BanBan -- Ichigo Hakusho wo Mou Ichido（『いちご白書』をもう一度）

 

It's interesting when I go down an especially deep and winding rabbit hole, figuratively speaking. This time, it's led me to a 1970 movie called "The Strawberry Statement" which was an American comedy-drama revolving around the 1968 Columbia University protests. It starred a couple of folks who I've usually associated with sci-fi: Bruce Davison who I've always seen in much later movies as these smarmy corporate/political types such as in the very first "X-Men" as Senator Kelly, and Kim Darby who had earlier guested in the first season episode "Miri" of the original "Star Trek". Never thought I would see a young Davison playing an idealistic good guy.

Well, what led me down to the burrow in the first place was this song titled "Ichigo Hakusho wo Mou Ichido" (The Strawberry Statement One More Time) that I heard performed on either "Uta Con"（うたコン） or "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新BS日本の歌）recently. It's a folk-rock song that was first recorded by the folk group BanBan（バンバン）as their 5th single in August 1975. And just to hold you off the pass for a minute, this isn't the other sibling folk duo Billy BanBan（ビリーバンバン）that I've spoken about in the past on the blog. Yep, same genre, similar name and same time period but BanBan and Billy BanBan are two different entities in the music industry.

Anyways, BanBan was actually a trio consisting of Hiroshi Takayama（高山弘）, Hiroshi Imai（今井ひろし） and Hirofumi Bamba（ばんばひろふみ）. Bamba has been on the blog ever since KKP's inaugural year due to his 1979 solo hit "Sachiko", but BanBan is getting its first due here. Incidentally, the name of the group came about from Bamba's own nickname. The group had been kicking around since 1971 and Bamba had been a popular late-night radio DJ but he was wondering about the state of his band since it wasn't making any hits. As a last resort before deciding to break the band up, he decided to see if up-and-coming singer-songwriter Yumi Arai（荒井由実）could create a song for them because he had been entranced by her works and he'd seen her as a one-of-a-kind. So, he pulled every string and met up with Arai's future husband and musician Masataka Matsutoya（松任谷正隆）who then had Bamba and Arai meet up.

The result was a song that, in Bamba's words, extended BanBan's lifespan by at least a few more years before they officially called it a day in 1977. It's a melancholy and bittersweet tune about a man seeing that his local movie house was showing the aforementioned "The Strawberry Statement" once more and then reminiscing about going there with a now ex-girlfriend during a pretty successful date. Personally, it's probably the most different Yuming（ユーミン）creation that I have ever heard although that may have been due to Ichizo Seo's（瀬尾一三）arrangement. There's quite a bit of rock in there that I wouldn't have expected a Yuming song to have. And the ironic thing is that Bamba was much more of a rock guy than a folk guy; in fact, according to the article on the song, he had found folk musicians to be no better than country hicks which led him to found BanBan just to supposedly show them how it's really done. 

"Ichigo Hakusho wo Mou Ichido" occupied the top spot on Oricon for about six weeks near the end of 1975 which probably meant it was quite the slow burner considering its release back in the summer. It ended up as the No. 13 single for the year and then at the end of 1976, it was even ranked No. 31. It sold a little over 750,000 records. It was also the lead track on BanBan's 2nd and final album "Kisetsufuu"（季節風...Seasonal Winds） which came out in November 1975.

Hi-Fi Set -- Mabushii Anata（まぶしい貴方）

 

For my fifth and final song for Friday, I'd been thinking of putting up that NHK theme song for the World Cup coverage that's been playing for months during the nightly sports segment, but the closest I could get was a mere TikTok excerpt. So, let's return to City Pop!

And we're going back to February 1977 when vocal trio Hi-Fi Set（ハイ・ファイ・セット）released "Love Connection" which would end up as the No. 1 album of the year. A little less than a month ago, I posted one track "Crystal Night"（クリスタル･ナイト）which had all sorts of elements of rock, disco, country and New Music. Usually, I would wait the entire month before putting in the same singer or group onto the blog.

However, I can break and bend the rules for Hi-Fi Set, especially with a No. 1 album. And with this other track from "Love Connection", it's worth it. "Mabushii Anata" which can be translated into "You Are Dazzling" (although one other YouTube video with the same song has it as "Putting It Down To The Way I Feel About You") isn't nearly as chock-filled with genre influences as its track mate "Crystal Night", but it's a straight-on nighttime breezy City Pop tune of the 1970s that would make for a pleasant drinking companion on a patio in some bar. I especially love those strings and the usual polished Hi-Fi Set harmonies.

Mieko Arima（有馬三恵子）and Kazue Ohashi（大橋一枝）provided the Japanese lyrics for the song which was composed by Ken Gold and Michael Denne with Ichizo Seo（瀬尾一三）providing the relaxing arrangement. I was curious about the composers...were they truly from America or elsewhere or were the names merely pseudonyms for coy Japanese songwriters? Well, as it turned out, after a bit of investigation, I found out that Gold and Denne were indeed bona fide songwriters who had created a song titled "You to Me Are Everything" for the British soul group The Real Thing in 1976. There's some similarity in the first verse when comparing this one to Hi-Fi Set's "Mabushii Anata" but in the end, they are different songs. Still, have a listen for comparison's sake.

Tomoko Koyano -- Shiawase（しあわせ）

 

It was exactly two months ago that I posted singer-songwriter Tomoko Koyano's（古谷野とも子）most recent article and that was for her 1978 number "Shiawase Modoki"（幸わせもどき）which translates into "Fake Happiness". For me, it sounded a little bit ahead of its time and had quite some cool groove.

Well, her second single from April 1975 was "Shiawase"...just plain "Happiness", so I gather that the cynicism hadn't quite landed yet. Written and composed by Koyano with Ichizo Seo（瀬尾一三）providing the arrangement, "Shiawase" comes across as a languid and sunny pop song of the 1970s which brings to mind something that the Carpenters would tackle...that oboe in there always sparks off Karen Carpenter in my engrams. Plus, being early in her career, the singer sounds a little flightier and more uncertain in her vocals. Not sure whether "Shiawase Modoki" was meant to be her own response song to "Shiawase".

Hi-Fi Set -- Crystal Night（クリスタル･ナイト）

 

I've got to admit...I wasn't quite sure what to make of this B-side to Hi-Fi Set's（ハイ・ファイ・セット）8th single from April 1977, "Kaze no Machi"（風の街）. The A-side is the straightforward City Pop driving song that's got the breeze going through the hair and love filtering through the heart.

"Crystal Night", not to be confused with Junko Ohashi's（大橋純子）classic "Crystal City" which came out the same year, is a B-side that had me popping question marks around my head initially. Right from the intro, my ears were hit by a mixture of disco strings and country-loving steel pedal guitar before things settled down into this 1970s peppy City Pop song. And then, the roots rock guitar came crashing in like Superman through a wall. Still, "Crystal Night" overall feels like another hot evening on the town much like its companion "Kaze no Machi". Two of the members of Hi-Fi Set, Shigeru Okawa（大川茂）and Toshihiko Yamamoto（山本俊彦）were responsible for words and music respectively with Ichizo Seo（瀬尾一三）taking care of the arrangement. The song was also a track on the group's 3rd album from February 1977, "Love Collection"（ラブ・コレクション）which not only hit No. 1 on Oricon but it was also the No. 1 album of the year.

Chage & Aska -- TABIBITO（放浪人）

 

We are approaching the 45th anniversary of this Chage & Aska tune "TABIBITO" (Traveler) which was released on May 25th 1981 as the duo's 4th single. Compared to the slicker and older Chage & Aska that I got to know best when I was living in Japan (as you can see in the top photo), according to the cover of the single for "TABIBITO", the fellows were looking quite rugged back then.

Goro Matsui（松井五郎）was behind the lyrics while Chage took care of the music as Aska sang about heading to wherever to forget about a romance gone sour. Under Ichizo Seo's（瀬尾一三）arrangement, there is something quite Queen-ly or maybe even ALFEE-ish in parts of "TABIBITO" but then hearing Chage and Aska doing their harmonizing, I went, yeah, it's Chage & Aska!

The song peaked at No. 30 on Oricon. "TABIBITO" didn't get onto an original album initially but it was finally placed as a bonus track on the 1986 CD version of Chage & Aska's 3rd album from February 1982, "Tasogare no Kishi"（黄昏の騎士...Twilight Knights）.

Miho Nakayama -- Sweetest Lover

Happy Friday! We're at the end of another work week so as far as "Kayo Kyoku Plus" is concerned, it's time for some urban contemporary material. A few nights ago before I went to sleep, I decided to listen to the late Miho Nakayama's（中山美穂）"angel hearts" album from December 1988. 

I'd expected "angel hearts" to launch with a bang such as one of her dance-pop numbers created by Toshiki Kadomatsu（角松敏生）...although Kadomatsu had nothing to do with this album. Actually, the only biggest constant in the songwriting crew is Chinfa Kan（康珍化）, but for this first song, "Sweetest Lover", it was Miporin herself that came up with the lyrics of dedication to the love of one's life; mind you, she went under the pen name of Mizuho Kitayama（北山瑞穂）. The very tender soulful ballad melody was created by another singer-songwriter who also left us very prematurely, CINDY, with Ichizo Seo（瀬尾一三）handling the arrangement. 

"Sweetest Lover" sounds like a nice comfortable way to ease into the waters of "angel hearts" and the style of the song reminds me some of the balladry that was coming out back in those 80s in the States. I'll have to see if I can cover the rest of the album but I'll have to re-listen to it once more; it did too good a job of sending me off to La-La Land.

Atsumi Kurasawa -- Kiken na Yume（危険な夢）

 

Several years ago, I posted an article for aidoru Atsumi Kurasawa's（倉沢淳美）April 1987 penultimate single as a soloist, "Genki desu ka"（元気ですか）which was a slightly more 50s/60s-ish tune helmed by the tenderhearted vocals from the former member of Warabe（わらべ）.

Well, let's go back a few years to October 1984 when Kurasawa released her 3rd single "Kiken na Yume" (Dangerous Dreams). A tune with a pretty urgent beat, Ichizo Seo's（瀬尾一三）arrangement of Tsunehiro Izumi's（和泉常寛）melody sounds like something from a decade previously brought over to the 1980s that Hiromi Iwasaki（岩崎宏美）could have sung in her early days. Masao Urino's（売野雅勇）lyrics talk of a girl having these disturbing yet intriguing dreams of a man she can't identify but simply can't ignore. So, the chase is on! Try to make an "Inception" movie out of that. Not surprisingly, Kurasawa's vocals, when compared to her singing on "Genki desu ka", come off as being more innocent and rawer.

Michihiro Kobayashi -- Tokyo City（東京シティ）

 

It was always nice taking friends who had come to visit Tokyo down to Odaiba by Tokyo Bay. Those into photography just loved to take shots of Rainbow Bridge and Tokyo Tower. 

A few years ago, I posted up a couple of articles on singer-songwriter Michihiro Kobayashi（小林みちひろ）. There's still not a lot of information available about him but judging from his "Margarita"（マルガリータ）and "Giniro no Ame"（銀色の雨）from 1980, he did love his Latin and he did love to take things easy.

From what I could glean from Hip Tank Records, I've been able to find out that his "Tokyo City" was his second single from 1977. Kobayashi took care of words and music while Ichizo Seo（瀬尾一三）handled the arrangement. There have been plenty of music covered in KKP regarding the capital city of Japan whether it be through the jazziness of Mood Kayo and the digital frenzy of technopop. But this is perhaps the first time I've heard anyone approach Tokyo as something feeling like a sleepy resort town. Shimmering strings and the bossa nova touch make for a relaxing time on the boardwalk. I'm not complaining at all, and the margaritas in Kobayashi's Tokyo must have that perfect combination of sweet and sour.

Nana Okada -- Wakai Kisetsu（若い季節）

by Random Pacer via Wikimedia Commons

The weather here has been improving although the temperature is set to plummet again for Sunday, but the feeling is that spring is just around the corner. And it couldn't come fast enough.

Several years ago, I posted an article on actress/aidoru Nana Okada's（岡田奈々）biggest hit, her 4th single "Seishun no Sakamichi"（青春の坂道）from March 1976. The wistful song of youth created from lyrics by contest winner Aiko Nakaji（中司愛子）and then whipped into shape by lyricist Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）before getting laid onto a melody by Koichi Morita（森田公一）under Ichizo Seo's（瀬尾一三）arrangement must have touched a lot of people's memories and current feelings. It did pretty well by hitting No. 23 on Oricon.

Well, the follow-up single, released in June of that year, "Wakai Kisetsu" (Young Season), was created by almost everyone involved with "Seishun no Sakamichi", except that the composer this time was Ken Sato（佐藤健）. If anything, "Wakai Kisetsu" is even jauntier with a boss saxophone and jangly guitar giving a hint of Motown pop. Matsumoto's lyrics here were based on Okada's recurring role in the popular NTV drama at the time, "Ore-tachi no Tabi"（俺たちの旅...Our Journey）, where her character introduces a guy living in the boarding house next door. The producers for the program knew what they were doing by also having "Seishun no Sakamichi" show up as an insert song.

"Wakai Kisetsu" didn't do as well as "Seishun no Sakamichi" but it was a moderate success by scoring a No. 36 ranking. Both songs ended up on her 3rd album "Akushu Shiyouyo"（握手しようよ...Let's Shake Hands） which was released in August 1976.

Kaori Moritani -- Chiffon no Tsubasa（シフォンの翼）

 

He passed away only relatively recently in 2023 at the age of 85, but Bill Saluga was a comedian who was part of the improv troupe The Ace Trucking Company. He'd been performing since the 1960s but the one character that certain generations will always remember him for was the nattily-attired Raymond J. Johnson Jr. His schtick was that whenever anyone called him Mr. Johnson, he would take umbrage and rattle off all of the different permutations of his name that he preferred to be addressed by. I did see him on the old variety shows on television and commercials doing that bit. Typically, it goes like this (and this is from his Wikipedia profile):

"NOOO!!! You don't have to call me Johnson! My name is Raymond J. Johnson Jr. Now you can call me Ray, or you can call me J, or you can call me Johnny, or you can call me Sonny, or you can call me Junie, or you can call me Ray J, or you can call me RJ, or you can call me RJJ, or you can call me RJJ Jr. . . but you doesn't hasta call me Johnson!"

And that is who I was reminded about when I first heard about 80s aidoru Kaori Moritani（守谷香）. Now, a number of celebrities in Japan have gone through multiple name changes in their careers, including enka legend Hiroshi Itsuki（五木ひろし）, and so on that note, the Aichi Prefecture-born Moritani isn't any different but for some reason, Moritani just sparked my image of Raymond J. Johnson although the lass is far prettier. Along with the above name, she's also gone by a different reading of that family name which is Kaori Moriya in different configurations of kanji and hiragana（守谷佳央理、もりや かおり）. She's also gone by Kaori Morizumi（守純かほり）and even, briefly, WANKU.

Her first six singles, in fact, were recorded under her name of Kaori Moritani, and for the purposes of this article, here is the  B-side for her May 1987 debut single "Yokokuhen"（予告編...Trailers）, "Chiffon no Tsubasa" (Chiffon Wings). It is indeed a cutesy aidoru tune but with some of that Doobie Bros. bounce thrown in to help launch things. You can thank composer Takashi Ike（池毅）and arranger Ichizo Seo（瀬尾一三）for that along with lyricist Rui Serizawa（芹沢類）. It managed to reach No. 12 on Oricon.

One other notable piece of trivia regarding Ms. Moritani is that she had once been married to TOSHI, one of the members of X Japan, for several years. She even left show business to help run her husband's entertainment agency. As of right now, she is going by the name of Kaori Moriya.

Yuko Shibuya -- Yoru no Ushio（夜の潮）

By edwin.11 via Wikimedia Commons

It's been a good long while since I've mentioned singer-songwriter Yuko Shibuya（渋谷祐子）. I remember posting my first article of her back in 2016 for her "Konya dake Koibito"（今夜だけ恋人） which is a cover of "C'est Un Dernier Nuage" by Jean-Jacques Debout. At the time, I was rather begging for information on Shibuya so I gather that since 2016, her data has increased somewhat significantly including her own J-Wiki page at last. I can now say that "Konya dake Koibito" is her third single from February 1979.

I can also mention that the song launches Shibuya's 2nd album "Pop Lady II" which was released a month later. Also on the album is "Yoru no Ushio" (Night Tide) whose melody was crafted by the singer with Michio Yamagami（山上路夫）handling the lyrics and Ichizo Seo（瀬尾一三）arranging it. As I noted above, it's been a while since I've heard Shibuya so I'm getting to realize once more how soulful her vocals are, especially enhanced with this ballad seasoned with a languid Latin guitar and the keyboards which once again bring out that quintessential 70s City Pop sound: the haze effect. Plus for a bit of refinement, there are some wonderful strings and a harp. It really does feel and sound like a couple walking along the beach at night barefoot while carrying their shoes. 

By the way, the number of this Single in the Labels is 11111. Enjoy the sight while you can since this will change in the next few hours.

Asami Kado -- O-suki ni Semete（お好きにせめて）

 

Well, I had a bit of drama earlier today when I discovered that I couldn't log into my Jme account for some reason. I sent an SOS to Customer Service and got a quick reply that there was a system error somewhere on their side. Happily, things have been resolved, so thank you, Jme. I can catch the Kohaku Utagassen.

For the past several years, it's been taking care of home base here at nights. I don't go out all that much anymore. The pandemic was one reason behind it but age and overall fatigue in the evenings are other factors. But I know that with New Year's Eve coming the next day, there will be the parties happening everywhere...as long as folks can take a bit of traveling through frigid weather.

Asami Kado（門あさ美）certainly sounds like she's started New Year's Eve a night early. From her July 1981 3rd album "Semi-Nude"（セミヌード）, I offer you "O-suki ni Semete" (At Least Do As You Like or perhaps At Least Love Me) which was written and composed by Kado with arrangement by Ichizo Seo（瀬尾一三）. Unlike the Fashion Music that I usually associate her with, this is City Pop with that samba twist. I can imagine a conga line forming right now on the party floor.

Candies/Michiyo Azusa/Rie Nakahara -- Gingakei made Tonde Ike!（銀河系まで飛んで行け!）

 

Let's see...during the 1960s original series "Star Trek", Captain Kirk had quite a few romantic dalliances throughout the three seasons the show was on NBC. Meanwhile, Spock also had his amourous adventures with a few guest stars from off the ship. But then, on the latest entry in the nearly 60-year-old franchise, "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds", which takes place in the pre-TOS decade, younger Spock has already been making out with three ladies, two of whom are his shipmates! For a half-Vulcan who's trying to keep hold of his emotions, he's a pretty randy guy! Love long and prosper indeed!🖖

My "Star Trek" preamble ramble was so that I could introduce this song which is part of a massive 5-LP box set, "CANDIES 1676 DAYS"（キャンディーズ1676日）, that was released in December 1977. Can you imagine a Candies fan getting this as a Christmas present? The tears of joy that would flood that living room floor! The set was put out there to commemorate the trio's singles and other songs ranging from their debut to the end of their farewell concert with the first three records containing those singles including B-sides while the fourth record has the ladies' cover versions of Japanese and English-language songs. Finally, Record No. 5 has new stuff.

One of those songs on the final LP happens to be "Gingakei made Tonde Ike!" (Fly to the Galaxy!) which is about one lass dreaming of her beau taking them away from all of the burdens of Earthly living and warping out to the end of the Milky Way. Kinda like the Enterprise. Written by Makoto Kitajo（喜多條忠）, composed by folk singer-songwriter Takuro Yoshida（吉田拓郎）and arranged by Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二）, it's notable for its disco arrangement over a folky rhythm and what sounds atypically like a koto or a harp periodically dropping by to say hello. 

I can imagine the pitchman narrating the commercial for "CANDIES 1676 DAYS" and excitedly saying "Wait there's more!". Well, wait there's more! Michiyo Azusa（梓みちよ）gave her own more laconic cover of "Gingakei made Tonde Ike!" as her 42nd single in March 1978 with just a breath of rock in there. Then in September 1983, Rie Nakahara（中原理恵）also released her take on the song as a single; this one is notable for incorporating a country banjo and a synthesizer to create something that is still recognizably "Gingakei made Tonde Ike!" but on a rather bizarre level. Ichizo Seo（瀬尾一三）arranged this version.

Now, we finish up in this year. The original Candies version has been provided as the theme song for a CG anime titled "Ginga Tokkyu Milky Subway"（銀河特急 ミルキー☆サブウェイ...Galaxy Express: Milky Subway）. 

Chu Kosaka -- Hazukashisouni（はずかしそうに）

 

Welcome to another Hump Day when last weekend was a distant memory and next weekend is taking too much of its sweet time arriving. Then again, for a lot of us residing on either side of the 49th Parallel, we're in the temporal tunnel between Canada Day and The 4th of July so perhaps there are many Canadians and Americans enjoying a holiday. If so, I hope you are having fun wherever you are.

But with Hump Day, maybe KKP viewers can do with something nice and mellow to take some of that edge off the stress. I have found something by the late great singer-songwriter Chu Kosaka（小坂忠）which was the B-side to his October 1973 3rd solo single, "Hayaoki Yama kara"（早起き山から...From an Early Rising Mountain）. "Hazukashishouni" (Shyly) was also the title track for his 2nd album from November that same year.

With Kosaka handling words and music along with co-arrangement credits with Ichizo Seo（瀬尾一三）, "Hazukashisouni" is a sunny and laidback tune adorned with those strings and a Fender Rhodes/electric piano. I couldn't get all of the lyrics but the main line containing the title talks of a girl shyly wrapping her arm around her beau. Hopefully, the beau got a quietly electric response from that contact. Nothing like romance blossoming during a gentle stroll.

Hiroshi Kamayatsu -- Waga Yoki Tomo yo（我が良き友よ）

 

It's been a little over eight years since musician, singer and TV personality Hiroshi "Monsieur" Kamayatsu（かまやつひろし）passed away. During the time that I knew him when he was still alive, I had thought that he was always the happy if grizzled folk-rock veteran. But as it turns out, I'm slowly getting the impression that he was actually quite musically fluid in terms of what he's experienced. Of course, there was his time with the Group Sounds band The Spiders （ザ・スパイダース）but then I also found out through my work on the blog that Monsieur was also quite happy in his AOR mode for a while through songs like "Island Girl".

And then I slowly realize that the folk-rock part of him came later than I had assumed, considering his debut in 1960. When I was looking for information on one of his representative hits, "Waga Yoki Tomo yo" (My Good Friend), I realized that in the 1970s, he was going to live houses in Harajuku and Roppongi to actually look at the real folk-rockers such as the legendary Takuro Yoshida（吉田拓郎）. Apparently, he had always been drawn to musical artists who played stuff that was different from his own material. I'd assumed that his solo debut single "Dounika Naru sa" (どうにかなるさ) was folk, but I guess the country-style rhythms may have changed that.

Striking up a friendship with Yoshida, Monsieur mentioned that he had become an apprentice of sorts for Yoshida which included being forced to drink until he basically burst. There was also a fighting component in there but there weren't too many details there. In any case, it looks like Kamayatsu got the rough and tumble education in tackling folk rock, and one of the big results was his February 1975 single "Waga Yoki Tomo yo", which was written and composed by Yoshida with arrangement by Ichizo Seo（瀬尾一三）. People around Yoshida had been hoping that their hero would be the one to record it, but instead he offered it to Monsieur who accepted it gratefully.

As it was, the song about a relationship with a rough and tumble university student (I guess this was the Japanese equivalent of Stiffler from "American Pie") was probably a distillation of sorts of the early Monsieur and Yoshida friendship. And strangely enough, it was such a perfect fit for Monsieur that "Waga Yoki Tomo yo" has been the song that I usually associate him with...the reason that I only got to put this one up now after several Kamayatsu articles is that I couldn't remember the title. It did hit No. 1 for several weeks on Oricon and it ended up as the No. 9 single of the year, selling around 900,000 records.

NSP -- Shiosai no Hotel（潮騒のホテル）

 

Kobe Portopia Hotel in Osaka Bay is a place that I first saw when I was on the Toronto Japanese Language School graduation trip in the summer of 1981. Though we never stayed there back then, I did wonder what it would be like to stay in first-class accommodations like that. Well, I just had to wait nine more years when I and hundreds of other JET Programme teachers got to stay there during a Renewers' Conference. As it was, it was a pleasant three-night stay although I struggle to remember much of my time at the conference.

Y'know...it may not be too difficult to come up with another Author's Pick in the near future with the theme of hotel-based kayo kyoku. It wasn't too long ago when I posted BORO's "Negresco Hotel"（ネグレスコ・ホテル）based on the real-life place in France.

Maybe the hotel in "Shiosai no Hotel" (Hotel of the Sound of Waves) is more existential than literal. NSP's September 1981 21st single came at a time when autumn was seen as the season of the death of romance. Through vocalist Shigeru Amano's（天野滋）lyrics, the hotel is a whole lot emptier and devoid of the fun and games of men and women...which might explain hearing the sound of those waves a whole lot better. Amano was also responsible for the melody which Ichizo Seo（瀬尾一三）arranged, and at first, I was content to categorize "Shiosai no Hotel" as a rock-tinged New Music tune but that underlying groove gradually infiltrated my ears, and so the City Pop label got added.

Junko Yagami -- Touch you, tonight/Miss Plumeria （Miss プルーメリア）

 

Incredibly enough, after nearly thirteen years of doing "Kayo Kyoku Plus", I still don't think I have covered all of Junko Yagami's（八神純子）singles going into the early 1980s, and this is considering that the Nagoya singer-songwriter has been one of my favourites in the City Pop field.

Case in point: Yagami's 14th single from October 1982, "Touch you, tonight". I've been seeing this title for years but never quite got around to posting it until today. Written by Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子）and composed by the singer herself, this is just one of a number of successful collaborations between the two which include "Mizuiro no Ame" (みずいろの雨）and "Purpletown" (パープルタウン）, although the latter would eventually include a few more people in the songwriting credits.

"Touch you, tonight" weaves a story of some titillating skinmanship between a couple (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) with Ichizo Seo（瀬尾一三）incorporating some harder New Wave instrumentation into the City Pop arrangement (there's still that wailing electric guitar though). Speaking of arrangement, Yagami's especially breathy and kittenish delivery at points has reminded me a bit of Minnie Ripperton.

Meanwhile, the B-side of "Miss Plumeria", which was wholly concocted by Yagami, rides on a Doobie Brothers rhythm as she sings about the titular young lady bewitching interested fellows on the beach. It's a pleasant summertime AOR tune that has a rather weirdly bracing bit in the middle before that electric guitar solo reassures listeners once more. The single reached No. 45 on Oricon.

Miho Morikawa -- Left Alone（レフト・アローン）

 

I have to say that although I've loved Miho Morikawa's（森川美穂）City Pop and pop/rock numbers in the last few years of the 1980s going into the 1990s, I've also been impressed by her early years as an aidoru in the mid-1980s. Not sure if it's a cosmetics things, but she even looks different when comparing those two times.

Case in point: one of the tracks on her July 1986 debut album "Takan Sedai"（多感世代...The Sentimental/Impressionable Generation） is "Left Alone". Written by Kyoko Matsumiya（松宮恭子）, composed by Minoru Komorita（小森田実）and arranged by Ichizo Seo（瀬尾一三）, it's quite the refined and sweeping song with the relatively galloping synths and percussion. But the urgency there is given some lightness thanks to those strings and Morikawa's bright vocals. It's interesting to hear her sing while she was focusing on those higher registers back then.

Kuniko Fukushima -- Good-bye（グッド・バイ）/Subete wa Futari ni（すべては二人に）

 

I've been gathering together a number of singer-songwriter Kuniko Fukushima's（福島邦子）songs for quite a while now, and it's too bad that she's been one of the lesser-known chanteuses out there because I've found her music a nice example of City Pop and New Music in the late 1970s going into the 1980s.

This time, I'm going back to her very first single "Good-bye" which was released in February 1978. Written and composed by Fukushima with both her and Ichizo Seo（瀬尾一三）handling the arrangement, it starts out with a slow lone piano before things strut off into a soft disco direction highlighted with a twirling keyboard riff. Fukushima's vocal shuffle goes off into a kiss-off of a now-erstwhile paramour often punctuated by a rollicking honky-tonk piano and a solid background chorus.

The B-side, "Subete wa Futari ni" (It's All Down to the Two of Us), was completely taken care of by Fukushima, and it's a more elegant sunset ballad that has feelings of blues and soft rock. This time, the electric guitar has some centre stage of its own.

Kantaro Yamamoto -- Jumping High Way

 

Singer-songwriter Kantaro Yamamoto（山本寛太郎）has around four articles here on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", but the only one thus far which has his own name on the byline is the one for "Silver Sweet Heart"（シルバー･スイート･ハート）. This is a 1979 City Pop treat which came out as his third single.

Well, the second article with his name on the byline is for "Jumping High Way" which was written and composed by Yamamoto and arranged by Ichizo Seo（瀬尾一三）. Definitely not a City Pop song, it's more of a breezy AOR or generally New Music drive-friendly tune as it sounds like the singer is enjoying his cruise down the highways and byways of Japan. Things get a little more rock-oriented near the end as it sounds as if Yamamoto has decided to put his jalopy into a higher gear.

"Jumping High Way" is the first track that launches Yamamoto's lone 1981 album "Atlantroog"（アトラントローグ）. As for why he named it in that bizarre fashion, I've got no idea, but I'm hoping that the rest of the album is as down-to-earth as this song.