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.
It was on New Year's Eve last year that I introduced the mysterious You Ishihara（石原祐）, a singer that I couldn't really find a lot of information about, although commenter Brian Mitchell sent me some of what he had gleaned.
Well, the article that I posted was on her 1978 single"Hakka Tabako"（薄荷煙草）. Today, it's time for the B-side, "Yaburekabure" which has quite the amusing pronunciation...something akin to "topsy-turvy" or "abracadabra". However, its meaning is "desperation" although the melody by Katsuo Ono（大野克夫）sounds anything but. I'd say that for a desperate individual, "Yaburekabure" is surprisingly quite upbeat and happy-go-lucky especially with those silky strings coming in. Legendary lyricist Yu Aku（阿久悠）was the one behind the words.
Happy New Year's Eve! Perhaps some of you are getting ready for the biggest party of the year at homes or hotels. Hopefully, you'll have a find time tonight as the countdown progresses towards the end of 2025.
I have a bit of a mystery here. There's barely anything on this singer named You Ishihara（石原祐）who has been referred to as the "Female Julie"; basically she was seen as the woman version of Kenji "Julie" Sawada（沢田研二）, the flamboyant artist who was once the lead singer for the Group Sounds band The Tigers. And that's basically the only thing I could glean from a brief blurb on the Takechas website.
The only other thing there was that the famed songwriters, lyricist Yu Aku（阿久悠）and composer Katsuo Ono（大野克夫）who had also created magic for the real Julie, including "Casablanca Dandy"（カサブランカ・ダンディ）, was also the duo behind Ishihara's possibly one-and-only 1978 single"Hakka Tabako" (Hakka Cigarettes). Quite the downtown kayo kyoku with the spirited strings and guitar in addition to the nice and sharp horns, although Ishihara doesn't look anything like Sawada (she kinda looks as if she had graduated from the Takarazuka Academy), the comparison is probably more with the plaintive balladeer-like vocal style that Sawada possesses. To be honest, I can also compare her to similarly husky-voiced Momoe Yamaguchi（山口百恵）. Not sure whatever became of her.
In the first second or so of this song by Naomi Kawashima（川島なお美）, I was getting some vibes from WHAM!'s"Last Christmas", but the interesting thing is that "Thrill Me" had become known to Japanese audiences in February 1984, some ten months before "Last Christmas" made its premiere.
My aural delusions aside, "Thrill Me", which was the B-side to Kawashima's 7th single"Namida ~ Copacabana"（涙・コパカバーナ）, quickly shows off that familiar City Pop descending chord progression before things go into a hazy pop/Resort Pop atmosphere. With a title like "Thrill Me", I'd been expecting something like that samba-infused A-side, but it's actually all very relaxing. Masao Urino（売野雅勇）was the lyricist while Katsuo Ono（大野克夫）took care of the melody. Also, from what I've read of the lineup of musicians in the recording booth according to the writeup on YouTube under the video, it was quite the star-studded affair with Etsuko Yamakawa（山川恵津子）on keyboards, Makoto Matsushita（松下誠）on guitar and backup vocals, and even Hiroshi Narumi（鳴海寛）helping on backup vocals as well (among other big names). So, Tohoku Shinkansen（東北新幹線）was in the house!
Admittedly, this is a bizarre reference to start things off for this song by Kenji Sawada（沢田研二）, but I remember watching the anime "Seton Academy" in which Neku the giraffe acts like the arrogant cad and suddenly drops his romantic mate like a overly heavy sack of potatoes; sorry, once is enough for him...time to move onto fresher adventures. Of course, his now erstwhile partner doesn't take it too well.
From what I've heard of Yu Aku's（阿久悠）lyrics on Julie's September 1977 21st single, "Nikumi Kirenai Rokudenashi"(A Bastard's That's Hard to Hate), that's what happening here as well. Sawada is singing about a cad who goes through his women like he probably goes through his cigarettes. But according to the title, he's got enough charm to keep them coming back. Motoki Funayama's（船山基紀）arrangement of Katsuo Ono's（大野克夫）melody, which includes a clever background chorus that sounds like train whistles off in the distance, is something that I swear that I've heard before on one of the music shows or retrospectives. Considering how proud it sounds, the rokudenashi is thoroughly enjoying his love 'em-and-leave' em lifestyle.
"Nikumi Kirenai Rokudenashi" made it to No. 3 on Oricon and not only became the 24th-ranked single for 1977, but it also hung around for another year to become the 63rd-ranked single for 1978 as well. It can also be found on Sawada's November 1977 10th album"Omoikiri Kiza na Jinsei"（思いきり気障な人生...A Completely Disturbing Life） which hit No. 1 and ended up as the No. 5 album of the year.
One reason that I put up the song is that this had been the No. 3 single on the September 19th 1977 Oricon chart which was referenced in the previous ROY article, but didn't include because I hadn't written about it yet. Just didn't want the opportunity to pass. As well, the song was released several months after Sawada's big hit "Katte ni Shiyagare" （勝手にしやがれ）which had been created by the same trio of songwriters.
The last several months have had entertainer Kenji Sawada（沢田研二）only show up in ROY articles. In fact, I have to go back to July 2022 when Julie had his name on the byline via "Namida to Hohoemi"（涙と微笑み）.
Well, let's return to his 1970s heyday, shall we? This is his 18th single,"Sayonara wo Iu Ki mo nai"(Don't Feel Like Saying Goodbye), from February 1977 and it's an interesting one for me since I've been accustomed to Sawada singing really upbeat pop, New Wave or rock. Mind you, it's not the first time that I've heard a song by Julie that's a little more measured and/or melancholy but it's still not a typical thing for me.
"Sayonara wo Iu Ki mo nai" had some big names helping out in its creation with Yu Aku（阿久悠） as the lyricist, Katsuo Ono（大野克夫）behind the melody and Motoki Funayama（船山基紀）taking care of the arrangement. It really sounds like one of his most kayo kyoku tunes in his discography although that distinctive voice of his is right in there describing a lady going through some rough times, especially in the romance department. Those strings and the main rhythm really lead the ears like the Pied Piper of Hamelin. "Sayonara wo Iu Ki mo nai" hit No. 8 on Oricon and ended up as the 62nd-ranked single of 1977.
Having a passing interest in architecture especially for buildings that have that futuristic tinge, I was quite elated to get this shot of Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower in Shinjuku. I never had any particular need to enter the above ground floors but I did access the basement ones where a bookstore resides. Access was possible through the covered passage leading from Shinjuku Station's West Exit to the hotel-and-skyscraper area.
Anyways, I want to introduce a new person into "Kayo Kyoku Plus". Her name is Kaho Shimada（島田歌穂）and she's a singer and a musical theatre actress. I can't quite remember whether she's appeared on "Uta Con"（うたコン）since its beginnings several years ago but I remember that she used to appear fairly often on the show's predecessor "Kayo Concert"（歌謡コンサート）on NHK with her golden tones.
As an example, I can offer her "Rosey" from her 2nd album"Distractions" which was released in February 1990. Written and composed by Takashi Tsushimi（都志見隆）, it's a pretty stylish pop love ballad about realizing too late that a love has now gotten away. It's a sad song to be sure but the arrangement and Shimada's rich and resonant vocals can bring fans back for repeat listenings. Many singles and albums of hers have come out between 1981 and 2019. Shimada's most famous role on stage is that of Eponine in the Tokyo production of "Les Misérables".
Born Kaho Shima（島歌穂）in 1963 in Tokyo, the future entertainer grew up in the midst of a musical family. Her father, Takaho Shimada（島田敬穂）, was a musician who trained one of the Anison Kings, Isao Sasaki（ささきいさお）, while her mother, Reiko Tsukubane（筑波嶺玲子）, was a jazz singer who emerged from the famed Takarazuka Troupe. Teenaged Kaho had a recurring role in a tokusatsu comedy series "Ganbare!! Robocon"（がんばれ!!ロボコン...Do Your Best!! Robocon） through the mid-1970s and then made her debut as an aidoru in April 1981 with her first single"Manga-tique Romance", a 70s funk/disco-sounding tune written by Fumiko Okada（岡田有希子）and composed/arranged by Katsuo Ono（大野克夫）.
Perhaps one reason that I haven't seen Shimada recently on an NHK program (she did appear on the Kohaku Utagassen in 1988 and 1989) is that she may be very busy as an assistant professor of drama at the Osaka University of Arts.
Well, welcome to September 2023! In tribute to the entry of the 9th month, I had considered just putting up my three favourite September-themed tunes onto "Kayo Kyoku Plus", but I would have been repeating myself since I had already done so with a larger number of songs a couple of years ago. So, why don't you have a look at my "September Songs" from 2021 instead?
Usually this being Friday, I would be going into the Urban Contemporary category with the songs today, but I've figured to begin with this number because it has something to do with September and it's been in the backlog for some months, ready to get its debut on the blog. And of course, since I'm a big Ruiko Kurahashi（倉橋ルイ子）fan, I have to give her my due.
"Ku-gatsu no Mado" (September Window) is a track from Kurahashi's June 1981 debut album, "Without Sugar". The album is something that I've cherished since getting it from a fellow Mixi friend years ago, knowing that it has been one of the rarest of the rare to get. True to Kurahashi's style, "Ku-gatsu no Mado" has that delicate Fashion Music style (although the chorus gets a little jumpy) and I can easily imagine the singer herself in a melancholy mood in a Parisian café as she breathes some condensation on the window as it's raining outside. Katsuo Ono（小野克夫）was responsible for the gently lilting melody while Fumiko Okada（岡田富美子）wrote the lyrics about the coming fall, a season in kayo kyoku land known for the end of romance.
One of the themes that I've been seeing among kayo kyoku ever since I started this blog 10 years ago is the one where depressing lyrics have been underpinned by some of the most cheerful melodies. I've come across yet another example.
If I hadn't gained any knowledge of Japanese but still fell in love with kayo kyoku, I would have thought that judging from the happy-go-lucky melody, Hiromi Iwasaki's（岩崎宏美）April 1977 9th single, "Hiren Hakusho" (Heartbreak Story), was a song involving a lass merrily picking daisies and tra-la-la-ing down the garden path. But as the translation of that title shows, Yu Aku's（阿久悠）lyrics talk of a young lady who has just been dumped by her now erstwhile boyfriend for another woman. She's not too subtle about her woe-is-me situation either.
The cheerful music was provided by Katsuo Ono（大野克夫）, the famed composer who has been known more for his cool-and-tough stuff such as the theme songs for the "Taiyo ni Hoero"（太陽にほえろ）cop show in the 1970s and the long-running "Meitantei Conan"（名探偵コナン...Detective Conan）anime series. Ono also worked on a number of Kenji Sawada（沢田研二）tunes such as his hit "Katte ni Shiyagare"（勝手にしやがれ）which came out about a month following Iwasaki's "Hiren Hakusho". The songwriting is also notable in that it was the first time in Iwasaki's young career that composer Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）hadn't been involved at all.
"Hiren Hakusho" was another Top 10 hit for the singer, placing in at No. 8, and it ended the year as the 80th-ranked single. Iwasaki also got invited onto the Kohaku Utagassen for the third time at the end of 1977 for this song. According to J-Wiki (although there is no source listed for this information) she had actually been supposed to sing her even more acclaimed hit "Shishuuki"（思秋期）but the complexity in adapting it for her time on the New Year's Eve program made the powers-that-be ask her to sing "Hiren Hakusho" instead. By the way, the song was also included on her 4th original album"With Best Friends"（ウィズ・ベスト・フレンズ）which came out in May 1977 with a No. 7 ranking on the Oricon weeklies.
Watching the above footage of her perform deceptively cheerful "Hiren Hakusho" , I realized that all of my viewings of Iwasaki on the special when I was but a (not-so-) wee lad were not just her 80s appearances but also ones where she was singing some of those moodier and more mature songs. She did sing those happy-go-lucky ones, after all.
One other observation is the whole thing about "hakusho"（白書）. I've seen the term used for other pop songs and as parts of titles for television dramas. On Jisho.org, the translation for "hakusho" is "white paper" as in a government report. However, I could hardly imagine the young woman in "Hiren Hakusho" sadly typing up her heartbreak in legalese and in triplicate with her signature and that of a witness. Therefore, I gather that "hakusho" is probably more of a story to be told to friends or even a diary entry.
Living here in the Great White North and unfortunately never having set foot in the Southern Hemisphere, when I hear the word Copacabana, my first thought will always go to the famous disco song by Barry Manilow that has been covered through the Reminiscings of Youth series. It doesn't surprise me that there would be Japanese songs which have been created with that famous beach in Brazil in mind. After all, Hiromi Go（郷ひろみ）had a hit with his Japanese-language cover of Bertie Higgins'"Casablanca" back in 1982 which in itself was probably inspired by the famous city in Morocco and the classic movie. The Japanese have often showed their pride within their own country through their go-touchi songs, but they have shown fascination and curiosity for other nations.
I think that the last time that the late actress/singer Naomi Kawashima（川島なお美）was up here on KKP was in 2016, so it's good to have her back with "Namida ~ Copacabana"(Tears in Copacabana). Her 7th single from February 1984, it has that dramatic City Pop arrangement thanks to Akira Inoue（井上鑑）based on Katsuo Ono's（大野克夫）melody which brings in some of that samba taste, too. Masao Urino（売野雅勇）provided the lyrics about a woman attending a former flame's wedding in Rio and having all those mixed feelings.
One thing that I've noticed, and it isn't just because I have been a persnickety English conversation teacher, is that Kawashima was pronouncing that ample amount of English as naturally as possible. Good work on those consonant clusters, especially.
In any case, "Namida ~ Copacabana" only hit No. 90 on Oricon and made its first appearance on an album via Kawashima's 4th release"MI-RAI-JING"（未・来・人...The Futurist）; no idea why that final [g] is on the English title but that's what it shows on the album cover. According to J-Wiki, there has yet to be any re-release of the original album on LP or CD although an MP3 can be bought at Amazon. Of course, there is the auction route if any of the original owners ever decided to give up their copies.
Ah, yes...that tender scene of a dimly-lit but expensive bar in Tokyo with the mixologist in full dress as he expertly creates a concoction just for that lonely woman unto herself.
That's definitely the image that I get in my head as I listen to Feifei Ouyang's（欧陽菲菲）"Odorasete"(Let Me Dance), a stylish if slightly woozy song of class from her September 1984 album"Both Sides ~ Wasurete Ii no"（忘れていいの...It's OK to Forget）. Composer Katsuo Ono（大野克夫）has certainly come up with some funky and jazzy tunes such as the theme song for "Meitantei Conan"（名探偵コナン）but he can also create the more tenderhearted ballads as well, and "Odorasete" is definitely in the latter category.
With Ouyang languidly interpreting Yukinojo Mori's（森雪之丞）lyrics, there is that sub-genre that I've mentioned here and there called Fashion Music, and so I guess, the singer can join others such as Ruiko Kurahashi（倉橋ルイ子）and Mieko Nishijima（西島三重子）on the chaise lounge. It would be a good fit, too, since both Ouyang and Kurahashi have sung their versions of the karaoke classic "Love Is Over", and I've noticed that composer Ono has provided the latter with plenty of songs in the 1980s as well. Personally, I wouldn't mind listening to "Odorasete" while I sip back a Bailey's Irish Cream.
Continuing on from Friday's article in which I noted the passing of actor Kunie Tanaka（田中邦衛）on March 24th this year, I found out that Tanaka had released a couple of singles in 1971 and 1980 (though J-Wiki states the latter single came out in 1981).
The latter one is "Sammy Bow", and that romanization of the title is a pure guess on my part. I really don't know about who the title character is outside of the revelation through Yu Aku's（阿久悠）lyrics that he is the son of the protagonist and he was born in a port town. Perhaps it's a tribute to the scion in the same way that the old chestnut "Danny Boy" is.
I punched in the original katakana for "Sammy Bow" in Yahoo Japan, and I certainly got a hit which led me to the J-Wiki article for Sammy Baugh (March 17, 1914 – December 17, 2008) who played for the Washington Redskins in the National Football League. Not really sure if Tanaka's ballad and Baugh really have a connection.
Perhaps Tanaka's vocals weren't the most polished but their cracking and crackling qualities helped the image of a father's heartfelt feelings toward his son within a country melody composed by Katsuo Ono（大野克夫）and arranged by Takayuki Inoue（井上堯之）. A year after the release of "Sammy Bow", the heartwarming family drama "Kita no Kuni kara"（北の国から）starring Tanaka also came onto the small screen so an emotional connection can be made there.
The above video might have a few of Tanaka's fans getting a little misty-eyed at this time because it shows a 1980 Budokan concert celebrating the 20th anniversary of Yuzo Kayama's（加山雄三）career. Kayama and Tanaka were the rivals in the "Wakadaisho"（若大将）film series in the 1960s, and Kayama had his old co-star come onto the stage to sing "Sammy Bow". Kayama graciously pointed out that without Tanaka, there probably wouldn't have been any Kayama in show business.
My first article (relatively recently in March 2019) on City Pop/J-R&B singer Yumi Murata（村田有美）was for "Krishna"（クリシュナ）released in 1980. Impression-wise, I thought that here was another singer who's been criminally under the radar with her voice and surrounding arrangements.
Since then, I've come up with at least a couple of more articles on her, but this one covers one of her earliest numbers. "Ranhansha" (Diffuse Reflection...yes, I know; it sounds better in Japanese) is actually the B-side to what I think is her debut single"Mr. Romance"（Mr.ロマンス）from 1979. From what I've heard so far of Murata, there's been that line straddled between City Pop and straight-on American R&B but with "Ranhansha", I think it's solidly within the former with that bass and keyboard work (dang fine sax, too). I just imagine Tokyo instead of Tokyo and Los Angeles.
"Ranhansha" was composed by Katsuo Ono（大野克夫）, a fellow who knows a bit about the funky side of kayo kyoku as seen in his creation of the theme song for the iconic TV cop series "Taiyo ni Hoero"（太陽にほえろ）. The lyrics were provided by Yu Aku（阿久悠）which surprised me a little since I'd always known him for writing more for the aidoru and more traditional kayo genres, but then again, he did write a song for New Wave/rock band Sheena & The Rokkets as you can see in the Creator article for the man.
Not sure how it ever did on Oricon, but "Ranhansha" also made it onto Murata's debut album"Yumi Murata First" also from 1979.
When I first heard the name of this song "The Sunshine Boys", my mind warped back in time to that 1975 Hollywood comedy with the same title starring Walter Matthau and George Burns as a bickering comedy act.
Methinks that Megumi Kawashima's（川島恵）2nd single"The Sunshine Boys" from May 1982 was probably not inspired by the movie unless lyricist Yu Aku（阿久悠）and composer Katsuo Ono（大野克夫）were big fans of the movie. The song doesn't have any hint of conflict in there; instead it's one of the more cheerier 80s aidoru numbers that I've heard recently with plenty of summer sun in the arrangement by Motoki Funayama（船山基紀）. I also think that some of the nature of "The Sunshine Boys" also comes from that sense of West Coast AOR in there.
Kawashima may have been one of the dozens or hundreds of aidoru that came and went in the 1980s but I think her voice rather stands out in a clear-as-a-bell way. A native of Aichi Prefecture born in 1965, she appeared on a local talent TV show and that was where her desire to become a singer was first sparked and once she graduated from junior high school, she made her way to Tokyo. From early 1981, she became a member of The Sundays, the supporting group of teens on the long-running NHK music show "Let's Go Young" (I'm assuming that is indeed the spelling for the group instead of The Sundaes since the program was broadcast on Sunday), and then in February 1982, she made her debut as an aidoru with "Mister Fushigi"（ミスター不思議...Mister Strange）.
Releasing 6 singles and 1 album"Sunshine Girl", most of which were released between 1982 and mid-1983, sometime in 1984, Kawashima went on the different path to head towards becoming an enka singer. Her penultimate single in 1987 was a Mood Kayo duet with singer/tarento Manzo Saita（さいたまんぞう）, "Tokyo Country Night"（東京カントリーナイト）. I took a listen to that one and will cover it fairly soon.
Knowing about singer and bon vivant Kenji Sawada（沢田研二）ever since I really got into Japanese popular music in the early 1980s, I have to admit that in all likelihood I've only scratched the surface of one of the most flamboyant kayo singers.
Luckily, commenter bon dropped by to give me some suggestions on the last article for Julie. One of his favourite by Sawada from the 1970s is "Koi wa Jamamono" (Love is a Pain). Released in March 1974 as his 9th single, this is a bouncy but perhaps-not-completely-happy number according to Kazumi Yasui's（安井かずみ）lyrics in which an arrogant young cad feels that his latest young conquest is a bit too clingy, and yet he just can't seem to get rid of her in his mind and perhaps his soul. Maybe a reckoning is coming for him finally.
The pop/rock melody is provided by Kunihiko Kase（加瀬邦彦）and performing the music behind Sawada is the Takayuki Inoue Band（井上堯之バンド）, the same group behind one of the most famous television themes in Japanese history, the theme for the cop show "Taiyo ni Hoero"（太陽にほえろ）.Katsuo Ono（大野克夫）, one of the members of that band, handled the arrangement. "Koi wa Jamamono" went all the way up to No. 4 on Oricon, and it became the 44th-ranked single for 1974.
While I was working on this article, I found out at one point that I couldn't import the videos for some reason. I was a bit worried that the YouTube masters weren't happy at me for some reason, but then when I checked Twitter, it looks everyone was finding out that the video service had gone down. Folks were kinda freaking out there. Thankfully, it was only out for about 15 minutes. Whew!😓
Caught this one on a recent episode of NHK's"Songs of Japanese Spirit" a few weeks back, and it turns out that "Jinchouge"(Winter Daphne) is a Sayuri Ishikawa（石川さゆり）song. It is actually the first time that I had ever heard of this plant so my horticultural vocabulary has also benefited from the experience.🌲
Released as a New Year's Day 1978 single, "Jinchouge" strikes me as a sweeping romantic enka with some Mood Kayo elements in there as Ishikawa pines away for that lost lover. I gather that since her breakthrough hit of "Tsugaru Kaikyo Fuyu Geshiki"（津軽海峡冬景色）in 1977, she may have been seen as the go-to chanteuse for traveling ballads of heartbreak. "Jinchouge" has that feeling for me, and it's that arrangement pattern which brought me over to enka and Mood Kayo in the first place. I simply love those strings and the mournful chorus.
"Jinchouge" reached No. 19 on the Oricon weeklies and it ended up as the 93rd-ranked single for 1978. Written by Ryo Shoji（東海林良）, the composer was none other than Katsuo Ono（大野克夫）, the fellow behind the karaokeMood Kayo classic "Izakaya"（居酒屋）and also the famous theme song for "Detective Conan".
It's just a feeling with me and probably not accurate at all but when I think of Kenji Sawada（沢田研二）during the 1970s before he went all Glam Rock and New Wave, I think of him as being the sincere pop and rock balladeer most likely because of "Kiken na Futari"（危険なふたり）from 1973. Of course, he performed happy and uptempo tunes like "O-mae ni Check-in"（おまえにチェックイン）but I thought that was more from his 1980s persona.
But indeed, from his 10th original album from November 1977, "Omoikiri Kiza na Jinsei"（思いきりな気障な人生...A Life of Discomfort）, there is the track "Rum-shuu Iri no Orange" (Rum-Filled Orange) which is this happy and uptempo tune with an interesting mix of tropical and rockabilly. Composed by Katsuo Ono（大野克夫）and written by Yu Aku（阿久悠）, the orange here isn't a source of some newfangled cocktail but actually the analogy of a rum-filled woman that some fellow is going to "peel", not to put too fine a point on it. The cad feels that he may pay some consequences for this liqueur-assisted seduction but what the heck. In any case, despite my words in the first paragraph, when I figured Aku's lyrics, I kinda thought that this was the sort of song that Julie would tackle.
"Omoikiri Kiza na Jinsei" hit No. 1 on the album charts and ended up as the No. 5 album for 1978.
I keep forgetting that composer Katsuo Ono was once a member of the famous Group Sounds band The Spiders so he probably had his time behind the mike as well (also he's the fellow behind some of the more exciting jazzy theme songs such as the one for "Conan"). And I think it's indeed him here singing a cover version of his own creation on his 1978 album"Windward Hill". This one is a lot more relaxed in the AOR fashion. This time, I think Ono is in a hammock drinking from a true rum-filled orange.
I guess Ruiko must've attended the Kentucky Derby one year.
Last night, I was given a kind invitation by a fellow named Mitchell to come aboard the City Pop Discord server, and so I dropped on in earlier this morning before I had to run my usual errands. Had a nice chat with some of the members there and with time permitting, I hope I can drop in again soon.
Even the initial talk was very beneficial since I found out during our banter online that a YouTuber by the name of City Pop Dave had uploaded the June 1981 debut album of Ruiko Kurahashi（倉橋ルイ子）, "Without Sugar". For those who have known the blog well enough and long enough, it's probably already internalized that I'm a huge fan of Kurahashi and have been for almost as long as I have been a kayo fan, and I was more than happy to attend her Minami-Aoyama concert years ago on a very rainy Friday night. New uploads of Kurahashi material onto YouTube are quite rare so it's doubly celebratory when something like "Without Sugar" is up.
City Pop Dave said in the YouTube description that he found "Without Sugar" at a record store in Toulouse, France. For me, I was able to get my copy of it thanks to my friendship with a fellow Ruiko fan over Mixi. He was just very impressed that there was indeed a Canadian east of the Rockies who was actually a fan of our mutual singing heroine.
If I were to describe Kurahashi and her music in a number of words, they would be: stylish, sophisticated, poignant, urbane, down-home and folksy. And even though "Without Sugar" was her first album, this album already showed all of these traits. I've already written on four of the eleven tracks, the old-fashioned standard of "Glass no Yesterday"（ガラスのYesterday）, the truly mellow "Never Fall In Love", the heartbreaking "Love Is Over" and the innocent "Uwasa...Still Love You"（噂...Still Love You）, so let's see if I can do a few more here.
Track 2 at 3:50 is "Asahi no Shizumu Toki"（朝日の沈むとき...When The Morning Sun Sets）, created by Fumiko Okada（岡田冨美子）and Kazuya Amikura（網倉一也）. It's a typical Ruiko ballad as it combines her soft and plaintive vocals with the sweeping arrangement of violins and keyboards.
Track 3 at 7:09 is "Twilight Cafe"（トワイライト・カフェ）. This one is interesting as it seems to meld the eternal couple banter of Maurice Chevalier & Hermione Gingold's"I Remember It Well" with a bossa-tinged City Pop/Parisian melody. Kurahashi's partner is none other than musician-composer Katsuo Ono（大野克夫）, who created those dynamic theme songs for shows like "Taiyo ni Hoero"（太陽にほえろ）. It's not my absolute favourite track but it does fit nicely around the premise of an older and very comfortable duo at a much-beloved coffee establishment. Machiko Ryu（竜真知子）provided the lyrics while Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）gave the sweet melody.
"Billy no Yasashii Yoru"（ビリーの優しい夜...Gentle Night for Billy）at 16:28 goes even more bossa and for me, this would be up there as one of my favourites because of how more whispery Ruiko's vocals become. They just glide silkily along with Akira Inoue's（井上鑑）arrangement. With the name in the title and the shoutouts to the Piano Man's hits in Ichizo Fukuda's（福田一三）lyrics, this is a tribute to Billy Joel. I love the guitar and sax solos and the way once again that the ballad combines bossa nova and that definitely made-in-Japan version of City Pop. When I hear it, I know that I have to be in that Shinjuku hotel-top bar.
My final song for this article is "Haru no Kareha"（春の枯葉）at 31:41 that fulfills the side of Kurahashi's discography involving that European feeling and Fashion Music. Those zippy strings and the jaunty beat can take listeners to Paris once more, and the final flourish by the instruments finish these on a definitively dramatic note. The same duo of Okada and Amikura behind Track 2 is also behind this one. The English subtitle is "Bye-Bye My Love" but the literal translation for the title is "The Falling Leaves of Spring" which, in a way, can also describe our professional hockey team (inside Toronto joke).
I've realized that Kurahashi's "Without Sugar" is plenty sweet on its own and it has a potpourri of other flavours, to boot. It's not just City Pop but it mixes in some other genres which illustrates how versatile she has been. Having said that, I will always love the creaminess of her vocals.
For my recent article on the Group Sounds band The Tempters, I added some information at the bottom, noting that Tempters vocalist and actor Kenichi Hagiwara（萩原健一）had passed away on March 26th 2019 at the age of 68.
If I'd had known about this song at the time of his death, I would have put it up onto the blog as soon as I could. "Shinkirou" (Mirage) was the opening track on Hagiwara's 3rd solo album"Nadja II ~ Otoko to Onna"（男と女...Men & Women）, the middle album of his "Nadja" series" from June 1978.
This is one cool song to me. After listening to it the first couple of times earlier this afternoon, I ended up humming a little bit of it over dinner tonight. There was no hesitation in deciding that I would put up a third article for tonight because of "Shinkirou". I love the 70s City Pop feel, thanks to the bluesy sax and that characteristic dreamy stardust-y keyboard which winds in and out of the song at points. Al Stewart's"Year of the Cat" has come to mind.
Composing it is Katsuo Ono（大野克夫）, the same fellow who came up with a couple of iconic themes for the cop show and anime genres. Along with Ryo Shoji's（東海林良）lyrics which seem to depict a lone wolf of sorts whistling a tune while looking down at the pedestrians below, I can imagine that "Shinkirou" would have made a fine theme tune itself for a done-it-all, seen-it-all private detective. There's even a part of me that thinks the detective has finally gone up to that run-down office in the sky and his ghost is now amiably viewing at all of the little mortals from a cloud somewhere, now released from all of his earthly concerns.
Whatever my analysis of "Shinkirou", this is still one good tune that I would be happy to lift up in tribute to Hagiwara like a tumbler of scotch on the rocks.
It's strange, isn't it? I've been seeing veteran tarento Ikue Sakakibara（榊原郁恵）for years on TV via commercials and variety/quiz shows as this shining presence, knowing that she had started out as one genki aidoru in the 1970s.
The thing is, though, I got hints from actually seeing Sakakibara included in my music bible of "Japanese City Pop"(!) and then learning that she did a technopop tune called "Robot"（ロボット）that she (or her manager) didn't just settle for the run-of-the-mill teenybopper material. Ikue-chan could do the cute aidoru stuff but still have some aspects of other genres flow in freely.
Case in point: "Fushigi ne" (Strange, Ain't It?), the title track from her 6th album released in January 1980, "C'est drole ~ Fushigi ne". It's got this happy teenybopper bounciness but it also has this layer of 1970s City Pop (bass and keyboard) feeling bonded to the aidoru music. Lyricist Rei Nakanishi（なかにし礼）and composer Katsuo Ono（大野克大）created the song but I gotta also admire the arrangement by Reijiro Koroku（小六禮次郎）. I can still imagine having taken a pleasant walk with Ikue-chan through West Shinjuku to this number, although her future husband would have been none too pleased.
Such was the charm of "Fushigi ne" and a couple of other tunes by the singer that I purchased this album and one other at CD Japan. Must explore!
I think "Kayo Kyoku Plus" readers who are also fellow "Uchuusenkan Yamato"（宇宙戦艦ヤマト...Space Battleship Yamato）fans know of my love for the classic anime series. Of course, I've also been watching the episodes of the redux version that have come out in dribs and drabs over the past few years beginning with "Yamato 2199" and currently with "Yamato 2202".
"Yamato 2202" is the new version of the Comet Empiresaga and both my anime buddy and I agreed that with all of the addition of new characters and drama, things have gotten perhaps a bit too melodramatic. However, these may just be the quibbles of an aging anime fan. Still, seeing the old "Star Blazers" (the American dub of the series) video above, all those beloved feelings of nostalgia rushed back in like a flood...everything including the amazing theme song, the smoother animation compared to the rougher stuff from the Iscandar series, and the drama (still remember the moving confrontation between Nova and Desslok over the injured Derek Wildstar).
Of course, at the time in North America, no character in cartoons ever died. So it was quite the shock to see Captain Avatar (still going with the "Star Blazers" character names) actually die on screen. What I didn't realize was how many characters actually died (or almost died) in the Comet Empire saga; the producers behind the American version did some fairly nifty editing to make sure that we fans in the United States and Canada did not see the deaths of some regular crew.
Some years later, I learned about the fact that original Comet Empire series on TV was based on the 2nd (and as had been assumed at the time, the final) movie in the "Uchuusenkan Yamato" franchise that came out in the summer of 1978. The deaths in the TV version were nothing compared to the main officers getting picked off in the movie. If you want to, you can see all the deaths in the video above. I personally can't.
It was obvious that "Saraba Uchuusenkan Yamato ~ Ai no Senshi-tachi"（さらば宇宙戦艦ヤマト 愛の戦士たち...Arrivederci Yamato）was created to be a heroic tragedy for Kodai-kun and the crew of the mighty space battleship. And the pathos was certainly delivered. Back in my university days, I was reading an issue of the journal "Japan Echo" dealing with this very movie, and apparently in at least one theatre, there wasn't a dry eye in the audience and folks even threw bouquets at the screen! Now, that is a sendoff!
The reason I'm writing about all this is that when I was watching "Yamato 2202", the ending credits have been featuring various singers and songs, and with the second batch of episodes that had come out several months ago, it was legendary singer Kenji Sawada（沢田研二）who provided the ending theme, and it turned out that the song was actually the ending theme for the original 1978 Comet Empire movie.
"Yamato yori Ai wo Komete" (From Yamato With Love) was Sawada's 24th single released in August 1978. The mournful feeling fits perfectly with the tone of the movie right from the opening notes of that piano as Sawada gives his musical elegy to the audience and the brave crew of the Yamato. Considering how popular he was at the time, to have him sing this final number for the ship must have increased the chances of water works gushing from everyone's tear ducts.
For the Yamato, nothing but the best. Famed lyricist Yu Aku（阿久悠）wrote "Yamato yori Ai wo Komete" while composer Katsuo Ono（大野克夫）, who has come up with some famous themes of his own, came up with the sad melody. The arrangement was by Hiroshi Miyagawa（宮川泰）, the man behind the famous original theme song. It took 3 weeks after its release to break into the Top 10 by getting as high as No. 4 and ending the year as the 46th-ranked single. The first album it was placed on was Sawada's 11th album"Kondo wa, Karei na Utage ni Douzo"（今度は、華麗な宴にどうぞ。...Next Time, Help Yourself to the Gorgeous Banquet）(although the arrangement is supposedly somewhat different) which was also released in August 1978. It also peaked at No. 4.
Well, after all of the thrown bouquets, flooded theatres and most likely demands for the Yamato crew to survive, I gather that the producers relented and came up with a more hopeful TV version. Then that continued on to "Uchuusenkan Yamato Aratanaru Tabidachi"（宇宙戦艦ヤマト新たなる旅立ち...Yamato The New Voyage） as a Fuji-TV made-for-TV movie in 1979 with some new characters to replace the dearly departed. I actually got to see that version on rental VHS tape from the Sanko Japanese food store in downtown Toronto.
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