Shinsei Happy & Blue -- Akasaka Monogatari（赤坂ものがたり）

 

Among the ritzy districts of Ginza, Aoyama and Akasaka, I'd have to say that Akasaka was the one that I frequented the least. Not that I was a regular in any of those areas at all, but I don't remember going to Akasaka all that much...simply because the subway lines I used the most didn't really cross over to that particular neighbourhood. I guess I was more of a Ginza Line guy (although one station there is Akasaka-Mitsuke). However, in the relatively few times that I did stop by, my friends and I had some spicy Chinese ma bo do fu which knocked me out for a couple of days, another group of friends and I visited a few of the Korean restaurants there, and one student took me to his favourite izakaya. It was a given that I had never darkened the doors of any of the nightclubs and hostess clubs there.

Of course, in the area of music, Akasaka was also a frequent destination of sorts with the Mood Kayo vocal groups such as Los Indios' venerable "Como Esta Akasaka?"（コモエスタ赤坂）. Considering the number of watering holes in the area, it was pretty much a done deal that Mood Kayo would love this place.

Toshi Ito and Happy & Blue（敏いとうとハッピー&ブルー）has been around since the 1970s and they are well known for their 1977 muscular hit "Hoshi Furu Machikado" (星降る街角） which has been a popular one for karaoke fans of a certain generation. I think even I've sung it in one of the boxes. Well, the group has undergone a lot of personnel changes over the past fifty years with arguably the biggest one being the death of Ito himself only a couple of months ago in September at the age of 84. 

In 2021, there was a change to the name of the group. Known as Shinsei Toshi Ito to Happy & Blue（新✩敏いとうとハッピー&ブルー）, they released one single, and then earlier this spring, the name was shrunk slightly to Shinsei Happy & Blue with the leader and lead vocal being Masaru Rokudo（宍戸マサル）who had joined the group in 2006. The group marked the occasion with a new single showing their tribute to Akasaka titled "Akasaka Monogatari" (Akasaka Story) which covers the well-worn genre lyrical plot of locking eyes with a beautiful lady in one of those fancy bars. Written and composed by Rokudo, the Mood Kayo tune has gotten a bit more of a rock guitar snarl and the members have even received some pretty snazzy contemporary threads. Here's hoping that even in the 21st century, this bar-friendly genre still has some kick to keep going for a few more decades at least.

Dan Hartman -- Relight My Fire

 

Welcome once more to Reminiscings of Youth. This week's article will be taking a slightly more circuitous route, so please bear with me.

Recently, I encountered a music video I hadn't seen in some time and it was The Avalanches' "Frontier Psychiatrist" from 2000. The Australian electronic music band specializes in plunderphonics which has samples of other songs woven together to make a totally new and hopefully very listenable song. "Frontier Psychiatrist" is one of The Avalanches' hits which brings in among other things snippets of a comedy routine by Wayne & Shuster, one of Canada's premier duos from way back. The video is something that a particularly imaginative psychiatric patient would come up with, and I would advise keeping a strong libation on hand when watching this one.

Liking the cut of their jib, I began looking for some more Avalanches fare and so I came across something that had been created by them years later in 2013 which was a remix of Australian rock band Hunters and Collectors' 1982 debut single, "Talking to a Stranger", cheekily retitled "Stalking to a Stranger". The original song and music video were already intriguing enough as something rather art rock but then The Avalanches injected some old-fashioned disco into the earthy and growly rock to make something that sounded and looked just as comfortable in Manhattan's Studio 54 as it did on the Outback (the Australian interior region, not the restaurant).

That injection turned out to be Dan Hartman's "Relight My Fire" from 1979, near the end of the disco era. I know that by this time, the whole "Disco Sucks" movement was pretty much on fire as the title but the song still sounds like those strings, horns and dancers were enjoying the time of their lives on the dance floor. And it still managed to hit No. 1 on Billboard's Dance/Club Play chart in December that year. Hartman was joined by Loleatta Holloway on the vocals, and there are apparently a number of different remixes.

I barely remember hearing it as a kid, and part of the reason that I have opted to cover "Relight My Fire" was that it wasn't something that I recall hearing in its entirety aside from that dynamic intro, perhaps not even through K-Tel record compilation commercials on TV. The instrumental version was used in a number of other ways including on NBC's late-night show "Tomorrow Coast to Coast". Most likely, I heard it on sports broadcasts since I recall that they enjoyed injecting some disco as background music.

Considering that "Relight My Fire" was hitting high on that dance chart in mid-December, let's go with what was hitting the Oricon chart for that month in 1979 (specifically December 3rd). I give you Nos. 2, 3 and 4.

2. Saki Kubota -- Ihojin （異邦人）

3. Hirofumi Bamba -- Sachiko

4. Toshi Ito and Happy & Blue -- Yoseba ii noni (よせばいいのに)

Shinsei Toshi Ito and Happy & Blue -- Showa Paradise（昭和パラダイス）

 

Strangely enough, that Asakusa building isn't a neon-lit cabaret or karaoke box but a sushi restaurant. Hey, if it brings in the customers, that's fine.

The phrase that I learned in Gunma, "Neon ga yonderu"（ネオンが呼んでいる...The neon is calling）, is something that comes to mind when I hear "Showa Paradise" by the Mood Kayo group that came up with the 1977 hit "Hoshi Furu Machikado" (星降る街角）. Toshi Ito and Happy & Blue （敏いとうとハッピー&ブルー）have had a slight name change over the past few years as they are now known as Shinsei Toshi Ito and Happy & Blue（新☆敏いとうとハッピー＆ブルー...New Star Toshi Ito and Happy & Blue）. Ito actually retired about a decade ago and the vocals are now being handled by new leader and main vocalist Masaru Shishido（宍戸マサル）.

But getting back to "Showa Paradise", which was released as their most recent single in November 2021, about six years following their last one, it has that classic Mood Kayo sound that I grew up with although I was a little worried about the Casio synthesizer intro, but then when the guitar and the chorus flowed in, everything was all good. Music and lyrics were provided by Shishido and with all of the whimsy of the titular era, the words basically consist of the famous Mood Kayo and other kayo song titles (including "Hoshi Furu Machikado"), so there's some tongue-in-cheek in "Showa Paradise". The style reminds me of Masaaki Hirano's（平野雅昭）"Enka Chanchakachan"（演歌チャンチャカチャン）from 1977 when the singer incorporated the most notable lyrics from famous kayo into his own cocktail kayo.

I actually heard the song for the first time on a "Uta Con"（うたコン）episode not too long ago. Let's hope that the Showa neon keeps on calling for the foreseeable future.

(short version)

Ambrosia -- Biggest Part of Me

 

I'm really going to have to invest in an Eizin Suzuki calendar next year.

Anyways, I realize that I have already put up a ROY article for this week but at the same time, I'm going to exercise Administrator's privilege and write up a second one. The reason is that I haven't contributed a ROY article on an AOR tune in a long while...the one that I remember off the top of my head is Pages' "Who's Right, Who's Wrong" from last September. That is almost a year and considering that I do love my soft rock, before I'm forced to hand in my Perrier bottle in shame, it's time to get another light and mellow tune from my musical memories up here in Reminiscings of Youth.

My choice tonight is Ambrosia's "Biggest Part of Me" from March 1980. I used to hear this song by this soft rock/jazz fusion band all the time on the radio (and in doctors' offices), and at that time when I was a kid, I thought it was a pleasant enough ditty. But decades later, while I was in Japan and folks there (including myself) were getting into the American AOR boom through remastered CDs, hearing "Biggest Part of Me" again just launched the effervescent bubbles of Perrier percolating in my head. Translation: I appreciated it a whole lot more. And apparently, so did the charts way back when. In Canada, the song went as high as No. 18 on RPM and on the Adult Contemporary chart in the United States, it hit No. 3.

What can I say? David Pack was the man who created the song and sang it, and during the 2000s to hear this song once more among the other formerly forgotten delights on those AOR compilation discs that I'd bought at Tower Records and Yamano Music was quite the aural manna from Heaven. All of "Biggest Part of Me" is great but there's that Ernie Watts' sax solo in the middle which still sends shivers up and down my spine. Yup, I'm an AOR otaku!😛

So, what was coming out into the record stores in Japan while "Biggest Part of Me" was coming out in the record stores in Canada and the United States (and perhaps Japan, too)? Well, according to Showa Pops, these three were.

Mariya Takeuchi -- Fushigi na Peach Pie （不思議なピーチ・パイ）

Toshi Ito and Happy & Blue -- Gaman Dekinai wa（我慢できないわ）

Yoshimi Iwasaki -- Aka to Kuro（赤と黒）

Toshi Ito and Happy & Blue -- Gaman Dekinai wa（我慢できないわ）

 

As I mentioned in this week's ROY article for The Buggles, NASA and its fans are celebrating a return to the Red Planet thanks to the arrival of the Perseverance Rover earlier today. Putting the term perseverance into Jisho.org, I found the Japanese word gaman（我慢）, and so just out of a sense of whimsy, I wanted to see if I could find a kayo with that word in the title.

It didn't take me long to find this particular Mood Kayo by Toshi Ito and Happy & Blue（敏いとうとハッピー＆ブルー）, a group that had great success with its "Yoseba Ii Noni" (よせばいいのに) , its 15th single released in June 1979. The following single, "Gaman Dekinai wa" (Can't Stand It Anymore), was a February 1980 release, and yes I know, this is actually showing someone who is no longer able to persevere, but hey, I only said that I wanted to find gaman in the title. I didn't state that negatives weren't allowed in my search parameters.

Written and composed by the same songwriter behind "Yoseba Ii Noni", Hiroshi Miura (三浦弘) , this particular Mood Kayo number is rather pensive as a woman is basically chewing on her handkerchief in frustration after pining for that certain someone for two years with no positive results. As the title indicates, she is at her wit's end, and ready to give up the fight. Plenty of fish in the sea, I'm sure, though. What prevents the song from going totally maudlin is the arranger's (perhaps Miura) jaunty approach to the song to the point that it even sounds a bit comical.

Yuji Mori and Southern Cross/Toshi Ito & Happy and Blue -- Ashide Matoi（足手まとい）

I was kinda feeling that it was a while since I put up a Mood Kayo tune, and I realized that it has been about 6 weeks. Being a Monday night, I kinda figure that there are probably workers out there who want to get their first nighttime drink of the week, so perhaps it was off to the favourite watering hole after work. That would make for a Mood Kayo atmosphere.

While rummaging through YouTube for an appropriate song, I found this one titled "Ashide Matoi" (A Burden) by a group that I had never heard before, Yuji Mori and Southern Cross（森雄二とサザンクロス）. The group debuted in 1975 and performed for a decade before breaking up in 1985.

"Ashide Matoi", the tearful story of a man who decides to break up with his mistress because he feels that he is just dragging her down, has got all of the enjoyable Mood Kayo tropes: a bit of that Latin guitar, the chorus work, the sorrowful lead vocal, and those strings and alto sax which sound plenty clean and crisp, like a sip of good sake. On the odd occasion that I do drink sake, I usually like it dry. Listening to this, I can only envision the high-flying areas of Ginza and Akasaka.

The lyrics were provided by Junko Takabatake（高畠諄子）and the music was by Hiroyuki Nakagawa（中川博之）. "Ashide Matoi" was released in 1977.

In July 1983, the Mood Kayo group Toshi Ito & Happy and Blue（敏いとうとハッピー&ブルー）performed a cover of "Ashide Matoi" as their 23rd single. I couldn't find the original recorded version but the above performed version on TV doesn't sound too different from the Southern Cross take although there seems to be some more musical flourishes added.

Interestingly enough, former members from both Southern Cross and Happy and Blue along with one other Mood Kayo singer got together in 2002 to form Happy Southern Arrow（ハッピー・サザンアロー）. But earlier in 1995, Southern Cross had decided to re-form and entertain again until earlier this year in April when Mori passed away at the age of 75.

Toshi Ito and Happy & Blue -- Watashi Inottemasu（わたし祈ってます）/Naoki Matsudaira & Blue Roman -- Shiawase ni Natte ne（幸せになってね）

Well it is a Sunday and Sundays used to be the night for "Enka no Hanamichi"（演歌の花道）on TV Tokyo way back when. However, considering some of the lovely sets of bars and nightclubs which appeared as settings for singers to ply their wares, I did wonder whether the show could have stood a title change to "Mood Kayo no Hanamichi". There was no way that I could ever find myself in one of those places without financial generosity (which was the only way that I was able to get into the few that I did get into) so Sunday nights were the time for me to live somewhat vicariously while listening to the music.

I don't know whether the Mood Kayo group Toshi Ito and Happy & Blue（敏いとうとハッピー&ブルー）ever managed to get onto "Enka no Hanamichi" in the show's glory days but I think their 4th single "Watashi Inottemasu" (I'm Praying For You) would be the perfect ticket. With that boozy sax and the nightclub piano, it's the ideal Mood Kayo to be set in an old-fashioned Ginza club.

Released in July 1974, it was composed and written by the late Hiroyuki Nakagawa（中川博之）under his pseudonym Satoru Igarashi（五十嵐悟）as a tearful but adamant lament from a female lover to her soon-to-be ex-paramour to get away from her and live a happy life (and don't drink too much). I mean, how Mood Kayo can you get? During those years when enka and Mood Kayo could regularly break into the Top 10 of Oricon, "Watashi Inottemasu" was a bit hit for Ito and Happy & Blue by not only peaking at No. 4 but also staying in the Top 20 for 15 straight weeks while selling a little over 440,000 records.

However, what I found out on the uploader's page and the footnotes for the J-Wiki article on Happy & Blue is that there was an original version of the song under the title "Shiawase ni Natte ne" (Be Happy). This was released in September 1970 after its recording by another Mood Kayo group called Naoki Matsudaira & Blue Roman（松平直樹とブルーロマン）. The video above uploaded by shego50s includes a recording of a rehearsal by the group at some nightclub. At this point, I don't know what the original recording sounds like but it was placed as a B-side although in April 1972, the song came out again as an A-side.

As for Matsudaira, he happened to be one of the members of Hiroshi Wada & Mahina Stars（和田弘とマヒナスターズ）before striking out on his own in 1970 with his own Mood Kayo group. He and Blue Roman broke up in 1983.

Apparently, the song is still performed on the kayo shows under its original title of "Shiawase ni Natte ne". For example, here is Yuuki Seguchi（瀬口侑希）, an enka singer who is a familiar face on those shows giving her cover of the song. Her version was also released as a single in January 2008.

Toshi Ito and Happy & Blue -- Ite-za no Onna （射手座の女）

Another Friday night in the big city and I got to have my annual Winterlicious meal in Toronto. The restaurant du nuit was 5 Doors North, a fairly casual Italian place in midtown. Pretty hearty fare especially with some juicy broiled pork tenderloin; that was just the thing when the wind chill factor was about minus 300 degrees. Well...perhaps I'm exaggerating that temperature a tad but it was indeed quite frosty out there tonight.

Since it was a Friday night there over 12 hours ago, I'm sure folks in Tokyo were out enjoying themselves as well at the karaoke boxes, bars or wherever. Having my usual Showa Kayo on the brain, I often think of ol' Mood Kayo out in the ritzy areas of town, and I managed to find one by Mood Kayo group Toshi Ito and Happy & Blue（敏いとうとハッピー&ブルー）.

This one was their 25th release from August 1985, "Ite-za no Onna" (Woman of Sagittarius). It stood out to me since along with the usual tropes of Mood Kayo including the Latin-infused melody and the resonant backup singers, there was some added modern keyboard work back there and even a shotgun blast or two. Written and composed by Masanuki Kato（加藤将貫...I hope I got that given name OK）, it's all about the romantic and flirtatious give-and-take between a woman born under that titular sign of the zodiac and a head-over-heels guy. I'm assuming the courtship is taking place in either Ginza or Akasaka. Also would like to give my compliments to Kato for the cha-cha-like beat in the intro.

Here are the Happy & Blue with Catherine performing "Ite-za no Onna". As they say in Japanese, "the neon is calling".

Toshi Ito and Happy & Blue -- Yoseba ii noni (よせばいいのに)

With all the riveting performances on last night's 'Kayo Concert' Mood Kayo fest (GREAT episode by the way, especially to a fan of the genre)... well, as riveting as a bunch of elderly men can pull off, I had a tough time deciding which song to write about. I mean, there were the usual 'Mood Kayo all stars' from the 50's and 60's like the Hawaiian 'Mahina Stars' and the Latin and now reduced to 3 members 'Los Indios' and 'Los Primos', so there was quite a selection. But what took the cake was ex-Toshi Ito and Happy & Blue ( 敏いとうとハッピー＆ブルー) lead singer Hideo Morimoto (森本英世) singing one of the group's 3 big hits, 'Yoseba ii noni'.

Other than the song's pretty dramatic start, another thing I remembered was that I went, "Is that him? The cool guy from Happy & Blue?" And yes, I was quite thrilled by the fact that it was really the man himself looking rather spiffy in a white suit with that little smile on his face. Watching the group's performances in the 70's and early 80's, I always thought that Morimoto just gave them that extra edge they needed due to  his interesting and pleasant vocal delivery... and also he seems to like to move along to the music, making for better stage presence.

Anyway, 'Yoseba ii noni' was written and composed by Hiroshi Miura (三浦弘) and was Happy & Blue's 15th single released on 21st June 1979.

The video directly above is to a more recent rendition with new members and a different guy as the lead singer... I think he's Eisaku Tamaru (田丸栄作). Whereas the video above has Morimoto at the helm, as well as some other guy (I think he's one of those guests on the show).

I would have to say that the silliest thing on that episode would have to be Koji Taira (平浩二) in a hard-to-ignore sparkly top that made him look like one of the numerous disco balls on stage. Ah, but that didn't matter since his performance of his hit 'Bus stop' (バス・ストップ) was aMAzing.

blogs.yahoo.co.jp

Toshi Ito and Happy & Blue -- Hoshi Furu Machikado (星降る街角）

Another one from my karaoke days at Kuri in Yorkville. Once in a while, as I drank down my Brown Cows in the lounge, someone would choose this salsa-ish number. I never knew who sang it or even what the title was....until now. Just purely by accident, I came across it while I was looking for something different on YouTube earlier today.

Toshi Ito（敏しいとう) and Happy & Blue was one of the later Mood Kayo bands to set up shop. It formed in 1971 and still is in action today although members have naturally come and gone over the decades. At the very least, it has one of the more interesting monikers for a kayo kyoku outfit. "Hoshi Furu Machikado" (Stars Falling on the Street Corner), written and composed by Hitoshi or Jin Hidaka（日高仁) (not sure of the pronounciation of the kanji) was originally released in 1972, but it didn't become a hit for the vocal group until its re-release in May 1977 with a different arrangement. Since then, it was re-recorded in 1981, and "Hoshi Furu Machikado 2012" was just released earlier this August as Happy & Blue's 34th single. The 1977 version is probably the one above, and it managed to become the 33rd-ranked song of the year.