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.
Welcome to another Monday, the final one for September 2026, at KKP. It was good to see another edition of NHK's "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新BS日本の歌）and find out about another few ol' kayo kyoku that I hadn't heard before.
"Tokyo Nightclub"（東京ナイトクラブ）by Frank Nagai（フランク永井）and Kazuko Matsuo（松尾和子）remains as not only one of the most venerated and venerable Mood Kayo songs but I think it's also one of the most remembered tunes of the kayo kyoku era. I've been hearing this one for ages. The crazy thing though is that "Tokyo Nightclub" was actually the B-side of this July 1959 45" single.
The A-side was called "Good Night" and I got to hear it for the first time on "Nihon no Uta" last night, and for the late Matsuo, the two songs were her debut in the music industry. As with "Tokyo Nightclub", Matsuo was doing a duet but not with Nagai. She was recording this one with the Mood Kayo group Hiroshi Wada & Mahina Stars（和田弘とマヒナスターズ）, and true to form, this is another mournful minor-key tune of lost romantic opportunities in the city. Matsuo has more of the vocal responsibility here and she takes good advantage of it at the tender age of 24.
Both songs on either side of the record were handled by lyricist Takao Saeki（佐伯孝雄）and composer Tadashi Yoshida（吉田正）. Ironically, I am posting this song just a few days after the 34th anniversary of her untimely passing at the age of 57 due to complications from falling down the stairs.
I'm just off by a week here but it was a little over a year ago that I posted "Osaka Songs", a list of Osaka-titled tunes, and crazily enough, in all those 53 weeks since then, I hadn't put up anything called "Tokyo Songs". Little old me had naturally assumed that I'd already done so. Nope, that isn't true. Kinda wild considering that I'd just recently written about Takajin Yashiki's（やしきたかじん）"Tokyo"（東京）. Well, that changes today. Quite the wide range of kayo, too!
(1959) Frank Nagai and Kazuko Matsuo -- Tokyo Nightclub （東京ナイトクラブ）
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）
When it comes to Japan Railways, there has been one campaign of theirs that has stood out because of the glorious beauty of Kyoto and that one song which has accompanied the commercials for over thirty years. I'm hoping that whoever in the JR advertising department was behind the idea of using "My Favorite Things" got a major bonus for the idea. The cinematic version of "The Sound of Music" from where "My Favorite Things" originated is practically essential viewing in the junior high schools of Japan, so that particular song among the many others in there is well known to everyone. But now, the Japanese probably relate the song more to Kyoto than the original movie.
Of course, before Julie Andrews and the movie version became the huge hit, "The Sound of Music" originated as a stage musical in 1959 with Mary Martin in the starring role of Maria. I never knew all that much about Martin but I knew her son, Larry Hagman, as the infamous JR Ewing in the show "Dallas". And of course, there was his earlier role as the far nicer military man Tony in "I Dream of Jeannie".
For the record, I'll have you know that from the lyrics, my favourite things would be apple strudel and schnitzel with noodles. If these were available at a buffet, I would be a happy man. Now, the reason for me choosing this one is that although it wasn't specifically made for the Holidays, "My Favorite Things" has been a staple on the radio and mall speakers during the Xmas season. Personally, I used to remember my kindergarten teacher always playing this on the record player...most likely to sedate us.
I figure that if Rodgers and Hart have a ROY entry on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", then Rodgers and Hammerstein should get a shot as well. Anyways, what were the big hits in 1959 in Japan when "The Sound of Music" made its debut on Broadway?
Looks like 80s hairdo live-action Kayo Grace Kyoku is spending an ennui-laden night at a watering hole. And by the looks of those huge bottles of liquor, the ennui will be non-stop.
Well, I may have just the song for her and us Mood Kayo fans. It's "Mélancolie" by Kazuko Matsuo（松尾和子）, and the arrangement follows that melancholy feeling with a bit of Latin rolled in for good measure. I couldn't find out definitively but it may have been released in 1960 from what I could track down via Yahoo Japan.
Matsuo's "Mélancolie" is a cover of the original 1948 song recorded by Swiss actor and singer Pierre Dudan. It was written by him and composed by Alain Romans, and the original has more of a nocturnal jazzier vibe. The Japanese lyrics for Matsuo's version were provided by Tokiko Iwatani（岩谷時子）.
Singer Kazuko Matsuo（松尾和子）has been known among kayo kyoku fans for taking part in duets and group songs such as "Tokyo Nightclub"（東京ナイトクラブ）, her collaboration with Frank Nagai（フランク永井）. Of course, though, she has been releasing her own solo singles for years. And what I was struck by when I was poring through her discography on J-Wiki was that in 1960, she released a grand total of 11 singles...almost one a month. That's a lot of productivity and I'm wondering if she didn't end up dangerously exhausted by the end of the year.
Among that huge number of records was her 10th single from August of that year, "Saikai"(Reunion). I first heard it on a recent episode of NHK's "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新・BS日本のうた...Songs of Japanese Spirit）, the network's show focusing on enka and the old kayo kyoku. Just from the arrangement alone, it's quite the melancholy waltz-like kayo (the lonely clarinet helps) about a woman who has met an old flame for the first time in a while and realizes how much she loved (and probably still loves) him. The punch in the gut is probably that they can never regain that old relationship again due to other factors such as the guy finding a new lover. And the resignation in Matsuo's vocals pinpoints that.
"Saikai" was written by Takao Saeki（佐伯孝夫）and composed by Tadashi Yoshida（吉田正）, the same famous songwriting duo who came up with "Tokyo Nightclub" in 1959 for Matsuo and Nagai.
Welcome back to the J-C AI Gallery where the Bing Image Creator takes my famous kayo kyoku or J-Pop titles and interprets them as best as it can. This week's theme is on those boozy Mood Kayo songs of yore. Remember to drink responsibly!😉
I failed to mention this yesterday but April 29th is part of the Golden Week holiday season in Japan and it's currently known as Showa Day. It had been celebrated as Emperor Hirohito's(the Showa era emperor) birthday until his death in early 1989 and then it was known as Greenery Day until 2007, when it was given its current name (Greenery Day is now May 4th).
Since there has been some nostalgic attraction for the culture of the Showa era (1926-1989), that's how I've usually seen Showa Day...not so much for the veneration of the late emperor but for what the times and trappings were like for ordinary people in Japan. Apparently, there is a Showa era museum in Aichi Prefecture as you can see above via MEGULOG's video. My particular examples of Showa era culture that regularly pop up in my memories are the old public phones of different sizes and colours, and the old-style kissaten as you can view in Mikki Café & Life below. Personally, my Showa era café will always be Café Renoir, the long-running franchise.
But of course, this being a kayo kyoku blog, I wanted to give my own contribution to Showa Day in terms of culture by providing some of the old songs. I'd wondered if I could find some sort of Top 5 list regarding memorable kayo kyoku but really couldn't find anything, so I've decided to come up with my own list of six songs representing each decade from the 1930s to the 1980s (sorry, couldn't remember anything from the 1920s). There wasn't any great research or all-night brain wracking for these songs...they just popped into my head and together they can perhaps show how music changed during the Showa era. So, without further ado...
In the first couple of decades following World War II when the people of Japan were starting to freely learn about the world again, the music industry there was just as much into covering the hits from overseas as they were producing the homegrown genres such as enka and Mood Kayo. Jazz and rockabilly became popular and then the 60s teenage idols were doing their versions of some of those American smashes such as Yukari Ito（伊東ゆかり）and Mieko Hirota（弘田三枝子）. However, there was also the growing love for French chansonspearheaded by singers like Fubuki Koshiji（越路吹雪）.
Italy was also another country whose music was of interest to Japanese listeners. I remember putting up an article on "Una Sera di Tokyo"（ウナ・セラ・ディ東京）originally by The Peanuts（ザ・ピーナッツ） which was actually a homegrown song, but it took the performance of Italian singer Milva, known as the Queen of Canzone, to take this ballad by Tokiko Iwatani and Hiroshi Miyagawa（岩谷時子・宮川泰）into the stratosphere.
However, the article this time around is for a cover of an actual Italian song "Ammore Mio" (My Love) which was first recorded by singer/actress Ornella Vanoni in 1964 and composed by Carlo Donida. The 1965 cover was performed by the late Kazuko Matsuo（松尾和子）who stamped herself into Mood Kayo legend due to her 1959 duet with Frank Nagai（フランク永井）in "Tokyo Nightclub"（東京ナイトクラブ）. Although the lyrics were changed into Japanese by Hiroshi Arakawa（あらかわひろし） with an arrangement by Katsuhisa Hattori（服部克久）, the title remained intact.
For some reason, Matsuo's cover isn't listed in her J-Wiki discography perhaps because her version shared the vinyl single with the vocal Royal Knights with their "Angelita"（アンジェリータ）. In any case, both Matsuo and Vanoni share a smoky delivery, although I think that Hattori's arrangement has a slightly more American pop ballad sense to it along the lines of what I've heard from Connie Francis.
I realize that it's a day early for Reminiscings of Youth but on hearing yesterday about the passing of The Rolling Stones' drummer, Charlie Watts (1941-2021), I felt that I should have put something up as soon as possible. Now, I was never a Rolling Stones fan but their presence in popular culture was so great that even as a non-fan, at least some of their songs were very well known to me such as "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and "Jumpin' Jack Flash", and I knew about the outsized personalities of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Often when I compare 80s aidoru superstarsSeiko Matsuda（松田聖子）and Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）, I use the analogy of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones as respectively applied to them.
(Video from the Drum Channel)
My lone Rolling Stones anecdote comes from years back when I was teaching at the second school during my 1994-2011 time in the Kanto region. One Monday, I had to do a series of level checks for young employees at the swanky Four Seasons Hotel in Tokyo not too far away from Japan's equivalent of The Pentagon. Once I was finished, I was given a pleasant afternoon tea service as part of their gratitude and I had a nice conversation with the hotel manager which led to some of the famous stars that have stayed at the Four Seasons. When he told me that The Rolling Stones had stayed there, his eyes rolled so hard in his head that their pupils could have bulged out the back of it. Let's say that they weren't the cleanest or the most button-down of guests.
And yet, I couldn't have imagined that Charlie Watts would have been involved in any of the debauchery (although I came to know about his vices in the 1980s). When I first saw him on television in the 70s or 80s, he already looked old to me compared to Mick and the others. Watts' hair was either already gray or graying. I don't know anything about his drumming philosophy or style but he always struck me as being the stoic parental anchor behind those drums. He appeared well-grounded and very dapper in his suits, and I think that he would have been the most approachable Stone.
For this ROY article, I've gone with one of their first hits, "Paint It Black" which was released as a single in May 1966. It's one of the Stones' songs that I know very well and even my anime buddy who has love for electric guitars has played "Paint It Black" constantly as part of his practice regime. Not being too cognizant about the Stones and their work, as I've mentioned above, listening to "Paint It Black", which was created by Jagger and Richards, there was the familiar melody with the sitar which I would find out on Wikipedia was the first time that a song with such an instrument would become a No. 1 hit. I also discovered that "Paint It Black" dealt with a person's earth-shattering loss and how he saw the world during that time of mourning.
Covers of "Paint It Black" have been done over and over in the decades since the song's initial success, and that includes Japanese artists. Given the direct translation of "Kuroku Nure!"（黒くぬれ!）, rockers such as RC Succession（RCサクセション）and Kenji Sawada（沢田研二）have given the Stones' classic their own take. RC Succession, led by the late Kiyoshiro Imawano（忌野清志郎）, is performing the song above although I couldn't find out who had provided the Japanese lyrics.
Now, what was being released in May 1966 in Japan according to Showa Pops?
One of my first experiences having dessert in Tokyo was at a branch of the Cozy Corner franchise. Although I don't think that I have ever seen one of those sweet shops in the suburbs or bedroom towns of which my Ichikawa was one, Cozy Corner is pretty much everywhere in the main city (for example, there is one of the Ginza shops as you can see at the right of the above photo).
I remember being in a Cozy Corner with friends for the first time after landing in Japan to start my second stint as an English conversation teacher at NOVA. Let me say, first of all, the sizes of cakes vary greatly in Canada and in Japan. Without too much exaggeration, I was accustomed to getting a dangerously large wedge of Black Forest or Strawberry Shortcake which could easily be 1/5 or even 1/4 of a whole. However, when I got my first slice of Strawberry Shortcake at that Cozy Corner, I took a look at it and remarked "Do I eat this or do I inhale it?". Let's say that it was rather petite. However, as the years went by during my life in the Kanto, me and my stomach not only became accustomed to the massing down of cake but by the end, we actually were quite happy for the downshift.
Also, I gather that depending on where a Cozy Corner is located, the clientele can be quite different. My friend and I were sitting in one branch deep in Ginza having our cake and coffee, and we just noticed a lot of very high-class women varying in age between 20 and 40 all around us, knocking back the joe and taking drags on their cigarettes. I would say that approachability was effectively zero. Good cake, though.
On that note, I wanted to introduce a perfectly Mood Kayo tune right from the title itself, "Ginza Blues". A love letter of sorts to one of the world's most expensive neighbourhoods, this apparently has been quite the favourite for singers of the genre over the years. Written by Takeshi Sagara*（相良武）and composed by Domei Suzuki（鈴木道明）, the first recording of this was by the perennial Mood Kayo combination of Kazuko Matsuo & Hiroshi Wada and Mahina Stars（松尾和子・和田弘とマヒナスターズ）back in May 1966. The above performance video also included crooner Frank Nagai（フランク永井）. I don't know what the original recording sounded like but if it's anything like the stage performance, then the Mahina Stars' original had some of the Hawaiian part of the genre. Everyone here also got together to record "Dare Yori mo Kimi wo Aisu"（誰よりも君を愛す）several years previously.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find out when this recorded duet between Nagai and Matsuo was released, but considering their "Tokyo Nightclub"（東京ナイトクラブ）from 1959, these two just had to get back together to do "Ginza Blues". This version keeps the Mood Kayo flavour of course but this time, it veers a bit more toward the jazzy side if that clarinet is any indication. Jazzy and classy.
And of course, The Tough Guy had to get in on some of that "Ginza Blues" action, too. Once again, this was one of those recordings that I couldn't track down a date, but from the sound of Yujiro Ishihara's（石原裕次郎）voice, his cover may have been come from the late 1960s or 1970s. Finding out about all these different covers of this song, I've come to realize that despite all of them being in the same genre of Mood Kayo, they can each have their own individual arrangement. In Ishihara's case, there is quite the nightclub feeling, thanks to that boozy sax and the caressing/echoing vocals by The Tough Guy. The tumbler of Old Parr is on its way!
Last but certainly not least, there is Sachiko Nishida's（西田佐知子）cover of "Ginza Blues". This time, according to the notes for the YouTube video, I was able to find out that her version was a part of her 1969 album"Koi wo Utau"（恋を唄う...Sing of Love）. Plus, her vocals lend a refreshing and "the night is still young" lightness to the proceedings, as if the setting were a pre-dinner visit to a bar instead of the after-dinner nightclub. The songwriter Domei Suzuki had also provided Nishida with another Mood Kayo classic, the 1965 "Akasaka no Yoru wa Fukete"（赤坂の夜は更けて）, a tribute to another swinging area of Tokyo nightlife.
Because of money and the fact that I remain a very light drinker, I never really imposed myself into bar culture anywhere in Tokyo including Ginza and Akasaka, but at least, there were still a number of good cafes to inhabit, including Cozy Corner. Still appreciate the cakes there.
*The lyricist's name has a number of readings for both family and first names so I've taken a wild guess here. If someone knows the correct reading for him, please let me know. Also, Akira Kurosawa & Los Primos（黒沢明とロス・プリモス）have also given their contribution to this song.
On the 14th, I returned from Mito back to the Big Sushi and then prepped up to see another old student and friend...this time down in the shitamachi district of Okachimachi near Ueno.
Of course, the Ameyoko market was nearby so I did some of my first souvenir shopping in the form of snacks and sweets. My niece especially wanted some Hi-Chu gum so I dropped by the venerable store Niki to get some stuff.
The entire area has modernized in the last three years since I was there. There's now a huge cineplex just behind the Matsuzakaya Department Store and even the predecessor to all those Don Quixote dollarama outlets, Yoshiike, looked more ready for the 21st century. My friend took me up to the top floor to a restaurant called Yoshiike Shokudo which occupied a huge chunk of the floor. Had some pretty nice yoshoku for dinner.
We were talking about our old karaoke favourites when my friend decided that he was intrigued with my abilities (or lack thereof) as a singer. So he decided to take me down to Ginza to one of his favourite hostess clubs.
Yup, you heard it...a hostess club.
It's a place that I had thought I would never be able to enter at my tax bracket. It's a place that seemed to occupy only a certain place in Japanese TV dramas or comedies. But he was taking me down to one.
I nervously protested to him that I was wearing nothing but UNIQLO. How could I ever get in there? But he ignored me and he got us a taxi to head on down. Might I say though that the ride down from Ueno to Ginza was very revealing. Chuo Dori has gotten a huge makeover and there were some new buildings along the sides. It was looking all very swank. Plus there was the new Ginza Six facility which probably required a Platinum credit card to enter.
We got out of the taxi near the Shiseido store and with the help of the owner of the club herself, we managed to reach this place in a building on one of the side streets. I might have looked like something that looked more at home in a Holiday Inn but I had to respect the ladies' professionalism. The owner and the two hostesses who took care of us, one (in a low-cut gown) and the other (in a kimono), still treated me as if I were one of the other suited (and considerably richer) customers. It was the mix of guys and gals in there in a place that probably has seen better glory days; the lights were dimmer and the walls were yellowed from all of the cigarette smoke that languished in the air throughout the years. My friend and I did our singing for an hour over shochu and some of the sweetest pears that I've ever had.
For obvious reasons, I couldn't take any photos of the place but at least I did receive a memento in the form of that folding fan made up of fake yen as you can see at the very top. J-Canuck finally invaded a very exclusive area. There went the neighbourhood!
And the above is the song that Mika and I sang as a duet.
P.S. I'm writing this a few hours after I posted this article since afterwards I hit myself with the basic question: Did I enjoy myself at the club?
Ultimately, I would have to say no. I mean, the staff that I met (the owner, the bartender, the two hostesses) were all very nice. However, there was that pressure on both me and the hostesses to keep a steady stream of conversation going to the extent that I almost felt like my lungs and brain were gasping for air and ideas. For a person who enjoys observing other people talk as much as he enjoys talking with folks himself, it was somewhat tough.
Plus, there is the whole concept of a hostess club which is to pay a lot of money to be pampered and complimented. For me, that would mean that sincerity is pretty much suspect from the get-go. Perhaps the other customers including my friend didn't worry or didn't care but I was left wondering whether the ladies were actually interested in the fact that I was from Canada or that I was a Canadian who liked and could sing the Japanese oldies. I don't know.
In any case, I'm still glad that I did go if only to experience this aspect of Japanese popular culture that a lot of foreign tourists and residents haven't been able to participate in. However, if my friend or anyone else asks me next time if I would like to go to a hostess club, I will suggest that we save the yen and head for a Cozy Corner instead.
During last week's NHK-broadcast special charity concert in Shizuoka Prefecture, I did hear a lovely bluesy ballad called "Kimi Mate Domo" which was originally sung by Aiko Hirano（平野愛子）in 1948. Written and composed by Tatsuzo Azuma（東辰三）, it was a torch song about pining for that special someone who would probably never come or come back. The original recorded version has that old-fashioned stateliness.
However, to be honest, I have much preferred the later versions of "Kimi Mate Domo" since they have possessed more of that good time swing. And apparently it has been covered a number of times by a lot of different folks. Kazuko Matsuo（松尾和子）, for example, gave her cover of the song in 1963. And that picture of her above sums her stylings on the song perfectly: as someone who is by herself for another night at the bar while sucking back on that cigarette. Plenty of atmosphere there as she seems happily resigned to her fate.
The big surprise for me is that actress Saki Takaoka（高岡早紀）has given her own sultry take on the song with the added English title "I'm Waiting For You". When I first knew her, it was as the buxom tarento on the variety show circuit, and Marcos V. has written about one of her early tunes as an aidoru, "Nemurenu Mori no Bishoujo"（眠れぬ森の美女）from 1988.
But it's been many since that song. And in 2013, she performed "Kimi Mate Domo" as the ending theme for one of her movies from that year, "Monster" where she played a woman who had undergone serious plastic surgery to escape from a horrific childhood of being bullied due to her facial deformities. I'm actually quite impressed with her vocals here. The song itself was a track on her album of standards, "Sings-Bedtime Stories" from October 2014.
Before I continue with articles on the other 3 members of the Yon'nin Shu, I'd first like to talk about "Ozashiki Kouta" while it's still on my mind - I'd wanted to write this a while ago but didn't because I forgot about it.
So far, I have written about quite a few "Mood Kayo All Stars" groups like Happy and Blue, Los Primos, and Tokyo Romantica, which only leaves out 2 more on my list. I'm still waiting for a Los Indios tune to come by, preferably something I'm not familiar with, but as of today, I'm glad to say that I can cross out Hiroshi Wada & His Mahina Stars (和田弘とマヒナスターズ). This band specializes in Hawaiian Mood Kayo; out of the 3 categories of Mood Kayo, this is the one I find a tad strange due to the addition of the wonky steel guitar. To me, it's kind of like adding the beach to the existing imagery of a nightclub or nomiya. Despite this contradicting imagery, I must say that it can intensify the mood depending on the song, like in "Nakanaide" (泣かないで), where the steel guitar made it much more unnerving and mysterious. Likewise it gives the jaunty melody and fun dodonpa rhythm of "Ozashiki Kouta" an exotic flair.
Earlier this week, the "Kayo Concert" episode had the Mahina Stars as one of the guests aboard - that was enough to make me happy - and they sang none other than "Ozashiki Kouta" with Natsumi Kawano (川野夏美) as a stand-in for the Queen of Mood Kayo, the late Kazuko Matsuo (松尾和子), in a theater situated in Bonto-cho, Kyoto, which is the first area of interest that appears in the song. Quite a quaint-looking place. Sticking to the theme drinking and getting drunk, the lyrics from an unknown lyricist are about a couple having rendezvouses at presumably a bar in Bonto-cho where they can meet and have a drink. Unfortunately for the both of them, the fellow is already committed and so the lady has to leave him by the end of each encounter no matter how much she loves him... I know this may be a little late for me to notice this, especially since I listen to the genre (including enka) a lot, but "Ozashiki Kouta" is one of the few songs where I'm able to see/hear (for myself) that the characters are having a tryst/trysts. Must be because it was explicitly stated in the second stanza sung by Matsuo, so I need not infer from the rest of the lyrics.
"Ozashiki Kouta" was composed by Akira Mutsu (陸奥明) and was released in August 1964. It was very well received, selling around 2.5 million copies, and so it spawned a sequel in the following year, "Zoku Ozashiki Kouta" (続お座敷小唄), as well as a number of singles that are similar in style to it, like this one called "Uramachi Kouta" (裏町小唄).
Man, the MK group single covers...
blogs.yahoo.co.jp/teds3d/60959114
I was wondering what a "Kouta" is so I went to look it up. I still have not a clear idea on what it is, but what I managed to gather was that this type of ditty goes way back to the Edo era.
I've often read or heard that the genre of enka has been compared to blues music in America. Well, I think I've just come across the ultimate illustration of that comparison. After finishing another day of translation work, I decided to do a little bit of roaming for music and information online. Getting to J-Wiki, I checked out what some of the top songs for 1975 were, and at the very top of the list was this song titled "Showa Kare Susuki".
Reading the article for the song before hearing the song, I saw that it was an enka tune. The title was not familiar to me, but then again since I'm more of a casual rather than ardent fan of the genre, I wasn't particularly surprised. And though it is difficult to believe these days, enka tunes did break the yearly Top 10 on Oricon quite a bit more often in the older days. Still I was interested in what made "Showa Kare Susuki" tick so that it would end up as the No. 1 song of the year.
As I pointed out in the introduction, I think I came across a truly blues enka tune. "Showa Kare Susuki" means Dried Out Pampas Grass of the Showa Era, and the title refers to the protagonist couple. The Hiroshi Mutsu（むつひろし）-composed ballad begins with this notably fragile-sounding koto...perhaps even exhausted might not be too far-fetched an adjective. That was a big signal as to what Takao Yamada's（山田孝雄）lyrics plaintively sung by Sakura to Ichiro（さくらと一郎）would indicate.
Sakura and Ichiro forlornly croon about how their efforts against the cruel world have come to naught, so now they talk about ending it all with the saving grace being that at least they can end it all together. How cheerful! I gather that "Showa Kare Susuki" has never been on the playlist at a wedding reception. When it comes to the older kayo, I've often garnered the impression that there have been sad lyrics behind the cheerful facade of music. But even this song does away with the melodic mask, although there is a certain exquisite beauty to the languid music by Mutsu as if it were describing a warrior on his last legs of life still dying happily because he/she could do so in a lover's arms after crawling home.
"Showa Kare Susuki" was actually released in July 1974, but it didn't do much action in the short term. However, it was used as a featured song in the popular TBS comedy series "Jikan desu yo"（時間ですよ...It's Time） later that year, and that provided the engine to get it up the charts. It finally hit No. 1 on April 28 1975 and stayed up there until May 12. The ballad became a million-seller (1.5 million records according to J-Wiki) and finally ended up as No. 1 for the yearly charts of 1975.
Interestingly enough, the perennial Mood Kayo duo of Frank Nagai and Kazuko Matsuo（フランク永井・松尾和子）did a cover version of "Showa Kare Susuki" (but I don't know when) which sounds exactly how I would have assumed Nagai and Matsuo would do it. The Mood Kayo arrangement makes it awfully difficult to believe that the doomed man and woman are off to oblivion...more likely off to the next nomiya.
The original duo of Sakura to Ichiro is Ichiro Tokugawa（徳川一郎）and Sakura Kanno（河野 さくら）, a stage name for Kazuko Kanno（菅野和子）. The two were actually individual singers until they got together in 1974. In 1978, the duo was broken up when Sakura decided to go solo once more, but a second Sakura was recruited in the form of Sakura Yamaoka（山岡 さくら）later on and the pair is apparently still going.
As a postscript, Sakura to Ichiro presented a new song in 2006 titled "Heisei Kare Susuki"(平成枯れすすき...Dried Out Grass of the Heisei Era). Keep the sad times rollin'!
Not when you're in Singapore at this time. It has been terribly hot over here with temperatures claiming to be 32-33 degrees Celsius but it really feels like 37-38, and there's hardly any rain to give some respite from the scorching heat. Well, it did rain on Sunday (in the east, at least). For an astounding 5 minutes the sky was grey and it got slightly cooler, then for an amazing 5 minutes it rai-.... no, it just drizzled before the sun was out again. And half an hour later when it was time for me and Pops to go out to the fish farm, there was not a single puddle in sight. On the other hand, according to the weather reports, there has been showers over Tokyo over the past month. How nice.
Speaking of rain in Tokyo, I'll be talking about "One Rainy Night in Tokyo" today. I managed to root out this very comfortable song a few months back when it wasn't so hot and when I was in the mood for something jazzy with the fruity voice of Yujiro Ishihara (石原裕次郎) - he's one of my go-to fellas if I want something relaxing. So while browsing through a YouTube channel with many videos of Tough Guy's songs, I came across "One Rainy Night in Tokyo" (the video above was the one I found) and went ahead with it since its title, combined with the thumbnail's picture, really screamed jazz.
I must say that Ishihara's quiet, laid-back delivery really compliments the soulful saxophone and the light tinkling of the piano. It just made me envision our main character in a wet trench coat taking refuge from the cold rain in a lounge bar after work, with the only thing making noises besides jazz music are the clinking of ice in filled brandy glasses and the low murmur of customers as they discuss about their day. The nighttime aerial shots of the glowing city also just added to the warm atmosphere.
(Unfortunately the Matsuo version has
been taken down so here's Aki Yashiro's cover.)
Anyway, I had an inkling that Ishihara wasn't the original singer of "One Rainy Night in Tokyo" despite the fact that it fits his singing persona perfectly - looking through his huge discography only proved that his version was only a cover, so I decided to search YouTube for the original. Now this is where it got pretty confusing. The results showcased a whole barrage of Mood Kayo singers/groups like the Mahina Stars and Sachiko Nishida (西田佐知子), all of which had "sung" the song. But when I gave them a listen, I realised they were completely different from the "One Rainy Night in Tokyo" I had been enjoying. I then consulted the J-Wiki again, but unfortunately there wasn't an article on the song. Coming back to YouTube, I discovered that the Queen of Mood Kayo, Kazuko Matsuo (松尾和子), had sung it as well, this time, it's the same as Ishihara's one, though more bossa nova - I like this version as well. By then I was quite ready to just throw in the towel and just stop my search there, hoping that Matsuo was the original singer - I was preoccupied with other things at that time. And then, I got the idea of looking up the song's writer and composer.
It turned out that it was done by lyricist Domei Suzuki (鈴木道明). It was then that I finally discovered the original singer of "One Rainy Night in Tokyo", the late Teruko Hino (日野てる子). That was really a huge breakthrough and the relief was palpable. Anyway, like Matsuo's version, Hino's was quicker in pace, quite bossa nova unlike Ishihara's. You can listen to it here.
The original "One Rainy Night in Tokyo" was released in 1963... I think, that was what the J-Wiki page on Suzuki said. The one on Hino's page said it was released in 1965. I'm not sure which is right, so I'm just going for the earlier date. As for Ishihara's version, it was released in his posthumous album "Ishihara Yujiro Aishoka Best 40" (石原裕次郎 愛唱歌・ベスト40) in 2009. I wasn't able to pinpoint when Matsuo sang the song though.
www.asahi-net.or.jp
Oh yeah, it rained again today. Thankfully more than that sprinkling on Sunday afternoon. Cooler too.
Got together with the work colleagues yesterday for a semi-annual drink down at my old university watering hole, The Madison Ave. Pub. We did the nachos-and-alcohol thing and I went for a Maddy's that consists of whiskey, Kahlua and lots of other stuff. I held my own...something that I couldn't do back 25 years ago when I arrived in Japan to live for the first time. I still cannot even drink a college freshman under the table but I can say that I am able to survive through a night at a bar...Japan did that for me.
So, on that note, allow me to bring another Saturday night special from the wilds of Akasaka and Ginza. It's another round of Mood Kayo with the duo who is practically synonymous with the genre, Frank Nagai and Kazuko Matsuo（フランク永井・松尾和子）. The pair who brought over the classy "Tokyo Nightclub" back in 1959 came together once more with another club-friendly ballad, "Kokudo Juu-Hachi Gou-sen"(National Route 18) in 1964.
The lyrics were by Tetsuo Miyagawa（宮川哲夫）who also gave the words to the haunting "Muhyou"（霧氷）for Yukio Hashi（橋幸夫）while the music was composed by Tadashi Yoshida（吉田正）who had also written the notes for the above-mentioned "Tokyo Nightclub". The above version of "Kokudo Juu-Hachi Gou-sen" is what I would expect for a Nagai/Matsuo duet: lots of hearty sax with shimmering strings and ritzy club piano while the two serenade each other over a stiff drink. The title highway probably refers to the lifeline between the pair...it might be several hours between the resort town of Karuizawa and the metropolis of Tokyo but Frank will be more than happy to get behind the wheel to see his Kazuko.
(Sorry but the video has been taken down.)
This version is probably the original considering the older-sounding arrangement with the horns. I prefer the more bluesy take at the very top of the article, but I do like this video showing the bright lights of Tokyo and Yokohama. On a teacher's salary, there was no way that I could ever darken the doorway of any of the clubs that Nagai and Matsuo may have frequented, but for me just walking downtown of either city would have satisfying enough for me.
I heard this one for the first time a couple of nights ago on an NHKkayo kyoku show (not "Kayo Concert" since it has been pre-empted for the Sochi Games), and it certainly fulfilled the criteria to be a Mood Kayo. There was the melancholy melody, a wonderful trumpet and its ability to prompt images of drinking away the blues in some Tokyo nomiya.
The singer that night happened to be enka wunderkind (well, he's not that young anymore) Kiyoshi Hikawa（氷川きよし）, but the originals were Hiroshi Wada & Mahina Stars（和田弘＆マヒナスターズ） with Kazuko Matsuo（松尾和子）, two of the legends of Mood Kayo. Matsuo had struck one out of the park in July 1959 along with her duet partner, Frank Nagai（フランク永井）, with the classic"Tokyo Nightclub"（東京ナイトクラブ）before partnering up with Mahina Stars for "Dare Yori mo Kimi wo Aisu"(I Love You More Than Anyone) later in December.
"Dare Yori mo Kimi wo Aisu" doesn't have the Latin cha-cha that "Tokyo Nightclub" has, but it still has that comfortable atmosphere of fine drinking and dining and dancing with a bit of that Hawaiian twang that Mahina Stars is famous for. Written by Kohan Kawauchi（川内康範） and composed by Tadashi Yoshida（吉田正）, I just love that crisp if sad trumpet that slices through the air. What if Harry James or Chet Baker had tried a solo on this one?
The Oricon charts were still several years away, but the song got its accolades by earning the Grand Prize on the 2nd annual Japan Record Awards and getting an invitation to the Kohaku Utagassen a year later. And even more importantly, it has been recognized as being one of the seminal examples of the genre. According to the J-Wiki article for the song, lyricist Kawauchi had been writing a short story of the same title for the monthly magazine "Myojo"（明星） from which he crafted the lyrics.
A decade later, the King of Mood Kayo himself, Frank Nagai, finally did a solo cover version (although he also did a duet of this song with Matsuo at some point as shown below) for his 1969 album, "COLEZO! Dare Yori mo Kimi wo Aisu -- Frank Nagai Yoshida Melody wo Utau"（COLEZO! 誰よりも君を愛す～フランク永井吉田メロディーを唄う....THIS IS IT! I Love You More Than Anyone -- Frank Nagai Sings The Yoshida Melodies）. No one sings up a clinking glass of whiskey on the rocks in Akasaka better than Nagai.
Another song I gleaned from a recent episode from NHK's "Kayo Concert"（歌謡コンサート） "Akai Glass"(Red Glass) is another in the long line of boozy and bluesy Mood Kayo duet tunes that depict the theme of "two ships passing in the night". Written by Hachiro Kadoi（門井八郎） and composed by Shoichi Makino（牧野昭一）, "Akai Glass" was first released in 1965 and originally sung by Joji Ai（アイ・ジョージ） and Chinami Shima（志摩ちなみ）.
The Hong Kong-born Ai started life as Joji Ishimatsu（石松譲治） but when he entered the music business in 1953, he took on the name Haruo Kuroda（黒田春夫） before switching to Joji Ai in 1959 (the new stage name is just his original first name with the initial of his family name). Ai sang in the genres of Latin, Mood Kayo, enka and popular music, but one of his biggest hits came with the 1965 "Akai Glass" with his recording partner, Chinami Shima. The original recording had this feeling of 12 midnight in the bar with both man and woman woozily wondering what could have been if the tryst had been allowed to go on. The brass and the mournful saxes are there for that Mood Kayo feel, but there is also an organ which adds a further bittersweet tone.
Ai was a regular fixture on the Kohaku Utagassen during its grand heyday of the 1960s, having appeared on the special for 12 years in a row from 1960 to 1971, including his performance of "Akai Glass" on the 1965 show. He also has the distinction of being the very first Japanese singer to perform at New York City's Carnegie Hall.
I'm not sure when the cover by Frank Nagai（フランク永井） and Kazuko Matsuo（松尾和子） came out, but listening to this version, I got the impression that the hour was quite a bit earlier than the one in the original song by Ai and Shima. The instruments are brassier and more forceful without the organ, and there is just this feeling of a Ginza nightclub in the arrangement. Considering that Nagai & Matsuo are the ones behind the classic "Tokyo Nightclub"(1959), I guess there should be no surprise. In a way, the Nagai & Matsuo cover comes off as if the couple singing it are very much still together but are doing a bit of play acting, and instead are showing their devotion to each other through the lyrics. And not surprisingly, the song has been a duet favourite for those of a certain age at the karaoke booths.
Another one of those oldies but goodies that I've heard since my days in diapers. "Tokyo Nightclub"is also a duet song that has been tackled by singers ranging from enka stars such as Yujiro Ishihara & Aki Yashiro（石原裕次郎・八代亜紀）to one-off pairs such as Shinichi Mori & Naoko Kawai （森進一・河合奈保子）(via the 1981 Kohaku Utagassen). Years before the word "karaoke"was coined, this song seemed to have been custom-made for the hobby. Whereas previous duets involved male and female singers singing them section by section, "Tokyo Nightclub" was the first hit duet song to be structured more intimately along the lines of a conversational give-and-take. It would influence future enka duets.
It was created in 1959 by Takao Saeki and Tadashi Yoshida（佐伯孝夫・吉田正）, the same pair behind the 1962 hit duet tune, "Itsudemo Yume wo"（いつでも夢を）. As I've mentioned, singers across the decades have sung this prime example of the Mood Kayo genre, but it's always been the first pairing of Frank Nagai and Kazuko Matsuo （フランク永井・松尾和子）that has been connected with "Tokyo Nightclub". And in fact, the two would appear together often over the years on the Kohaku and various other music programs to perform it.
Composed for the express purpose of illustrating the atmosphere of nightlife in the big city, the melody sounds like something played during a quiet interlude at a Latin nightclub. The video above has Nagai and Matsuo singing their most famous song together. Lyrically, the two are exchanging flirtatious teases as if they've already had a few tumblers of that special whiskey. I think part of the song's initial success lied in the fact that it gave listeners a vicarious image of what the good life was like.
The staying power of this song has been amazing. If the Oricon rankings had been established at the time of the original's release, it probably would have been at the No. 1 spot for weeks if not months.
One of my own pictures from Akasaka.
Lots of Tokyo Nightclubs there.
