Kaze/Ichizo Seo -- Hoozue wo Tsuku Onna（ほおづえをつく女）

J. Robinson and Sons from Wikimedia Commons

Y'know...try as I might, I always confuse the heck out of myself with the singer-songwriters Ichizo Seo（瀬尾一三）and Shozo Ise（伊勢正三）. It sure doesn't help that they are contemporaries and that they not only worked basically within the same sphere of music from the 1970s but they have collaborated together. Plus, there's something about the pronunciation of both of those names. One commenter even caught me on that when he noticed that I'd mistaken one for the other on one article. But let's not get all scrambly about this on Urban Contemporary Fridays, shall we?

Let's start with the cool song "Koozue wo Tsuku Onna" (The Woman Resting Her Hand on Her Cheek) which was folk duo Kaze's（風）4th single from December 1976. The aforementioned Shozo Ise, who was one-half of the duo along with Kazuhisa Okubo（大久保一久）, wrote and composed this one with the urban boogie-like rhythm and the languid rock guitar...definitely not folk. Meanwhile, the aforementioned Ichizo Seo arranged the song into something that I'd like to use as a temporal touchstone to what City Pop was like back in the early days when it felt like it could accompany anyone walking among the skyscrapers of Tokyo. The single reached No. 40 on Oricon and was included as a track on Kaze's November 1976 album "Windless Blue" which hit No. 3 on the charts and ended up as the 17th-ranked album of 1977.

Arranger Seo, who has been involved with just about everyone and anyone including Anri（杏里） and Michiru Kojima（児島未散）, came up with the second of his own solo albums "The Golden Section ~ Kaze Instrumental Album" in 1978. This particular one is an instrumental tribute with includes his take on Kaze's "Hoozue wo Tsuku Onna" right from the top. It has a much more laidback, more romantic and jazzier feeling as if the walking is over and it's now straight to drinking in one of the bars located inside one of those skyscrapers. I would say that it could even find a spot in a soundtrack of one of those Japanese cop shows.

Kaze -- Ano Ko no Sugao（あの娘の素顔）

 

There really is nothing like listening to a 1970s City Pop tune, especially when I haven't heard one in a long while. It's all about the Fender Rhodes, the bluesy city saxophone and that certain funky beat reflecting a huge Japanese city and its citizens still grappling with the consequences of rapid postwar economic growth before beginning to enjoy some of that good life before the Bubble.

So indeed, it's a refreshing breeze to hear the duo Kaze（風）once more as all of those musical aspects that I mentioned in the above paragraph come into play in their song "Ano Ko no Sugao" (That Girl's True Face). This was a track from the folk and AOR duo's top-charting LA-recorded 4th album "Umikaze"（海風...Sea Breeze） released in October 1977. The City Pop certainly is percolating here as it seems like two guys are talking about an attractive woman nearby with one of the pair goading the other to invite her over for a drink, while the other is trying convince his randy partner (and perhaps himself) that the lass is up to no good. Ah, I wasn't aware that self-delusion could be a theme in such songs. Incidentally, the above video is a City Pop compilation by Melon Groove that has "Ano Ko no Sugao" starting things off.

Just to remind folks, Kaze, which had its run between 1975 and 1979, consisted of former folk group Kaguyahime（かぐや姫）member Shoze Ise（伊勢正三）and former folk band Neko（猫）member Kazuhisa Okubo（大久保一久）. Okubo wrote and composed around half of the songs on "Umikaze" with Ichizo Seo（瀬尾一三）handling all arrangements. I've already written about the album's title track. It's sad to report though that Okubo passed away around a month ago at the age of 71 in his Tokyo home.

Kaze -- Umikaze（海風）

For an October 1977 album that has been categorized as a folk release, "Umikaze" (Sea Breeze) by the folk duo Kaze（風）starts off with something that really doesn't sound like a languid or strident folk tune.

The first tune is the title tune. Beginning with a guitar riff that reminds me either of Simon & Garfunkel or "Kimi Janakya Dame Mitai" （君じゃなきゃダメみたい）, the opening theme for the hilarious anime "Gekkan Shojo Nozaki-kun"（月刊少女野崎くん...Girls' Monthly Nozaki-kun）, "Umikaze" is a darn rollicking City Pop/J-AOR song. Performed by Shozo Ise（伊勢正三）and Kazuhisa Okubo（大久保一久）, it really demands a car, a car stereo and a bayside highway to go along with the attractive funkiness of it which includes a cool sax solo.

Words and music were provided by Ise, who's no stranger to the urban contemporary, and his "Umikaze" is delivered as his recommendation of a sea breeze to cure all that ails you. Well, driving in a top-down convertible during a summer sunset along the coast, I think that many can relate to that. As for "Umikaze" the album, it hit No. 1 and became the 43rd-ranked release for 1978. I'll have to check out some of the other tracks.

However, when I was living in Japan, there was another Sea Breeze that provided the pause that refreshes.

Kaze -- Tsuki ga Sasu Yoru（月が射す夜）

It's been a while since the wind blew into "Kayo Kyoku Plus". Actually, I should really say that it's been a good long while since Kaze（風）blew in, and what I'm referring to is the 1970s duo of Shozo Ise and Kazuhisa Okubo（伊勢正三・大久保一久）. The last time I wrote about a Kaze song was way back in early 2015, and my impression of them was that they were one of a number of folk bands that formed during that decade.

However, it seems like in the manner of a lot of folk acts back then such as Iruka（イルカ）, Off-Course（オフコース）, and Bread & Butter（ブレッド＆バッター）, Kaze also wanted to jump out of their comfort zone and land in perhaps another comfort zone, that of City Pop/AOR. So, for their 5th album, "Moony Night" which was released in October 1978, Ise and Okubo recorded their first track "Tsuki ga Sasu Yoru" that basically translates into that English title or perhaps "Moonlight Light" might sound a bit more natural.

Now, the above version is apparently from their April 1979 "Old Calendar", Kaze's one and only BEST album, and from what I'm hearing is something less folk-oriented and something more urgent. With the bass and Fender Rhodes, I can feel the City Pop aspect but I think that labels such as New Music and even J-Rock can be applied in parts. Written and composed by Ise, "Tsuki ga Sasu Yoru" might launch sounding a bit like the usual romantic ballad as the title might suggest, but it actually weaves between drama and hope as the lyrics point out one hot summer night about the loneliness of the citizens out in the streets. There's even some enriching bluesy sax making its presence felt near the end.

This version, which was apparently performed on an episode of Fuji-TV's "Music Fair" according to the uploader, ramps up the pace. In a way, there's something kinda Supertramp and perhaps because of the duo's name and one particular riff in "Tsuki ga Sasu Yoru", I'm even reminded of Christopher Cross' "Ride Like The Wind"😏.

"Moony Night" hit No. 2 on Oricon. Ise seems to have truly enjoyed the companionship of Earth's lone natural satellite since he would come up with another even more urban contemporary number connected to it a few years later as a solo act.

Kaze/Kaguyahime -- Ni-juu-ni Sai no Wakare （22才の別れ）

About a couple of weeks ago, commenter Ranawaka Aruna mentioned about an old folk song by the title of "Ni-juu-ni Sai no Wakare" (Parting at 22). As is often the case with me, that title didn't ring any bells but the melody certainly did. I've heard it at different times and possibly it was even featured on "Sounds of Japan".

Singer-songwriter Shozo Ise（伊勢正三）had originally pulled double duty with the music and lyrics for "Ni-juu-ni Sai no Wakare" and the even more famous "Nagori Yuki"（なごり雪）while he was with the folk group Kaguyahime（かぐや姫）. The two songs were placed into the band's 4th album, "Sankai Date no Uta"（三階建の詩...A Three-Storey Poem）which came out in March 1974 and hit the top spot on Oricon. It would not only become the 5th-ranked album for the year but would also be the 27th-ranked album of 1975. But despite the song's eventual status as one of the more well-remembered J-Folk entries, it was never released as its own single during Kaguyahime's first run between 1970 and 1975.

However, it was released for the first time as a single when Ise formed the duo Kaze（風）in 1975. In fact, "Ni-juu-ni Sai no Wakare" was the debut single for Ise and Kazuhisa Okubo（大久保一久）, released in February 1975. It became the duo's biggest hit as it hit No. 1 and became the year's 7th-ranked song. According to an article by music critic Issei Tomisawa for the book "An Encyclopedia of 300 Famous Folk Songs" (title translated from the original Japanese), the ballad sold a shade over 700,000 records. 

Almost a decade later, the original Kaguyahime recording of "Ni-juu-ni Sai no Wakare" was used as the ending theme for an NTV drama and released as its own single. After listening to both versions, I didn't particularly hear any major differences between the Kaguyahime and Kaze takes; both of them have that appealing guitar melody as Ise sings about that venerable trope of parting being such sweet sorrow. It's the type of song that would have any generation getting a bit contemplative about life.

I did come across some interesting information at the bottom of the J-Wiki article for "Ni-juu-ni Sai no Wakare" in which Ise gave an interview for the journal "Sotetsu Kawarahan"（相鉄瓦版）Issue 126  several years back. In it, he mentioned about the circumstances behind the creation of those two songs for the album "Sankai Date no Uta". He had first written and composed "Nagori Yuki" as a creation that he personally liked, but for some reason, he became discouraged with it thinking that it would never become a hit. He then decided to burn the midnight oil one night to make "Ni-juu-ni Sai no Wakare" for the purposes of making a hit that would sell the vinyl. 

But this begets the question: Why was the latter never released as a single after all while the former was? Well, at least the long-range answer had a happier result. Both are now considered classics of the genre, although "Nagori Yuki" got its boost thanks to Iruka's（イルカ）cover. Of course, "Ni-juu-ni Sai no Wakare" has been covered by a number of artists ranging from the late Kozo Murashita（村下孝蔵）to Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）.

Hiromi Ohta/Kaze -- Kimi to Aruita Seishun （君と歩いた青春）

I was listening to the BEST compilation of Hiromi Ohta（太田裕美） for the first time in a long while when I heard her ballad, "Kimi to Aruita Seishun" (The Salad Days I Walked With You) and felt that I just had to write about it. It's one of those lovely bittersweet ballads of parting as a man says his goodbyes to a now-former love who was adored by all of his buddies. There's no recrimination, though. The man asks her to give his regards to everyone while he heads off for parts unknown and she heads back to the hometown. Shozo Ise（伊勢正三） from the folk group Kaguyahime（かぐや姫） wrote and composed the song, and I'm pretty much convinced he can make a block of granite tear up. He has written some of Iruka's（イルカ） tenderhearted ballads and Ohta's cover version is also another wonder.

Ohta originally sang "Kimi to Aruita Seishun" in December 1976 as a track on her 5th album, "Juu-ni Page no Shishuu"（１２ページの詩集...12-Page Anthology of Poems） which peaked at No. 9 and became the 46th-ranked album of 1977. Then she did a self-cover of it in 1981 as part of her 15th album which had the same title as the song. It was even released as her 21st single in August 1981 which got as high as No. 80.

However, the Ohta cover led me to the very original version by Ise himself through his folk duo, Kaze（風）. This version sent up quite a few shivers up and down my spine, especially when the guitar and the strings appeared during the bridge. It's the equivalent of watching the most brilliant sunset from a high point somewhere. "Kimi to Aruita Seishun" was a track on Kaze's 3rd album, "Windless Blue" from November 1976. The album had a mix of adult contemporary, folk and soft rock songs with a hint of City Pop, according to the J-Wiki writeup. It peaked at No. 3 on Oricon and became the 17th-ranked album of 1977.

As for Kaze itself, it was formed in 1975 with Ise teaming up with Kazuhisa Okubo（大久保一久） of the folk group Neko（猫）. The duo lasted four years releasing 6 original singles and 5 albums.