Nik Kershaw -- Wouldn't It Be Good?

 

I hadn't quite understood what the music video for Nik Kershaw's January 1984 hit "Wouldn't It Be Good?" was all about but dang, I really did enjoy the New Wave song. I finally realized that Kershaw had been acting as some alien curious about what humans were like and after having a good tasting, decided that they weren't all that healthy after all and scampered back off to his home planet. 

Still, as I said, "Wouldn't It Be Good?" was a good load of fun to listen to, and just for YMOfan04's benefit, I can explain that the synths used were a PPG Wave 2.2 and a Yamaha DX7. It made for quite an interesting riff, and I was surprised to find out that the cool instrumental bridge in the extended version was actually an "orchestra of electric guitars" rather than a bank of synth-horns which now makes things even cooler. 

I'd probably say that I heard "Wouldn't It Be Good?" more on the radio than saw the video on TV. The radio back then was giving it a whole lot of heavy airplay. In Canada, it hit No. 9 on RPM and in the United States, it only got as high as No. 46. Meanwhile in Kershaw's UK, it peaked at No. 4 on the OCC. 

So, what was occupying the Oricon charts a few days following the release of "Wouldn't It Be Good?" in the world? I have Nos. 5, 6 and 7.

5. Feifei Ouyang -- Love Is Over

6. Anri -- Kanashimi ga Tomaranai (悲しみがとまらない）

7. Jiro Atsumi -- Busan Ko e Kaere (釜山港へ帰れ)

Shuki Levy -- Theme from "Inspector Gadget"

 

It's a local holiday Monday here in our neck of the woods so I figured it was time for a Holiday edition of Reminiscings of Youth. 

Now, just to be completely transparent and as I have mentioned in other articles, I never became a bona fide fan of the September 1983 cartoon "Inspector Gadget" (produced in Canada for its first season), although I knew of the character's famous catchphrase, "Go, go, gadget (fill in the blank)" and the iconic voice work of the late Don Adams of "Get Smart" fame. Also, there is the supremely catchy theme song by Shuki Levy (that I used to hear in the mornings and the afternoons), and for you regular KKP readers, if that name sounds familiar to you, then worry not because he has been in the pages of this blog due to his contributions to the Great Japanese Songbook by providing kayo kyoku to singers such as 1970s aidoru Sakiko Ito（伊藤咲子）and even taking part in the duo Shuki & Aviva during that same decade.

But since then, Levy has provided plenty of music, a lot of that within the children's show realm and "Inspector Gadget" was one of the themes. What I was surprised about but should have realized was that Levy had been inspired by the famous "In the Hall of the Mountain King" when he came up with the theme song for the intrepid inspector. But Levy created the theme by mixing a splendid combination of humour, mystery and lighthearted adventure which is what the show was all about.

So, what singles were coming out in Japan in September 1983 when Inspector Gadget was solving his crimes haphazardly?

Jiro Atsumi -- Busan Ko e Kaere (釜山港へ帰れ)

Checkers -- Gizagiza Heart no Komori Uta（ギザギザハートの子守唄）

Yu Hayami -- Lucky Lips (ラッキィ・リップス)

Rickie Lee Jones -- Chuck E.'s in Love

 

First off, I will have to apologize to all of those Rickie Lee Jones fans out there. When it comes to the Chicago-born singer, songwriter and musician, there are only two things that I remember about her. One is the "SCTV" parody of that K-Tel album containing all of the cover versions of "Stairway to Heaven" in which Catherine O'Hara was emulating Jones' scatting jazz style for her take at around 1:07 above.

The other thing that I remember about Rickie Lee is "Chuck E.'s in Love", and if I have to remember anything about her, it should be this song. And I was surprised to find out that this song that had been created around a friend's (songwriter Charles E. Weiss) sudden telephone declaration of love as transmitted via her then-boyfriend Tom Waits was her first single from April 1979. I had assumed that Jones had been around for some years before that since that saucy drawl of a delivery was something that could only have come about through years of singing and playing and experience-building, but the rookie apparently hit it out of the ballpark like Aaron Judge or Shohei Ohtani.

It occasionally got onto the radio and what I remember along with Jones' singing is the slow playful strut of an arrangement as if the music were representing a pixie-ish Jones herself shuffling happily in her most comfortable neighbourhood one afternoon, greeting all of the neighbours and smiling to herself in some satisfaction after Chuck E. finally made that confession. In a way, I think "Chuck E.'s in Love" is a bit of a cousin to Billy Joel's earlier "Rosalinda's Eyes" in that with both I get that friendly and family-like atmosphere within an American inner-city community. Everyone knows each other and no secret stays secret for long...and she's perfectly fine with that.

Both in America and Canada, "Chuck E.'s in Love" did very well with it hitting No. 4 and No. 5 respectively on their countries' music charts. At the 1980 Grammys, Jones won Best New Artist and was nominated for Song of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female for the song. 

"Chuck E.'s in Love" was released on April 28th  1979. I could find the April 30th Oricon rankings, so let's see what the Top 3 songs were that day.

1. Judy Ongg -- Miserarete（魅せられて）

2. Jiro Atsumi -- Yume Oi Zake（夢追い酒）

3. Godiego -- Beautiful Name

Earth Wind & Fire -- Fantasy

 

I should have figured it out long ago, but I only found out recently that Earth Wind & Fire's January 1978 (US release) "Fantasy" was inspired by Steven Spielberg's "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" the previous year. As I've mentioned before, I hadn't been much of a lyrics guy so I wasn't paying much attention.

For this week's regular Reminiscings of Youth though, I think I have one of the more interesting stories behind how I discovered "Fantasy", even more than its connection to "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". Even though this Earth Wind &Fire classic had been released several months before the first of what I consider to be the royal trio of EW&F songs, "September", followed by "Boogie Wonderland" and "Let's Groove", my introduction to "Fantasy" actually took place years later into the 1990s.

The royal trio and other EW&F tunes were something I discovered through the radio, an episode of "WKRP in Cincinnati", the movie "Caddyshack" and even hockey broadcasts. But "Fantasy", which is known as "Uchuu no Fantasy"（宇宙のファンタジー...Space Fantasy） in Japan, first hit my ears when I caught the above Fuji-TV show. Titled "Kanzen Jintai Harimoto"（完全人体張本...Perfect Human Body）, my friend had sent the episodes of this bizarre yet informative 1994 late-night Friday program via videotape.

Unfortunately, the only YouTube videos showing anything about "Kanzen Jintai Harimoto" have only then all-star Fuji-TV announcer Sato Kondo（近藤サト）giving the teaser. But perhaps that was just as well since the program went into very stark footage of bodily functions that normally prime-time shows would eschew such as the mechanics of breaking wind, producing poo and getting drunk (that last one had Kondo and two tarento actually getting drunk on camera over a few hours). A couple of the regular segments involved the techniques in giving that notorious "happy ending" at massage parlours and aidoru Hiromi Nagasaku（永作博美）clipping her toenails on camera.😲

Now, where does "Fantasy" fit into all this? Well, it was used as the opening theme for "Kanzen Jintai Harimoto" and even the opening credits were pretty risque. Each week, Sato would interview a young lady briefly about the conditions of her areolas (colour and shape) before the lass stripped and showed them off from all angles with a cute CG star covering the nipples (well, some decorum was needed). The ending actually had a naked guy show up to jump around...all to the strains of the aforementioned "Boogie Wonderland" (of course, the man's "boogie" was hidden behind CG). Yeah, I guess maybe it was a good idea not to have YouTube videos of the show.

Although my memory of "Fantasy" will always be tainted by rogue areolas, I have learned to appreciate the song over the years since it comes across as this life-affirming disco funk anthem that reminds me somewhat of The 5th Dimension's "Aquarius" and a religious song. Man, those final sky-high notes by Philip Bailey! It was nominated for Best R&B Song at the Grammys while hitting No. 37 in Canada and No. 32 in America. 

Now, I can't take credit for coming up with the idea to feature "Fantasy" as this week's ROY article by myself this time around since good friend and City Pop guru Rocket Brown had sent me some days ago the link to the above YouTube video. It shows the periodic monomane（ものまね...celebrity impressions） special with comedic duo BG4（ビジーフォー）as EW&F performing "Fantasy" before getting a rather big shock.

Before finishing up the main section here, I also have to give a shoutout to the music reaction channels such as the above Rob Squad Reactions. When I see these young folks listening to the old-school music and reveling in the discovery of the past, I always get that warm feeling inside. Anyways, what was also being released in February 1978?

Jiro Atsumi -- Yume Oi Zake（夢追い酒）

Candies -- Hohoemigaeshi （微笑がえし）

Hiromi Iwasaki -- Hatachi Mae... （二十才前...）

Tracey Ullman/Kirsty MacColl -- They Don't Know

 

On this special holiday edition of Reminiscings of Youth, I'm keeping a promise I made when I posted Tracey Ullman's cover of "Breakaway" which had come out as her official debut single back in 1983. In actual fact, the first song that I and millions of other music video watchers had heard by the future godmother of The Simpsons was "They Don't Know", released in September that year. The video is very familiar to me and yet I had completely forgotten about Paul McCartney's cameo at the end.

As was the case with Ullman and "Breakaway", I didn't find out until much later that "They Don't Know" was a cover of an original version released in June 1979 by the late singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl. Listening to MacColl's version, I got the impression of a gentle contemporary pop ballad. Meanwhile, Ullman's cover several years later (along with the video) has always hit me as a tribute to 1960s girl pop. What I hadn't known was that the cover had MacColl returning to help out in her pipe of "Baby!" from the original since Ullman couldn't really hit her note that high.

In Canada, Ullman's "They Don't Know" peaked at No. 5 on RPM while in America, it got as high as No. 8. The video is one that I remember having a long run on the music shows and basically "They Don't Know" ended up as being my one reminder of Ullman until she showed up several years later on FOX TV with her own comedy-variety show.

So, what singles were being released in September 1983?

Jiro Atsumi -- Busan Ko e Kaere (釜山港へ帰れ)

Akina Nakamori -- Kinku （禁区）

Naoko Kawai -- Unbalance （ＵＮバランス）

Chuck Mangione -- Feels So Good

 

Welcome once again to this week's regular Reminiscings of Youth. Y'know, I saw "King of the Hill" on FOX now and then but never caught this particular episode where Luann finally gets married and Chuck Mangione appears to give his musical tribute along with his most famous piece, "Feels So Good". Apparently, the musician and the song was a part of a running gag all throughout the series' run.

Now, "Feels So Good" wasn't a running gag in my life. It's been a treasured musical key to my memories of the 1970s and times riding in the back seat of the car while the AM radio was on. I used to hear this all the time and enjoyed it immensely before I realized that the light and mellow stuff was my music of choice. It really did feel so good. 

It was also the first time that I had ever heard of a flugelhorn which first struck me as a very pregnant trumpet. I assumed that "Feels So Good" had been around since the mid-1970s but it actually first showed up as a track on Mangione's December 1977 album of the same title which got all the way up to No. 2 on US Billboard. Then the single version of the song was released a few months later in February 1978 for which it hit No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. In Canada, it ranked in at No. 5 which explains the heavy rotation on the local radio.

The Wikipedia entry for "Feels So Good" stated that along with its warm inclusion into the "King of the Hill" family, Mangione showed up in those famous Ella Fitzgerald Memorex commercials and the song was used as a line in the first "Doctor Strange" movie. For me, I think it was used in a lot of golf broadcasts when the camera was panning on some lovely scenery. I'm also surprised that there has been no mention of it being used to accompany the scroll of weather information on the nightly news.

According to my usual source, it looks like both of these songs were released on the same day of February 25th 1978 although I don't know exactly when "Feels So Good" came out.

Jiro Atsumi -- Yume Oi Zake（夢追い酒）

Candies -- Hohoemigaeshi （微笑がえし）

As a PS, I have to also mention about Mangione's soundtrack to the Anthony Quinn movie "Children of Sanchez" which also came out in 1978. Earlier this week, I was having a brief conversation on the blog with someone who was so happy to have re-encountered a "Lupin III" theme song some time ago that he had been seeking for years, and I told him that I certainly could relate to his feeling of joy and relief since I have been in that situation a few times thanks to the blog. It just so happens that in looking up stuff on "Feels So Good", I was able to realize that a certain action-packed segment of the long-running "Children of Sanchez" starting at 3:36 above had been a favourite passage of mine used on the local CBC news broadcasts when I was a kid. Well, my search here is over!😂

July 25th 2025: Unfortunately, I have to inform readers that Mangione passed away on July 22nd at the age of 84 from natural causes. All my condolences to his family, friends and many fans.

Christine McVie -- Got a Hold on Me

 

Sad to say, but less than a week following the news of Irene Cara's untimely passing, I heard the report that Christine McVie, the keyboardist and vocalist for the band Fleetwood Mac, had died yesterday. My condolences to her family, friends and fans.

Although Fleetwood Mac has been around since 1967 and I also heard the name when I was a wee lad, it really wasn't around the 1980s that I really got to know their music and the people involved. Gradually, I got to know Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks through not only their work in the band but also through their solo creations. 

In terms of the vocalists for Fleetwood Mac, then, McVie was the last person that I got to hear from, and it was through her hit solo single "Got a Hold on Me", created by the singer and guitarist Todd Sharp. Released in January 1984, this upbeat and optimistic song about finally getting that one love after all of the previous trials and tribulations. McVie certainly sounded different from her bandmate Nicks with the former possessing a mellower set of vocal cords. And with "Got a Hold on Me", although it's been categorized as a pop tune, there has been something about the song that struck me as being a crossover country tune in terms of the basic rhythms and McVie's delivery.

In America, "Got a Hold on Me" hit No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 but did even better on its rock and adult contemporary charts by reaching No. 1 in both cases. The song also hit the top of the charts in Canada's RPM Adult Contemporary division, and it got as high as No. 30 on the RPM overall singles chart. I was telling Scott of "Holly Jolly X'Masu" earlier this morning that "Got a Hold on Me" was in such heavy rotation on radio and television back in the day that I was beginning to tire of the song after several weeks. However, giving a listen to it again last night after so long was like hearing from an old friend.

So, what else was hot on the Oricon chart back in January 1984? I will give you Nos. 4, 5 and 6.

4. Anri -- Kanashimi ga Tomaranai (悲しみがとまらない）

5. Jiro Atsumi -- Busan Ko e Kaere (釜山港へ帰れ)

6. Harumi Miyako & Chiaki Oka -- Naniwa Koi Shigure (花恋しぐれ浪)

Jiro Atsumi -- Yume Oi Zake（夢追い酒）

Enka still never fails to throw me a melody that I realize that I haven't heard in ages, and yet it's still so familiar.

The Top 10 singles of 1979 included Judy Ongg's exotic kayo anthem of "Miserarete"（魅せられて）at No. 2, Sachiko Kobayashi's（小林幸子）enka comeback hit "Omoide Zake"（おもいで酒）and Hideki Saijo's（西城秀樹）immortal cover of "YMCA" under the title of "Young Man"（ヤングマン）at No. 7. However, the No. 1 single of the year was another enka song, "Yume Oi Zake" (Dream-Chasing Drinking) by Jiro Atsumi（渥美二郎）.

Noelle introduced Atsumi onto the blog through his 1983 hit "Busan Ko e Kaere"（釜山港へ帰れ）, a song that I heard quite often in karaoke, both during my university days here and also in the karaoke boxes of Gunma and Tokyo over the decades. But strangely enough, I don't think that I ever heard "Yume Oi Zake" all that often sung by friends or other amateur warblers for some reason.

And yet, that gentle melody by Minoru Endo（遠藤実）struck me as a most comforting enka presence although Eiichi Hoshino's（星野栄一）lyrics relate a fellow at his local watering hole drowning his sorrows in drink due to being dumped. I gather that from the arrangement by Michiyasu Tadano（只野通泰）, it's a most beautiful and Japanese way to suffer from romantic heartbreak, although one's liver may disagree vehemently. As for the meaning of the title, now that the protagonist with his head on the bar is no longer attached, he's free to follow his other dreams despite the possibility that they may seem much smaller now that the biggest one has flown the coop.

Released as Atsumi's 5th single in February 1978, "Yume Oi Zake" started off rather slowly in sales but the singer's dogged promotion throughout the nation over the next several months started to pay off although the single finished in 91st place at the end of the year. But going into 1979, sales really launched to the point that it finally hit its top spot of No. 2 on the Oricon weeklies, and Atsumi even won the Long-Seller Prize at the Japan Record Awards. By the end of 1979, it was the No. 1 single and as such, NHK invited him to sing at the Kohaku Utagassen that year for his lone appearance. Even at the end of 1980, "Yume Oi Zake" ranked in at No. 68. All in all, his most famous song sold approximately 2.8 million records.

As for Atsumi, he was born in 1952 in Tokyo's Adachi Ward and made his debut in 1975, initially under his real name of Toshio Atsumi（渥美敏夫）. Up until 2017, he has released 40 singles but only 1 original album. Noelle did mention that he had suffered from cancer in the late 1980s but he has since recovered fully.

Cho Yong-pil/Jiro Atsumi -- Busan Ko e Kaere (釜山港へ帰れ)

In enka it is common to have the different prefectures of Japan mentioned, but anywhere outside of Japan, not so much. Come to think of it, I don't think I've come across any other song that features an international location besides "Busan Ko e Kaere" (Return to Busan Port).

Having the name of South Korea's second largest city in its title made "Busan Ko e Kaere" stand out whenever I surfed YouTube for enka, and I usually see it being associated with the unassuming and anemic-looking (probably caused by the bout of stomach cancer he had in the late 80's) Jiro Atsumi (渥美二郎). Listening to the song, I must say that it got me hooked with its mysterious air and funky techno beat. The growling electric guitar in the background also added a wonderfully menacing touch, and it also sort of mimics the lonely blare of the ship's horn. Responsible for this composition was songwriter Fan Sun-woo (黄善友), who was known for creating songs that are the Korean equivalent of kayokyoku. However, I find that Atsumi's quiet and delicate voice doesn't exactly match the aggressive music to "Busan Ko e Kaere"; he seems to utter each word with such care and caution.

Eventually I found out that what I have been hearing from Atsumi was only a cover, and that the original was by Cho Yong-pil (조용필), who seems to be quite a big figure in Korean pop music. The first "Busan Ko e Kaere" is not as rock-tinged as Atsumi's rendition, but Cho gives a more forceful and emotional delivery that's more appropriate for this tune about a woman forlornly waiting for her dearly beloved to return to her at the Busan port. Or at least that's lyricist Reiji Miyoshi's (三佳令二) translation of Fan's lyrics, which is almost the same save for one little detail - someone expecting his/her brother, rather than a lover, to return.

Full version of the original.

Alright, on to the statistics. Cho had first released "Busan Ko e Kaere" in 1975, but I'm not sure how well it was recieved then as there's no information on that. All I know is that he sang it at his 4th appearance on the Kohaku Uta Gassen in 1990. I guess it's because it became more popular after Atsumi's cover came out in 1983 and became a hit, selling about 700 000 copies. But if so, I wonder why Atsumi wasn't invited to sing it instead.

Cho actually looks somewhat cute...
in a nerdy sort of way.

gensun.org/aid/137909