OPCELL -- Kanashimi wa Honesty（哀しみはオネスティー）

 

"Y'know, J-Canuck...you could've looked at the album a little more closely..."

Yeah, that's me talking to myself and giving myself the Agent Gibbs smack upside the back of my head right now. When I posted the first article on 90s band OPCELL, I mentioned that leader and singer-songwriter Kantaro Yamamoto（山本寛太郎）had changed his name to the stage name of Ken Ranmiya （KEN 蘭宮）, although I also placed an asterisk on my observation since I hadn't been 100% sure about how true that was; the name sounded awfully awkward. Well, as it turned out, if I had looked at the album cover with a bit more of a lens, I would have noticed that there was the name Ken Lang and 「蘭宮」can be pronounced as "ran-gu" and romanized into Lang. So, mystery solved.

Well, yesterday I provided an article for Yamamoto's "Jumping High Way", so I have decided to post something from the later part of his career when he and his friends keyboardist Yasuyuki Honda（本田恭之）and engineer/sound designer Tsuyoshi Inoue（井上剛）got together to form OPCELL in 1995. I'd done pretty much the same thing after posting a Yamamoto song last year when I put up the first OPCELL song onto the blog, "Hikari kara no Travel"（光からのトラベル）from their self-titled album.

"Hikari kara no Travel" is quite the dreamy track, almost taking things into synthpop although I left it as simply pop but this track, "Kanashimi wa Honesty" (Sadness is Honesty), sounds like something from Yamamoto's old days in the late 1970s and early 1980s but given that 1990s arrangement in terms of the keyboards and percussion. It's quite the car-friendly bouncy tune but still with some of that dreamy haze that was also in "Hikara kara no Travel".

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.

Yoko Nakamura -- Teenage Soldier（ティーンエイジ・ソルジャー）

 

Usually when I hear the term "teenage soldier", I get some ominous images such as Kurt Russell's "Soldier" from 1998. 

However, I get much more of a benign impression with Yoko Nakamura's（中村容子）debut single "Teenage Soldier" which saw the light of day in March 1984. Her high tones and appearance had me musing an 80s version of Kohmi Hirose（広瀬香美）although of course, her voice doesn't quite hit the same level of stratosphere although her delivery is slightly similar. The song was written by Jun Hashimoto（橋本淳）who also acted as her mentor, composed by singer-songwriter Kantaro Yamamoto（山本寛太郎）and arranged by the prolific Motoki Funayama（船山基紀）.

Raised in Saitama Prefecture, she got into show business when her then-boyfriend in junior high school had her photo published in a magazine which got her a number of offers to star in commercials. But Nakamura also became an actress and TV personality which lasted into the early 1990s, although her singing career lasted only four singles and one album up to the middle of 1985. She left show business in 1992.

OPCELL -- Hikari kara no Travel（光からのトラベル）

 

Yesterday during the usual Friday Urban Contemporary stuff on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", I introduced singer-songwriter Kantaro Yamamoto（山本寛太郎）who had his own solo career from the late 1970s into the early 1980s.

Well, he took a hiatus for several years, but then into the 1990s, he formed the pop group OPCELL which brought in keyboardist Yasuyuki Honda（本田恭之）and engineer/sound designer Tsuyoshi Inoue（井上剛）. Yamamoto himself changed his name to Ken Ranmiya*（KEN 蘭宮）for the purposes of the band, and in January 1995, OPCELL released their one and only self-titled album. According to the J-Wiki writeup for the group, they were known for their nostalgic but fresh sound.

Tower Records noted that the cover for "OPCELL" was illustrated by the Hiroshi Nagai（永井博）and that the album was a City Pop release. I've listened to a few of the tracks thus far but I don't think that I can agree on that point. If anything, the band gets closer to a Being sound of the 1990s along the lines of DEEN with some added unique sounds by Inoue. The opening track, "Hikari kara no Travel" (Travel from the Light), in fact, strikes me as being in the realm of dream pop or indies. But no complaints here; the album does stand out considering the time of the decade in which Tetsuya Komuro（小室哲哉）was dominating the period with his music and cadre of stars.

Following the OPCELL project, keyboardist Honda became part of the band face to ace. I'm not sure what became of Inoue although at the time of the production of "OPCELL", he was working as a recording engineer in New York City. Meanwhile, Yamamoto/Ranmiya is currently living in his native Shizuoka Prefecture where he runs a fishing lure company...and it's apparently called OPCELL (or Clinch Lure). Personally, I kinda thought that the name would have fit the name of Tom Clancy's latest Special Forces team.

*Not 100% sure of the pronunciation of the name. Also, OPCELL did put up their own YouTube channel a few years ago.

August 25th 2024: Ahh....that asterisked name mystery is solved.

Kantaro Yamamoto -- Silver Sweet Heart（シルバー･スイート･ハート）

 

Kantaro Yamamoto（山本寛太郎）is a singer-songwriter who was active from the late 1970s into the early 1980s, hailing from Shizuoka Prefecture. He already has one entry in "Kayo Kyoku Plus" but only as a composer for THE GOOD-BYE's 1983 hit "Kimagure One-Way Boy"（気まぐれOne Way Boy）. 

However, as mentioned above, he also did his share of singing and up to 1982, he released 7 singles and 1 album. Yamamoto's 3rd single was the comfy "Silver Sweet Heart" released in 1979. Written and composed by the singer with Kazuo Shiina（椎名和夫）arranging the song, I had wondered whether this would actually come under the City Pop banner although I certainly labeled it as New Music. It's also got some classy bossa nova, and then I figured if I could do the same thing for similarly Latin-tinged songs such as Junko Yagami's（八神純子）"Omoide no Screen" (思い出のスクリーン）and Keiko Maruyama's（丸山圭子）"Douzo Kono Mama" (どうぞこのまま）, well, I can also give the City Pop tag to the caipirinha-friendly "Silver Sweet Heart". By the way, I have to point out that Yamamoto has got quite the handsome visage along the lines of Akira Fuse（布施明）. Yamamoto's voice isn't a boomer though...more of a soothing croon.

Yamamoto seemed to be dormant for several years away from the music industry but then started up a band called OPCELL with two other people in 1995. I'll have to talk about that band shortly.

THE GOOD-BYE -- Kimagure One-Way Boy（気まぐれOne Way Boy）

Ah, the Tanokin Trio（たのきんトリオ）, my first instance of seeing a Johnny's Entertainment conglomeration in action on the screen. Everyone knows about Matchy and Toshi-chan but there was the third member who I always thought was the quietest and frankly reminded me of WHAM!'s Andrew Ridgely in terms of profile. That would be Yoshio Nomura（野村義男）...the "no" of the Tanokin Trio who could handle the guitar, and it was the way that I always saw the fellow over the decades. He has always had that disarming Jackie Chan smile but never heard all that much from him, relatively speaking.

I was browsing through one of my ancient "Young Song" booklets, which was the inserted songbook in every issue of the pop music magazine "Myojo"（明星）, when I came across the page for THE GOOD-BYE. This was the rock band with Yotchan (Nomura's nickname) that was formed in 1983. And I figured that if Matchy and Toshi-chan can get their day in the sun on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", well, then Yotchan has to have his due here as well.

At first glance, I was a bit surprised that the J-Wiki article on THE GOOD-BYE didn't categorize it as a Johnny's band but then I found out that Yotchan wasn't the leader but a fellow by the name of Yasuhisa "Yacchin" Soga（曽我泰久）who became the other guitarist and co-vocalist. The other two members were Hachiro "Hachi" Kaga（加賀八郎）and Koichi "Ko-chan" Eto（衛藤浩一）. That same article mentioned that the band was supposed to have been just the backup for Yotchan's debut with the official name being Yotchan Band and then Yotchan & The Good-Bye before settling into its final form. Not sure how Yotchan must have felt with this lessening of his responsibilities.

Their first single came out in September 1983. Called "Kimagure One-Way Boy" (Moody One-Way Boy), I think one YouTube commenter hit it on the head when he remarked that the urgent intro sounded exactly like Frank Stallone's "Far From Over" from that "Saturday Night Fever" sequel. Ah, there was a fair bit of melody lifting at the time. However, the rest of the song by Kantaro Yamamoto（山本寛太郎）has that typical Japanese rock-n-roll beat from the early 80s trying to emulate the feel of the 1950s. Jun Hashimoto（橋本淳）took care of the lyrics about a James Dean type perhaps making his way into an early grave through all of his carousing. There's even a lyrical homage to the Beatles via "twist and shout" and those "Happy Days" tropes of the backseat and double dates. It's a wonder that the Fonz wasn't given a shoutout. Although the band would gradually have both Yotchan and Yacchin singing together, since this particular song was the debut, I think it's just Yotchan here, and to be honest, he doesn't sound too bad when compared to his old trio mates.

THE GOOD-BYE would release a total of 15 singles and 9 albums until they called it a day in 1990. However, the band did get back together in 2003 and has been touring around since then although no new material has come out.