Hiroko Moriguchi -- Dress Up The Night

They really did like those trumpet-sounding synthesizers back then, eh?

Starting off Monday with this sprightly song by singer/tarento/impressionist Hiroko Moriguchi（森口博子）, "Dress Up The Night". I've realized that another aural touchstone for my music of the late 1980s and early 1990s is that synth on horn mode since I've heard it with other singers such as Miki Imai（今井美樹）at around the same time.

In any case, the ever-smiling Moriguchi's "Dress Up The Night" seems to be all about the painting the town red and tripping the light fantastic. Placed as a track on her 2nd studio album "Prime Privacy" from November 1989, it's got that champagne-and-caviar Swingout Sister-esque sophisti-pop feeling of the times as Moriguchi sings about finding that Mr. Right in that great big city. Gee, I wonder if this was "Sex & The City: Tokyo Edition" years before the actual show? At this point, Kim Cattrall was even a couple of years away from portraying a turncoat Vulcan/Romulan on "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country".

No complaints here, though. It's all good as the song showcases the bright lights and big city of what must have been the heyday of the Bubble Era. Put on that body-hugging dress, red heels and Chanel No. 5 and drink down that crystal glass of hedonism with good friends. Yoshihiko Ando（安藤芳彦）was the lyricist while Kazuya Izumi（和泉一弥）provided the swanky music.

To finish off, here is Moriguchi plying that talent that I first knew her for. But this time, she's not imitating Shizuka Kudo（工藤静香）.

Hiroko Moriguchi -- Sumire no Kimochi ~ TRY ME AGAIN（すみれの気持ち）

Yup, couldn't resist putting up another video of impressionist, tarento and singer Hiroko Moriguchi（森口博子）plying that first trade...this time, it's Ringo Shiina（椎名林檎）. I mean, her most famous target has been 80s aidoru Shizuka Kudo（工藤静香）so it was nice to encounter this video for the first time.

Now, let's go all the way back to Moriguchi's own aidoru career in the 1980s. And this time, it's with her 2nd single "Sumire no Kimochi" (Feeling Violet) from February 1986. It didn't rank too highly when it was first released, only getting as high as No. 87, but hearing it now, I don't think it's a bad song at all. Written by Chinfa Kan（康珍化）, the melody is by singer-songwriter Akiko Kobayashi（小林明子）, one of my personal favourites when it comes to the mellower side of Japanese pop and she had her own breakthrough hit with "Koi ni Ochite"（恋に落ちて）the previous year.

As I said, "Sumire no Kimochi" isn't too bad. When I first realized who was behind the composition, I went "Ah...naruhodo". It's got that very pleasant AOR vibe for an aidoru tune and I can easily imagine Kobayashi herself covering it, although I don't think that it's ever been covered by her. I may not particularly feel like violets while listening, but the sun is out in my feelings.

Hiroko Moriguchi -- ETERNAL WIND~Hohoemi wa Hikaru Kaze no Naka~（ほほえみは光る風の中）

My anime buddy provided me with "Gundam Build Divers"（ガンダムビルドダイバーズ）recently, and to be honest, it hasn't really grabbed me, although he told me that it took until Episode 7 for things to really get going. I just finished Episode 3, and I'm already starting to think of letting this one go, but I will play it by ear.

Anyways, this isn't the first time that tarento and former 80s aidoru Hiroko Moriguchi（森口博子）has appeared in "Kayo Kyoku Plus" with JTM introducing her in his grand article "JTM's 80s Playlist - J-Dorama/Anime/Movie Edition" from nearly 5 years ago (look for entry No. 6). That entry spoke about her debut single, "Mizu No Hoshi E Ai Wo Komete"（水の星へ愛をこめて）as a theme song for one of the many "Gundam" shows that have appeared over the decades.

I've also mentioned in a past article that my personal recollections about her exclusively talked about her status as an overall giggly comedic tarento and impersonator. Just before she made her big break in the 1980s, she received her training with The School Mates（スクールメイツ）, an entertainment group in which she often appeared on TV as a background dancer. 

I'd had no idea until my anime buddy informed me that Moriguchi was known in anime circles as "The Gundam Oneesan" for her contributions to the franchise's anison.

Additionally, I had assumed that "Kido Senshi Gundam Formula 91"（機動戦士ガンダムF91...Mobile Suit Gundam F91）was another in a line of Gundam TV series, but actually, it turned out to be a movie released in March 1991.

Moriguchi was tasked to sing the theme song for the movie, "ETERNAL WIND~Hohoemi wa Hikaru Kaze no Naka~" (Smile in the Shining Wind). Written by singer-songwriter Yui Nishiwaki（西脇唯）and composed by Nishiwaki and Yoko Osatohara（緒里原洋子...I hope I've got the name right）, it's a pretty uplifting song with that taste of pop-rock from that period of time.

"ETERNAL WIND" was also Moriguchi's 9th single from February 1991 which has proven to be her most successful single thus far, peaking at No. 9, and finishing the year as the 47th-ranked song. Apparently, it was also used as the ending theme for the Sony Playstation 2 game "Kido Senshi Gundam Climax U.C."（機動戦士ガンダム クライマックスU.C.）released in March 2006.

Hey, why not leave things off with one of Moriguchi's most popular impressions...that of Shizuka Kudo（工藤静香）?

P.S. December 13, 2022: Enka and pop singer Kiyoshi Hiyama（氷川きよし）had his year-end television special earlier tonight before he takes an extended leave of absence from 2023. He revealed that he and Moriguchi had attended the same junior high school in Fukuoka, although the latter had graduated many years prior. As well, at his classmates' urging, he sang "ETERNAL WIND" in front of everyone and he stated that their warm reaction gave the impetus for him to go into singing as a career.

Hiroko Moriguchi – Speed (スピード)

Hiroko Moriguchi (森口博子) may have started as a cute aidoru back in the mid-80s, but it’s as a 90s pop singer that I remember her the most, especially after the hit ballad single “ETERNAL WIND ~Hohoemi Hikaru Kaze no Naka~” (ETERNAL WIND〜ほほえみは光る風の中〜) in 1991.

One of her greatest songs, and also her debut, “Mizu no Hoshi e Ai wo Komete” (水の星へ愛をこめて), have already been covered by fellow contributor JTM in the past, but there are a lot of minor, yet interesting, songs from her that would be nice to talk about. “Speed” is just one of them.

Released in September 1992, “Speed” is a very uplifting song with a singalong chorus and lovely keyboards splashed through the song. One of the many courtesies from the 90s, of course. Speaking of it, “Speed” may not sound innovative, as it’s very immersed in its time, but it’s a charming song, nonetheless. As for Hiroko, I’ve always found her a rather strong vocalist (if compared to other aidoru singers out there), and she shows some of her pipes in “Speed”.

I may have been very negligent with Moriguchi in the past few years, but lately I’m starting to rediscover her discography. Songs like “Speed”, although far from the melodical gorgeousness of “Mizu no Hoshi e Ai wo Komete” (a gift from Neil Sedaka), are what I like from her. It’s a pity she’s also a bit too fond of ballads.

To finish, here’s Moriguchi performing “Speed” in 2015. She’s as cute and talented as ever.

Lyrics were written by Yui Nishiwaki (西脇唯), while music and arrangement were done by Kaori Okui (奥居香).

Source: Amazon

Hiroko Moriguchi -- Hoshi yori Saki ni Mitsukete Ageru （星より先に見つけてあげる）

My biweekly Sunday routine of watching anime and eating with my old friend continued, but what was a little more special yesterday is that the new crop of shows for the season got started over the past couple of weeks. "Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka??"（ご注文はうさぎですか？？）was the first to enter my range (oh my word...those ending credits), but then there was this other one which was pretty much on the other end of the hardboiled-fluffy scale.

My anime buddy told me about "One-Punch Man"（ワンパンマン）, the story of a jaded superhero who can end a fight...and the opponent's life...with just one well-aimed fist. It's basically a god as an X-Man with plenty of tokusatsu city-smashing and an animation style that can wildly range between "Fist of the North Star" and "Chibi Maruko-chan". We saw the first couple of episodes yesterday and they were fun for the snarky banter and timely amounts of grue (I kinda wonder whether Tarentino would like this). My first thought after watching the pilot episode was "Well, I've been missing 'Kill La Kill'...". And to top off some of the satire of the superhero genre, JAM Project comes up with this over-the-(mountain) top opening theme "THE HERO!!" which had me thinking of "Ai wa Torimodose"（愛はとりもどせ）from the aforementioned "Fist of the North Star". The only things missing from "THE HERO!!" were "YOU" and "SHOCK".

I certainly was expecting an opening theme of that caliber and decibel level for "One Punch Man", but after 20 or so minutes of glorious screaming and clobbering (including a uniquely cringeworthy way of offing a human-crab hybrid), my friend and I were caught off-guard by the ending theme. Huh? As a number of YouTube commenters have been remarking, the song could have fit the ending credits for any dozen anime...and not necessarily for the sci-fi genre. It's just this pleasant little semi-technopop tune which could have been delivered with a bunch of azaleas and a chamomile tea grin. But I think that was perhaps part of the producers' overall joke with the show. Just imagine the most notorious scene of "School Days" and then right after the first stab of the knife comes the hilariously soothing Nice Boat sailing through the fjords.

"Hoshi yori Saki ni Mitsukete Ageru" (I Will Search Beyond The Stars) has that incredible title of hokeyness and was created by the prolific duo of Aki Hata and Kenichi Maeyamada（畑亜貴・ 前山田健一）. Plus, it has the voice of one Hiroko Moriguchi（森口博子）.

Perhaps for a lot of folks outside of Japan...and Wikipedia, Moriguchi has been known only as an anison singer, including the entries for the "Gundam" franchise. But for me, her official singing is the part of her long career that I know the least about. Actually, I've known her since my Gunma days over a quarter-century ago as a comedic tarento and impressionist who seemed to appear everywhere almost daily. In fact, I always looked forward to seeing her on TV just to see if she would break down into a soft mass of giggles (the Goldie Hawn of Japan) as she often did. But she was also famous for impersonating a number of female singers which included the distinctive Shizuka Kudo（工藤静香）such as above.

In the early 90s, just after I had left Japan for a few years in Toronto before returning for my far longer stint in Tokyo, she and fellow tarento Kenji Moriwaki（森脇健児）, teamed up to host a half-hour variety show called "Yume ga MORIMORI"（夢がMORIMORI...Dreams with Gusto） which also featured a group of young singing and dancing lads who were being groomed to become something big....I think they were called SMAP or something.

My fellow collaborator JTM has written a little more history on Ms. Giggles in his 80s playlist of anison and drama themes; scroll down to entry No. 6.

The Gundam Café in Akiba. Not sure if Moriguchi ever
showed up here.

JTM's 80s Playlist - J-Dorama/Anime/Movie Edition

A big thanks go out to Nikala, Marcos V, Jari and especially J-Canuck for giving me the opportunity to participate and contribute to this awesome blog. I am grateful for all their tirelessness in writing their various detailed, informative and entertaining posts this year and eagerly look forward to reading their future posts in the coming 2014 year.

As we come to the close of 2013, it typically is a time for reflection and looking back on the recent year, however in keeping with the spirit of this blog and its focus on covering music from the past four decades of Japanese Kayokyoku and J-Pop, I wanted to share with readers my personal list of favorite songs from the best musical period ever - The 80s, particularly in the area of Anime, J-Dorama and Japanese Movies.

In subsequent weeks, Marcos V, J-Canuck and Nikala will also share their personal favorite 80s music lists and hopefully this combined effort will give everyone a fairly broad and comprehensive overview of the diverse spectrum of music that came out during that amazing decade. 

So without further ado, here is my 80s playlist....