Paul McCartney -- Coming Up

 

Well, after about a year of waiting and occasional updates, singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and her Eras Tour along with a ton of Swifties have descended upon Toronto like an army of Valkyries. She's here for six concerts over the next couple of weeks and Performance No. 1 is tonight. It should be interesting to see how things go with the downtown core pretty much sealed tight for her and security.

I'm not particularly a Swift fan myself although "Shake It Off" and "You Need to Calm Down" are catchy and fun. However, I've read that one of Swift's inspirations has been Sir Paul McCartney. Of course, since the Beatles broke up, Sir Paul hasn't exactly retired from the music business, going full bore with his own band Wings and then his solo work. 

As you all know, my full dive into pop music on either side of the Pacific began around the late 1970s and early 1980s, coincidentally when music videos became this fresh new thing to express songs. One of the first videos that caught my eyes and ears was McCartney's "Coming Up" which was released as a single in April 1980. The funk is there and the affected delivery by the man himself has always had me thinking New Wave. It's all very uptempo and amiably quirky but it was the music video that really grabbed me.

I'd assumed that Wings and a few other studio musicians were behind the former Beatle but as it turned out, it was mostly different versions of him playing and dancing about (his late wife Linda was playing the two backup singers) including a Buddy Holly version, a Sparks' Ron Mael version and even his 1963 persona. I had even thought that his wild drummer version was a riff off of The Muppets' Animal, but actually it was John Bonham of Led Zeppelin. It was quite the stunning presentation. There was a part of me that believed that Swift's video for "Shake It Off" was a spiritual cousin for the "Coming Up" video but Wikipedia let me know that the inspirations for that one were actually Audrey Hepburn, Daft Punk and Toni Basil.

"Coming Up" made it to the top spot on both the Canadian and American charts while it hit No. 2 in McCartney's native UK. Now, what was hitting the top of the Oricon charts at around the same time of the song's release?

1. Kaientai -- Okuru Kotoba (贈る言葉）

2. The Chanels -- Runaway

3. Mariya Takeuchi -- Fushigi na Peach Pie （不思議なピーチ・パイ）

Sheena Easton -- 9 to 5 (Morning Train)

 

For this week's regular Reminiscings of Youth episode, I think that it may have been Oscar-winning Ang Lee who once pointed out in an interview that he and his fellow directors were probably the most miserable employees within the production crew of any movie. For me, I would see his bet and raise him another 50 in the form of saying that perhaps it's the professional critic who might be even more angst-ridden. Case in point: Stereogum's Tom Breihan absolutely tears apart Sheena Easton's "9 to 5 (Morning Train)" on a number of fronts and for reasons that the fans actually love the song (although he is much kinder with her later tunes). I'm trying to imagine his residence with a sizable hole in the wall where he daily smashes his head from frustration.

Kinda like Don Music above here. He must have a line in his budget that simply says "TYLENOL".

Well, luckily, I'm on the side where I actually do like Easton's "Morning Train". The song was released in May 1980 in the UK and then nearly a year later in America. I can vouch for that latter release date since it's one of those signpost songs of my memories of the decade. "Morning Train" hit me like the...well, proverbial morning train when I first heard it on the radio. 

On Wikipedia, it's been categorized as both pop and music hall. I don't quite know what constitutes a music hall song but perhaps it's that bossy saxophone or synthesizer sounding like a bossy saxophone. In any case, it was indeed that intro that drew me in. There was something about that Florrie Palmer la-dee-dah melody that simply hit right and gently helped me up into the pop music bandwagon that I would now inhabit. It was no wonder that I was repeatedly listening to "Morning Train" when I was on that morning plane heading to Japan from Toronto on that Summer 1981 Japanese language graduation trip; I needed something to take the edge off on my first trip without my family accompanying me.

A few years later, I found out that there actually had been a music video for "Morning Train". Easton looked fabulous but I think it was a bit odd for her to be slinking about in a suit that looked more appropriate for a disco than a small railroad town. Regardless, it hit No. 1 in both Canada and the US while it "only" peaked at No. 3 in the UK.

Well, let's go with the UK release month of May 1980. What was at the top of the Oricon charts back then?

1. The Chanels -- Runaway

2. Crystal King -- Shinkirou（蜃気楼）

3. Kaientai -- Okuru Kotoba (贈る言葉）

Kaientai -- Start Line（スタートライン）

 

Moving on from Remioromen's（レミオロメン）"San-gatsu Kokonoka"（3月9日）, an initially wedding-celebrating song turned into something more for graduations, I have here one of two songs that I heard on last night's episode of "Uta Con"（うたコン）which began with a tribute to the diploma season.

When I heard that Tetsuya Takeda's（武田鉄矢）old folk band Kaientai（海援隊）was starting things off, of course, I naturally thought that they were going to perform that graduation kayo "Okuru Kotoba" (贈る言葉）since it is arguably the band's most famous song. However, I was surprised to hear a completely different tune by Takeda and the guys instead.

"Start Line" does share a commonality with the 1979 "Okuru Kotoba" in that both songs were themes for Takeda's famous show "3-Nen B-Gumi, Kinpachi Sensei"（３年B組み金八先生...Mr. Kinpachi of Class 3B）in different years with "Start Line" being the theme for the fourth series in the franchise going from October 1995 to March 1996. As was the case with "Okuru Kotoba", this particular theme was handled by Takeda and fellow Kaientai member, guitarist Kazuomi Chiba（千葉和臣）, providing the music as it was released as the group's 25th single in November 1995.

Kaientai seems to have taken a different approach for this graduation song in their discography. Whereas "Okuru Kotoba" feels like a farewell to the old life at school, "Start Line" comes off as being even more hopeful than bittersweet as graduates take those first steps into their next stage in life. That familiar folksiness still remains in this song and it peaked at No. 28 on Oricon.

Back in 2017, I made my list of graduation kayo in KKP so have a gander at that.

Kaientai -- Koi Banka（恋挽歌）

 

After catching the last bit of NHK's "Songs of Japanese Spirit" earlier this afternoon, I decided that I would write something up on "Omoeba Tooku e Kitamonda" （思えば遠くへ来たもんだ）by the folk trio Kaientai（海援隊）led by actor/singer Tetsuya Takeda（武田鉄矢）, only to realize that I had already done so all the way back in 2015. Such is my memory these days.

Still, it's been a while since I contributed something to a folk tune so I still kept on the Kaientai track and as I scrolled through their J-Wiki file, I opted to try out their earlier fare, i.e. years before their most famous song "Okuru Kotoba" (贈る言葉）was recorded in 1979. So, why not go with their debut single?

Earlier this year, I'd been surprised when I was writing on Kaientai's October 1978 13th single "Cabaret Night Blues"（キャバレーナイト・ブルース）and found out that it was far from their usual folksy tunes since there was a bit more buzzy rock in that one. Well, I got another shock to the kayo system from listening to that first single of theirs, "Koi Banka" (Elegy of Love) which was released in August 1973.

Once again, it was far from folk but this time, the musical direction went totally shibui...into the Mood Kayo realm. Right from Note One, that familiar bluesy sax came rolling in and it just sounded like something that would be set in a nightclub in Akasaka, rather than a tiny and dilapidated six-mat room in the neighbourhood of Kanda, Tokyo. And yet, there were also elements distinguishing "Koi Banka" from the run-of-the-mill Mood Kayo in that among all of that genre bluesiness, the strings sounded even silkier than usual and it was just Takeda crooning his ballad of heartbreak with little of that background chorus backing him up as would be the case with groups such as Cool Five and Los Primos. Maybe, though, just maybe, I could pick up a hint of folk in "Koi Banka".

My first assumption had been that a different set of songwriters in a different field provided Kaientai with their debut single, but actually it was Takeda on lyrics and lead guitarist Kazuomi Chiba（千葉和臣）with the melody. The interesting thing was that I couldn't find anything within the J-Wiki article on the trio relating the news about "Koi Banka". It would be interesting to hear how this particular song got put together.

Jerry Goldsmith -- Theme from "Star Trek: The Motion Picture"

 

Nope, I don't actually mean to pay homage of John Williams and the awesome soundtrack from "Jurassic Park". However, I am using the above video to reflect what a lot of folks including myself are feeling today on seeing that actor William Shatner, aka Captain James Tiberius Kirk from "Star Trek", became the oldest human being to make it out to (the edges of) space...the final frontier.

Up until today, it was Captain Kirk that worked in space, William Shatner that worked in Hollywood. Well, he can now say that he has at least touched space and experienced zero gravity...at the age of 90! I knew that he was old but still, he looks pretty darn spritely for a nonagenarian, and he has just gone where no nonagenarian has gone before. Somewhere, Sir Patrick Stewart is gnashing his teeth.

On this special Reminiscings of Youth, then, I give you Jerry Goldsmith's theme from "Star Trek: The Motion Picture". I've already provided the theme from the original NBC TV show by Alexander Courage as a ROY, and it's difficult for me to choose which one I like better. Both of them are fine and heroic to me. The fact that I grabbed the soundtrack to the movie from the record store pretty quickly once the movie came out in December 1979 rather shows that I warmed up to Goldsmith's grand theme easily. Since then, the theme has been handed down to the folks at "Star Trek: The Next Generation".

Unfortunately, the movie didn't exactly live up to the same appraisal that I gave the theme song. When my brother and I caught it downtown on a rainy Saturday morning that month, we were pretty amazed for the first third of the movie (reintroduction to the characters, the renovated USS Enterprise, the wormhole and even the transporter accident), but then the whole thing about V'Ger frankly gummed up the narrative and I thought that the interplay among Kirk, Spock and McCoy seemed rusty and forced. My brother fell asleep for several minutes and I was on the verge myself.

Even seeing "The Motion Picture" years later again with the improved special effects hasn't really changed my mind. "The Wrath of Khan" in 1982 will always remain my favourite out of all of the "Star Trek" films. It got to the point where I was snarking off that the first movie should have been called "The Motionless Picture".

Still, no flies on that soundtrack by Goldsmith and that includes his take on the Klingons and Lieutenant Ilia. I remember during the Oscar ceremony the next year when John Williams performed a suite of theme songs and the first song up was the Goldsmith theme with the Enterprise flying by and it got some delighted applause (apparently a number of celebs didn't get a life). I tried to keep a Vulcan expression on my face but didn't entirely succeed.

Anyways, I found a couple of kayo that supposedly got released in November 1979 but for some reason, Showa Pops have them seeing the light of day in December. They are also classics of their genre.

Kaientai -- Okuru Kotoba (贈る言葉）

Miki Matsubara -- Mayonaka no Door （真夜中のドアー）

Kaientai -- Cabaret Night Blues（キャバレーナイト・ブルース）

 

Last week on NHK's "Uta Con"（うたコン）, there was the theme of graduation since March has been the month for the annual school tradition. Of course, then folk group Kaientai（海援隊）led by actor/singer Tetsuya Takeda（武田鉄矢）had to come on to sing their graduation favourite "Okuru Kotoba"（贈る言葉）from 1979. It is a folk song that gets eyes a-waterin' and hearts a-swellin' each and every time, and it's the classic that everyone knows the group for.

I have put up other songs by Kaientai since my first article for them back in March 2012, but I think this time, this one song of theirs stands out by a fair bit in comparison to the sentimental "Okuru Kotoba". Titled "Cabaret Night Blues", this was a Kaientai song that was released in October 1978 as their 13th single, and from the title, it's certainly not a song that should have any connection with tear-stained kids graduating from junior high or senior high school.

This time around, it's not Takeda singing the blues here but rhythm guitar member Toshio Nakamuta（中牟田俊男）. It's indeed his song since he came up with the melody, while Takeda wrote the lyrics and support member Yasuo Sako（佐孝康夫）arranged it. "Cabaret Night Blues" possesses that tough-street vibe thanks to that sibilant electric guitar and tight & snappy drum, while Nakamuta gives that weary seen-it-all, done-it-all account of hitting those cabaret clubs filled with hostesses all over the nation. His long hunt for companionship has ironically given him deep loneliness instead.

"Cabaret Night Blues" was also a track on Kaientai's November 1978 6th album "Darakuhen"（墜落編...Corruption）.

Kaientai -- Hito toshite（人として）

The last time that I saw "Uta Con"（うたコン）, I noticed the folk group Kaientai（海援隊）led by veteran actor/singer Tetsuya Takeda（武田鉄矢）on stage at NHK. My natural assumption was that the band would perform "Okuru Kotoba"（贈る言葉）, since it is basically the song that Takeda and guitarists Kazuomi Chiba and Toshio Nakamuta（千葉和臣・中牟田俊男）are known for.

But I was given a pleasant surprise (not that I've gotten tired of "Okuru Kotoba" as one of the premier graduation kayo) when Kaientai performed something different. This turned out to be their 18th single, "Hito toshite" (As A Person) which was released in November 1980 and was also the theme song for the second season of "3-Nen B-Gumi, Kinpachi Sensei"（3年B組み金八先生...Mr. Kinpachi of Class 3B）, one of the most famous school-based dramas on Japanese TV, starring Takeda.

"Hito toshite" was a Kaientai creation with Takeda writing the lyrics while Chiba and Nakamuta composed the music. Sounding similar to the good-time folk of "Okuru Kotoba", which might explain why it didn't rise nearly as high as the earlier song on Oricon (peaked at No. 25), Takeda's lyrics relate some advice about people in general. Folks are reliably flawed but they're the only folks we have on the planet so love them all the same.

And since I didn't mention it in "Okuru Kotoba" (I wrote the article back in early 2012 when I had yet to get into the habit of also putting down the songwriters), I should say that it was Takeda who also provided the words there while Chiba took care of the music.

J-Canuck's Graduation Songs

Until I saw last night's "Uta Kon" (うたコン), I had completely forgotten that this was the graduation season in Japan. After all, in a few days, it will be the beginning of a new fiscal year including a new school one. So, there are plenty of cherry blossoms to scatter, tons of tears to be shed, and lots of uniform buttons to be given by the guys to the girls.

Basically, this Author's Pick isn't really a list of revelatory favourites but more of a summary of some of the graduation-themed songs that I've already written about in the blog and have known for decades. At least two of them were played and sung by the teachers for the graduating senior year students in my junior high school on the JET Programme with the tear ducts flowing like crazy.

H2O -- Omoide ga Ippai (1983)

It may have started life as an anime theme song but it's grown into one of the big graduation songs to elicit tears.

Hi-Fi Set/Yumi Arai -- Sotsugyo Shashin (1975)

My fellow teacher on JET who lived in the next village once remarked that he wanted to smash this song into smithereens (he's more of a rock guy anyways) after hearing it so often during graduation season. Well, to each his own. But I still like Hi-Fi Set's old-style version.

Kaientai -- Okuru Kotoba (1979)

Along with "Omoide ga Ippai" above, this was the other song that had my students' waterworks starting up. And who better to send the grads off to a new chapter in their lives than the ultimate TV teacher of Japan himself?

Yuki Saito -- Sotsugyo (1985)

I don't know Saito's "Sotsugyo" as well as the others on the list but I have to say that having young Saito sing it brought that feeling of sweet innocence to the proceedings of leaving school.

Misato Watanabe -- Sotsugyo (1991)

This may be a graduation song but I keep getting the expression "insurance company" popping in my brain whenever I heard this one. Mind you, it was used as the campaign song for Meiji Insurance, and there's nothing like a life-changing event to think of life insurance.

Kaientai -- Omoeba Tooku e Kitamonda （思えば遠くへ来たもんだ）

Along with discovering new old songs via "Kayo Kyoku Plus", another one of my pleasures from my pet project has been discovering new old songs because commenters or my fellow collaborators wrote about or inquired about them.

The former is indeed the case here with Kaientai's（海援隊）"Omoeba Tooku e Kitamonda" (I've Come So Far When I Think About It). Commenter Ranawaka Aruna asked me about it on the one other song I wrote about the band, the graduation season favourite, "Okuru Kotoba"（贈る言葉）. Veteran actor Tetsuya Takeda's（武田鉄矢）folk group released "Omoeba" as its 2nd single under the Polydor label (they had 11 previous singles with 2 other recording companies since their debut in 1973) in September 1978, more than a year before their most famous hit, "Okuru Kotoba" came out.

To be honest, I had thought that the go-to song for graduation ceremonies would be the only song by Kaientai that I would ever add to KKP. Happily, I am wrong. "Omoeba" was written by Takeda and the wistful melody was composed by Yasuyo Yamaki（山木康世）, who was one-half of the folk duo, Fukinoto（ふきのとう）. In the song, Takeda sings about a man at the ripe old age of 20 as he remembers what he was like 6 years previously when he was still living in his small town. He reminisces about that train track which ultimately led him away from home and that love he left back there, although he also states that he now has a wife and kid(s) and has been hitting the booze at night. Man, middle age already?!

Still, the sentiment is there and I'm sure that there a lot of businessmen in their 40s or 50s who would hear this song and get all swoon-y. And there is something about that melody that gets me all sepia and nostalgic for all those old J-Folk ballads. Incidentally, "Omoeba" was the theme song for a TBS drama of the same name starring Takeda in which he played a substitute teacher straight from Kyushu who had to teach at a school up in the northern prefecture of Akita...perhaps this was good training for him before he got that even more famous teaching role later on.

The song was also included on Kaientai's first album on Polydor, "Tsuirakuhen"（墜落編...Falling Edit）, which came out in November 1978. One other thing...on how the group decided on its name. Apparently, Kaientai (Maritime Support Group) came from the first modern corporation in Japan founded by Ryoma Sakamoto in 1865. Sakamoto is one of the most famous folk heroes in Japanese history as he attempted to overthrow the Tokugawa feudal government in its last years.

Kaientai -- Okuru Kotoba (贈る言葉）

Well, it's March...which means that the schools are now into graduation season. For virtually the entire month, every school...from elementary to post-secondary...will be in celebratory and reflective modes as the senior class prepares to move onto the next stage in education or life. And what a backdrop...the cherry blossoms for a lot of the country will be in bloom, so the kids will be walking with their diplomas while the pink petals slowly fall over them. Tears will be shed, yearbooks will be signed, and boys' uniform buttons will be given to girls.

And of course, graduation songs will be sung or played. Yup, kayo kyoku has a seasonal subgenre. Whenever March comes....well, marchin' in....there will be many pop songs with those wistful lyrics of parting and heading into the future (....of overtime and potential bouts of alcoholism and power harassment...yeah, I know I'm a bastard, hee hee).

Probably, the most famous of these songs is "Okuru Kotoba"(Words of Sendoff). It was sung by a folk group by the name of Kaientai (海援隊）which means "Maritime Support Group". The lead vocal of the group is Tetsuya Takeda（武田鉄矢）, who is now more known as a veteran TV and movie actor and commercial pitchman. And it was on the TV show that he's most famous for "3-Nen B-Gumi, Kinpachi Sensei"（３年B組み金八先生...Mr. Kinpachi of Class 3B）, that "Okuru Kotoba" was the theme song. Since then, it's almost a capital crime NOT to play this song at any graduation ceremony. When I was on the JET Programme, the reaction was almost Pavlovian when that guitar started strumming those famous chords.

The song was released in November 1979. By April of the following year, it had been at the No. 1 spot on Oricon from March 10 to April 14, not surprisingly, well into the graduation season. It also became the 6th-ranking song of 1980, and Takeda won a writing award at the Japan Record Awards for that year.

I'll be doing more of these graduation songs over the next few days or so.

Let me thank J-Wikipedia for the data.