving up. Plus, there are those sweet and warm horns accompanying Yamashita's vocals. The music seems to be enjoying life as much as the protagonist is and may even be illustrating the vibrancy of the metropolis itself.
Enjoy aiko's own sunny cover of "Kyou wa Nandaka".
Discovered this one some time ago and rather enjoyed it for its cute 1980saidorusynthpop feelings. Images of "The Best 10" and Myojo magazines came flooding back into my head.
"Tropical Mermaid" was sung by 80saidoru and seiyuuYoko Obata（小幡洋子）as her 2nd single released in January 1986. The song was actually inserted into the anime"Mahou no Star Magical Emi"（魔法のスターマジカルエミ...Magical Emi, The Magic Star）, a show in which Obata starred as the main character Mai Kazuki who belongs to a family of magicians.
Judging from the light bleeps and bloops, I had assumed that "Tropical Mermaid" was another Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）tune, but in point of fact, the melody was provided by former Sugar Babe member and City Pop singer Ginji Ito（伊藤銀次）, while Yukinojo Mori（森雪之丞）wrote the lyrics. Quirky and perky, indeed.
The song also led off her debut album "Pearl Island" released in December 1985. Obata would release a total of 3 singles and 4 original albums up to the end of 1986, along with a BEST compilation in 2004. Obata, which is her real name, took on a number of stage names to release some more albums and singles up to 1992 until she left show business the following year to become a jewelry designer.
I've never seen "Magical Emi", but from what I can gather, I think Emi-chan probably was a bit more proficient at her craft than the young lady in "Tejina Senpai". 😁
Around 1987, guitarist/composer/arranger Shigeru Suzuki（鈴木茂）must have contacted a whole slew of his singing buddies who had dabbled in the mellow sounds of AOR and asked each of them to create a song of that genre, but without any lyrics. In other words, they were to come up with instrumental tracks, and Suzuki would produce and arrange all of the songs.
The result was a trio of compilation albums under the umbrella title of "Sunset Hills Hotel", and all three of them were released in 1987 with the first being "Sunset Hills Hotel". I was only aiming to pick out one song from the album, but decided to cover the whole of Side A because of the composers involved. Thankful to have found the album, by the way, through Rare Japanese Sounds.
So far, listening to the first side of "Sunset Hills Hotel", everyone kept their promises and kept their mouths resolutely closed which is unusual since in at least a couple of examples, their voices are so recognizable and distinct.
Track 1, "Night Flight" by Suzuki himself begins very quietly as if I were going to experience something very ambient. But then the serenity gradually segues into an innocent tete-a-tete between a romantic piano and the introductory synthesizer before the guitar and percussion come in like a wave. David Foster and TOTO were the names that automatically got thrust into my head as I was hearing this. "Night Flight" does indeed sound like it was made for a night flight as the passengers are asked to buckle up and prepare for takeoff before heading off on their tropical vacation late at night.
At 5:16 is "Cafe on the Wave" by Yoshitaka Minami（南佳孝）. Of course, he is one of the artists that I had expected to hear in full voice. Instead, though, he provides a softly tropical tune, sine voce, with just a saxophone and a piano leading the island tour. However, perhaps to keep things trans-national, there is even what sounds like an Italian mandolin so that there is a bit of that European representation. There are two saxophonists involved in "Sunset Hills Hotel", and one of them is the late Jake H. Concepcion. I'm betting that he's the one manning the sax here.
Jin Kirigaya（桐ヶ谷仁）then gives us the third track "Sweet Reservation" at 9:49 which sounds so sweetly AOR that it could easily have been included in any of the American AOR compilation albums that I used to collect when I was living in Japan. There's another lovely and even bluesier sax solo here. The Foster and TOTO feeling is bubbling up here, too.
14:35 is Taeko Ohnuki's（大貫妙子）contribution to "Sunset Hills Hotel" with "6:30 PM Breeze". Not only is it unusual since she doesn't sing but it's the first time that I've heard a song by her that incorporates some of that old-timey jazz and Hawaiian at the same time. It sounds so sleepily comical that it could accompany that slightly loony side character in a movie after he/she gets cut off at the bar and ambles back into the hotel. For some reason, I think that "6:30 PM Breeze" could even fit a typical Studio Ghibli movie soundtrack...maybe it's the slightly tipsy trumpet.
The last track on Side A, and therefore my final contribution to the article, is "West Beach Drive" by Ginji Ito（伊藤銀次）at 19:40. West Coast AOR and Yumi Matsutoya（松任谷由実）circa 1980 come to mind as I hear this. There's an interesting combination of baritone sax and electone before another saxophone comes strolling in that makes up the arrangement. Then a jazzy piano literally crashes the party while shooing in a harmonica.
In addition to Concepcion, there are a lot of other notable musicians involved in "Sunset Hills Hotel" including Shin Kazuhara（数原晋）on flugelhorn, Masataka Matsutoya（松任谷正隆）on piano, and Tsuyoshi Kon（今剛）on guitar. Not sure how the album was received when it was first released in 1987, but the concept and the personnel involved have gotten me interested enough for me to try and obtain it. As I kinda hinted for Ohnuki's"6:30 PM Breeze", it has that feeling of a soundtrack for a movie or TV show highlighting the kooky characters of a hotel known as the Sunset Hills. I already have that need to wrap a pink sweater around my waist and buy a bottle of Perrier.
I'll have to talk about Side B sometime soon as well. In the meantime, the later two albums are "Sunset Light Cocktail ~ In Sunset Hills Hotel" and "Sunset Hills Hotel ~ Reservation Calendar".
