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.
There are a few Megumi Mori（森恵）songs on the blog, but the one that I will always remember her for is her 3rd single from April 1987, "Tokio Town"（東京街）, which I discovered years and years ago through a Hong Kong-made compilation tape. And that was a cover of a song as performed by a singer named Sarah.
The B-side to "Tokio Town" is quite different in tone. Unlike the busy Eurobeat of the A-side, "Pearl Moon ni Kuchizuke" (Kissing the Pearl Moon) sounds like a contemporized version of a much older-sounding pop song although it starts off with an 80s dance music sequence. The powers-that-be even included a Doobie Bounce in a mere pop/rock tune that doesn't approach anything like AOR. Hiromi Mori（森浩美）provided the lyrics while NOBODY came up with the melody. Shiro Sagisu（鷺巣詩郎）was the arranger here. The song was also included in Mori's debut album "Shojo"（少女...Young Lady） which was released in October 1987.
Not surprisingly, NHK has taken down the footage videos of the 74th edition of the Kohaku Utagassen including the return of Pocket Biscuits and Black Biscuits but at least we have the above video showing the latter team coming together on TV. It was especially good seeing the latter band performing "Timing" once more after so long.
Also, in the "not surprising" department is the fact that the infectious "Timing", originally created by lyricist Hiromi Mori（森浩美）and composer Keizo Nakanishi（中西圭三）back in 1998, has been covered a few times. In fact, I was listening to the usual Weathernews Live broadcast on YouTube when their Weather Music segment came on and this time, I heard Klang Ruler's version of "Timing" which actually had come out as a digital single on Christmas Eve 2021.
I've written about the alternative pop band before and they seem to enjoy covering the old stuff such as Linda Yamamoto's（山本リンダ）"Dounimo Tomaranai"（どうにもとまらない）. I have also enjoyed them covering the old stuff and "Timing" is no exception. It's probably going to be the most chill cover of the song that I will ever hear and I especially like that synthesizer playing during the chorus. The video was also nice to watch especially after they had wrapped up and then tucked into a sumptuous Chinese dinner. Incidentally, it looks like there was a fad of dancing to Klang Ruler's version.
A few years earlier in 2018, singer/dancer/model Meik gave her own cover of "Timing" which sounds closer to the original disco arrangement from 1998.
Entering the final weekend of the year, it's cold and dreary here in Toronto and I've heard that good chunks of Japan are buried under several centimetres of snow already. Well, if I can start the final Urban Contemporary Friday on KKP for 2023, perhaps I can provide a much better weekend respite, at least vicariously.
I first came across singer-songwriter Hiroshi Murai（村井博）back in September when I heard his scintillating "Hikigane"（鉄爪）from his June 1990 album"Natural". Have yet to listen to the entire album but what I got so far sounded as if City Pop was alive and kicking in his world, although the partial economic setting for the uber-genre was on the verge of collapse in that year or the next. And with this fellow track from "Natural", "Natsu no Kakurega ~ Weekend Resort"(Summer Hideaway), the good times imbued within City Pop just keep on rolling here, too.
Been a while since I referenced kaz-shin from "Music Avenue" and he actually reviewed "Natural" all the way back in 2009. He gave a very nice report on "Weekend Resort" by describing the melody from Hitoshi Haba（羽場仁志）and the arrangement by Greg Mathieson as exquisite while also loving the vocals by Murai himself. I can certainly agree with kaz-shin that it's become a quick favourite of mine and what is also pleasant is Hiromi Mori's（森浩美）work on the lyrics weaving a scene of utter contentedness at that titular resort wherever it may be; my guess it's somewhere in the Caribbean. She even pays a shoutout to the wonderful aroma of coffee brewing in the kitchen. Kaz-shin also compliments Abraham Laboriel's bass playing but I also want to give my love to the mellow horn section.
Well, perhaps the snowbirds from up here in the Great White North are actually enjoying some warm time down in Florida.
Welcome to the weekend. Perhaps it's time for a bit of kawaii and since Japan is into its festival season, being torrid and yukata-friendly, I believe that this tune will definitely suffice.
80s aidoru Noriko Sakai（酒井法子）released a special single in July 1988 titled "Nori-P Ondo"(The Nori-P Folk Song), and it's about as cute as a button can be. It is quite special since it was only released on cassette tape, not on vinyl or CD. However, if you ever wanted to know what a traditional festival tune sounds like aidoru style, well, this is your lucky day.
Lyrics were provided by Hiromi Mori（森浩美）and the melody was by Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二）. Everything was all arranged by Jiro Takemura（竹村次郎）who had been responsible for some very big kayo kyoku hits including Tokiko Kato's（加藤登紀子）"Shiretoko Ryojou"（知床旅情）and Harumi Miyako's（都はるみ）"Kita no Yado Kara"（北の宿から）. The Tokyo-born arranger and composer passed away in January this year at the age of 89.
The whole thing about Japanese summer festivals brings to mind about the fact that though I was never a festival freak in my years in the nation (the heat and humidity were very discouraging), I did have my opportunities walking through a few of them including the Firefly Festival in Tsukiyono, Gunma Prefecture when I was assigned there on the JET Programme. I wonder if any of you regular KKP readers have experienced a natsu matsuri as well. If so, I'd be interested in hearing your stories.
Well, yesterday's meteorological maelstrom is happily yesterday's matter. It's nice and sunny today although I would still be hard-pressed to call it spring. Still, maybe we can still bring some smiles here.
Or perhaps we can bring one hundred million of them. Yup, I've got Noriko Sakai's（酒井法子）bouncy 6th single, "Ichi Oku no Smile" (One Hundred Million Smiles) from May 1988. Nori-P always had a gleaming and attractive grin so I can say that she possessed a one hundred million-watt smile of her own, and the song itself rather reflects a very happy frame of mind. Lyrics were by Hiromi Mori（森浩美）with arrangements by Motoki Funayama（船山基紀）. ASKA of Chage & Aska fame was responsible for this very cheery melody which doesn't sound the type of music that he would come up with, and indeed, it's a very aidoru tune.
The song rang a bell with me and since I don't have any Nori-P albums...just a couple of singles from the 1990s...I think that I probably heard "Ichi Oku no Smile" on one of the old music ranking programs. What surprised me was that this was her biggest-selling single by reaching No. 2 on the Oricon weeklies, so none of her singles ever hit the top spot. "Ichi Oku no Smile" was also used for a Ban deodorant commercial (probably starring Sakai) and it first appeared on an album via her "LOVELY TIMES / NORIKO Part III" which was released in August 1988; it hit No. 8 on the charts.
I don't know how former 80s aidoruand actress Noriko Sakai（酒井法子）has fared over the past several years. As of early 2021, according to her J-Wiki article, Nori-P, had left her management company to set up her own individual company. With all of the tumult that she's gone through in the past, I hope that she's found some level of stability and happiness.
Regrettably I forgot which of the Twitter accounts that I follow had shown this last night, but I am grateful to have caught this Halloween-themed performance video of Nori-P although obviously I'm a little late to the party now that we've officially crossed over into November. Incidentally, the Fukuoka native is singing "HAPPY AGAIN", her 7th single from September 1988,
A typically bouncy number written by Hiromi Mori（森浩美）, composed by Eiji Nishiki（西木栄二）and arranged by Motoki Funayama（船山基紀）, it's all about finally getting out of the tunnel of doom and gloom and into the light of relief and happiness. In this case, I think lyricist Mori had intended this to be on the romance angle, but after what I've written down in the first paragraph, I'm hoping that this has applied to Sakai's life in general. "HAPPY AGAIN" peaked at No. 4 on Oricon and it can also be found on "Singles 〜NORIKO BEST〜" which was released in March 1990 as her first BEST compilation. It hit No. 1.
This is quite an auspicious start to Urban Contemporary Friday on "Kayo Kyoku Plus". I had assumed that there would be no chance in getting this BEST compilation "Magical ~ Ohashi Junko no Sekai III"(Junko Ohashi's World III) because the original LP was demanding nosebleed prices and there were other BEST compilations of the singer for much cheaper prices. Basically, my feeling was that except for those remaining copies on auction online, "Magical" had been discontinued.
Well, during my usual talk with KKP collaborator and friend JTM a couple of weeks ago, he advised me that this would be a good time to go on a purchasing spree since the yen was going so low. So, I just checked out CD Japan and threw in a couple of singers and albums, assuming that I was going to hit nothing. Much to my surprise, I did hit pay dirt. There was an actual CD of "Magical" and Ritsuko Kazami's（風見律子）1986 album"Aventurier" which I had also thought was one of the rarest of the rare and therefore impossible to obtain. At 1500 yen per disc ($14 CDN), I wasn't one to argue. I pressed the trigger on my wallet and the rest is history.
I'm happy to say that both are keepers. But this is my first BEST article in a while, so let's get the playlist out of the way:
The liner notes have the track list separated into groups of three and what I've read is that the original July 1984 (and not 1983, as J-Wiki says) release was a 2-LP album with three songs per side. As mentioned, this is one of Ohashi's BEST compilations, but there are three songs that did get their debut on "Magical". As you can see above, five of the tracks have already been spoken for on the blog so you can check those links.
One of those three new songs begins "Magical". "Koi wa Magic"(Love Is Magic) is actually a cover of the AOR song "Isn't It Magic", a 1980 single released by the duo Private Line consisting of the singer-songwriters Peter Yellowstone and Steve Voice. A fellow by the name of M. Tinsley also helped out in the songwriting department. Lyricist Hiromi Mori（森浩美）provided the Japanese lyrics for the cover which was a duet done by Ohashi and Yoshinori Monta（もんたよしのり）with a single release in June 1984.
The AOR feel is still intact but given a bit more of a punch thanks to Monta's gravelly delivery and there's an arrangement nod to Boz Scaggs the balladeer from Ken Sato's（佐藤健）efforts. Perhaps "Koi wa Magic" was a form of ongaeshi after a prior duet involving Ohashi and Monta in 1983 with their dynamic "Natsu Onna Sonia"（夏女ソニア）.
Track 3 is the 1984 "A Love Affair" created by the husband-and-wife team of Ohashi and Sato and it's the second of the three new songs. It's a good and funky City Pop tune which was also used for a commercial. I would just love to know what product was being sold here...a disco? I don't think that it would be life insurance. 😏
The next track is the final of the three new 1984 tunes, "I Love You So". I've heard this before, so it was maybe a track from the other BEST compilation of Ohashi that I have. What I'm surprised about is that I hadn't covered it before in an individual article since it is such a City Pop banger with that disco flute and those marvelous Ohashi vocals. As with "A Love Affair", it was Ohashi and Sato on lyrics and melody respectively. One commenter for the video stated that they got a lot of Chaka Khan vibes which I agree with; at the same time, that flute also made me wonder about Quincy Jones.
"Tasogare"(Twilight) was Ohashi's 20th single from August 1982 (and the title track from her June 1982 album). A sigh-worthy ballad about the ephemerality of love, it goes to show how much of a master Ohashi has been with the aching love song. Once again, it's Sato on music and arrangement but this time, Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子）is behind the lyrics. I gather that the twilight here isn't about the sun setting but more about the end of a relationship. The background vocals almost make "Tasogare" a religious experience.
Also, from "Tasogare" the album is the slow ballad "Sherry" which was once again handled by Miura and Sato (the two of them also took care of the beloved "Telephone Number"). Sherry isn't the name of a lass but the actual libation being swirled around in the glass, as the lady calls up an old flame after a year to see what he's up to...and perhaps rekindle the passion that they once had. I'm not sure if that is a fluegelhorn or a really mellow keyboard in the background but it really works in "Sherry".
The last three songs for "Magical", i.e., Side B of Record 2 of the original album, all come from Ohashi's 1983 album"Point Zero". I've heard all about this record which was recorded in New York City with local musicians, and my impression is that the singer was trying to go all out in the R&B department beginning with the proto-Jamiroquai"Dancin'" which I've already written about. "In Your Lovin'" is a nocturnal, sinewy and sensuous funk strut down 5th Avenue that for some reason also gets me memories of Gino Vannelli. Sato was once again on music and arrangement while Diane Silverthorn handled lyrics.
The final track is "Sugao no Mama de"(Just the Way You Are) by Ohashi and Sato, which is a melodic flight into dreamland about having that romance with the partner of one's desire...including kids. There's some disco in there along with some really boppy keyboard work and of course, Ohashi's vocals scatting away at the end with a hint of Latin piano to whisk all of us listeners to the end. It's a light and hopeful tune to finish off this truly magical album. I will definitely recommend "Magical" but since I've always been a late bloomer and that includes the purchase of this one, most of you already know how wonderful it is.
I was having a short conversation with commenter May Lily over the past couple of days on SMAP's old Monday night Fuji-TV music-variety show "SMAP X SMAP". It wasn't must-see television for me, honestly speaking, but I did enjoy the Bistro SMAP segments where KimuTaku, Nakai-kun and the rest of the group concocted some delicious recipes for celebrity guests.
Well, in a case of "the more you learn", I found out that one of SMAP's trademark singles "$10" from 1993 was actually a cover of the composer's original. Indeed, singer-songwriter Kenji Hayashida（林田健司）had recorded it in his May 1992 2nd original album"Unbalance" with Hiromi Mori（森浩美） co-writing the lyrics. I gotta say that I enjoy the original "$10" even more than the SMAP cover because of the dance-funk arrangement by Hayashida and CHOKKAKU. The singer may not be up there with James Brown, but I think his "$10" does its share of cooking.
It's been a while since I wrote up an article on SMAP, and at the same time, I heard that Shingo Katori（香取慎吾）, a fellow that I always saw as the adorably goofy member of the group, got married recently, so many congratulations to him and his wife.
"Original Smile" was SMAP's 13th single released in June 1994 and it's one of those many songs that had left my memory, only to come back in once I started exploring YouTube just now. I guess that the above version must be a later and mellower take since I used to remember the main part of "Original Smile" being much more uptempo.
Ahh...now that's the version that I remember. Rooting through the J-Wiki article for "Original Smile", I discovered that the song had originally been meant for just several seconds of ditty in an Oronamin C vitamin drink commercial which starred cool member Takuya Kimura（木村拓哉）, and there were no plans to even place a title or release it as anything. But popular demand through magazines and radio programs lit a fire under lyricist Hiromi Mori（森浩美）and composer Koji Makaino（馬飼野浩二）under his pen name of Mark Davis, and it got its release.
"Original Smile" peaked at No. 2 on Oricon and became the 60th-ranked single for 1994. It's also a part of the album "SMAP 006〜SEXY SIX〜" which was released in July of that year and was another No. 2-hitting release although it finished the year ten points lower at No. 70. The people's say in the formation of the song also helped it in going Platinum and though it took many years, SMAP finally got to sing it at the Kohaku Utagassen of 2011.
Following up from yesterday's article on Yasuhiro Abe's（安部恭弘）"SLIT" album of 1984, I'm now going to talk about his next release from November 1985, "Frame of Mind". Incidentally, the cover for "Frame of Mind" has been one of the standouts in my genre bible, "Japanese City Pop". The clouds aside, that figure of Abe in the cool dark suit and the black gloves has me imagining the singer-songwriter as a yakuza enforcer waiting for the money owed his boss. Either I give him his cash or my internal organs.
What finally sparked me to give up my cash instead of my lungs for "Frame of Mind", though, was that cooler-than-a-late-summer-breeze track "Where is Love"...and the cover. When I finally got the album in my hands several days ago, I put it on the TEAC and heard Track 1, "Lady", and I knew that I indeed hit paydirt.
Written and composed by Abe (as he did with all of the tracks unless specified), "Lady" is one sultry and sexy song that belongs to Tokyo. The horns and the Fender Rhodes are perfect here, and Abe's good friend, EPO, is on hand with some heavenly backup chorus work.
As was the case with yesterday's article on "SLIT", I will be referring to kaz-shin's own review of "Frame of Mind" on his "Music Avenue". He mentioned that Track 3's"PUMPS" starts off with what sounds like a variation on the famous bass intro for Tats Yamashita's（山下達郎）"Itsuka"（いつか）, but after that, the song actually goes into a more old-timey pop tune about admiring that young lady...and maybe her choice of shoes. Abe's vocals sound very resonant here, and once again, EPO helps out on backup, even doing a bit of techno-jazz scatting near the end. Hiromi Mori（森浩美）worked on the lyrics. "PUMPS" was also the B-side for Abe's 9th single"Tennessee Waltz"（テネシー・ワルツ） released in April 1986.
"Tasogare"（黄昏...Sunset） is a sigh-worthy AOR ballad that kaz-shin says is more of a winter song but both he and I agree that it's perfectly fine for any day that has a decent dusk going for it. Once again, the keyboards are lovely here.
"So Good, So Fine", the final track on Side A represents the good vibes felt by a couple on their Caribbean cruise. Much of the melody is handled by synthesizer but thanks to the additional strings, it has the high-gloss sheen of inhabiting the finest cabin overlooking the Lido Deck. And that "Wonna wonna, wow wow" line repeated in the refrain makes me believe that the song can be easily covered by EPO.
Speaking of EPO covering potential Abe tunes, I think that "Kiss Mark" also fits the bill. It's got that jumpy, happy melody that Abe's friend can do in her sleep. And hey, it is indeed her again on backup. Kaz-shin also mentions that of all of the tracks, "Kiss Mark" sounds the most Nobuyuki Shimizu（清水信之）, who did arrange the album. I'm gonna have to check whether Shimizu indeed arranged EPO's big hits. "Kiss Mark" was Abe's 7th single from April 1985 for which the B-side was the pop/rock "Heart Trick" that was placed in the "SLIT" album. Chinfa Kan（康珍化）wrote the lyrics.
The penultimate track on "Frame of Mind" is truly an unusual one for Abe. "Kimi wa Yume no Naka"（君は夢の中...You're in My Dreams） was actually created and recorded by the singer all the way back in 1976, according to kaz-shin, and here on the album, it's been given a re-recording. Despite that, though, it still retains that 1970s New Music sound, thanks to all of the keyboards, and I couldn't help but feel that this could have been created by Off-Course（オフコース）or Sentimental City Romance（センチメンタル・シティ・ロマンス）. Plus, the way "Kimi wa Yume no Naka" ends is rather reminiscent of progressive rock.
"Close Your Eyes" is the final track, and the album ends on that groovy City Pop note that is Abe's bread and butter (no Japanese City Pop pun intended). Kaz-shin mentions that this is the ideal drive song at midnight, but I think it's perfect for any time of the day or night while bombing down the highway. No matter the opinion, though, it's a good track to finish on. "Close Your Eyes" was also the singer's 8th single from September 1985.
This was also mentioned in my article on "SLIT", but kaz-shin stated that whereas that album had Abe exploring quite a few genres, he kept things more at "home" here. Perhaps so, but I still think that he did push things into a more mainstream pop feeling here as well, and of course, there is the distinct "Kimi no Yume no Naka".
In any case, both he and I agree that if any of you are intrigued by Abe's oeuvre, then "SLIT" and "Frame of Mind" are the two to get.
I was listening to Yu Hayami's（早見優）"Heart wa Modoranai" (The Heart Doesn't Return) in the first bit and there was something fairly familiar about it, and then when she sang the refrain, I realized that it was a cover of the Eurobeat "Get Out of My Life". Hayami's cover was released in March 1987 as her 19th single with Hiromi Mori（森浩美）providing the Japanese lyrics. C. Bruhn, E. Bruha and R.W.P. James were the original songwriters.
"Heart wa Modoranai" went as high as No. 15 on Oricon and finished the year as the 68th-ranked single.
I used to hear the original "Get Out of My Life" at the discos here in town, but never knew who the singer was. Well, it turns out that it was a singer born in Germany by the name of Lady Lily, although I don't know whether she was still based there when she got this hit.
Well, here I was...thinking that legendary high-stepping aidoru duo Pink Lady（ピンク・レディー）was ready to call it a day (or half-decade) when the 80s arrived. I had figured that perhaps at least either Mie or Kei were going to re-enter show business as a solo singer (which both did) or as variety show-occupying tarento.
Little did I know then that Mie and Kei got the duo back together in the 1980s via their 1984 album"Suspense ~ Pink Lady Again". But neither Yu Aku（阿久悠）nor Shunichi Tokura（都倉俊一）, their prolific songwriters for their hits back in the 1970s would accompany the ladies this time around, and it looks like that their dancing days were over. Instead, it sounds like their comeback album, according to the first track, would take on a more City Pop sheen with the arrangement handled by guitarist and City Pop veteran Makoto Matsushita（松下誠）. Even the cover for "Suspense" has Pink Lady looking less like the go-go booted and spangled cheerleaders of yesteryear and more like well-to-do party-goers ready to paint the town red.
It definitely sounds that way with that first track, "Kon'ya wa Lonely" (Lonely Tonight) which was written by Hiromi Mori（森浩美）and composed by Kisaburo Suzuki（鈴木キサブロー）. And yet, the song sounds so Matsushita, but with the familiar voices of Pink Lady behind the microphone instead. Frankly, I had been skeptical about a Pink Lady-fronted pop album of the 1980s, but so far, "Kon'ya wa Lonely" isn't too bad at all. All I wonder is how Mie and Kei would have choreographed the tune.
Watching TBS' "Countdown TV" in the wee hours of Sunday morning in Ichikawa, I was somewhat impressed at how much the producers were able to crunch in those rankings, sometimes all the way from No. 100 to No. 1 within 45 minutes (although I've read that "CDTV" has now been expanded to 70 minutes). The No. 50 to No. 100 songs were always given that one-second exposure at such a speed that if I hadn't had my lights on, I would have been afflicted with seizures.
The other night when I was watching "VS. Arashi"（VS嵐）, some of the Arashi fellows were reminiscing about dramas that they had appeared in years and years ago with one of them being "Bokura no Yuuki ~ Miman Toshi"（ぼくらの勇気 未満都市...Our Courage: Not Quite A City） back in 1997. Basically, this was a couple of years before Arashi even debuted as a singing and dancing Johnny's group. The sci-fi drama was actually a showcase for their senpai, Kinki Kids.
As they were referring back to "Bokura no Yuuki", the theme song was playing quietly in the background, but I heard enough of it to plunk myself on the head and go "OMG! I remember this one." It basically blew through the windmills of my mind all these years. The theme was "Aisareru yori Aishitai" (I Want To Love Rather Than Be Loved) by Kinki Kids.
Now, I did mention "CDTV" at the top there. Well, it turns out that I kept hearing excerpts of the song during the ranking reports on the show, and although it did very well on the Oricon charts (for which I will give the stats later), I could only remember the brief excerpts. I don't recall ever hearing the whole song.
Until very recently. As it turns out, "Aisareru yori Aishitai" sounds pretty darn good. As was the case with their hit debut single, "Garasu no Shonen"（硝子の少年）, created by the veteran hitmakers Tatsuro Yamashita and Takashi Matsumoto（山下達郎・松本隆）, Kinki Kids' 2nd single was also handled by a couple of vets, lyricist Hiromi Mori（森浩美）and composer Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二）, and "Aisareru yori Aishitai" also had that touch of past music infused into it...perhaps some 80s disco. I only ever heard the main refrain but on hearing the rest of the song with that decade's melodic essence in there, I could only go "Where have you been all my musical life?".
I mentioned in the "Garasu no Shonen" article that even songwriting masters Yamashita and Matsumoto felt a really large sunlamp on them since Johnny Kitagawa slapped down the conditions that the Kinki Kids' debut had to be a No. 1 from the get-go and a million copies sold. The song did deliver in huge spades but now according to the J-Wiki article for the 2nd song, Mori related that he had felt tremendous pressure in helping make this song due to the huge success of "Garasu no Shonen".
He and Makaino needn't have worried. Although "Aisareru yori Aishitai" debuted in November 1997, it not only did two 2-week stints at No. 1 on Oricon by the end of the year, it became the 59th-ranked single for that year and even ended up as the 8th-ranked single for 1998. In fact, it sold half a million copies in its first week alone and would become the second-best selling single in Kinki Kids' career, just below "Garasu no Shonen" with over 1.6 million copies sold. This may only be the second time that I've mentioned that a song actually went Quadruple Platinum.
Mori and Makaino must have really celebrated with a goodly amount of libation on getting the good news.
I guess if Marcos V. can come up with the first Rina Chinen（知念里奈）single for the blog, then I can come up with her 15th and last single to date.
Yep, I bought "Love You Close" on watching the official music video on one of the music channels one sunny Sunday and I got hooked on its gentle melody by Chika Ueda（上田知華）. It sounded rather like an old 1980s pop ballad with a hint of R&B despite it being released in March 2001. Hiromi Mori（森浩美）came up with the lyrics.
I only found out today that it had been the ending theme for the first "Doraemon"（ドラえもん）movie of the 21st century, "Doraemon Nobita to Tsubasa no Yūsha-tachi"（ドラえもん のび太と翼の勇者たち...Doraemon: Nobita and the Winged Braves）. Chinen even had a minor role in the movie. "Love You Close" made it all the way up to No. 39 on Oricon and was also a track on her 3rd album "breath", released in July 2001. The album peaked at No. 28.
Saw Takuya Kimura（木村拓哉）on TV Japan for the first time since SMAP broke up late last year. He looked rather...beefy. But I gather that no longer dancing all that often on stage or on TV may mean an extra storage of calories.
After hearing all those hits by the former residents of the Johnny's Entertainment mountaintop over so many years, it was shocking to say the least that SMAP actually had a theme song of sorts. Plus it had the simple title of "SMAP".
Written by Hiromi Mori（森浩美）and composed by Seikou Nagaoka（長岡成貢）, this Eurobeat-tinged musical dynamo was released in 1988 as a commercial song for Morinaga Milk Industry as you can see above when the group was a sextet and not the quintet. Ah, they looked so young back then.
Actually, their first official single, "Can't Stop!! -LOVING-" didn't come out until 1991, but "SMAP" was included as part of the "SMAP Medley" portion on the single. It peaked at No. 2 on Oricon. The song also got its album release several years later on their remix album "BOO" from November 1995 (peaked at No. 5 and went Platinum). Geez, I'm trying to wrap my mind about the fact that "SMAP" was actually born nearly 3 decades ago.
Well, as probably most of you already know, the once-premier Johnny's Entertainment group, SMAP, has finally decided to break up for good. I found out late on Saturday and any shock that I would have had about this news was mostly dissipated because of that averted breakup crisis by KimuTaku and company back in January. My feelings on the matter are that it is perhaps time to call things to a close although the video above has a lot of surprised reactions from folks walking about in Shibuya. And speaking with my student over Skype on Saturday night, he was also not too surprised about the announcement although he is also feeling somewhat wistful since the members of SMAP are around the same age as him and his contemporaries so that in his mind, an era is soon to pass.
So, in tribute to SMAP and as a form of SMAP anthropology, let us go all the way to the beginning to September 1991, when the boys released their debut single, "Can't Stop!! -LOVING-". It was an interesting time in terms of J-Pop. Rock bands were all the rage and it looked like that the female side of aidoru was going the way of the dodo outside of Wink, CoCo and Ribbon. But then SMAP came in on a ball of fire, with six boys pruned down from the rollerskating force of 12 who provided background dancing for the previous Johnny's kings, Hikaru Genji（光GENJI）. Of course, it was Takuya Kimura（木村拓哉）, Masahiro Nakai（中居正広）, Shingo Katori（香取慎吾）, Goro Inagaki（稲垣吾郎）, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi（草彅剛） and the 6th member, Katsuyuki Mori（森且行）who would later leave in 1996.
The official birth year of Sports, Music, Assemble and People was 1988 so I'm sure between then and the release of "Can't Stop!! -LOVING-", the guys had to pay their usual dues in show business but still when I hear this song by Hiromi Mori（森浩美）and Jimmy Johnson (aka Koji Makaino/馬飼野康二) being their debut, I can't help but feel that SMAP really hit the big time right off the bat. The song is oh-so-happy and jingly-jangly (with a tribute to "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star") in a way that reminds me of the 80s Hikaru Genji days, and for these former skating back dancers-turned-star performers, it just seems as if the world was their oyster when SMAP went on the stage. Even though I have heard some of their earlier material such as "$10" and "Ganbarimasho"（がんばりましょう）, there was something about that performance of "Can't Stop!!" which hinted the beginning of a grand circus.
The SMAP single did extremely well as a debut, hitting No. 2. You can find out about the only song that did stop "Can't Stop!!" right here. But since the song otherwise did so well, SMAP got its invitation to the 1991 Kohaku Utagassen. And it is also available on the group's first album"SMAP 001" which came out on New Year's Day 1992. A very nice beginning indeed for a sextet of fellows who would go on to become one of the biggest all-round entertainment forces for years and years.
But all good things must come to an end, and that is also the case for SMAP. Still, the five remaining fellows all have their solo gigs still ongoing and I have a feeling that Nakai-kun and the guys may still pop up on this year's Kohaku although my student has some doubts about that. However, if I can end on a slightly snarky note, I kinda figured that the group may be breaking up either because everyone has finally gotten fed up of Nakai-kun's singing or they simply ran out of recipes on "Bistro SMAP".
“KISS
OF FIRE” is a very old gem from the debut album, “SMAP 001” (January 1992), of
famous aidoru group SMAP.
Normally,
I don’t pay attention to SMAP’s music with the exception of some singles they
released during their peak, such as “Aoi Inazuma” (青いイナズマ), “SHAKE” and “Yozora no Mukou” (夜空ノムコウ), to name a few. However, I was able to
listen to their debut album in very good sound quality, and, in retrospect, I
guess I was really in a good mood to listen to an entire SMAP album. More
impressive was the fact that I could actually take something positive from the
album, which, in case, is “KISS OF FIRE”.
I
will not be an hypocrite and say it’s a great song, but some of the main sonic features,
such as the aggressiveand edgy Eurobeat-inspired synths, are enough for my taste. I liked how it sounded and I’ll probably reject it in a few days, but right now I'm still jamming to it. Honestly, I probably like it more because of the surprise factor, as I
never listened to a SMAP song with such dated 80s synths before. It even reminded
me some early songs from Megumi Hayashibara (林原めぐみ), my favourite singer.
All
in all, “KISS OF FIRE” is not even close to SMAP’s best, but it’s nice to see they
came from somewhere, just like every other artist. Let’s say it’s a little
piece of history.
Doing
the basic research for this post, I discovered that “KISS OF FIRE” was actually
the coupling song from SMAP’s second single, “Seigi no Mikata wa Ateninaranai”
(正義の味方はあてにならない),
which was released in December 1991, reached #10 on the Oricon charts and sold 129,460
copies. Ironically, the main song wasn’t included on the album, but “KISS OF
FIRE” was.
Lyrics
for the song were written by Hiromi Mori (森浩美), while music was composed by Kouji Makaino
(馬飼野康二). As for
the arrangement, Motoki Funayama (船山基紀) was the responsible.
I've got a few albums by Akemi Ishii（石井明美）, one of them being her BEST release, but I have yet to get my copy of her debut album from November 1986, "Mona Lisa". Of course, from that one I know her smash hit debut single, "CHA-CHA-CHA" but that was about it.
Then, just by accident a couple of nights ago, I discovered this track from "Mona Lisa" titled "Je t'aime - Kanashimi no Mieru Mado"(The Window That Can See Sadness). Fairly depressing title but the song itself is pretty nice...has that nighttime urban contemporary feeling to it. "Je t'aime" was written by Hiromi Mori（森浩美）and composed by Akihiro Yoshimi（吉実明宏）.
The Japanese, generally seem to have a love for all things Gallic, and in the case of at least one former French president, the love was very much reciprocated. In terms of all things music, the expression "Je t'aime" has made for a popular title or lyric in a number of songs including Ishii's entry here. I recollect one aidoru song using it as a refrain and there was a Ruiko Kurahashi （倉橋ルイ子）song with that title, as well. Perhaps the other big French word in kayo kyoku/J-Pop usage would be "amour".
Well, I feel kind of awkward writing about two boy band songs in a row (I wrote about ARASHI's [嵐] "Everything" a couple of days ago), but whatever... Let's just have fun with the songs.
I had my first contact with "Aoi Inazuma" through a compilation of classic J-Pop dance songs called "DISCO FINE J -SUPER J-POP DANCE HIT TRAX-", which was released in 2004. It was the same compilation that introduced me to Wink's "Ai ga Tomaranai ~Turn It Into Love~" (愛が止まらない) and featured some interesting songs like access's "NAKED DESIRE", Chisato Moritaka's (森高千里) version of "17-sai" (17才) and Hidemi Ishikawa's (石川秀美) "Everynight", to name a few. At the time,my knowledge of 80s aidoru and J-eurodance songs was restricted to Chisato Moritaka and Miho Nakayama (中山美穂), so it was great to meet some more oldies as well.
Back to "Aoi Inazuma", the version featured in the aforementioned compilation and placed above is the original one, sang by Kenji Hayashida (林田健司), which was released as a single in April 1994. Composed as an infectious disco-pop song, "Aoi Inazuma" features a catchy chorus with a bouncy synth work between some sentences. The song was later covered by Johnny's golden boy band SMAP, a group of five (originally six) young men that was quickly becoming one of the nation's top acts during the mid 90s. Their version of "Aoi Inazuma", which was released in July 1996, was their best-selling single at the time, with 807,210 copies sold, but that's kind of comprehensible as the group was in a very noticeable ascension. At the end, SMAP's version was not so different from the original one, with the only remarkable difference being the change of vocals, of course. About the vocals, it's interesting to notice that only KimuTaku (木村拓哉) and Goro Inagaki (草彅剛) did solo lines, basically because they were the only two that could sing in the group (not that they were great, but Shingo Katori [香取慎吾] and Tsuyoshi Kusanagi [草彅剛] were very weak in comparison. As for Nakai Masahiro [中居正広]... well, Nakai can't sing. Period). Also, I remember that when SMAP sang "Aoi Inazuma" on Music Station (ミュージックステーション), they were wearing a blue combination of trousers and opened shirts, which, of course, can be seen as a cheap way of showcasing some kind of sex appeal to the fangirls. I can't think of ARASHI doing the same nowadays. Here's SMAP's version of "Aoi Inazuma".
"Aoi Inazuma" reached #1 on the Oricon charts and ended the year as the 28th best-selling single. Lyrics were written by Hiromi Mori (森浩美), while music was composed by Kenji Hayashida. As for the arrangement, CHOKKAKU was the responsible.
Well, I took this shot of a baby-faced SMAP from the ancient pages of Myojo recently, so I decided to see if I could dig up an appropriately "young" song from the boys' discography. And by the way, that is indeed former member Katsuyuki Mori （森且行）at the upper-left there who had his time with the group from 1988 to 1996.
At the time I saw SMAP perform "$10" on the 1993 Kohaku Utagassen, I couldn't really tell the various Johnny's Entertainment groups apart beyond the top group of the 1980s, Hikaru Genji. So, I just saw the group as "Unknown Johnny's Group" singing about currency. Obviously, things got a whole lot better for Nakai-kun, KimuTaku and the rest of the unit since then. As it was though, I was able to remember the refrain from "$10" as the guys gave the multiple-choice question of prices for love.
"$10" was written and composed as the guys' 10th single (November 1993) by singer-songwriter Kenji Hayashida （林田健司）with Hiromi Mori（森浩美）, who helped out on a lot of SMAP's other tunes, also giving her contributions on the lyrics. It peaked at No. 5 on Oricon and a remix version was included on their 5th album from February 1994, "SMAP 005", which got as high as No. 2.
