Cunimondo Takiguchi's Personal Selection for His Top 10 City Pop Albums of the 1980s ~ Part 1

 

Over the past few years, it's become fairly regular for me to wait in hospitals and clinics while my folks and myself go through various medical procedures. And as such, I bring a book along to wile away the time. A few weeks ago, I brought the above tome called the April 2018 edition of "Record Collectors" which was focusing on the City Pop singles and albums from 1980 to 1989.

Well on Page 47, there was an article with the title "Cunimondo Takiguchi ga Erabu Shiteki Hachi-juu Nendai City Pop Best 10"（クニモンド瀧口が選ぶ私的80年代シティポップベスト10）which has been translated into the title on the above byline. Now, Takiguchi is the leader of the band Ryusenkei（流線形）, one of the groups that spearheaded a new version of City Pop going into the 21st century although he has gone on record to state that he doesn't particularly want that exact label applied to his work since City Pop is a musical phenomenon of past decades; he would prefer that his discography and those of other similarly-minded contemporary musicians be called urban contemporary. I respect his opinion but I also have my own on the reach of City Pop throughout the past few decades and I feel that City Pop never really died out even when the Bubble Era collapsed at the turn of the decade from the 80s into the 90s so I have continued to use the label to categorize songs by Ryusenkei, Kirinji（キリンジ）and Suchmos, etc.

But in any case, I have here Part 1 of his list of those City Pop albums from the 1980s that he has enjoyed starting from 1 to 5. The latter half of the selection will be posted next week. I have also included the comments that he stated in the article for each album. For the last couple of entries, I wasn't able to find a full album.

1. Tatsuro Yamashita -- For You (1982)

When I was a junior high school sophomore, one summer, my three buddies and I listened to "Futari" on the Walkman from the veranda of an Atami cottage while looking at the night sky. We were so moved as we each had a turn listening to it and the memory has lasted as a formative experience in City Pop for me.

2. Hiroshi Sato -- Awakening (1982)

For the wonderful keyboardist, Hiroshi Sato（佐藤博）, who had his input on that Yamashita album, I took another look at his "Awakening" in my thirties and it became one of my most favourite albums. He once gave me an interview and though I was nervous, he was kind enough to give me two hours of his time which was a happy memory.

3. Makoto Matsushita -- First Light (1981)

Going back from Matsushita's（松下誠）days with AB's, the original jacket from "First Light" struck me as something that was so cool. The refined chord progressions and arrangement along with Matsushita's not-overly-polished vocals were very comfortable to hear.

4. Izumi Kobayashi -- Coconuts High (1981)

I got into "Coconuts High" through the soundtrack she provided to "Urusei Yatsura"（うる星やつら）, and those tropical songs contained the Latin rhythms and her light and cute vocals which harmonized just right with those muscular synths.

5. Junko Ohashi -- Point Zero (1983)

I fell in love with "Tasogare My Love"（たそがれマイ・ラブ） when I was in elementary school. I got to know her cool and groovy side when I listened to "Point Zero" in my twenties. 

Izumi Kobayashi & Flying Mimi Band -- My Beach Samba（マイ・ビーチ・サンバ）

 

Recently going over "Light Mellow ~ Beams", I've come across a few tracks on the compilation that I never thought to cover on the blog, so shame on me for that oversight.

One of those former neglected songs from "Beams" is Izumi Kobayashi（小林泉）& Flying Mimi Band's "My Beach Samba", originally from her March 1978 debut album "ORANGE SKY－Endless Summer". Written, composed and arranged by Kobayashi herself, it's a fun and perky and Latin jazzy City Pop number of the 1970s with inclusion of that decade's aural symbol of the genre...the keyboard haze effect. Speaking of keyboards, I think that is indeed Kobayashi just going crazy on her instrument near the end. Not to be outdone, I have to mention the saxophone and guitar solos, too.

PS. Well, it looks like my memory is failing me. I did write up something on the album proper back in 2019 and that also included my comments on "My Beach Samba". But hey, any song is worth another look.

Masayoshi Takanaka/Izumi Kobayashi -- Palm St.

 

I started off today's batch of urban contemporary tunes with a sultry nocturnal song by Naomi Akimoto（秋本奈緒美）, so why not wrap up things with something conversely lighter and bouncier?

Here's something to go with your margarita. "Palm St." is a track on guitarist Masayoshi Takanaka's（高中正義）6th original album "T-Wave" from June 1980, an album that hit No. 7 on Oricon and ended the year as the 34th-ranked LP. It's quite the spritzer of a song that was composed by Izumi Kobayashi（小林泉美）as a tune to get folks into a conga line out at some Caribbean resort after dinner to shave off the calories. When Takanaka gets on a bender with his guitar, enjoy the ride!

Speaking of composer Mimi, the musician did a self-cover of "Palm St." the following year when she released her first solo album "Coconuts High" in December 1981. This slightly longer version has Kobayashi showing off some layered scatting, more steel pan and her own virtuoso performance on the keyboards in an arrangement that invites some good old jamming. Incidentally, I covered the final track on "Coconuts High" a few years ago, "Mr. Cool".

Izumi Kobayashi & Flying Mimi Band -- Angel Sky

 

It was back in 2018 when I first wrote on Izumi Kobayashi（小林泉美）& Flying Mimi Band, a group that had been listed within my first edition of "Japanese City Pop" for a number of years before I started exploring on YouTube. There I found their "Naze"（なぜ）which was some fine downtown City Pop funk from 1978. 

Well, that was from their October 1978 2nd album "Sea Flight" (considering the slightly daring cover, I thought it was called "Sexy Flight"). I have also found another track from "Sea Flight" which is "Angel Sky", which was composed by saxophonist Yasuaki Shimizu（清水靖晃）and written by Kobayashi herself. It's a nice dusky form of jazzy City Pop disco, and though I was a bit dismissive of her vocals in "Naze", I think Kobayashi has got a better handle of them here. But I think for this one, it's all about the instruments coming to the fore, especially the sax, keyboards and bluesy guitar. 

Izumi Kobayashi/Tomoko Kuwae -- Mr. Cool

 

Lovely song, pity about the hair, though.

Not quite sure what triggered that idea for a cover for Izumi Kobayashi's（小林泉美）December 1981 "Coconuts High" except maybe Kobayashi did get high on coconuts. Anyways, we should get over to the final track for this album, "Mr. Cool", which does sound like a finale with its languid and relaxing melody by Kobayashi herself. Nanako Sato（佐藤奈々子）was responsible for the lyrics which are delivered by the singer in her characteristic breathy and caressing way.

With the classy AOR spiced up slightly with some Latin, I entertained the thought that this could have also been covered by fellow City Pop/J-AOR artist Junko Yagami（八神純子）. 

However, Kobayashi's sultry take on "Mr. Cool" was itself a cover of the song that she provided fellow singer Tomoko Kuwae（桑江知子）the previous year for her April 1980 album "Mr. Cool". There seems to be a little more heartache in Kuwae's vocals while overall, the title track has some more City Pop vibe compared to the Resort Pop of Kobayashi's cover.

Izumi Kobayashi & Flying Mimi Band -- Hello, Hello, Hello（ハロー・ハロー・ハロー）

 

Well, as I write this, Gmail is having a bit of an issue right now which means that I can't upload any images in the normal sense on the blog, so I had to pull a bit of a rabbit out of the hat to get this one up here. Not surprisingly, there are folks venting out in frustration on Twitter about the Great Gmail Meltdown of 2022.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NWs3_1z0JE

As such at this time, I can't directly bring the video from YouTube to the blog as I always do, but the link is doable so no problems. At my age and attitude toward life, I'm not going to freak out anymore over something like this, and therefore, I think that I am starting this Friday's bunch of urban contemporary music articles with the ideal cooldown song. The mellow "Hello, Hello, Hello" by Izumi Kobayashi（小林泉美）& Flying Mimi Band is a track from her March 1978 album "ORANGE SKY -- Endless Summer --", something that I already wrote an article about a few years ago. Written and composed by the singer-musician, it just demands laying down in the hammock by the sea with a pina colada in one's hand while the laidback melody and Kobayashi's high-falutin' vocals waft past and over you. "Hello, Hello, Hello" is as much a relaxation mantra as it is a title.

For those affected, let's hope that Gmail is back up and running sometime in the next few hours.

Ah, whaddaya know? We're back!

Rie Nakahara -- Togire Togirete（とぎれ とぎれて）

 

The one thing that I've noticed about all of my Rie Nakahara（中原理恵）songs on the blog is that they were all released in 1978! I guess she was one really busy singer or I really ought to be searching for more of her output in the later years.

Hey, though. It is City Pop Friday so I'm good with it. And so here is "Togire Togirete" which I believe is an expression referring to "Disconnection", although hearing those moans by the singer and the boppy bass which seems to have gone on to even better fame on the theme song for "Law & Order", I don't get the feeling that there was much disconnection going on that night...nudge nudge wink wink, know what I mean?

"Togire Togirete" is a track on Nakahara's debut album "Touch Me" from February 1978 and it's simultaneously downtown and dreamy, maybe the perfect environment for an adventure in Roppongi which is why I put up the photo of the Mori Building in that neighbourhood. It really does have that 1970s urban contemporary feeling especially with the horns and the chorus in there. Speaking of the chorus, I think that is keyboardist/singer Izumi Kobayashi（小林泉）since she was also the one behind the melody while Nakahara provided the words.

Izumi Kobayashi & Flying Mimi Band -- ORANGE SKY－Endless Summer－

Considering that we folks in America, Canada and Japan are getting back to the rat race after our respective long weekends, the temperatures are getting cooler and the days are getting shorter, perhaps at least some of us are wishing for the summer to miraculously return.

Probably not going to happen but maybe listening to this particular album can provide some seasonal salvation. This is the March 1978 release by singer-songwriter/keyboardist Izumi Kobayashi（小林泉美）and her Flying Mimi Band with their first of two albums "ORANGE SKY -- Endless Summer --". This LP should lend a goodly dollop of warmth and sun and tropical cocktails to last you a few hours.

Right from the beginning is "Santa Monica no Yoake"（サンタモニカの夜明け...Santa Monica Sunrise）, an instrumental track that begins with some early 1970s wacka-wacka funk before it dives into a thrilling jazz piano-led ride and then an epic rock/fusion piece. To me, despite the year of release, the song sounds even more ahead of its time especially in the jazzier sections. In the end, it makes me want to do a Google Maps tour of the actual beachfront city.

"Soyo Soyo"（そよそよ...Soft Winds） brings things back to some 1970s New Music in the tropics, with the start of each refrain reminding me of an old Tulip（チューリップ）song. Plus, we get Kobayashi's high vocals which are reminiscent of similarly-toned Akiko Kosaka（小坂明子）. Welcome to an early example of Resort Pop.

Speaking of refrain beginnings reminding me of other songs, the start of "Coffee"（コーヒー）has me thinking of an old Carpenters tune. Instead of breakfast, though, this "Coffee" seems to be the type of song that is best listened to over an early evening cup of joe, particularly when that saxophone solo comes into play.

"My Beach Samba" happens to also be a track on one of my "Light Mellow" CDs and it was released as Kobayashi's debut single back in August 1977. Her voice goes particularly high here as this very 70s City Pop/Resort Pop simply enjoys itself so much that listeners would be forgiven if they decided to book their tickets for Hawaii or Saipan right now.

My final entry here is "Yuugure Toki no Koibito-tachi"（夕ぐれ時の恋人たち...Twilight Lovers） starting with Kobayashi's high tones and a ukelele tackling a wistful old-timey number. I can imagine those titular romancers walking along the beach sporting parasols and pork-pie hats and suspenders. Her voice has me thinking New Wave Miharu Koshi（コシミハル）in spite of the sound of the song. But that surf rolling in at the end is loud enough to be a bit too ferocious.

Looks like "ORANGE SKY" has got some fine variety in there that I will see if I can get my own copy, and Tower Records seems to have a supply of the album.

Yuko Matsutani/misono -- Lum no Love Song（ラムのラブソング）

Back in 2015, I wrote about the theme song for "Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer"（うる星やつら2： ビューティフル・ドリーマー）, "Ai wa Boomerang"（愛はブーメラン）, which had come out in 1984. I confessed that I was never a fan of the original series but that the character of Lum（ラム）was pretty well iconic to the point that even I knew about her.

Years ago, when I was living and working in the Tokyo area, a friend and I dropped into the famous Mandarake（まんだらけ）shop in Shibuya since my friend wanted to find a few things such as some manga. Apparently, it may have been one of the rules that at least some of the staffers there had to perform some sort of cosplay. Well, as I was walking through one of the narrow aisles, I encountered a young lithe lady who was decked out as the Lum. Yep, shrinking tiger-patterned outfit and all...just like the lady in the video above at Moa Channel, although the staffer at Mandarake was far more nonchalant. I quickly moved back the other way.

Last week, I wrote about singer-songwriter Izumi "Mimi" Kobayashi（小林泉美）who had been in the urban contemporary side of Japanese pop music from the 1970s. I found out that she had a lot to do with a number of the theme songs for "Urusei Yatsura", although "Ai wa Boomerang" wasn't one of them. However, she was partially responsible for the very first opening theme for the TV anime, "Lum no Love Song" (Lum's Love Song) which came out as a single in October 1981.

Sung by Yuko Matsutani（松谷祐子）, who would also sing "Ai wa Boomerang", Kobayashi took care of music and arrangement while Akira Ito（伊藤アキラ）provided the lyrics. I only heard it for the first time a few nights ago, and it seems to come across just as saucy and coquettish as Lum herself. Nice touch with the Latin in there. The original version topped off at No. 50 on Oricon.

misono came out with her more hard-rocking version of "Lum no Love Song" as her 14th single in September 2009 which came out on the same day as her first album of cover songs "Cover Album"（カバALBUM）. The single did even better than the original on Oricon by peaking at No. 18 while the album went as high as No. 28.

According to J-Wiki, when asked for the reason behind covering "Lum no Love Song", misono replied that since her older sister, Kumi Koda（倖田來未）, had gotten her big break with her cover of the theme song for "Cutie Honey"（キューティーハニー）, another anime from yesteryear, she naturally thought that she could do the same with her own cover of an anison.

Izumi Kobayashi & Flying Mimi Band -- Naze（なぜ）

Kinda interesting how some of these singers from years past seemed to have transmigrated from one genre to another. There have been folks who have moved from Folk over to City Pop/AOR such as Sumiko Yamagata（やまがたすみこ）and the band Off-Course（オフコース）. Another form of crossover I've witnessed is seeing some of those City Pop artists go into anison. One such singer is Mai Yamane（山根麻衣）who I first knew for some of her early urban contemporary stuff but has subsequently become famous for her contributions to anime "Cowboy Be-Bop".

Then, there is singer-songwriter Izumi Kobayashi（小林泉美）who became known for creating theme songs for the famous "Urusei Yatsura"（うる星やつら）in the 1980s for which I will write something pretty soon. But I only found out about this after I discovered her early material on YouTube via New J Channel. 

Some years earlier, though, she and her group Flying Mimi Band were into the funkier stuff. For example, here is "Naze" (Why?) from her second album from October 1978 "Sea Flight"（シーフライト）. Not the greatest singer but hey, I do love the music. Must have been nice to strut the streets of Tokyo or Osaka to this one. And I always welcome a good mellow saxophone.

Izumi Kobayashi & Flying Mimi Band released their only two albums in 1978 when Kobayashi was in her early twenties, after which Mimi (her nickname) went solo in the 1980s with 4 albums. I'm also glad to hear that she hails from Funabashi City, Chiba Prefecture, a very familiar metropolis since it was a mere few stations down the Tozai Line from my neck of the woods.