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.
I remember as an elementary school kid in downtown Toronto when I was at recess seeing the CN Tower gradually being built up. From our schoolyard, we had a pretty clear view of the tower as it was going up. And then one day in 1976, it finally opened as the world's tallest free-standing structure at 553 metres high, a record which it held for about twenty years. And as of a couple of days ago, it celebrated its 50th anniversary. Maybe I'll go up the tower again this year although it now costs a good chunk of an arm and a leg to enter.
Now, it's safe to say that I won't be able to find any kayo kyoku that pays tribute to Toronto's most famous landmark. However, perhaps I can still acknowledge the fact of the CN Tower's golden anniversary through another tower...let's say Tokyo Tower! And coincidentally enough, tomorrow is the 68th birthday since Tokyo's own famous landmark was erected and opened. So I guess we can celebrate the two towers with one song.
That song is "Glass no Tokyo Tower" (Glass Tokyo Tower) which was Cheuni's（チェウニ）16th single from December 2009. Cheuni seems to have become KKP's poster child for the genre of New Adult Music with its mix of enka/Mood Kayo and urban contemporary influences, and it looks like she has enjoyed singing about aspects of Tokyo through songs like "Tokyo Twilight"（トーキョー・トワイライト）which was her debut single in 1999 (comments below have a correction to what I just wrote down), so I guess "Glass no Tokyo Tower" could be seen as a 10th anniversary song for her. Yuko Natsumi（夏海裕子）was the lyricist here, as she also was for "Tokyo Twilight" and other songs for Cheuni, while Kazuya Amikura（網倉一也）took care of the classy and elegant melody surrounding a woman who is wishing upon Tokyo Tower itself through her apartment window (that's prime real estate there) to somehow bring back the lover that she let go unfortunately. The song reached No. 46 on Oricon.
For Japanese music listeners, especially those who like their Mood Kayo, enka and general kayo kyoku, you probably are well aware that airports have been the go-to settings for romantic endings and reminiscings, a place where songwriters have loved to establish their songs. I guess some broken hearts just need to go to their local terminals as much as they need to head out to the countryside resorts to drown their sorrows. Mind you, some of those airports have top-notch restaurants.
Strangely enough, in the past several weeks, I've been able to find a couple of songs with similar titles that are forms of airport kayowith the only difference being the airport in question. And the two airports are right in the Tokyo area.
One is "Narita Hatsu"(Departing from Narita) which describes one woman's wistful need to visit the international airport out in Chiba Prefecture (and it used to be the airport of choice whenever I returned to Canada on vacation) to remember the last time she saw her now ex-paramour. Sung by South Korean singer Cheuni（チェウニ）, this was her 13th single from January 2008 and it was written by Ichizo Fukuda（福田一三）and composed by Kazuya Amikura（網倉一也）. It's quite the classy and dignified example of New Adult Music or Mood Kayo; with those strings in there, I was almost convinced to even throw in the Fashion Music label. There was even something quite Teresa Teng（テレサテン）about the song.
Now, the whole reason that I decided to do this double take on airport kayowith two different South Korean singers was that I saw Park Junyoung（パク・ジュニョン）on an episode of "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新BS日本の歌）several weeks ago as he sang his 6th single from August 2016, "Haneda Hatsu" (Departing from Haneda). Haneda Airport, right in the middle of Tokyo, has been my airport during my visits to Japan in the 2010s, and yep, they've got some pretty fancy and delicious fare in those restaurants.
But getting back on track, Park's song, which hit No. 21 on Oricon, has the protagonist taking a somewhat more disdainful and embittered view as she is the one who's getting on the plane and taking off forever. Her old boyfriend hasn't even shown up to say goodbye so she's giving him the kiss off in absentia. The music by veteran Keisuke Hama（浜圭介）is pretty folksy and whimsical considering Shinichi Ishihara's（石原信一）lyrics, and listening to that mandolin-esque instrument playing throughout the song, I was rather wondering about it being a modern-day Exotic Kayo.
Whenever I arrived at Shibuya Station, I often saw and heard about the Keio Inokashira Line which begins and ends there. I didn't ride it all that much but I believe that there was that one time when I used it to head over to the popular district of Kichijoji. A bunch of us all decided to have hamburgers at one particular place there. By the way, the above video is from the YouTube channel, Tokyo Explorer.
Romance was definitely not something that I ever thought about when it came to the Inokashira Line, and yet I did come across this song by singer Chiyuki Asami（あさみちゆき）. When I was posting Kazuya Amikura's（網倉一也）"Good-bye Yokosuka"（Good-bye 横須賀）over the weekend was the time that I discovered "Inokashira-sen" (Inokashira Line) because Amikura was the composer with Mami Takubo（田久保真見）as the lyricist.
Released as Asami's 3rd single in October 2004, the Keio train line is the setting for some bittersweet memories by a person who got on the line with their erstwhile lover back in happier times. It's been categorized as an enka on J-Wiki, but I think that there is also something folksy in the arrangement, too, so maybe this could also fall under the category of a 21st-century New Adult Music tune. "Inokashira-sen" managed to peak at No. 64 on Oricon.
Asami was born as Yoko Yamamoto（山本陽子）in Yamaguchi Prefecture. Her distinctive stage name was formed with the family name of Asami coming from the love of the morning seascape in her hometown and the given name of Chiyuki taken from her brother who had sadly passed away some years previously. Beginning her career in 2003, she's been known as The Diva of Inokashira Park, a place where she still performs monthly as a busker. She likes to cover kayo kyoku, J-Pop, enka and folk. She has released 20 singles up to 2017 and several albums.
For all of the songs that Kazuya Amikura（網倉一也）has provided other singers, according to his "Kayo Kyoku Plus" file, I've only been able to bring his own time in front of the mike just once so far. That was for his "Chance" from his 1981 album"Scene", a bit of West Coast AOR.
In that same article, I noted that his debut single in 1978 was "Good-bye Yokosuka" so I finally got it up here on KKP, and unlike "Chance", this is more in the folk/New Music vein. That keyboard intro had me wondering though because it sounds like something prefacing a theme for a Quinn/Martin detective show from that same decade. But as it is, "Good-bye Yokosuka" is a bittersweet tune about the departures and arrivals in the famous port city in Kanagawa Prefecture. Amikura, who wrote and composed the song under Ichizo Seo's（瀬尾一三）arrangement, hails from Yokosuka, so I'm sure that he was definitely feeling something with this one. The single was also included in his first album"Listen to My Love Songs", also from 1978.
Considering all of the kayo kyoku that have centered upon Yokosuka, I gather that the city is not just about the American military stationed there. By the way, the video below is from Video Street View Japan.
When I first saw the title for this Hiromi Go（郷ひろみ）single, I assumed that it read "Miseinen"（未成年） or "Underage". Of course, that set off a few alarm bells in my head. Uh, Hiromi...um...😨 But my bad here. Actually, the title is "Mikansei" (Unfinished), so I relaxed.
But there is a bit of salaciousness here as well since this time it involves a young guy tempted to sow his oats falling for an older woman although from my current vantage point of age, she's still much more youthful than I am. From the looks of the lyrics and the title, though, it looks like the femme fatale is more than willing to give the poor lad the brush off. Dang it all, just not ready for the prime time. "Mikansei" was Go's 37th single from February 1981 and it was written by Yoko Aki（阿木燿子）, composed by Kazuya Amikura（網倉一也）and arranged by Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）.
According to the J-Wiki article on "Mikansei", Tsunaki Mihara（三原綱木）, formerly of Jackey Yoshikawa and His Blue Comets（ジャッキー吉川とブルー・コメッツ）, provided the jangly guitar and the chorus to give things that Group Sounds sound since it was felt that the genre was making a comeback at the time. To be honest though when I heard "Mikansei", I thought that it was an interesting inclusion of a country-style guitar. The song hit No. 13 on Oricon and ended the year as the 94th-ranked single of the year. Go's following single was the bigger hit "Oyome Samba"（お嫁サンバ）.
Lyricist and composer Kazuya Amikura（網倉一也）already has a fair number of articles on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" in the back office, so to speak. He's written and composed for many singers such as Hiromi Go（郷ひろみ）, Hiromi Ohta（太田裕美）and Ruiko Kurahashi（倉橋ルイ子）. However, I've never had a chance to hear him at the mike...in the front office.
Well, that changes today since I discovered his 1981 album"Scene". Amikura may be officially listed on J-Wiki as a lyricist and composer but he did put out two albums and four singles for himself between 1978 and 1981. From "Scene", I give you the first track "Chance" which is a nice blend of West Coast AOR and good ol' rock and roll. Amikura wrote and composed the song which also served as his fourth and final single to date. Some of that arrangement and Amikura's vocals also lean things a bit into the country rock realm.
Along with the fact that I discovered those nine-tenths underwater parts of the iceberg when it comes to City Pop among other genres, I've also learned that there are plenty of American AORartists that I've never heard about. Amikura's"Chance" is one example of a type of AOR that I've probably heard through some of those Stateside singers but I can't put a finger on who he might be emulating here. By chance (no pun intended), if any of you might know something, let me know.
Just to finish up by giving some biographical information, Amikura was born in Yokosuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture, and his interest in music began when he was a high school freshman and discovered the delights of folk singer Takuro Yoshida（吉田拓郎）. Once he got into Tokyo's Chuo University, he joined a folk song circle in 1978 and that's when he debuted with his single "Good-bye Yokosuka" （Good-bye 横須賀）with Ichizo Seo（瀬尾一三）helping out on arrangement.
If any readers ever asked me about finding about a kayo singer with some melodrama and a touch of class, I would always refer them to Ruiko Kurahashi（倉橋ルイ子）.
My brother and I often talked about a fellow student in our Japanese language school who had the saddest expression on his face due in part to some really large brown eyes. We joked that if he ever made eye contact with us, we would basically rush to him and beg him to take money from our wallets (back in those days, it was really only coinage including the now-defunct penny, but hey, it's the idea that counts) and any assistance that we could provide. I think that would also describe Ms. Kurahashi who turned 60 a week ago (Happy Birthday to her, and if she needs help of any sort, I would be happy to assist). Except for a very few photos, she always looked very sad or ennui-ridden in her albums, and from at least several of her shots, Ruiko seemed to inhabit the classiest of joints.
However, when I did attend her concert in Minami-Aoyama well over a decade ago that one rainy Friday night, she wasn't exactly bouncing off the walls on a caffeine high, but she was quite cheerful and chatty with the audience. I was relieved.
As mentioned above, Kurahashi's music was often quite moody and introspective with a bit of overseas flair, so perhaps that may have informed the many photographers who were at work on her album covers and liner notes. In any case, I bring you another quintessential Ruiko ballad "Ano Hashi Watare" (Cross That Bridge), the final track on her 1984 album"RUIKO".
I don't have this particular album but wouldn't mind getting it, if it even exists out there anymore. "Ano Hashi Watare" definitely has that Ruiko sound...I kinda feel like I'm walking through a cool foggy day along the Champs-Elysees wondering ruefully about my place in the cosmos. Would probably need a demitasse of espresso after that. The song was written by Fumiko Okada（岡田冨美子）and composed by Kazuya Amikura（網倉一也）.
Since I'm writing this several days before Xmas, allow me to recommend her Xmas tune from a few years earlier, "December 24th".
Last night, just for the heck of it, I looked up the expression contralto on Wikipedia and found out that it was the lowest singing voice type for women when compared to the higher soprano and mezzo-soprano voices. According to this YouTube video, singers such as Cher and Annie Lennox have the contralto voice. I think that when it comes to Japanese popular singers, Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）especially after her first few aidoru years and Kahoru Kohiruimaki（小比類巻かほる）pop up in my head. Perhaps Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）is a mezzo-soprano?
Junko Mihara（三原順子）was a singer that I would also classify as having a voice which is pretty deep. That was certainly the case when I first heard her perform "Honki de Love Me Good"（ホンキでLove Me Good) on the 1982 Kohaku Utagassen. And some further proof in the pudding was provided from this song, her 4th single from May 1981, "Sunnyside Connection".
In fact, listening to Mihara's contralto, I thought of the aforementioned Cher although I realize that this was never a type of song that Cher had ever tackled. Actually "Sunnyside Connection" struck me in terms of the arrangement as a driving song that Akina Nakamori would tackle early in her career. That wailing electric guitar and that piping synthesizer got me rather nostalgic. Machiko Ryu（竜真知子）provided the words while Kazuya Amikura（網倉一也）took care of the music for this single that peaked at No. 14.
As for Mihara right now, she's still a member of the Japanese Parliament.
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.
Just one of the many 80s aidoruunderneath the top stars of Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）, Naoko Kawai（河合奈保子）and Yoshie Kashiwabara（柏原芳恵）that I never got to know until much, much later, Reiko Ishige（石毛礼子）was actually someone that I only found out about in the last few months.
Hailing from Takarazuka City in Hyogo Prefecture, Ishige took vocal courses through Yamaha and then made her debut at the age of 21, which is fairly advanced for an aidoru. Her debut single was "Tabi no Techou" (Travel Diary), written by Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）, composed by Kazuya Amikura（網倉一也）, and released in June 1981. What had me bookmarking this one was those synths that start the song off, and Ishige's fresh and snappy vocals. At certain points, she and "Tabi no Techou" even remind me of early Seiko-chan and her material. The song did modestly well by peaking at No. 77 and selling about 20,000 records.
Ishige would only record three more singles up to early 1983 with no albums released, after which she retired from show business, according to her J-Wiki file.
You know the saying "That was one spicy meatball!"? Well, it looks like I had one spicy chicken wing for dinner tonight which was kinda giving my gastrointestinal tract some unnecessary conniptions. Thankfully, a good amount of water and some aspirin have helped me out. Let's hope it stays that way lest I stay most of the night in another more porcelain-filled room in my home.
As such, I will also go a bit light on the music tonight and go with something soothing such as my beloved Ruiko Kurahashi（倉橋ルイ子）. She's always been the one for some of that relaxing pop from the 1980s. For example, this is "Star" from her October 1984 album"RUIKO". It's perfectly Ruiko from her soft vocals to the creamy & mellow arrangement. Y'know...I wouldn't mind witnessing another concert by her although I think the chances of that happening are probably remote at best now. So I'm grateful that I was able to catch that one nightclub performance by her during that rainy Friday night in Aoyama over a decade ago.
"Star" was written by Fumiko Okada（岡田冨美子）and composed by Kazuya Amikura（網倉和也）with arrangement by keyboardist/songwriter Motoko Funayama（船山基紀）.
I see that cover of Ruiko Kurahashi's（倉橋ルイ子）1983 album"Rolling", and I'm thinking that she'll greet me politely before asking me whether I will take another hit or stay at 17. "Rolling" was Kurahashi's 4th album from April 1983, and although it's awfully hard to find any of her songs on YouTube outside of "Glass no Yesterday"（ガラスのYesterday）and "Last Scene ni Ai wo Komete"（ラストシーンに愛をこめて）, I still feel pretty strongly about featuring her material since she is one of my favourite singers.
I've mentioned it before but I found out through the liner notes of one of those kayo compilation albums that there was a really small genre formed in the late 1970s and early 1980s known as Fashion Pop within Japanese music. Of course, being written in the liner notes of an album means that there wasn't too much deep insight into what it was all about, but my impression of it was that it involved female singers tackling languid melodies of a quasi-European nature from yesteryear. The singer that those liner notes were referring to was Asami Kado（門あさ美）, but I think another Asami, Asami Kobayashi（小林麻美）, and Kurahashi would fit into that niche. To be honest, my belief is that the genre could be better titled by something like Chaise Lounge Pop or Sigh Pop since I could imagine any of those chanteuses lying on that expensive furniture while barely breathing out the request "...grape me...".
Putting "Rolling" on the CD player, most or all of the album had that sort of luxurious ennui imbued into each of its tracks. I've already talked about one of them "Kanashimi no Ballad"（哀しみのバラード）, and the two tracks that I'm featuring here have plenty of that feeling. "Amedare"（雨だれ...Raindrops）, written by Fumiko Okada（岡田冨美子）and composed by Kisaburo Suzuki（鈴木キサブロー）, has that sweeping and wistful atmosphere surrounded by all sorts of melancholy as Kurahashi sings about the one that got away. I've always said that the singer had the perfect face to express all that sad feeling with those eyes. I just want to give her my coat in sympathy even if it's -20 degrees outside! No worries, Ms. Kurahashi...frostbite doesn't set in for another 30 seconds.
"Last Tango Steps"（ラスト・タンゴ・ステップス）is another slightly more uptempo ballad about lost love. Okada took care of the lyrics here as well with Kazuya Amikura（網倉一也）providing the music. Listening to this one, I think it's also the quivering in her voice that rather sells that melancholic air.
Not sure what it is. Kurahashi's brand of music often doesn't fall into City Pop or J-AOR (although she has sung such music), and although I could also say it's a form of sophisticated pop fromthe early 1980s, it certainly differs from the let's-paint-the-town-red variety from the late 1980s. As I intimated above, the protagonists in these songs don't seem to be too active. Yet, I also enjoy Fashion Pop quite a lot. And it seems as if a lot of other people have as well..."Rolling", according to J-Wiki, was the singer's most successful album on Oricon, peaking at No. 50.
Happy New Year to you all wherever you are on the planet. Some of you may already be enjoying your o-zoni and o-sechi while others may be getting gussied up for that big New Year's Eve blowout. I actually had my toshikoshi soba about an hour ago at home, but for anecdotal purposes, I would just like to show you my photo of ramen with the extra pork belly slabs when my friend and I went over to the fourth branch of Kinton Ramen in north Toronto the other day. The weather is quickly chilling down after a warm Green Christmas so that bowl of ramen was really satisfying.
Anyways, one of my final entries for 2014 comes from the base year for my launch into kayo kyoku, 1981. I remember Toshihiko Tahara's（田原俊彦）6th single, "Kanashimi 2 (TOO) Young" (Lonely Too Young) primarily from the melodic intro after the impassioned vocalizing...a burst of energy that seems to be perfect for a choreographed Toshi-chan spin-o-rama. But then again, I think the whole song is just half of a Toshi-chan experience. One must see the lad dance around in all that yuppie gear while it's playing.
Nope, the above isn't from those early days but probably some years later judging from the hairstyle and clothing. "Kanashimi" was released in September 1981...just a month after I'd finished my school-day odyssey in Japan. It was written and composed by Kazuya Amikura（網倉一也）who also came up with another exciting tune for Hiromi Go（郷ひろみ）a couple of years earlier, "My Lady". Toshi's contribution peaked at No. 2 on Oricon and became the 35th-ranked song of the year.
The song was also used as a campaign tune for Glico Chocolate, so you can see Toshi in his prize yuppie gear despite the lack of choreography.
I was earnestly getting into the kayo kyoku game just when the 2nd big aidoru boom was soaring with Seiko Matsuda, Naoko Kawai and Matchy. However, Hiromi Go（郷ひろみ）was well into his career as this young and dashing Casanova (represented by the first song that I heard, "Oyome Samba"in 1981), and as my education started into Japanese pop music, I was hearing more of his discography back then and since then.
"My Lady" is an example of what had come before. Released in September 1979, Go was in that transition from cheekily cute teen to that man-about-town when he tackled his 32nd single, and looking at that video above, I thought he looked like a disco-age Peter Pan. And yep, the song has that disco kayovibe (the recording orchestra string section probably needed some heavy doses of liniment for the muscle pain after that session). But there is also some of that Latin Lover beat which presaged some of his future hits into the 80s. It is one of his trademark songs, so I was surprised that I hadn't covered it earlier.
The composer and lyricist for "My Lady" is given as Harunosuke Karasawa（唐沢晴之介）but that was actually the name of the character that Go had played in the 1979 TBS drama, "Ieji - Mama Don't Cry"（家路〜ママ・ドント・クライ...The Road Home） which also included the song. In fact, it was created by songwriter Kazuya Amikura（網倉一也）who made songs for various singers including the far calmer "Glass no Yesterday" for Ruiko Kurahashi（倉橋ルイ子）a couple of years later.
"My Lady" peaked at No. 8 on Oricon and ended up as the 79th-ranked single for 1979, and hung around even longer to finish 1980 as the 84th-ranked single. One of the things that has defined a hit for me is being able to remember at least some of the lyrics and Amikura certainly provided that with "My lady under the sunshine" and "My lady only you". I'm sure the female fans responded to that at his concerts as Go serenaded the audience about how much he craved that special woman. Not sure if there had been any major fainting spells among the ladies on the level of The Beatles or Elvis, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of them floated home that night.
That cover for the single shown at the very bottom can write its own jokes. I think we all have to intone with each other...."It was the 80s....that was actually considered a cool hairstyle back then..."Kinda wondering if Go-san was probably saying in the photo, "Hey, just how much did I pay that barber?" As a Canadian, I would have yelled at him, "Hey, Gino Vannelli called. He wants his hair back!"
Jokes aside....I first heard this song by Hiromi Go（郷ひろみ） back on "The Sounds of Japan". It came on just after Junko Yagami's（八神純子） speedy "Purpletown"(already profiled), so hearing them back-to-back, I was pretty much ready for a nap. "How Many Ii Kao?"(How Many Nice Faces?) was Go's telling of a 20-year-old prostitute on the mean streets of Tokyo (I assume) as she goes over plans of her regular night and deciding which face should she put on for the tricks. The high-speed wailing electric guitar helps tell the story.
The lyrics were provided by Yoko Aki（阿木耀子）, who along with her husband, Ryudo Uzaki（宇崎竜童）, wrote many of Momoe Yamaguchi's（山口百恵） later hits. Kazuya Amikura（綱倉一也） was the composer. Released in July 1980, it managed to reach the 8th spot on Oricon and ended up as the 46th-ranked song of the year.
From Joysound
The Aoyama district in Tokyo.
Nope, not exactly a mean street but it's
got that urban feature, and Go was walking through
here one time for a variety show.
This is a summer song that still gets me giddily nostalgic every time I hear it....30 years after I'd first heard it. And it was the very first Hiromi Ohta （太田裕美）song that I listened to. It's just one of those tunes that bonks me on the head about why I got into this crazy field in the first place. "Minami Kaze"(South Wind) is just....fun. I wasn't quite sure how to classify it, though. Was it truly an aidoru tune? Ohta's voice seemed to have gotten a bit richer and deeper for this one, and the arrangements were a bit more attuned to West Coast Pop, but ultimately I kept it on the aidoru side instead of taking it to pop since Seiko Matsuda's（松田聖子）big hit, "Aoi Sangosho"（青い珊瑚礁）, also released in the same year, has some similarities in terms of sound.
"Minami Kaze" was written and composed by Kazuya Amikura（網倉一也）. He contributed to songs by other 80s aidorus such as Yoshie Kashiwabara（柏原よしえ） and Naoko Kawai（河合奈保子）, along with helping out on Ruiko Kurahashi's（倉橋ルイ子） debut song "Glass no Yesterday"（ガラスのYesterday) already listed on this blog. It went as high as No. 22 on the Oricon charts after its release in March 1980 as her 18th single.
The above video is from her performance on "Yoru no Hit Studio", a Fuji-TV music program.
"Minami Kaze" was also used as a commercial song for Kirin Orange Soda. Ahhhhh....brings back memories....of cute Japanese commercials.
Well, that was my spotlight on Summer kayo kyoku. But I'll still continue finding and highlighting these tunes as I remember them.
Ruiko Kurahashi （倉橋ルイ子）was born in 1959 in Hokkaido as Shizuko Fujimoto（藤本.志津子） Her first single, "Glass no Yesterday"(Glass Yesterday) was released in April 1981 and it was the template for her brand of singing for the next several years. She specialized in slightly European-tinged light pop songs and ballads which distinguished herself from the aidoru of that time.
"Glass no Yesterday" was the first track on her debut album"Without Sugar". The above YouTube video is of the original song, but there is one more shorter version that is arranged as a jazz torch song which was the first one I'd heard all those years ago. The song was written by prolific lyricist Fumiko Okada（岡田冨美子）and composed by Kazuya Amikura（網倉一也）.
A few years ago, I had the great privilege of seeing her concert in Minami-Aoyama at a classy little place called Mandala, which is now her headquarters of sorts in Tokyo. She had taken a leave of absence from her singing career for most of the 90s, but returned in 1999. For someone like me who rarely goes to concerts, it was a special thrill to get dressed to the nines to watch a singer I'd admired for so long in such a ritzy area. She sang all of my favorites, which was pretty much every song including the one I've mentioned here. And the years haven't changed her at all. It was as if she were still 21 years old.
