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.
A little over a year ago, I put up "The First Day of Summer!", an Author's Picks consisting of all of those summery tunes with the explanation point being that all of the song titles contained the word "summer". Well, I figured that I would go for another similar posting but I've relaxed the rules slightly by also allowing the Japanese term for summer, "natsu". So, without further ado then, get into that hammock and pull up a citrus-y cocktail.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Within the many albums that the late great Junko Ohashi（大橋純子）had released, my impression is that her October 1983 album"Point Zero"stands out to me as the one where she really dove into the American funk-and-dance sphere. It wasn't just a City Pop thing but something that sounded as if Ohashi wanted to groove it up with folks like the Dazz Band.
Case in point: the track "Sensual Night". As the title says, it's a funky and writhing body on the dance floor inviting the listener to come and jump in (the water's fine!). And there's even a rapping interlude in there (even Ohashi takes part in the rapid patter). It feels more like disco-ing in Los Angeles rather than Tokyo. Short and sweet...there's a cigarette for the afterglow. 😋Ohashi provided the lyrics while Kazufumi Ohama（大浜和史）composed "Sensual Night". Ohama was once the musical director for Pink Lady and was the leader of the band NASA.
I can say that the above looks just like the first telephone that I ever saw in my apartment in the late 1960s. The good ol' rotary phone. Never got to use the even older model where people had to crank it up and yell "Maisie! Is that you? I'm calling Pennsylvania 65000!".
Earlier today, the first article for Urban Contemporary Friday on KKP was Mariko Tone's（刀根麻里子）"Private Number" and that got me thinking that among the many different themes I've had for Author's Picks, one common object that I had yet to highlight was the telephone. And yet, as soon as I put up "Private Number", suddenly all these phone-themed tunes came back to mind. So, to finish my contributions today, I'm putting up my telephone or denwa songs. Not all of them are City Pop, mind you, but enough of them are including the one with City Pop's most famous number.
It's approaching the third anniversary since Junko Ohashi's（大橋純子）passing and listening to this particular ballad brings about some more of that poignancy.
"Shiroi Gogo"(White Afternoon) from Ohashi's 1976"Paper Moon" album starts with some ominous drops onto piano keys, and though I haven't been able to access any of Machiko Ryu's（竜真知子）lyrics, I get the impression that the titular white afternoon may refer to a very lonely afternoon that used to be filled with someone. The melody and arrangement by Ohashi's husband, Ken Sato（佐藤健）, is wonderfully slow and soulful with some added rock/fusion by guitarist Kiyoshi Sugimoto（杉本喜代志）and an ending breeze-like backup chorus that hints at something hopeful around the corner.
I've technically done my three for Thursday. However, I'm being drawn away from duty tomorrow so I'm getting a start on my usual Friday Urban Contemporary stuff today. The NHL Trade Deadline Day has a way of distracting me...even from my beloved City Pop (you can take me away from Canada, but you can't take away Canada from me).🏒
So, why not go with one of the best? I have a number of Junko Ohashi's（大橋純子）albums with Minoya Central Station（美乃家セントラル・ステイション）, but I don't think "Full House" from June 1979 is one of them...perhaps. Anyways, there is a real banger from Side A, "Feel So Fine" that's struck my fancy.
All I can say is that bass addicts will be slurping this one up repeatedly as we get to hear the late great Ms. Ohashi in her most wonderful disco glory. It really does feel so fine. Written by Machiko Ryu（竜真知子）and composed by Kenjiro Oda（小田健二郎）, the song practically bewitches the listener to vicariously hit the ground running in Roppongi or Shinjuku in search of any dance club of the time such as the Lexington Queen (although it wouldn't open until 1980). By the way, the remix version below is by YouTuber Sukebe (heh heh heh).😁
I've often referred to the Japanese asset price bubble which arguably lasted from around 1986 to 1991. Commonly it's known as the Bubble Era and it originated from the effects of the Plaza Accord signed at New York City's Plaza Hotel by representatives of various countries including Japan and the United States. Basically, the US dollar was depreciated against the currencies of the other nations, and from the following year, a huge influence was felt in Japan with asset prices skyrocketing and economic activity bubbling away like my pot of boiling pasta.
When I visited Japan in 1981 and started studying about the country in those early 1980s, I'd already thought that the economic party-hearty atmosphere arrived. I saw glossy magazines from the nation showing what was a pretty nice life among the citizens and certainly borrowing all of those videotapes of Japanese TV shows with their commercials emphasized those feelings.
But then it was in the late 1980s when I was fully into my time at the University of Toronto that I read the craziness of buying million-dollar golf club memberships, sidewalk tiles that were more expensive than whole cities outside of Japan, and sprinkling gold flakes on broiled eel on rice. I got to Japan once more in 1989 at the tail end of the Bubble Era although I was working deep into the countryside so it wasn't quite that often that I experienced the grand Tokyo life.
In terms of Japanese popular music, and specifically City Pop, I thought that during those late 1980s, there was a certain additional swagger in City Pop which encompassed a lot of genres including disco, soul, and Latin. During that time, I think that there was also a goodly injection of sophisticated pop and horn-based jazz. And I've often made use of the phrase "champagne-and-caviar" when describing some of those tunes because whenever I heard them, it wasn't just about walking the streets of Tokyo; it was also about partaking in the various high-priced and high-life establishments on those streets of Tokyo. There still was the groove to be sure but there was also some of that Henry Mancini swing jazziness grafted onto the City Pop tunes. And since I love both groove and Mancini, I've remained a happy camper when it comes to the songs of the Bubble Era.
Of course, the party came to a crashing end at the beginning of the 1990s and music took a new tangent but I still look fondly at the City Pop that came out then. So yes, I'm also a nostalgic guy about the uber-genre. And as such, I thought that it would be nice to provide a summary of some of those champagne-and-caviar City Pop songs. One of the songs on the list actually came out a few years before the Plaza Accord but I still think it fits the bill in terms of the overall feeling. Anyways, have a good weekend.
PS If any of you have your own favourites that you think would fit the champagne-and-caviar platter, please let us know!
Welcome to another regularly scheduled Reminiscings of Youth outing for this Thursday and today we are more than happy to bring Melissa Manchester. I used to know her primarily for her ballad "Don't Cry Out Loud" from 1978 but then in the early 1980s, she started making waves for this upbeat synthpop song that I used to hear not only on the radio but also on those K-Tel LP compilations on the ol' telly.
From what I've read about "You Should Hear How She Talks About You" from May 1982, she was very reluctant about the song before and after recording. However, she was still professional about it through her performances on stage and it looks like in the years and decades afterwards, she's gotten to like her hit which reached No. 5 in Canada and No. 5 in the United States as well, becoming her most successful song on the charts. I wasn't quite too sure about it initially also when I heard the chorus briefly on the commercials but hearing the whole thing on radio changed my mind in a good way. Love that 80s pop!
May 1982 is about as specific as Wikipedia has gotten about the release date so why don't we go with May 17th 1982 for what was up on the Oricon charts in Japan? I have No. 1, 2 and 8.
With that title and the uplifting arrangement, I wonder whether this song by the late great Junko Ohashi（大橋純子）, a non-City Pop"Fantastic Woman", had ever been used for some commercial featuring cosmetics or the like.
In any case, "Fantastic Woman" was Ohashi's 17th single from August 1981. Written by Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子）and composed by Kisaburo Suzuki（鈴木キサブロー）, it's got that wailing electric guitar that was a Suzuki trope although the shimmering strings are absent. However, it's got an interesting arrangement with a 1970s-like harmonica intro followed up with a 1960s jangly pop rhythm. Miura's lyrics describe a woman reminiscing about the man who got away earlier in life because, gosh darn it, she wasn't quite ready. But the intimation is that, boy, she's ready now...only...where the heck is he?
Not sure how this idea came about but last night, it got into my mind (through inception?) about how Japanese popular music shared one trope with Western pop material in that there have been plenty of songs with female names in the titles. Of course, we have Paul Anka's"Diana", Kool & The Gang's"Joanna" and TOTO's "Rosanna". Well, over the years of KKP, I've noticed that kayo kyoku and J-Pop has had its share already listed, so just to keep myself busy on this very snowy Sunday, here is a short list of such songs. I'll probably get a short list of male names up next week.
No, no...don't let the title fool you. This has nothing to do with the Morning Musume（モーニング娘。）disco hit from 1999. Even the title is displayed a little differently here.
Mind you, there is disco in Junko Ohashi's（大橋純子）"Love Machine" as well although it's woven into Ken Sato's（佐藤健）melody and arrangement somewhat more subtly. The song was placed as the B-side to her August 1978 hit number "Tasogare My Love"（たそがれマイ・ラブ）. Now, unlike that A-side which has more of that wistful kayo pop feeling thanks to Kyohei Tsutsumi's（筒美京平）work (and it's just Ohashi's name attached to that one), "Love Machine" has the official singing act as Junko Ohashi & Minoya Central Station so it's definitely on her familiar side of City Pop including the fluttering disco flute. Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）was the lyricist here.
Not sure if the sentiment still exists in 2024, but I remember when the whole Japanese City Pop boom was on a few years back, listeners were swooning about wanting to see what the time and place were like in Tokyo of the late 1970s and early 1980s. I was actually there in the early 1980s so perhaps any swooning on my part has been more blunted, but listening to "Love Machine", I can sympathize with my fellow City Pop fans. This would be an ideal accompanying tune while walking among the skyscrapers of Shinjuku at night.
Last week, I provided an article covering Side A of the late Junko Ohashi's（大橋純子）1988 album"DEF" and so today, I'm following up with my thoughts on Side B. So far, it's got a good mixture of the various urban contemporary genres in there. Also, just to let you know, I've realized that my copy of the album, which I had purchased literally decades ago, is different from the track arrangement in future releases, so my copy is going with the track list showing for "DEF" on Amazon Japan while probably your copies have the arrangement shown on Discogs. In addition, as noted last week, the trio of lyricist, composer and arranger handling the album mostly involves Goro Matsui（松井五郎）, Ken Sato（佐藤健）and Nobuyuki Shimizu（清水信之）for the most part. Any other songwriters will be noted for each track below.
Side B of my own copy begins with "Madoi no Wicked Woman"（惑いのWicked Woman...The Wicked Woman of My Illusions） which has been described as a nice slice of urban funk but I can also hear some of that sophisticated pop as well. This time, the lyricist is a fellow by the name of Tsurezuregusa（徒然草）which is obviously a pen name but it's also the title of an ancient collection of essays by the monk Kenko. Nothing about nature or humourous incidents in this song though which is all about that fateful encounter with a mystery lady on the dance floor. Basically, I gather that this is the urban Japanese version of two ships passing each other in the night.
Track B2 is the soulful ballad"Tooi Hohoemi"（遠いほゝえみ...Distant Smile） which has the main three songwriters listed above but with Junko's husband, Sato, handling chorus duties this time, while singer-songwriter Masayuki Kishi（岸正之）is taking care of the melody. Meanwhile, the overall arrangement was by Keiichi Oku（奥恵一）for a tune of wistful reminiscing over a past romance. Another lovely performance by Ohashi and the piano in there has had me remembering many an 80s love song from America.
If somehow, the anime "Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai ~ Tensai-tachi no Ren'ai Zunousen"（かぐや様は告らせたい〜天才たちの恋愛頭脳戦〜）had been willing to include insert songs not sung by the God of Love Songs, Masayuki Suzuki（鈴木雅之）, himself, this particular track by Ohashi, "Burlesque ga Oniai"（バーレスクがお似合い...Fit for a Burlesque）, could have been a candidate since it involves a lot of the love and games that was going on in the first season of the series. As it is though, it's a cool blend of City Pop and funk, thanks to composer Hideya Nakazaki（中崎英也）with Hiroshi Yamada（山田ひろし）behind the lyrics.
"Mayonaka no Distance"（真夜中の距離...Midnight Distance） is a smoky and haunting funk tune with some thumping percussion (which then gets passed onto the keyboards) about a mysterious and dangerous tryst at the bewitching hour. As noted in Yukinojo Mori's（森雪之丞）lyrics, there is a Don Juan making his rounds which most likely means that there will be some major heartbreak at the end. Again, Nakazaki took care of the melody.
The final track, "Yume no Tobira"（夢の扉...The Doors to a Dream）, is unsurprisingly a quieter song (at least initially) to finish off "DEF" with. This time, Yasuhiro Abe（安部恭弘）is on board to provide the gently undulating music surrounding the aftermath of a couple's eventful night in bed. The aforementioned Oku took care of the string arrangements for some added dramatic bossa nova oomph to the climax (no pun intended). If there had been a longer coda, it would have been for the afterglow cigarettes.
Gotta say that I largely underestimated "DEF" all these years. One Gibbs slap to the back of my head. I gather that I wasn't quite ready yet but I am now. Hopefully, Ohashi's fans have been celebrating her life and career and music at the one-year anniversary of her departure.
It's now been one year since Junko Ohashi（大橋純子）died at the age of 73 on November 9th 2023. So, as I did with a couple of covers of her hits including Shiori Sasaki's（佐々木詩織）"Simple Love"（シンプルラブ）yesterday during Urban Contemporary Fridays, I would like to continue the tribute to the soul singer with the boomer voice by taking a look at her January 1988 album, "DEF", over two articles, beginning with Side A.
First off, allow me to apologize, since it might look like a couple of ghost hands are trying to strangle the lovely woman above, but thanks to my very unprofessional photography skills, the flash function also included my attempts to take the picture. In any case, "DEF" was Ohashi's first album after moving from Philips, which had been her label ever since she first began her career in the early 1970s, to Epic/Sony Records, and though the release isn't solely a City Pop album as we will hear, she and her fashion team really went down to town to get that "Vogue" look which makes her appear that she's ready to hit the streets of 80s Bubble Era Tokyo for some champagne and caviar...or maybe she's heading to the Kentucky Derby.
According to the liner notes, "DEF" stands for "Dream, Emotion, Fragrance", so I'm already getting that sophisticated night vibe. The first four tracks on Side A actually represent the Hokkaido singer's 22nd and 23rd singles from January and February 1988 which include the bright and Big City feeling of the first track "Nemurenai Diamond" (眠れないダイアモンド）, one of my very favourites by Ohashi. It was because of hearing this Camellia Diamonds commercial song on the "Sounds of Japan" broadcast that had me searching for the source album for a few years. I was able to track down "DEF" probably during my time on the JET Programme.
Strange thing, though. Although I loved "Nemurenai Diamond", the other tracks on "DEF" didn't spark the same emotion initially and so it stayed on the shelf for many years without me taking it out. I gather that I wasn't quite ready. However, I am ready now and have been smacking myself up the back of my head for not being ready early enough. By the way, unless noted, the main lyricist, composer and arranger on "DEF" are Goro Matsui（松井五郎）, Ken Sato（佐藤健）and Nobuyuki Shimizu（清水信之）respectively.
Above is Track 2 and Side B to the "Nemurenai Diamond" single, "Aru Yoru no Wonder"（ある夜のWonder...A Wonder One Night）. Beginning with a sumptuous lone trumpet that would make the folks at Swing Out Sister swoon, the uptempo song keeps the good times of Side A rolling in Tokyo as a young lady contemplates the new love and life in the megalopolis. It's too bad that the album never came out with a list of the musicians but I wouldn't be surprised if the trumpet player was Shin Kazuhara（数原晋）.
Track 3 and Ohashi's 23rd single is "Futatoori no Kokuhaku"（ふたとおりの告白）is pure soul balladry...absolutely her wheelhouse. Not sure whether the translation would be either "Two Confessions" or "Two-Way Confession", but perhaps it really doesn't matter in the end, since both participants in a couple are slowly getting the gumption to make their feelings known to each other. I like how the pre-chorus melody shifts into minor-key doubt mode to reflect the kids' uncertainty about their love before the ship is back on an even keel. Nice solo with the urban guitar and the keyboards, too.
The next track and Side B to "Futatoori no Kokuhaku" is "Sayonara to Onaji Rain"（さよならと同じRain...Rain Like Goodbye）, a rhythmically propulsive song of lost love as Matsui's lyric of "an August rain" hints at the change of the seasons meaning the potential end of romance. There is a bit of Latin and disco strings, and we get to hear that amazing Ohashi boomer voice that I was surprised by when I finally got to hear her 1970s material.
The final track for Side A of "DEF" stands out since it's more of a pop/rock piece titled "Sasayaki ni Utaretai"（ささやきに撃たれたい...I Want to be Shot by a Whisper） with Hideya Nakazaki（中崎英也） handling the melody this time while Sato takes care of the chorus arrangement. Although I couldn't quite understand the lyrics here in their entirety, I did get an impression of another complicated time with love.
I realize that Ohashi had always kept her hair pretty short although obviously she never looked like a Marine recruit, but when I noticed that she grew it out a little for the album's back shot, I think she looked pretty darn hot there. Anyways, Side A is done. I'll have Side Bup and running either next Friday or Saturday.
Continuing on from Akiko Matsumoto's（松本明子）cover version of "Tasogare My Love", I would like to also feature yet another loving tribute to the works of Junko Ohashi（大橋純子）. "Tasogare My Love" in its original form may have been more of a straight pop or kayo kyoku, but this next one is most definitely in the good-time City Pop mode.
In early 2023, music journalist Toshikazu Kanazawa（金澤寿和）launched the direction of an album compilation of City Pop covers called "City Pop Avenue ~ Paper Moon Project" featuring female singers who have taken the baton for the urban contemporary in recent decades. I'm pretty confident that the name of "Paper Moon" was taken from Ohashi's 1976 album of the same title and it's one of her covers that starts the album off.
"Simple Love" was Ohashi's 5th single from 1977 that seemed to highlight all that was cool and good about the night life in Tokyo. The disco times are back again (including the wacka-wacka guitar) for the cover version by Shiori Sasaki（佐々木詩織）, who has been on KKP before as a featured performer with the urban contemporary duo of Blue Peppers, and she sounds as smooth as butter. The arrangement isn't quite as brassy as that for the original but it does reflect how the urban sounds sound these days. Ohashi's husband, Ken Sato（佐藤健）, took care of the melody while Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）was behind the lyrics.
As well, back in 2022, I posted my own favourites by Ohashi so you can have a gander at those, too.
This is something that I've been planning for since earlier this year, but it's been almost a year since the Japanese music world had lost singer Junko Ohashi（大橋純子）on November 9th 2023 at the age of 73. I will be tackling her "DEF" album from the late 1980s tomorrow on the anniversary of her passing but since today is the day for the Urban Contemporary on KKP, I decided that I would also write about a couple of cover versions of her famous hits that I found in the past few months as a tribute.
The first one comes from an unlikely source. Although Akiko Matsumoto（松本明子）started out as one of the cheekier aidoru in the 1980s, I and probably most people have seen her more as a monomane artist and all-rounder tarento on television. But here she is, singing Ohashi's 1978"Tasogare My Love"(Sunset My Love) on her one and only album "Kutouten"（くとうてん...Punctuation Marks） from 2013 to celebrate at that time her 30th anniversary in show business..
For a lady who's known for her vocal and physical wackiness on the tube (although I got to see a much more down-to-earth side to her when I met Ms. Matsumoto in person years ago), her take on "Tasogare My Love" was surprisingly heartfelt and assured. The original song has been given a bit more of a bossa nova ballad arrangement here and Matsumoto's delivery is suitably relaxed. Overall, though, I shouldn't be too surprised at a comedian covering one of the old kayo kyoku since last year, I covered another comedian doing the same with a City Pop tune. As was the case with the original, Yu Aku and Kyohei Tsutsumi（阿久悠・筒美京平）were responsible for words and music respectively.
As an aside, "Telephone Number" by Ohashi was covered by Junk Fujiyama earlier this year in his album "Shoukei Toshi ~ City Pop Covers"（憧憬都市）, so take a listen to that one, too.
It's still a couple of months away from the first anniversary since singer Junko Ohashi（大橋純子）passed away last November but I decided to put up a song from her and her band Minowa Central Station today. As is the case with her thrumming disco "Safari Night", "Rouge et Noir" is also from her December 1978 album"Flush". I'm still scratching my head about why it was given that title and the album cover seems to have her reacting like "What the heck did you want to call it again?!".
Anyways, "Rouge et Noir" may be a French title but the song is sultry bossa nova from Brazil thanks to Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）with Takashi Matsumoto's（松本隆）lyrics painting a night of trysting in the titular colours of red and black. For the record, the rouge belongs to the setting sun and the (hotel?) room while the noir refers to the night and the discarded clothes on the floor. Blanc makes a cameo appearance as the wall reflecting the silhouettes of the tangled bodies including the hands holding the afterglow cigarette. Man, Matsumoto was really busy with the mind that night! But then again, his lyrics had to stand toe-to-toe with the woozy arrangement including the meowing electric guitar.
Well, earlier tonight, I was watching the NHK program "Great Nature" which focused on certain areas of France and famous artists including Claude Monet and Henri Matisse. Again because of the usual copyright issues, though Monet's works could be seen with no problem, Matisse's paintings were blocked out by pixilation. I guess Matisse's estate is pretty picky about that sort of thing. Anyways, watching the art that I could see, I was reminded that it's time for another visit to the J-C AI art gallery.
Happy Canada Day! Yep, the Great White North is 157 years old today so it's a statutory holiday here. Hopefully, my fellow Canadians are enjoying BBQs or ribfests or other holiday-themed activities from Vancouver to St. John's. As such, I felt that today may be a good opportunity to provide a Canada-themed exhibition at the J-C AI Gallery with some of our kayo kyoku.
Realizing my advancing years and my regressing memory, it's possible that I may have already put something similar up on the blog, but at this point, I don't think so. In any event, enjoying my gentle love songs alongside my upbeat bangers, I wanted to use this quiet Sunday night to put up some (and definitely not all) of my favourite ballads by female singers. The first two entries, in fact, were created by crooning singer-songwriter Takao Kisugi（来生たかお）who will be in the article for a similar Author's Pick on the male balladeers.
In the last several months, I realized that I'm once again a late bloomer. All these years, these YouTube videos of the Australian morning show "Today" have been showing up and it's amazing how loose these fellows are in terms of their humour and laidback manner. It's gotten to the point that I frankly know these broadcasters by their first names now: Lisa, Georgie, Sylvia, Ben, Steve, Brooke, Ally among others, and of course, the heart of the show, Karl. I can honestly say that there is no one like Karl in any of the morning shows that I've seen in Canada or the United States. Just for the record, the first "Today" video I caught was the infamous "Pussy! Get out of my pants." one.
When I was but a wee lad, geography wasn't particularly my forte and I kept wondering about nations such as Australia and Austria and what the big difference was between them. And it was quite interesting when I found out about the switch in seasons and the Coriolis force and that magnificent accent down under. Well, guess what? This week's Reminiscings of Youth article will be on "Down Under" by Australian band Men At Work.
I remembered Men At Work and their hit song "Down Under" as closer to being a mid-1980s tune so it was a surprise to get a memory check and realize that it was actually released in November 1981 as an official single, some time after first getting onto vinyl as a B-side to a 1980 release. Of course, back then my vocabulary for music was embryonic at best so I had just treated it as a catchy quirky pop number with a flute, years before I read on Wikipedia that it's been categorized as New Wave, reggae, pop rock and pub rock. Vocalist Colin Hay and lead guitarist Ron Strykert came up with the melody with Hay also providing the lyrics. I didn't pay too much attention to the lyrics being more of a melody man but there was plenty of Aussie terminology in there. For example, what I'd thought was "...and gave me a a bite of his sandwich" was "...and gave me a Vegemite sandwich". I wouldn't have my first taste of Vegemite for many years afterwards in Japan, and to be honest, I actually prefer Vegemite over natto (sorry, Japan).
"Down Under" was up and over on the charts and in a number of nations including Australia, Canada and America, it hit No. 1. Though the song and the weird music video didn't give me any concrete insight into the country at the time, it did provide a bridge to Paul Hogan and his popular commercials regarding Australia.
Speaking of Aussie slang, I have to admit that I never knew that completely innocuous terms here in Canada such as "Dutch oven" and "muff" could elicit wails of laughter down under.
Anyways, what else was coming out as singles in Japan in November 1981?
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