J-Canuck's Favourite Duets

 

I figure that with the Holidays now in full swing in Japan, folks may be having their share of parties including those that occur at the karaoke boxes and bars of the nation. Maybe franchises such as Big Echo are doing volume business this week which may be quite long for people...perhaps as long as a week (yeah, I'm being a little sarcastic there). Of course, depending on the size and the average age of the group along with the type of songs that they tend to sing, there will be the duets to tackle. 

Perhaps for the younger generation, that doesn't happen so often, since a lot of those duets occur in the enka and Mood Kayo genres. Plus, there is the matter of harmonizing which isn't all that easy. Not being a particularly great singer in my karaoke days in Japan, I don't think I ever dared ask any lady for a duet. However, listening to those duets on the stereo and now on YouTube is more my speed. Here are some of my favourites.

(1959) Frank Nagai and Kazuko Matsuo -- Tokyo Nightclub （東京ナイトクラブ）

(1982) Hiroshi Itsuki and Nana Kinomi -- Izakaya （居酒屋）

(1982) Takao Kisugi and Kaori Momoi -- Nejireta Heart de (ねじれたハートで）

(1984) Sachiko Kobayashi & Katsuhiko Miki -- Moshikashite Part 2 （もしかして・パート２）

(1994) Masayuki Suzuki & Momoko Kikuchi -- Shibuya de Go-ji (渋谷で5時）

Kaori Momoi -- Make Ni-juu-san Byou（メイク23秒）

 

Actress Kaori Momoi（桃井かおり）isn't known too much for her time behind the microphone in the recording booth, but up to now, she has had four entries here on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", including her duet with singer-songwriter Takao Kisugi（来生たかお）for their ballad "Nejireta Heart de" (ねじれたハートで）from 1982.

Well, earlier in August 1981, Momoi self-produced her own single titled "Make Ni-juu-san Byou" (Make-Up in 23 Seconds) with the help of lyricist Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子）and composer Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）. A saucy pop number which kinda reflects the nature of the actress herself, Momoi sultrily sings about a lady who can keep her youthful looks day after day with some of those wonderful Shiseido products even with the demands of a paramour. And yep, if this does sound like the premise for a commercial, that's because "Make Ni-juu-san Byou" was used in a Shiseido ad...with special guest R2-D2! Of course, the average droid knows where it's at!

Kaori Momoi -- Sparking Head

 

Gotta say when actress/singer Kaori Momoi（桃井かおり）shows up in a commercial or on an album cover, she makes a presence. Even with my poorly-taken photo of her in an "Eye-Ai" article, she does have that certain je ne said quoi. I don't know whether she has ever appeared on the Kohaku Utagassen as a performer (I believe that she has appeared as a judge), but I think that she would have garnered quite some attention. If it's good, then she'll thank folks, if it's not, she probably wouldn't care and then she would go for a cigarette.

https://music.apple.com/jp/album/show/1536987196

(excerpt only)

I think the first time I wrote about Momoi on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" was through her shibui duet with singer-songwriter Takao Kisugi（来生たかお）, "Nejireta Heart de" (ねじれたハートで）which was released as a single in July 1982. Well, in November of that year, she also released her 10th album "SHOW?" which also contained that single. 

Kisugi, in fact, composed all of the songs on the album, and his sister Etsuko Kisugi（来生えつこ）wrote the first song on Side B of the LP, "Sparking Head" with Kei Wakakusa（若草恵）handling arrangements. Not sure what the sparking head is all about, but in terms of Takao's melody, it kinda wavers between City Pop and pop by my reckoning, and there is that wailing electric guitar that I always appreciate in a Japanese urban contemporary tune. The Discogs page for "SHOW?" doesn't specify but the guitarist could have been Fujimaru Yoshino（芳野藤丸）, Tsuyoshi Kon（今剛）or Toru Aoyama. I should also mention that I also like the piano with its funky City Pop rhythms.

Might I also point out that album cover? It's also so 80s and so Momoi.

Kaori Momoi -- Julia ni Heartbreak（ジュリアに傷心）

Well, I knew that Checkers'（チェッカーズ）songs were huge favourites at my old karaoke bar of Kuri in Yorkville back in my university days, but little did I know that one of them "Julia ni Heartbreak"  has been officially covered at least four times since the 1990s.

According to J-Wiki, the earliest cover was by actress/singer Kaori Momoi（桃井かおり）through her 1993 album "More Standard". Momoi has made herself immortal through her force of personality via movies, TV and commercials for the past few decades, and she just has this way about her in terms of her voice, facial expressions and stance. Therefore, it's not surprising that Momoi decided to go with a sultry Latin style demanding classy tango attention in her take on the original 50's rock-and-roll version of "Julia ni Heartbreak", created by Masao Urino and Hiroaki Serizawa（売野雅勇・芹沢廣明）for Checkers back in 1984.

However, my image of Momoi just stretching out on the chaise lounge and holding court won't do for this song. The revised picture is of her in a red silk dress on a small stage in a smoky old-fashioned nightclub while lovingly caressing an ancient microphone and singing this one complete with tender vocal breaks representing the heart rending after a failed romance. Of course, the bartenders are quietly shaking up their cocktails as a beautiful couple are tripping the light fantastic on the floor.

Kaori Momoi/Ichiro Araki -- Bye-Bye Lullaby (バイバイ子守唄)

Yesterday I went out with my movie buddies to catch the live-action version of "Ghost In The Shell" starring Scarlett Johansson down at the Scotiabank Theatre. Now I fully realize that live-action adaptations of anime have been horrible...the best I've been able to say about the one or two I have seen is that the visuals were fine. And I think that's also the case with this movie: visuals were fine while the execution was kinda OK/kinda meh. Still good try for all involved...I did like that gigantic version of Hong Kong.

Along with Beat Takeshi and Rila Fukushima, the other Japanese thespian in the movie in a small but pivotal role was the divine Kaori Momoi（桃井かおり）. My image of her on TV all these years has been that of the force-of-nature lady overflowing with ennui and charisma...if you can imagine a combination of Bette Midler and Greta Garbo. She seems to not so much speak with people than she does hold court with them. Her role in "Ghost In The Shell" in contrast was a lot more down-to-earth...as much as it could be in such a sci-fi movie.

Early in the blog's history, I wrote about one 1982 song that she performed with singer-songwriter Takao Kisugi（来生たかお）, "Nejireta Heart de"（ねじれたハートで）which played to her strengths...that of the seen-this-done-that diva residing in a chic nightclub. Even earlier than that, though, I came across another single she released in January 1981 titled "Bye-Bye Lullaby".

It was the opening theme song for a Momoi TV drama back then called "Downtown Monogatari" (ダウンタウン物語...Downtown Story) in which the actress portrayed a lounge singer/hostess of a bar in Yokohama who falls in love with a priest of a nearby church which has fallen on hard times. "Bye-Bye Lullaby", not surprisingly, has that feeling of a gospel hymn along the lines of "When The Saints Go Marchin' In" providing those uplifting notes. However the delivery is pure laidback and sultry Momoi.

The song was written and composed by actor-singer Ichiro Araki（荒木一郎）who provided his own cover of "Bye-Bye Lullaby" with a slightly more contemporary kick in 1983 for his album "Scene Phonic". Considering that I have already covered him in the blog through his "Kimi ni Sasageru Horonigai Blues" （君に捧げるほろ苦いブルース）, I'm starting to see that he had quite an interesting approach to his music. Perhaps he could have been labeled as one of those New Musicians along with Yuming (ユーミン) and Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）back in the 1970s.

Takao Kisugi and Kaori Momoi -- Nejireta Heart de (ねじれたハートで）

It's another Saturday night in Tokyo. If you're alone and got that feeling of ennui, head on over to that hotel-top bar in Akasaka or Ginza, order a couple of fingers of whiskey on the rocks, and contemplate the meaning of la vie. And listen to this song over the speakers while the bartender is shaking up a cocktail.

Tis another classy romantic ballad by Takao Kisugi（来生たかお）. But this time, the crooner extraordinaire is joined by actress Kaori Momoi（桃井かおり）. Momoi was featured in the Hollywood film, "Memoirs of a Geisha" back in 2005 as Okaasan, the tough-as-nails proprietress of a geisha house. In Japan, she's also a frank-talking TV personality and commercial pitchperson with a flair for style and the aforementioned ennui. Sometimes, I've seen her on the small screen in a hairstyle of a short bob which has made me wonder if the lady is the reincarnation of Louise Brooks.

"Nejireta Heart de"(With a Wrenched Heart) was released as Momoi's 12th single. It just seemed to be the right song for her to sing with Kisugi. Coming out in July 1982, it was once again created by Kisugi and his sister, Etsuko（えつこ）, and went as high as No. 13 on the Oricon charts.

Kisugi & Momoi -- Nejireta Heart de