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.
Wow! It's been around 13 years since I first posted the article on Momoe Yamaguchi's（山口百恵）1973 debut single"Toshigoro"（としごろ）onto "Kayo Kyoku Plus". Going back to my earliest memories of the 1970s aidoru when she was already in the latter half of her career in the persona of that seen-it-all and done-it-all world-weary woman, it was rather surprising to hear her all the way back to her first single when she was indeed acting and singing as the high school kid she was.
This is actually the first time though that I've gotten to hear the B-side to "Toshigoro", "Shikaranai de"(Don't Be Mad). When I saw the title, my assumption was that the song would be a rather melancholy ballad about a relationship going sour. Instead, it's arguably even more happy-go-lucky than the A-side. The same folks behind "Toshigoro" also took care of "Shikaranai de": Kazuya Senke（千家和也）on the lyrics and Shunichi Tokura（都倉俊一）on the melody and arrangement. The tempo is even a slight bit slower as those lyrics describe a young girl getting all gushy with her beau and leaving the big decisions up to him. I don't really know for sure, but my impression is that B-sides don't usually get performed on stage or TV but if it had been performed by Momoe, I would imagine a lot of young couples behind her doing some very cute choreography.
It was just back on Tuesday that I wrote about another song titled "Ame" (Rain) which was a 2009 ballad by singer-songwriter Jun Shibata（柴田淳）. Well, I noticed that there was one other "Ame" right close to it in the backlog, so I've given that one a go, too.
Actor-enka singer Eiji Miyoshi（三善英史）has been mentioned once before on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" for a 1979 cover of "Shinjuku Jouwa"（新宿情話）. But right from the start of his career, he was suddenly given tons of accolades and popularity. First, if I can add a little more to his profile, Miyoshi was born Teruhiko Tamura（田村照彦）in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo as the son of a geisha and as a teen, he was scouted for his good looks and size.
However, much to everyone's further delight, Miyoshi also had a voice to match, and in May 1972, his debut single "Ame" was released. Given the tags of both enka singer and aidoru, the 17-year-old's light and dancing voice tripped the light fantastic over Kazuya Senke's（千家和也）melancholy lyrics of a woman waiting in the rain on Saturday afternoon, perpetually waiting for the man who will never arrive to court her for some reason. Keisuke Hama's（浜圭介）oboe or clarinet-led melody adds to the bittersweet situation with some lower strings taking the baton as well.
"Ame" did hit a nerve with listeners. The song managed to earn the Best New Artist prize at the Japan Record Awards that year, along with a Silver award at the Shinjuku Music Festival, and another Best New Artist prize at the Japan Kayo Awards. On the Oricon weeklies, "Ame" went as high as No. 2 and it could have hit the top spot but the eventual song of the year, Shiro Miya & The Pinkara Trio's（宮史郎＆ぴんからトリオ）"Onna no Michi" (女のみち）didn't relent. As it was, though, the song sold over half a million records and eventually became the 18th-ranked single for 1972. Ironically, although Miyoshi performed in the Kohaku Utagassen three consecutive times from 1973 to 1975, none of his songs were "Ame".
I've been able to catch some of the episodes of "Yoru no Hit Studio"（夜のヒットスタジオ）, the old Fuji-TV music show, thanks to KKP contributor JTM, and the first episode I saw was the Xmas week one in 1976. Watching a first full episode in many years, I realized that compared to "The Best 10"（ザ・ベストテン）series on TBS, the repartee was looser between hosts and guests...or perhaps I can say that the pressure on the singers to speak out was greater. To be honest, there were some pretty awkward pauses so I figured that at least some of the singers back then were not as well-versed in media talk as acts today would be on shows such as "Uta Con"（うたコン）.
Momoe Yamaguchi（山口百恵）was on the show and although the above video (which has been taken down unfortunately) is actually an excerpt from a September 1976 episode, she was singing the same song. Her 14th single released in that same month, "Pearl Colour ni Yurete" (Swaying in Pearl) is actually a Momoe song that has hit my ears for the first time. Considering that I've known her big hits such as "Yokosuka Story"（横須賀ストーリー）and "Imitation Gold"（イミテイション・ゴールド）for literally decades, it's always fascinating making first contact with a new Momoe tune.
"Pearl Colour ni Yurete" has got that quintessential Momoe feeling with her lower but light vocals and the fairly urgent beat with the horns and strings backing her up. This time, though, the percussion is quite noticeable; for example, there is what I think is a marimba right from the intro which adds an interesting exotic layer to the arrangement by Motoki Funayama（ 船山基紀）. The lyricist Kazuya Senke（千家和也）weaves a story of a lady feeling bereft of her significant other while surrounded by happier people and a city nightscape bathed in pearl by the lights. I guess the message is that one can be within a thousand folks and yet feel utterly isolated.
The melody was provided by Juichi Sase（佐瀬寿一）, the same composer who earlier that year created the children's song and legendary hit "Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun" (およげ！たいやきくん）which became Japan's biggest selling single of all time at 4.5 million records, something noted by the Guinness Book of World Records. One can imagine the powers-that-be at the recording company slavering at the thought of having Sase making a song for the very popular Yamaguchi. And sure enough, it was yet another No. 1 hit for the star aidoru which finished 1976 as the 18th-ranked single.
Well, while I was writing up Kyu Sakamoto's（坂本九）bittersweet kayo kyoku"Sayonara Tokyo" from July 1964, I noticed to the right of the screen that there was another song with the same title, this time performed by another veteran who also sadly left this mortal coil several years ago.
My initial impression was that Keiko Fuji's（藤圭子）"Sayonara Tokyo" was a cover of the Sakamoto original, but nothing could be further from the truth. Actually, this song was written by Kazuya Senke（千家和也）and composed by Yukihiko Ito（伊藤雪彦）. Senke's lyrics also actually tell of a romance gone bust but the dynamics are different in that the poor woman scooted from the countryside or small town to see her lover in gigantic Tokyo, only to be shocked and heartbroken.
Whereas Sakamoto's "Sayonara Tokyo" had a distinctive Latin guitar, Fuji's "Sayonara Tokyo" has the much more twangy guitar and the overall arrangement is much more in the Mood Kayo (including that sharp trumpet) vein that is her genre-in-trade. The song was also not released as a single but was included as a track on her December 1977 album"Omokage Heiya"（面影平野...Field of Reminders）.
Considering some of the world-weary characterization that 70s aidorusuperstar Momoe Yamaguchi（山口百恵）had adopted during the latter half of her singing career in songs such as "Imitation Gold"（イミテイション・ゴールド）, it can still be jarring to realize that 1) she retired from show business when she was barely into adulthood and 2) she used to have that earlier-half persona of a typical junior high school student with the lighter voice and school-aged concerns.
So it's especially refreshing, not to mention downright adorable, to see that cover of Yamaguchi's 5th studio album"Juu-go Sai"（15才...15 Years Old） from December 1974 since it has a very happy aidoru clutching that doggie. The penultimate track on the album is "Otome wa Matteiru" (A Young Lady is Waiting), a quintessentially 70s aidoru tune with that familiar decade-specific arrangement by Hiroshi Takada（高田弘） (strings-and-brass, flute-and-marimba) wrestling between innocence and uncertainty. Written by Kazuya Senke（千家和也）and composed by Shunichi Tokura（都倉俊一）, "Otome wa Matteiru" is given the quick explanation by Momoe-chan herself right at the beginning; a young girl fights with a mischievous boy at school all the time but for some odd reason, she can't quite get herself to hate him and perhaps some other feelings are bubbling forth. Things that make you go Hmmm.
As for "Juu-go Sai", the album peaked at No. 8 on Oricon. The album also has "Izu no Odoriko"（伊豆の踊子）. Recently, Momoe has been showing up in the last several months as an entry in ROY articles, so it's nice to have her back with one of her own songs as the featured star once more.
I'm not sure what the remaining schedule for NHK's "Uta Con"（うたコン）will be like for December. As I recall, the series wraps up in early December and basically goes on hiatus until sometime in January. So it's possible that "Uta Con" may have already said its goodbyes to 2022 for a couple of reasons: 1) I don't see any other episode coming up on the lineup at its website, and 2) last night's episode was a very special one in that it was a documentary focusing on one veteran singer.
Indeed, I am talking about Sayuri Ishikawa（石川さゆり）who is celebrating her 50th anniversary in show business. Many congratulations to her. The special last night not only showed off her hits in enka but also her prowess in tackling other genres such as jazz and rap (not saying that Drake has anything to worry from her, but she still has gumption). It also went over her life including her beginnings in music as a teenage aidoru.
However this song (which was featured last night), her 10th single from October 1975"Watashi de Yokoreba"(If I Can Be the One), certainly sounds as if she's gone headfirst into the enka genre from the teenybopper one. At the time, she had yet to don the kimono that has become her signature form of dress in performances, but the arrangement and the voice are such that I wouldn't really call this an aidoru tune. Written by Kazuya Senke（千家和也）and composed by Shosuke Ichikawa（市川昭介）, it's a jaunty tune about a young girl asking her love to accept her.
From callow aidoru to current grande dame of enka, it's been a good 50 years for Ishikawa. Hope there are still many more years for her to entertain us.
It's been 5 1/2 years since I wrote about singer Yoko Aso's（麻生よう子）February 1974 debut single"Touhikou"（逃避行）, a wistful tune about a woman eloping with the man he loves, away from all she knew and had loved to spend life together in a different town.
Man, I'm kinda wondering if her sophomore effort, "Gozen Reiji no Kane" (The Bells at Midnight), released six months later, is a direct sequel to the story of that young couple running away for love. If so, then the ending is very bittersweet. Created by the same duo of lyricist Kazuya Senke（千家和也）and composer Shunichi Tokura（都倉俊一）that did "Touhikou", the plot here is about possibly the same lass leaving a Dear John letter on the door to their home and deserting the relationship due to implications that perhaps the guy hasn't held his end of the bargain. Interestingly enough, the melodic tone sounds more hopeful in a way that intimates that the lady may have learned a hard lesson but can now move onto the right path which may mean going back to her hometown or another place.
Reading the rest of Aso's biography on J-Wiki, I've read that the singer some years later actually did a cover of Gloria Gaynor's disco classic"I Will Survive". I will have to write about that one sometime soon.
Through the cavalcade of pop music from yesteryear, Little Peggy March's"I Will Follow Him"(1963) will always be a song whose music and lyrics of "I love him, I love him, I love him" I will remember better than the singer or the title. That insistent pushing melody is eternally memorable as one that I've associated with the old-style pop. And of course, the sweet bloom of puppy love and intrepid need to follow one's beloved idol everywhere and every time was adorable to the max back then, but now it's probably considered stalking.
It is "I Will Follow Him" that I was reminded of when I first heard Teruyo Mitani's（三谷晃代）November 1976 debut single"Zekkou"(Breakup), and I'm pretty confident that composer Juichi Sase（佐瀬寿一）must have had at least some inspiration from the 1963 hit when he came up with some of the main melody. Ironically, Kazuya Senke's（千家和也）lyrics are the absolute opposite of the message in "I Will Follow Him". A young woman goes ballistic on seeing her boyfriend with another woman and without that ring on his finger. Ouch! There will be no more following here. Motoki Funayama（船山基紀）arranged "Zekkou".
Mitani, who hails from Hokkaido, began attending a music school in 1975 and soon after, songwriters Senke and Keisuke Hama（浜圭介）, who were judges on the Fuji-TV audition program "Kimi Koso Star da!"（君こそスターだ!...YOU Are the Star!）, were searching for contestants for the show when they discovered Mitani and brought her into show business. Following the release of "Zekkou", Mitani came down to Tokyo in early 1977 and even attended Horikoshi High School, an equivalent of Beverly Hills High, but would only release another three singles and one studio album by the end of that year before her recording career ended. She would take on a few acting roles on TV and the big screen but her time in showbiz ended sometime in 1980. However, with the re-release of that lone album "Omoide no First Kiss"（想い出のファースト・キッス...The First Kiss I Remember） on CD in 2016, Mitani decided to revive her performances.
As has been reflected on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" over the years, veteran singer Yukio Hashi（橋幸夫）has been able to tackle a number of genres including enka, Mood Kayo and even some rock. Tonight, it'll be some enka.
I heard this one on last Saturday's episode of "Songs of Japanese Spirit" on NHK's satellite channel, and it's quite the jaunty tune called "Edo no Hana" (The Flower of Edo). If I'm not mistaken, it was actually Hashi himself singing this one on the stage (I was actually around the corner from the telly having dinner at the time so I couldn't see the screen).
"Edo no Hana" was actually the B-side forHashi's 122nd single"Mukou Tooru wa"（向こう通るは...Passing Yonder） from October 1973, and both songs were used as the theme songs for NTV's adaptation of historical novel series "Denshichi no Torimonochou"（伝七捕物帳...The Memoirs of Denshichi The Detective）. It was evidently quite the popular series since it had first been televised on TBS in 1968 for a few months before NTV had its time with its own version for four years and then TV Asahi produced yet another version in 1979.
While "Mukou Tooru wa" served as the opening theme for the first half-year of the NTV series, "Edo no Hana" was the ending theme for those early episodes before taking over as the opening theme for the remainder of the series. Kazuya Senke（千家和也）was the lyricist while Tadashi Yoshida（吉田正）took care of the music.
Happy Saturday and at least here in Toronto, the weather is perfect for Halloween...all rainy and dreary, but at least tomorrow on the 31st, it should be clear for the trick or treaters. I checked out the live camera for Shibuya on YouTube and it appears that the crowds did return with many in cosplay mode but my impression is that the Halloween vibe is still not quite as high as it was before the pandemic.
I haven't been a keen purveyor of the "Lupin III" franchise but I do know about the romance between Lupin and femme fatale Fujiko（不二子）. Although I've heard that the pair eventually had their kids, I've always thought that there was a Charlie Brown and Lucy Van Pelt and the football relationship underlaying that relationship albeit there was a whole lot less malice between Lupin and Fujiko. The former would always go to "kick the football" so to speak only for the latter to pull it back at the last moment through some teasing flirtatious moment to end things until the next time.
Earlier this year, I wrote up on "Love Squall"（ラヴ・スコール）which was one ending theme for the second anime run for "Lupin III" which had an epic three years of comedy, intrigue and adventure between October 1977 and October 1980. Today, I give you the first ending theme, "Lupin the 3rd Ai no Theme" (The Love Theme for Lupin the 3rd).
Initially an instrumental created by Yuji Ohno（大野雄二）through his You & Explosion Band（ユー&エクスプロージョン・バンド）, the smooth-as-Bailey's Irish Cream featured that disco/soft rock flute and the main instruments of harmonica and bluesy guitar, a combination that pretty much screams 1970s detective voiceover with the private eye nursing a tumbler (and maybe a black eye) at his favourite watering hole. I haven't forgotten the silky strings, though, which always lent a touch of class. Not sure whether variations of this instrumental were used during any interactions between Lupin and the love of his life.
About six months into the run of that second season so early 1978, the ending theme was switched into a vocalized version of "Ai no Theme" with seiyuu/singer Ichiro Mizuki（水木一郎）handling the tenderhearted delivery thanks to Kazuya Senke's（千家和也）lyrics. I noticed that the arrangement changed a bit with the harmonica taken out and the bluesy guitar put back a bit more into the background.
I'm sure that with the jazziness and class of Lupin's love theme, it's been covered many times in the years following. In fact, I did find one cover by bohemian band Ego-Wrappin and the Gossip of Jaxx via a March 2010 tribute compilation to "Lupin III" titled "Club Jazz Digs Lupin The Third", and yep, listening to the band and the steamy vocals of Yoshie Nakano（中納良恵）, I thought that the perfect setting would be a smoke-filled underground jazz club in the heart of Shinjuku...namely Shinjuku DUG. There's something more introspective and distant in this arrangement, though.
Kinda wonder if a couple of folks did dress up like Lupin and Fujiko in Tokyo tonight.
Ahh, yes. That tender two-person configuration known as the hizamakura(lap pillow) which can denote a parent-child relationship or something more romantic with a young couple. Of course, the intimacy and awkwardness are squeezed for all they are worth in a lot of anime. For that matter, this can lead to another trope: ear-cleaning but since I've yet to find a kayo about that custom, I'll just go with the hizamakura for tonight.
I was able to find one with that exact title. "Hizamakura" was a single by kayo singer Michiko Maki（牧美智子）released in May 1974. The song was written by Kazuya Senke（千家和也）and composed by Daisuke Inoue（井上大輔）when he was still going by his real name, Tadao Inoue（井上忠夫）, a few years after he had left his old Group Sounds band, Jackey Yoshikawa & His Blue Comets（ジャッキー吉川とブルー・コメッツ）.
Unfortunately enough, I couldn't find the lyrics to "Hizamakura" online but from what I could hear from Maki herself, it seems as if her protagonist is perhaps enjoying her beau sleeping softly in her lap and wondering what the future portends for them. The music is suitably innocent but also has that sense of uncertainty. For the singer, this was not only her first single under the CBS/Sony banner but also her first single under the stage name Michiko Maki. In terms of her entire career, "Hizamakura" was her 5th single with the first four singles being released under the name Hiroko or Yoko Aihara（愛原洋子）.
Currently as I write this, the Ontario government is announcing the careful and slow three-step process in reopening the economy, so perhaps there is hope that the summer will be at least salvageable although all of the usual events and festivals have been cancelled this year.
To commemorate a happier summer then, I bring you the full 6th single by aidoru Nozomi Inoue（井上望）, "Shadow Boy" and its B-side"Prima Donna"(both are in the video above at 0:00 and 19:57 respectively) which was, oddly enough, actually released in October 1980. "Shadow Boy" is a pretty jumpy and cheerful song about a girl who has feelings for that titular boy but cannot really confess to him quite yet. In that case, I kinda wonder the tune should have been titled "Shadow Girl" instead, but that's all academic since I like the throw-in of some of that doo-wop and West Coast into this aidoru number. Singer-songwriter Keiko Maruyama（丸山圭子）provided the lyrics while the composer was Masamichi Sugi（杉真理）and Tadashige Matsui（松井忠重）was the arranger.
"Prima Donna" makes for a fairly solid B-side since it's a song that seems to meander around with its arrangement by Motoki Funayama（船山基紀）. The song by lyricist Kazuya Senke（千家和也）and composer Ben Sasaki（佐々木勉）initially begins with that hint of classy baroque waltz as Inoue sings about a singer hitting the stage for what could be the performance of her life. Then, the refrain seems to melt into something more country-like in melody. It's almost a sudden shift in visual setting from a French castle into a Kentucky field. Considering the more adventurous arrangement, I couldn't really see "Prima Donna" as an A-side.
Another fine day out there which means the fan has switched on in here.
(shortened version)
Basically a year ago, I wrote about a singer named Kawaii Fujii（藤井香愛）that I discovered on YouTube who had brought back the memories of old-style Mood Kayo through songs such as her 2nd single"TOKYO Maigo"（TOKYO迷子）from 2019. Well, it looks like she's gotten some more fame under her as she made her first appearance on last week's episode of "Uta Con"（うたコン）.
Fujii performed her most recent single "Sono Ki mo nai Kuse ni"(Although I Don't Feel Like It) on the NHK program. It was originally released last year in April 2020 and got up to No. 35 on Oricon, but it was given a re-release in March of this year and it's done even better by getting up to No. 30. Written by Kazuya Senke（千家和也）, composed by Kohei Miyuki（幸耕平）and arranged by Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）, "Sono Ki mo nai Kuse ni" is a look back at the old snazzy Latin-tinged Mood Kayo of the 1970s and 1980s.
The lyrics by Senke have been made to match a lot of the words from those Mood Kayo chestnuts as a woman sullenly admonishes her probably imminently to-be-ex-paramour in a bar not to bother with the soothing words if the result is a breakup. Still, the drinks are helpful. However, taking things back into the real world, I hope that Fujii has continued success in her career since it would be nice to have some of the classy kayo back in some form again.
Had a heck of a time trying to parse this title here for aidoru Nozomi Inoue's（井上望）3rd single "Hana Negawakuba". Just looking at the arrangement of the kanji and kana, I had been wondering whether it was something like "Hanane ga Wakuba" or "Hananega Wakuba", but throwing in the words into the Jisho.org dictionary, I found out that the latter word of "negawakuba" means "I pray" or "I wish". So, perhaps "Hana Negawakuba" can be translated as "Flower Wishes" as in doing that old-fashioned action of "He loves me, he loves me not" with the petals of a bloom.
In any case, just going into this song by Inoue, who unfortunately never quite hit it big although she's found bigger success as a music producer, "Hana Negawakuba" isn't bad at all as this bouncy tune which was released back in December 1979 (yup, almost 41 years ago...I'm reaching for my Metamucil right now). Written by Kazuya Senke（千家和也）and composed by Yusuke Hoguchi（穂口雄右）, the same duo behind 70s aidoru trio Candies'（キャンディーズ）first Top 10 single"Toshishita no Otokonoko" (年下の男の子）, it possesses some of that early and mid-1970s innocent skippy nature but at the same time, I also think of late 1970s aidoru Ikue Sakakibara（榊原郁恵）when I hear Inoue's delivery. Speaking of her vocals, I think that they were a tad lower than in her debut single"Refrain" (ルフラン) which came out earlier in May. The other interesting observation is that underlying guitar riff that pops up at the beginning of each verse.; trying to remember where that comes from.
Just an additional piece of trivia concerning Inoue, but she ended up marrying Ed Yamaguchi（エド山口）, the TV personality and musician who, along with Shiro Okada（岡田志郎）, created the hit "Roppongi Lullaby"（六本木ララバイ）for singer Yasuko Naito（内藤やす子）in 1984.
The first couple of articles that I've written on aidoru Kumiko Aimoto（相本久美子）regarded tracks from her 1981 second album"Yume Nanoni I Love You"（夢☆なのにI LOVE YOU）: the synthpop "Mayonaka no Heroine"（真夜中のヒロイン）and the City Pop"Itsutsu no Douka"（5つの銅貨）. And in "Mayonaka no Heroine", I mentioned that Aimoto started her aidoru life in 1974 under the name Kumiko Kondo（近藤久美子）.
Well, here is that debut single by Kondo, "Chiisana Teikou" (A Little Resistance) released in September 1974. Written by Kazuya Senke（千家和也）and composed by Koichi Morita（森田公一）, I'd say that it is the conventionally cute aidoru tune of the 1970s with the sunny strings and a bass harmonica that mysteriously reminds me of some of the soundtrack from that old American sitcom "Green Acres". Despite the adorable delivery of the lass, the lyrics make the heroine of the number into a slightly impish and naughty girl who has quite the reputation in the school.
Unfortunately, from what I've read in the J-Wiki article for the aidoru, Kondo/Aimoto never landed that Top 10 single. In fact, the highest that she scored on the Oricon charts was a No. 59 for her 4th release,"Shoka Keshiki"（初夏景色...Early Summer Scene）. Still, her acting career has been plenty long with roles being performed right into the 2010s. In addition, Aimoto got her time in the sun during her long co-hosting stint on the NTV Sunday afternoon variety show "TV Jockey"（TVジョッキー）.
I hope everyone's having a good start to 2020. Now that I'm not drowning in essays and have swapped this year's oddly volatile winter in Japan for the equally volatile rainy season in Singapore, I have the time to do what I want, like some reading and, well, writing. I've also been reflecting on the past year's events; my 2019 was madder than usual with the lows being rock-bottom and the highs being sky-high. But I suppose that comes with adjusting to more or less a new way of life. One of the major highs was being able to catch my top favourite enka-yo singers (who are still in mortal coil) in action, and actually getting the chance to interact with most of them. In spite of the knowledge that enka-yo artistes hold events and concerts and dinner shows at high frequencies, somehow, I didn't think that I could see Kiyoshi Maekawa (前川清), Ikuzo Yoshi (吉幾三), Hiroshi Itsuki (五木ひろし) and Takashi Hosokawa (細川たかし) within the span of a year - nay, nine months. What a ride.
As most of you probably know, Mae-Kiyo ranks the highest in my mind, so I suppose it would come as no surprise that I went to see him and the Cool Five (four, really) twice: during a regular concert and a dinner show, the latter instigated by Mom. The former more or less fulfilled my dream of seeing the statue-like singer and his cronies, but the latter took it up a notch with the fellow literally standing right in front of me... Did I smile like an idiot when he noticed me. Yes. Did I get a hug from him? Yeah - I wouldn't let myself live it down if I didn't. Did I melt into the floor after that? Like an ice cube in tropical weather. Well, as much as that sent me straight to cloud nine, I can't help but feel a little bad that the Cool Five fellows barely got any attention from the audience. I would love to shake their hands and get a photo with them too. I shall keep that in mind should I go for another of their concerts.
Anyways, in the way of the musical set list, I gather that the selections are more or less the same (for 2019, at least) with the Cool Five classics sung in two medleys. Hits synonymous with the group were sung in the later half of the show. The earlier half, on the other hand, includes their much lesser known singles. Most were pleasant-sounding, though one in particular really caught my attention. I wasn't able to put a name to it the first time round during the concert and went on a wild goose chase through YouTube in an attempt to find this song whose ending I only so vaguely remembered. I found many other Cool Five gems in the process which all seemed like likely candidates, but a re-listen at the dinner show proved that the answer had literally been right under my nose the whole time.
Sorry, fellas, but y'all look like the poster boys for awkward family photos from the 80s.
That song was "Yume Sakaba", a single released late in the Cool Five's career in 1982. I say that it was right under my nose because, for quite some time prior I had been happily listening to its B-side, "Yoibanashi". I even remember seeing the former's thumbnail from time to time, and going, "Nah, that ain't it." I'd tuned in to it once before - it wasn't bad, but it was more... lukewarm at the time. It had a nice Mood Kayo rhythm going on, but its slower tempo and the slightly more somber vibe was probably where I lost interest, especially when I was used to the lighter and jauntier melody in "Yoibanashi". It took the live version to change my mind with its faster and modern arrangement and Mae-Kiyo's own bellowing of the titular phrase at the end of each stanza. Frankly, I do prefer the live rendition, but I nevertheless have become a big fan of the recorded take of "Yume Sakaba".
This one's "Yoibanashi"
When it comes to the lyrics, both numbers in the group's 43rd single involve a love-lorn heroine trying to get over some fellow who had ditched her. However, with the slightly differing veins of "Yume Sakaba" and "Yoibanashi", I like to view them as two halves of a singular narrative wherein we see the emotion progression (or degradation) of our protagonist. "Yume Sakaba" marks the start of her downward spiral; from the words Mae-Kiyo softly utters in a contemptuous manner, the woman seems angry that she let herself be played then left behind by her lover, yet she can't seem to let go. Then in "Yoibanashi", she finally settles in a bar and tries to drown out the pain with sake. The alcohol turns the scorn into sorrow, and all she wants is to see the guy again even though it's nothing but wishful thinking. Ah, classic Mood Kayo drama. Someone should do an anthology style drama series based on these enka and Mood Kayo. I would watch that.
Toyohisa Araki (荒木とよひさ) and Kunihiko Suzuki (鈴木邦彦) were in charge of the words and music for "Yume Sakaba" respectively, and Kazuya Senke (千家和也) and Shigemi Iwaki (岩城茂美) did "Yoibanashi". I suppose it was no wonder that the "Yume Sakaba" single was one of the Cool Five's more renowned entries in spite of coming out in the 80s since the songs were put together by songwriters who had each created at least one Cool Five hit prior. Also, Iwaki himself is actually part of the Cool Five chorus; he's the one in between the bespectacled Etsuro Miyamoto (宮本悦朗) and the crazy-haired Masaki Kobayashi (小林正樹) in picture in the videos above.
In spite of the pickle the world seems to be in at the moment, I hope everyone's year will go smoothly from here on out. And have a Happy Chinese New Year too!
Miho Morikawa（森川美穂）isn't a singer that I have covered a lot but my impression had always been based on her "Blue Water", the theme for the NHK anime "Fushigi Umi no Nadia"（ふしぎの海のナディア）, and I think for that article, I compared her to power pop specialists such as Kahoru Kohiruimaki（小比類巻かほる）and Mariko Nagai（永井真理子）.
Little did I know that half a decade earlier, Morikawa had debuted as a typically high-voiced aidoru of the mid-1980s. But that was indeed the case with her first single"Kyoshitsu" (The Classroom) released in July 1985. Certainly from that music video above, I would never have recognized this lass as Morikawa of 1990 who looked more like a happy-go-lucky rock singer with long wavy tresses according to one album that I have of hers.
"Kyoshitsu", which was written by Kazuya Senke（千家和也）and composed by Minoru Komorita（小森田実）, is one of those bittersweet tunes of parting-is-sweet-sorrow themes, as a high school girl, who for some mysterious reason can no longer attend the same school as the target of her affections, makes one final trip to his desk to plant a kiss there before leaving forever. Ah, seishun! It's a short-but-sweet number that probably didn't make Morikawa an overnight sensation but it didn't too badly on Oricon, placing in at No. 38.
This song by Momoe Yamaguchi（山口百恵）was something that I only found out about not too long ago but it's one that I have quickly grown to enjoy. I never saw it in her BEST compilation albums and never heard it performed on any of Yamaguchi's TV appearances but I think that perhaps her discography of wonderful music was so large that it was just treated as a relatively minor hit.
Her 8th single"Mizuumi no Kesshin" (Lakeside Resolution) starts off with a question by the singer herself "Do you believe in destiny?" and then progresses into some soul-searching while Momoe-chan and her boyfriend take a walk by a body of water. She has to ponder within herself whether this man is THE ONE for her.
"Mizuumi no Kesshin" was released in March 1975 and as a relatively early single in her career, Yamaguchi was singing this with the innocence of a girl grappling with these new feelings of love which was quite different from what she would often be singing in the latter half of her career when her persona in those songs was more of a jaded figure who knew her way around the downtown life. Mind you, even in the early 1970s, some of her singles back then also raised eyebrows with their perceived raciness in the lyrics.
Strangely enough, it was the same duo behind one of those supposedly racy tunes "Hito Natsu no Keiken"（ひと夏経験）, lyricist Kazuya Senke（千家和也）and composer Shunichi Tokura（都倉俊一）who also worked on "Mizuumi no Kesshin" which raises much milder sentiments. The dreamy delivery of her vocals, the tenderhearted mandolin in the intro, and the wistful arrangement of the song help bring out the sighworthy nostalgia. "Mizuumi no Kesshin" reached No. 5 on Oricon and ended up as the 44th-ranked single of the year. It was also a track on Yamaguchi's 6th studio album"Juu-roku-sai no Tehma"（16才のテーマ...Theme of a 16-Year-Old）from May of that year; it made it all the way up to No. 3 and was the 48th-ranked album for 1975.
Currently, a couple of my good friends are having their vacation in Japan, but before they left, I was able to have lunch last Friday with the husband half. Over my medium-rare steak, he rather surprised me when he told me that he had downloaded some of the 1960s kayosince up until now, I knew him as being more of a contemporary music fellow. But as you know, I'm always welcoming of folks discovering some of the old stuff.
Perhaps one of the songs in his download was this one by singer/tarento/actress Rumi Koyama（小山ルミ）. "Sasurai no Guitar" (Wandering Guitar) was her 6th single from June 1971, and yep, although I did mention that my friend had downloaded 1960s kayo, I kinda think that this snazzy number retained some of that go-go feeling from the decade before. Koyama no longer sings but I think that she had a pretty strong voice to accompany "Sasurai no Guitar" which also seemed to possess a layer of French pop with its "Yeah, Yeah" melody by J.A.Schatrow. Kazuya Senke（千家和也）, who would also later provide some hits for Momoe Yamaguchi（山口百恵）, took care of the lyrics of a woman falling in love.
Koyama herself was born in Sapporo to a Japanese mother and a father who was an Irish soldier. Beginning a career in modeling while she was in junior high school, she soon got into acting in the late 1960s with her singing beginning with "Hajimete no Date"（はじめてのデート...First Date）in 1968. With her final single coming out in 1974, she moved to the United States and met a Japanese jeweler whom she married after which she retired from show business. According to J-Wiki, she's currently living in Los Angeles.
When I first read the title for this Tonosama Kings（殿さまキングス）hit, "Meoto Kagami" (A Mirror for a Couple), I wondered what it meant because I have had the feeling that the mirror has found itself in a number of kayo titles. So I did some digging. I remember from my university education that the Imperial Regalia of Japan included the mirror Yata no Kagami（八咫鏡）which may be enshrined in Ise Grand Shrine in Mie Prefecture. Supposedly, the Yata no Kagami could represent "wisdom" or "honesty".
So, perhaps that's where the significance of "Meoto Kagami" might come into play. Maybe it talks about the honesty between a couple...or the lack thereof. This enka ballad was the 5th single by the Tonosama Kings released in May 1974, and it followed up the group's megahit of "Namida no Misao"（なみだの操）from the previous year.
The karaoke video above, which also has the Kings singing the lyrics, shows the situation of a wife who is carrying out her last duties before leaving her husband for the last time. Perhaps she may have found out that the heel was philandering or he was simply paying more attention to his career than to her. The strange thing is that according to Kazuya Senke's（千家和也）lyrics, the wife seems to be intimating that it's all her fault for the breakup and that she no longer wants to be a burden on him.
Masao Saiki（彩木雅夫）was responsible for the unexpectedly jaunty melody, and both him and Senke were behind "Namida no Misao", most probably in the hopes that lightning would strike twice for Tonosama Kings. There was no need to worry. Although "Meoto Kagami" didn't become the No. 1 single of the year like its predecessor, it was still aNo. 1 on the Oricon weeklies for almost a straight month and sold 1.5 million records. It ended up as the No. 6 single for 1974.
I didn't mention this in the article for "Namida no Misao", but Tonosama Kings struck me as this rather interesting quartet that had that look and sound of a typical Mood Kayo group but actually sang enka tunes. Mind you, the way they sang both "Namida no Misao" and "Meoto Kagami" could have had them straddle the line between the two kayo genres.
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