Hideki Saijo -- New York Girl

 

Yeah, I knew that Hideki Saijo（西城秀樹）had his City Pop phase going deeper into the 1980s but I didn't realize that it went quite this deep. Armed with a sparkling single cover by Hiroshi Nagai（永井博）, Saijo released his 57th single from May 1987 in the form of "New York Girl".

Beginning with a quiet intro that had me thinking of Earth Wind & Fire's "Fantasy" for a little while, "New York Girl" vaults into sultry urban dance pop action with Saijo yelling out the title throughout the song (bass addicts, you'll love this one, too). It seems the song was created for Saijo right from the start with keyboardist and record producer George Duke and Shalamar member Howard Hewitt creating the song while future AKB48 Svengali Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）came up with the Japanese lyrics. "New York Girl" managed to peak at No. 50 on Oricon. The Japanese version is above while the English B-side is below. Its first appearance on an album was on the December 1987 version of "BEST PACK/Saijo Hideki".

Happy 10th, Uta Con!（うたコン）/Hideki Saijo -- Ai no Juujika（愛の十字架）

 

First off, Happy 10th Birthday to the NHK music show "Uta Con". I saw their episode last night and it was nice not only to see some of the highlights from the past ten years but also get a tour of how the magic works at NHK Shibuya. It's amazing how quickly the years fly by...I remember when "Uta Con" got the baton passed over to it from "Kayo Concert"（歌謡コンサート）back in 2016.

Now, "Kayo Kyoku Plus" had its tenth anniversary back in 2022 so I actually pulled out most of the guns to celebrate our grand project back then, and of course, you can take a look at some of that via "10th Anniversary Special: 10th Anniversary Songs". However, I still wanted to commemorate the "Uta Con" achievement so I've opted to present a few songs over the years that have had something of the number 10 involved in the titles. I'll admit though to being a little cheat-y with my choices. But the important thing is that I also have the opportunity to present a new tune onto the blog by the late great Hideki Saijo（西城秀樹）. Anyways, without further ado:

(1984) Akina Nakamori -- Jukkai (1984) (十戒 (1984))

(1986) Minako Honda -- the Cross ~ Ai no Juujika（愛の十字架）

(1993) SMAP -- $10

As noted above, I have this Hideki Saijo tune that has that 10-ish relationship (albeit through kanji association only). This is "Ai no Juujika" (Cross of Love), his 7th single from December 1973. Indeed, it shares the same title as Honda's song above but that's the only common denominator. It is otherwise a totally different animal.

Written by Takashi Taka（たかたかし）and composed by Kunihiko Suzuki（鈴木邦彦）under Koji Makaino's（馬飼野康二）arrangement, this is also the first time for me to hear Saijo's "Ai no Juujika", and from what I hear, it's a very early Hideki song of passion and angst. It's quite the cross for him to bear and I think he's even shedding a few tears in the concert audio above. All the better for the screaming fans to rush over to comfort him. Not surprisingly, the song hit No. 1 and finished 1974 as the 22nd-ranked single.

Dance-y Songs for Me 2 (for International Dance Day...actually on April 29th)

 

It was exactly a year ago (and also today happens to be the current Emperor's birthday in Japan so it was a national holiday over there) that I posted up "Dance-y Songs for Me (for International Dance Day)". I don't consider myself anything of even being a mediocre dancer but I always enjoy seeing the experts trot their stuff especially when it comes to music I've come to known and love. And yes, International Dance Day is on April 29th but as I mentioned in the original article a year ago, I can't wait until the 29th. I wanna boogie now! So, without further ado:

(1977) Pink Lady -- UFO

This was one of commenter Brian Mitchell's suggestions when he spoke on the original dance article, and I see that the dance-oriented video games have agreed as well. Seeing how kayo kyoku has been getting its props around the world, I can also imagine that folks can be strutting their stuff to Pink Lady's classic in the clubs as well as the karaoke boxes.

(1979) Hideki Saijo -- Young Man (ヤングマン）

Hey, the Village People brought it to the disco-crazed masses but Hideki Saijo（西城秀樹）also made it his own as a beloved piece of his discography. The danceability is already built in, and as with "UFO" above, I'm sure that both the karaoke boxes and dance clubs felt the love for "Young Man". Certainly, Saijo may be looking at us with a smile.

(1980) Yellow Magic Orchestra -- Tighten Up

I don't usually consider the music of Hosono（細野晴臣）, Takahashi（高橋幸宏）and Sakamoto（坂本龍一）something to hit the disco floors for (despite YMO marking itself "the No. 1 dance band in Japan"), but "Tighten Up" can be one exception since as with "Young Man" above, this was a Japanese cover of a song by an American band that liked to get the folks up and moving. I still want that YMO shirt!

(1982) Kingo Hamada -- midnight cruisin'

I'm surprised that I hadn't included this one in the original article but I guess Labels was pretty stuffed to the gills with entries, so I'm glad that I get to put it the second list. After all. Kingo Hamada's（濱田金吾）classic is a City Pop party favour for big city living. Plus, YouTuber hirokoboogie shows how folks can move to the groove if you refer back to the "midnight cruisin'" article.

(1982) Hiroshi Sato -- Say Goodbye

This was another one of Brian's recommendations. Having listened to "Say Goodbye" in the years since I posted up the article for the song and got my copy of the 1982 album "Awakenings", I'm wondering if the late great Hiroshi Sato（佐藤博）had been channeling his inner Stevie Wonder or Herbie Hancock when he came up with this masterpiece. Shimmy those shoulders away.

(1983) Anri -- Goodbye Boogie Dance

Speaking of hirokoboogie, here she is with her friends as they cut up a rug doing Anri's（杏里）"Goodbye Boogie Dance". Not sure if there had been a lot of lockin' when the song first came out in 1983, but I'm sure folks at home were shimmying up a storm. I can't even imagine how the new fans were reacting on the dance floor at the City Pop dance parties several years ago to this one.

(1986) PSY-S -- Woman-S

PSY-S was another technopop band that burst onto the scene with some great hooks...hooks that could potentially grab onto listeners and force them to boogie, shimmy or however folks tend to move. The two versions of "Woman-S" had their own ways of manipulating people into doing their steps; the original (below), for example, had that booming percussion.

I've got a feeling that "Dance-y songs for Me 3" will be coming out in 2027!

The Top Batters for the 1981 (32nd), 1982 (33rd) and 1983 (34th) Editions of the Kohaku Utagassen

 

With the 76th edition of the Kohaku Utagassen on NHK less than 24 hours away as I type this, it appears that unless there is a mind-blowing sudden addition or deletion from the list, the participant list is all set and ready to go. I may just be crazy enough to wake up early and crank up the computer to watch the live version on Jme (although Jme will be broadcasting the special a few times for the next few days).

Anyways, in commemoration of the occasion and just to get those nostalgia juices flowing once more (since this is the blog for that sort of thing), I've decided to show the Top Batters for the first three editions I ever saw which are 1981, 1982 and 1983. For those who are new to the network's annual New Year's Eve event, the top batters are the first singers/bands representing the Red and White teams to perform. They set the tone for the gala atmosphere and back then, they were usually the youngest folks since it used to be the case that the aidoru and pop singers got their chances in the first half of the program before the moodier and more traditional stuff came in the second half of the show.

Let's enjoy the show and at least one of us will be posting an article on how we thought of this edition's Kohaku.

1981

Red: Naoko Kawai -- Smile for Me（スマイル・フォー・ミー）

White: Masahiko Kondo -- Gingiragin ni Sarigenaku （ギンギラギンにさりげなく）

1982

Red: Junko Mihara -- Honki de Love Me Good （ホンキでLove Me Good)

White: Shibugakitai -- 100%...So Kamo ne!（100%…SOかもね!）

1983

Red: Hiromi Iwasaki -- Ieji (家路）

White: Hideki Saijo -- Gyarandu （ギャランドゥ）

Hideki Saijo -- Night Game（ナイト・ゲーム）

 

When I first encountered Hideki Saijo's（西城秀樹）45th single from June 1983, "Night Game", I thought that it was a return to form for the virile young aidoru of the 1970s. There was the aggressive arrangement and Saijo going all out with his voice. But instead of the bare torso, the wild expression and the long hair, there was the man all decked out in a nice suit, calm demeanor and short hair on the cover of the single. Still, I could also hear "Night Game" as a pop-rock holler-happy tune.

What I was to find out was that Saijo's "Night Game" was a cover of Graham Bonnet's original song from 1981, "Night Games". I don't know anything about this singer from England, but his version sounds a bit more stately and measured. It got up to No. 6 on the UK Singles chart while the Saijo cover reached No. 19 on Oricon, selling 85000 records. According to the J-Wiki article for the Japanese take, when Bonnet had visited Japan, he actually ended up buying Saijo's record.

Hideki Saijo -- Ichi-man Kounen no Ai（一万光年の愛）

 

Recently, on one of the episodes of the NHK information variety programs "Chiko-chan", I found out that the whole thing about the penlight phenomenon at concerts in Japan could all be credited to the one-and-only Hideki Saijo（西城秀樹）. Apparently when he was doing his first concerts back in the early 1970s, he had expressed some disappointment that he couldn't see his fans' faces while performing on stage. So through the media of the time, he asked fans for his next concert if they could bring something like a flashlight to light up so that he could see the lights beaming so that he could also see his fans beaming. Of course, since then the rest is history as the penlight not only evolved but a certain choreography around it evolved as well.

We've also got some Hideki and some light here as well in the form of his 50th single, "Ichi-man Kounen no Ai" (10,000 Light Years of Love) which was released in February 1985. I guess to commemorate this auspicious single and the subject matter, a heavenly pipe organ was brought in along with some major rhythm machine drumming. Saijo sings about courting this beautiful cosmos-weary lady soaring through space and time. Akira Ohtsu（大津あきら）was the lyricist here while Daisuke Inoue（井上大輔）was responsible for both  music and arrangement. It peaked at No. 12 on Oricon, selling around 100,000 records, and first appeared on the album "'85 HIDEKI Special in Budokan - for 50 songs -", a live album from March 1985.

I know that they are completely different songs but there's something about "Ichi-man Kounen no Ai" that reminds me of Europe's "The Final Countdown" although that song wouldn't arrive until May 1986 in the United States. As for that cosmos-weary lady, I can only think of one example.

DeBarge -- I Like It

 

Welcome to another Reminiscings of Youth entry for this Thursday, the final day of July 2025. And what better way to end it with something nice and groovy from the 1980s? Referring back to my article "If I Had an All-Night Radio Show...", I rather regret not having included DeBarge in my midnight playlist but I just had so many candidates to put up. Still, easily, something like their "All This Love" would have gotten airplay on that first episode.

This would be another sure bet from them. "I Like It" was their 3rd single from August 1982 and it was the one that preceded "All This Love" which was my introduction to the singing family. Instead of the swaying love ballad that "All This Love" is, "I Like It" is more in the mid-tempo range but still has Randy and El singing about someone fully in love with his significant other through all things big and small. I like it...or I love it rather for those mellow horns, the bass and the overall rhythm which could represent that someone constantly eyeing his girlfriend or wife as she's doing the most mundane things such as washing the dishes or trying out a new dress. The song managed to reach No. 31 on US Billboard.

I'm going to go way down on the Oricon list to see what else was hitting the Japanese charts in August 1982. I have Nos. 18 and 19.

18. Hideki Saijo -- Sei Shojo （聖・少女）

19. Naoko Kawai -- Natsu no Heroine （夏のヒロイン）

J-Canuck's Hotel Songs

 

It wasn't too long ago that I mentioned that I would probably end up doing an Author's Picks on hotel-based kayo kyoku because there were so many of them out there. In fact, I had included Jackey Yoshikawa and His Blue Comets' classic Group Sounds 1967 "Blue Chateau"（ブルー・シャトウ）but I got the warning from Blogger that I couldn't exceed the total of 200 characters per article in the Labels section, so I'm providing the link to the article above.

However, getting back on track, here is a small sampling of those hotel songs. It's interesting that airport-based kayo kyoku exist as a setting for bittersweet romantic partings whereas the hotel is the base for something quite the opposite (nudge, nudge, wink, wink).😍 The songs aren't presented in any sort of order.

(1983) BORO -- Negresco Hotel（ネグレスコ・ホテル）

(1990) Masayuki Suzuki -- Private Hotel （プライベートホテル）

(1985) Yutaka Shimazu -- Hotel （ホテル）

(1982) Yosui Inoue -- Riverside Hotel

(1986) Masatoshi Nakamura -- Omoide no Cliffside Hotel（想い出のクリフサイドホテル）

(1986) Hideki Saijo -- ROOM NUMBER 3021

Hideki Saijo -- Moonlight Party（ムーンライト・パーティ）

 

Last month, I made a discovery within Hideki Saijo's（西城秀樹） long discography that hadn't quite surfaced although it earned the late singer a Gold Prize at the Japan Record Awards in 1981. His September 1981 39th single "Sentimental Girl"（センチメンタルガール）was a very pleasant old-fashioned rock-n'-roll and pop tune that fit the man like him and denim.

The B-side to "Sentimental Girl", "Moonlight Party", especially with City Pop maestro Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）behind the music and arrangement and Masako Arikawa（有川正沙子）as the lyricist and that title itself, might hit the eyes and brain as an urban contemporary number to contrast with the the feeling of the A-side. However, that's a definite no. "Moonlight Party" continues the good ol' rock-n'-roll and doo-wop times with some twangy country thrown in for good measure. And once again, my head was doing a nice little nodding here and there as it did its three minutes and change.

Roberta Flack -- Feel Like Makin' Love

 

Soulful singer-songwriter Roberta Flack has had representation on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" via Reminiscings of Youth with two songs, her iconic "Killing Me Softly with His Song" and her 1983 duet with Peabo Bryson, "Born to Love". Unfortunately, her third article on KKP in a special ROY today is being posted on the day that she died at the age of 88.

As I mentioned in the ROY article for "Killing Me Softly with His Song", Flack and her ballad were something that I heard as a boy while being driven home from family friends' houses. Her relaxing vocals and the arrangement stuck with me as I was nodding off to sleep in the backseat of the car while watching the street lamps go by.

Her June 10th 1974 single "Feel Like Makin' Love" is another classic that I used to hear all the time on radio in the car and in the apartment. It's become so ubiquitous through cover versions and the like that I had to do some hunting before I found out that it was Flack who had originally recorded it with Eugene McDaniels taking care of the songwriting. Rather than getting images of late-night dark skies, "Feel Like Makin' Love" (without realizing what the title meant at the time) had me thinking of Sunday afternoon strolls in the park because it was such a relaxing and friendly number.

As one commenter put it, Flack's vocals were like warm butter. I'll raise that person's bet and say that they were like warm butter sliding down a stack of fluffy pancakes. "Feel Like Makin' Love" hit No. 1 on both the American and Canadian charts. My condolences go to her family, friends and fans.

Singer-songwriter Miki Imai（今井美樹）covered the Flack classic in her December 1988 album of covers "Fiesta". I remember placing the CD into the Onkyo stereo and although I knew it was a release of her singing other people's major hits, it was still a shock to hear her covering this particular one. Maybe it was because the song went all the way back to my early childhood.

Anyways, what were hitting the Top 3 on the Oricon chart back on June 10th 1974?

1. Kiyoshi Nakajo -- Uso （うそ）

2. Hideki Saijo -- Hageshii koi (激しい恋)

3. Tonosama Kings -- Namida no Misao （なみだの操）

Japanese Pop Songs: Female and Male Names

 

Last Sunday, I put up an article titled "Japanese Pop Songs: Female Names", celebrating the fact that kayo kyoku and J-Pop shared a tendency with Western pop music in coming up with songs named after women. Well, men's names have been used on both sides of the Pacific to title certain ditties over the decades, too. Although I couldn't find a whole bunch of male names for songs, I did find some more female names fronting those tunes so here is my additional list of female and male names.

(1980) Yellow Magic Orchestra -- Rydeen (雷電）

(1974) Hideki Saijo -- Kizudarake no Lola （傷だらけのローラ）

(1986) Akiko Yano -- David

(1970) Salty Sugar -- Hashire Koutarou（走れコウタロー）

(1973) Pedro & Capricious -- Go-ban Gai no Mari e (五番街のマリーへ）

(1973) Pedro & Capricious -- Johnny e no Dengon （ジョニイへの伝言）

Hideki Saijo -- Sentimental Girl（センチメンタルガール）

 

I have to admit that I had never heard of this Hideki Saijo（西城秀樹）single before. However, it actually won the singer a Gold Prize at the Japan Record Awards in 1981. Hmm...I'll have to look into this one.

The simply-titled "Sentimental Girl" was released in September of that year as Saijo's 39th single. Written by Ryuuji Amagai（あまがいりゅうじ）, composed by Kisaburo Suzuki（鈴木キサブロー）and arranged by Kei Wakakusa（若草恵）, it automatically got my head bobbing due to that bouncy old-fashioned rhythm which reminded me of "Save the Last Dance for Me". The acoustic guitar intro sets things off right from the get-go as a good ol' rock-and-roller as Hideki sings about getting that much-desired young lass. The setting is a fall day so I figure that the guy is seeing if he can finally have his chance at wooing this lady who looks to be recovering from a fallen romance.

"Sentimental Girl" peaked at No. 17 on Oricon and sold about 98,000 records. So, maybe not one of Saijo's absolute greatest or most remembered hits, but still I made a nice discovery today.

Some "Blue" Songs for a Blue Monday

 

A few decades ago, someone had the bright idea to enshrine the third Monday of January as Blue Monday, the saddest day of the year. As much as folks and maybe even authorities have tried to debunk it, the concept has remained stuck to pop culture like hawk talons on a fish. Ironically, a lot of those credit card and utility bills have poured into my mailbox today.

Well, Monday is bad enough but a Blue Monday calls for some help and perhaps I can humbly provide some "blue" songs that can have you swaying, skipping, grooving or even dancing. Enjoy!

(1993) Miki Imai -- Bluebird

(1980) Seiko Matsuda -- Aoi Sangoshou （青い珊瑚礁）

(1978) Hideki Saijo -- Blue Sky Blue（ブルースカイブルー）

(1983) Tatsuro Yamashita -- Blue Midnight

(1967) Jackey Yoshikawa and His Blue Comets -- Blue Chateau（ブルー・シャトウ）

And of course...I gotta get you guys onto the dance floor!

(1988) New Order -- Blue Monday '88

The Works of Hiroshi Shinkawa（新川博）

 

I first saw the announcement on singer-songwriter Mioko Yamaguchi's（山口未央子）Twitter account last night, and unfortunately, it was regarding the fact that arranger and keyboardist Hiroshi Shinkawa had passed away on January 8th 2025 at the age of 69 due to heart disease. Yamaguchi had relayed the news from Shinkawa's wife. The above YouTube video shows Shinkawa playing some blues piano.

Shinkawa may not have been quite as prolific as Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）or Tetsuya Komuro（小室哲哉）, but his name and his works have been a solid addition to "Kayo Kyoku Plus" over the years so I wanted to pay some tribute to him through this Creator article. Born in Tokyo in 1955, his mother was the poet Kazue Shinkawa（新川和江）, who had just passed away last August, and he started playing classic piano at the age of 5. At 11, he and his classmate Char would form their own band. Some years later, Shinkawa had a part-time job at a music publishing company while being taught by composer and producer Kunihiko Murai（村井邦彦）. He later graduated from Nihon University College of Art and made his professional debut at 20 as part of the backing band for Hi-Fi Set（ハイ・ファイ・セット）. He would participate in Yumi Matsutoya's（松任谷由実）concert tour as the music director and then at 28, he became a full-fledged arranger.

I've found that a lot of his works for other singers were in the aidoru, pop and City Pop fields. Here is just a mere sample of what he arranged, a lot of it in the 1980s.

(1982) Seiko Matsuda -- Lemonade no Natsu（レモネードの夏）

(1984) Meiko Nakahara -- Kimi Tachi Kiwi Papaya Mango da ne （君たちキウイ・パパヤ・マンゴだね。）

(1984) Hideki Saijo -- Kagirinaki Natsu（かぎりなき夏）

(1986) 1986 Omega Tribe -- Kimi wa 1000% （君は1000％）

(1986) Yoko Oginome -- Roppongi Junjouha （六本木純情派）

Although he had his main arranging work, in the 2000s, Shinkawa set up his own label Aosis Records covering the genres of jazz and AOR. He would also produce four of his own solo albums including the 2001 "Shinkies". I'll leave this article with a track from "Shinkies", the smooth "Altogether Alone". My condolences go to Shinkawa's family, friends and fans.

Hideki Saijo -- Little Girl（リトルガール）

 

This is quite the revelation to hear that between Hideki Saijo's（西城秀樹）early aidoru tunes in the 1970s and the City Pop from the mid-1980s, he also had a dalliance with the trendy 50s/60s doo-wop sound at the turn of the decade. Indeed, that is what we have with his 37th single, "Little Girl", which was released in March 1981.

All about Hideki driving up to his girlfriend's house for a day of just enjoying each other's company, the song practically screams Richie and Lori Beth from "Happy Days" right down to the jangling guitar, although among the Japanese doo-wop songs I've heard, this one is probably the mildest one. You can thank Machiko Ryu's（竜真知子）lyrics and the melody by Kimio Mizutani（水谷公生）. "Little Girl" also broke the Oricon Top 10 by placing in at No. 9, eventually becoming the 71st-ranked single for 1981 with about 195,000 records sold. The song was also a track on Saijo's 13th original album "Pop'n Girl Hideki"（ポップンガール・ヒデキ）from July of that year. 

Just for Fun...The J-C AI Gallery -- Kentaro, Hideki and Megumi

 

Kentaro Shimizu -- Shitsuren Resutoran (失恋レストラン）

Hideki Saijo -- Boomerang Street （ブーメランストリート）

Megumi Asaoka -- Watashi no Kare wa Hidarikiki（わたしの彼は左きき）

(Well, stage left...)

Hideki Saijo -- Club Manhattan

 

Twitter friend and Hideki Saijo（西城秀樹）fan Silas sent out the reminder earlier that April 13th tomorrow would have been the late great singer's 69th birthday. As such, I'm happy to say that I've had one of his songs on the backlog list ready to go for a while, and it's perfect for Urban Contemporary Friday on "Kayo Kyoku Plus".

And this song certainly sounds urbane and contemporary. "Club Manhattan" is the first track on Saijo's April 1988 album "San-juu-san Sai"（33才...33 Years Old） whose title track is based on Julio Iglesias' own "33 Años" according to the J-Wiki article on the album. 

I'm sure that somewhere in Tokyo's drinking establishment history, there was or is a Club Manhattan somewhere in Roppongi or Shinjuku, and according to what I hear from Hideki, it's one cool and swanky pad high up in the skyscraper. Written by Shinnosuke Uesugi（上杉伸之助）, composed by Kingo Hamada（浜田金吾）and arranged by Makoto Matsushita（松下誠）, the smooth funky strut deserves its own wardrobe of silky suit and hat as it slinks its way to the titular club itself. It's a great collaboration between Hamada who's brought some of that jazz (and possibly the background chorus) as well to Matsushita's funk.

In a way, listening to "Club Manhattan" has brought me some comparisons between the 1988 Saijo and his teenage self from the early 1970s. Whereas teen Hideki was all about the rock-fueled punch-now-ask-questions-later approach to situations, the regular club member Saijo is suave, sophisticated and less prone to throw the fists around. He's in complete control now. He may even own Club Manhattan.

Joe Flaherty as Count Floyd -- Reggae Christmas Eve In Transylvania

 

Consider this as a special Reminiscings of Youth article due to the sudden nature of the subject matter. A few hours ago, I heard about the passing of actor and comedian Joe Flaherty who was one of the members of the legendary comedy skit show "SCTV" back in the 1970s and early 1980s. I've mentioned "SCTV" in a few places on KKP, and last year, I even did a ROY based on one of the theme songs for the show by Ira Newborn.

As with every other cast member on "SCTV", Flaherty played a number of original characters centered around the fictional TV station of Melonville as well as famous Hollywood actors such as Gregory Peck and Kirk Douglas. Arguably his most famous one is that of Count Floyd, the host of "Monster Chiller Horror Theatre" which was most likely based on a similar program that actually aired on real-life Toronto station CITY-TV back in the 1970s. Count Floyd was always getting flustered that the movies were far less scarier than advertised although I think this time with "The House of Cats", he basically got a hit.

I pointed this out on my Twitter feed earlier this afternoon, but I feel that I'm truly lucky to have come across music on both sides of the Pacific when I did in the 70s and 80s and at the same time, I'm truly lucky to have grown up with "SCTV". Although I barely watch television these days outside of what I could get from TV Japan, back in my teens, "SCTV" was one of my favourites. I was about ready to head over to Japan for my second stint there when I heard about SCTV cast member John Candy passing away at the young age of 43 back in 1994. His funeral was held in Los Angeles but a special memorial service took place which was broadcast all across Canada.

Along with Candy and Harold Ramis who passed away in 2014, losing someone like Flaherty is a bit like losing a beloved uncle with a wacky sense of humour. I'm not sure whether Joe will get something as lavish a sendoff as Candy got, and knowing how bashful Joe was in real life, he'd probably blanch in horror at such attention, but I'm hoping that he will get a fine tribute somewhere in mass media over the next few days. The tributes have begun to pour in on Twitter.

For my own tribute, I'd thought about searching for something that Flaherty liked or any of the songs that he sang in character. But then, I discovered this song on YouTube that I hadn't heard about. Never knew about his 1982 SCTV-based album "Count Floyd" but here is this track called "Reggae Christmas Eve in Transylvania". Yep, it's Floyd alright, kvetching as usual, but the rhythm is pretty darn groovy.

My condolences to Flaherty's family, friends and many fans.

What were the big winners at the 1982 Japan Record Awards?

Grand Prize: Takashi Hosokawa -- Kita Sakaba (北酒場）

Best Performance: Junko Ohashi -- Silhouette Romance（シルエット・ロマンス）

Gold Prize: Hideki Saijo -- Sei Shojo （聖・少女）

The Hills Are Alive with the Sound of Lyrics!

 

Well, last day of the first month and it's a Hump Day, too. So, I figure that something whimsical was in order, and on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", we do like to go whimsical now and then. Therefore, I'd like to try a little something that we haven't done before on the blog, and in this case, I'm giving my own personal list of songs in which a certain lyric sticks out. But it's not for the depth of its meaning but just because it sounds so catchy and has basically imprinted itself into my memories forever. Maybe it's staccato, velvety smooth or explosive...it doesn't matter.

(1976) Momoe Yamaguchi -- Yokosuka Story （横須賀ストーリー）

Korekkiri, korekkiri mou korekkiri desu ka

これっきり、これっきり、もうこれっきりですか。

Is it over...is it over...is it really over?

(1977) Hideki Saijo -- Boomerang Street （ブーメランストリート）

Boomerang, boomerang, boomerang, boomerang...Kitto anata wa modotte kuru daro

ブーメラン ブーメラン ブーメラン ブーメラン...きっとあなたは 戻って来るだろう

Boomerang, boomerang, boomerang, boomerang...You will come back to me

(1979) Yellow Magic Orchestra -- Technopolis

TOKIO, TOKIO, T-E-C-H-N-O-P-O-L-I-S, TOKIO

(1981) Junko Ohashi -- Telephone Number

Awooooooooooooo....56709!

(1981) Seiko Matsuda -- Natsu no Tobira （夏の扉）

Fresh! Fresh! Fresh! Natsu no tobira wo akete

フレッシュ! フレッシュ! フレッシュ! 夏の扉を開けて

Fresh! Fresh! Fresh! Open up the gates of summer

(1984) Hiromi Go -- Ni-Oku Yon-Sen-Man no Hitomi (２億４千万の瞳）

JAPAN!....JAPAN!

(2014) KMM Dan -- Witch Activity （ウィッチ☆アクティビティ）

Pippiko pippiko narase Witch☆Activity! Sono ki sono toki ikioi notteke! notteke!

ピッピコピッピコ鳴らせウィッチ☆アクティビティ その気その時イキオイノッテケ！ノッテケ！

Ring-a-ding-ding Witch Activity! That's when I feel like it! Get into it! Get into it with gusto!

Charles & Rinker -- Come and Knock on Our Door

 

The anime "Grand Blue"（グランドブルー）has been one of the most hilarious anime I've ever seen, and from time to time, I like to watch it through again. Even within the show, Episode 11 will go down as one of the all-time classics in sexual innuendo and double entendres.

But how did I find out about those terms? Well for us in Canada and the United States, it was probably ABC's "Three's Company" which had its run from 1977 to 1984. The above scene was from one of the earliest episodes and I gather that it was the beginning for all of the double entendres that became part and parcel of the humour.

The theme song has also been one that has stayed in my head all these decades as John Ritter's accident-prone Jack Tripper fell off his bike in Santa Monica every week. Unlike some other catchy theme songs, I don't think "Come and Knock on Our Door" ever got a single release, although I recall that the opening credits did get an extended version of the theme playing over some of the funny scenes. "Come and Knock on Our Door" was sung by Ray Charles (and no, not the Ray Charles of "Hit the Road, Jack" and "Georgia on My Mind" fame) and Julia Rinker with the song being composed by Joe Raposo who earlier had created the iconic themes for "Sesame Street" and "The Electric Company". 

One of the running gags that we enjoyed on the series along with the misunderstandings is whenever landlord Stanley Roper made a joke at the expense of his long-suffering wife Helen and he'd actually break the fourth wall as he looked into the camera. Sadly, almost forty years following the finale of "Three's Company", a majority of the cast have passed away including Ritter twenty years ago, and of course, I'm writing this ROY article due to the fact that Suzanne Somers who had played one of the original roomies died a few days at the age of 76. My condolences to her family, friends and fans.

Three singles came out when "Three's Company" made its debut that month, the last of which hit the record stores on the same day as the first broadcast: March 15th 1977.

Candies -- Yasashii Akuma（やさしい悪魔）

Pink Lady -- Carmen '77 （カルメン '77）

Hideki Saijo -- Boomerang Street （ブーメランストリート）