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 can say that the above looks just like the first telephone that I ever saw in my apartment in the late 1960s. The good ol' rotary phone. Never got to use the even older model where people had to crank it up and yell "Maisie! Is that you? I'm calling Pennsylvania 65000!".
Earlier today, the first article for Urban Contemporary Friday on KKP was Mariko Tone's（刀根麻里子）"Private Number" and that got me thinking that among the many different themes I've had for Author's Picks, one common object that I had yet to highlight was the telephone. And yet, as soon as I put up "Private Number", suddenly all these phone-themed tunes came back to mind. So, to finish my contributions today, I'm putting up my telephone or denwa songs. Not all of them are City Pop, mind you, but enough of them are including the one with City Pop's most famous number.
Knowing about singer-songwriter Kyoko Endo（遠藤京子）from the pages of "Japanese City Pop" and then gradually providing articles on her music within the pages of KKP, my surface impression is that she hasn't been so much of a City Pop singer (although a couple of her tunes at least have been given the City Pop tag...one in 1993!) as she has been a singer of refined un-aidoru-like pop tunes since her debut in the early 1980s.
One of my first entries on Endo was "Kokuhaku Telephone"（告白テレフォン）, her snazzy debut single from November 1981 and a collaboration between her and her lyrics and the composition of Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）. I can't even imagine what it must have been like working with Tsutsumi who had already gotten a reputation as a master melody maker.
Well, "Kokuhaku Telephone" was also on Endo's first album"Operetta" which came out a month later in December. In addition, have a listen to its track mate "A-LI-CE" which was also created by Endo and Tsutsumi. Starting out languidly like a love ballad, the song soon revs up into another mildly funky chorus. The inclusion of strings in the instrumental bridge almost takes things into a Fashion Music area but overall, it remains a pretty cool pop tune. In fact, I kinda wonder whether this is an example of Senri Oe's music even before Senri Oe（大江千里）.
Singer-songwriter Kyoko Endo（遠藤響子）is someone that I haven't covered in well over a year so I had been thinking of covering her "Douka, Kokoro Tojinai de"（どうか、心閉じないで）from her 1993 album"Koibito ni Naritai"（恋人になりたい...I Want to be Your Lover）, quite the City Pop tune of that final decade in the 20th century. However, I found out to my surprise that, lo and behold, I had already written about it back in late 2022.
Well, not willing to quite let Endo go, I did some more searching about. By the end, I discovered her 3rd single"Hitori Narcissist"(Narcissist of One) which was released in October 1982, and according to her J-Wiki file, it was from this release that her full title of singer and songwriter began as compared to her first two singles including her debut "Kokuhaku Telephone"（告白テレフォン）which had Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）as the composer.
Endo took care of both words and music with this intriguing "Hitori Narcissist" which was arranged by keyboardist and sci-fi author Hiroyuki Namba（難波弘之）. Beginning with this snarl of AOR guitar playing and progressing into some light funk and pop, the song even hits upon the old-fashioned pop sounds of the 50s and 60s. Lyrically, there is perhaps some resemblance to Mariya Takeuchi's（竹内まりや）"Plastic Love" as a woman does the Tokyo party circuit and puts on the happy face although she is feeling anything but happy. She just has to be seen to be seen.
Looking off into the sunset sky toward West Shinjuku, I remember that pedestrian overpass very well since it linked JR Shinjuku Station with the urban development in progress at the time across the street. Now, there is a very large bus terminal next to Takashimaya Times Square.
Through my music bible of "Japanese City Pop" where I first learned about singer-songwriter Kyoko Endo（遠藤京子）, my take was that her albums were mostly from the 1980s. However, that isn't true since she was releasing them as late as the early 2010s. Happily, I was able to find proof positive of that fact through this track from her March 1993 album"Koibito ni Naritai"（恋人になりたい...I Want to be Your Lover）.
"Douka, Kokoro Tojinai de"(Please Don't Close Off Your Heart) is a City Pop number of those times with those smart horns, classy piano and soulful harmonies. Written and composed by Endo, the overall tune is very much in the sophisti-pop branch of Japanese urban contemporary and just listening to it can make one feel like putting on the tux or the evening gown and hitting the streets to paint the town red. Most of all, Endo's distinct voice is still there, no matter the genre whether it be City Pop, quirky pop or jazz.
Earlier this morning, I did some Xmas shopping at Oomomo which is the local Japan-themed dollar store in Canada that has a few branches in the Toronto area. Couldn't resist but I had to pick up a couple of bottles of Milk Tea since I haven't had any in some years now. Also at the same time, I noticed Oomomo had a couple of J-Xmas tunes playing on the store speakers: Tatsuro Yamashita's（山下達郎） rendition of "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" and Mariya Takeuchi's（竹内まりや）cover of "The Christmas Song", both of them about as Hallmark Greeting Card as one can get on a Xmas tune. I was slightly tempted to see if management had a laptop set to "Kayo Kyoku Plus" but I kept my silence. 😁
(1:12...truncated version)
I found this particular J-Pop song with a Christmas theme on one of my J-Xmas compilation discs, although I believe that this was originally on singer-songwriter Kyoko Endo's（遠藤京子）brief November 1993 album"Fuyu no Niwa"（冬の庭...Winter Garden or Le Jardin D'Hiver）. It shares track space with the bouncy "Yuki ga Furu Mae ni"（雪が降る前に）which was originally recorded in 1984 so I'm gathering that "Fuyu no Niwa" may be more of a compilation over the years of Endo's Xmas-themed music.
Characterized by a rich piano and acoustic guitar, Endo gives a slightly hushed performance in "Chiisana Ryote ni Merry Xmas" (Merry Xmas in Both of Your Little Hands). In comparison with her earlier "Yuki ga Furu Mae ni", this Yuletide ballad is a more introspective affair possibly set at the wooden lodge way outside of the city and surrounded by many drifts of snow. Let's say that this is a hot-chocolate-with-a-single-marshmallow sort of song and with that chorus becoming prominent near the end, I think that there is even a bit of a Carpenters feeling to it.
Happy Sunday! As I mentioned in "Kokuhaku Telephone"（告白テレフォン）, singer-songwriter Kyoko Endo's（遠藤京子）debut single from November 1981, the Shizuoka-born artist ran the gamut between City Pop and jazz by my reckoning in terms of her discography. With "Kokuhaku Telephone" being a good example, her music has often shown to be dipping its fingers into a number of genres without one being particularly dominant, although her albums have shown up on my beloved book "Japanese City Pop".
"Kokuhaku Telephone" was also a track on her debut album"Operetta" released a month later and it shares space with "Koi Suru Lonely Girl" with words and music by Endo. She was barely into her twenties when she started out in the music business, and yet this song really struck me as one stylish tune as it makes its way from beginning to end with hints of City Pop, Carole King-friendly 70s pop and some soul for good measure. And on top of that, she mixes in Japanese and English into her lyrics.
Once again, I've got to put in the straight pop label but also New Music since I think that Yuming（ユーミン） would be very proud of "Koi Suru Lonely Girl". Endo really displays her voice along with her songwriting chops here with a sometimes growly confidence. I'm not sure if she ever did but I could imagine her busking at subway stations as a teenager just armed with a guitar and plenty of spunk. Loopy and humourous might be two descriptions for "Kokuhaku Telephone", but with "Koi Suru Lonely Girl", I'd say that wholesome and grounded would be the tag words here.
This morning, I was watching the usual NHK evening news broadcast when there was a brief one-minute statement announcing the passing of prolific kayo and J-Pop composer Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）. He had passed away on October 7th from pneumonia at the age of 80 but to hear that one of the musical greats was gone still had my jaw dropping.
The news was still quite fresh in the media which explained the brevity of the announcement but I think for someone like Tsutsumi, there will be big tributes to the composer in the weeks and perhaps months to come on shows such as "Uta Kon"（うたコン）and maybe there will be a show dedicated to him on at least one of the major networks. Certainly, he was well represented on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" over the years via articles on individual songs and even articles showing how big he was such as a Creator article and an Author's Pick. Not surprisingly, Tsutsumi probably has the most number of KKP articles as a songwriter which partially reflects his status as the No. 1 popular music composer in Japan and also how much I enjoyed his work over the years. My most recent article involving him was about a week ago for Asami Kobayashi（小林麻美）.
As such, I've decided to pay tribute to the Tokyo native by showing off some of my favourites composed by him. It was fairly difficult to pare down; I had thought that I could give five but could do no "better" than ten. The majority are naturally the big hits but there are also a few that are perhaps not well known but are quite dear to me.
"Blue Light Yokohama" by the vivacious Ayumi Ishida（いしだあゆみ）, I think, was one of Tsutsumi's earliest hits and remains one of his evergreen classics. I also think it has one of the best intros to any kayo, and the song was created in tandem with Jun Hashimoto（橋本淳）, his first regular songwriting partner. It may be an oldie but whenever I enter Yokohama itself, this song inevitably enters my brain at some point.
The song may not have the happiest lyrics by Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）, another frequent songwriting partner, but there's no doubting the bouncy melody by Tsutsumi. Since I hadn't been a lyrics person at the time, when I first heard "Momen no Handkerchief" sung by Hiromi Ohta（太田裕美）, I just thought it was one of the most carefree songs that I had ever heard in Japan.
Another wonderful creation by Tsutsumi and Matsumoto,Junko Ohashi's（大橋純子）"Tasogare My Love" also showed that the former could also come up with some of that urban kayo along with the breezy love ballads. For Ohashi fans, there are plenty of splendid examples in her discography but "Silhouette Romance" and this one are probably the two songs that Ohashi is widely known for.
In Tsutsumi's vast collection of songs, Judy Ongg's"Miserarete" is his biggest-selling single and one of the prime examples of the exotic kayoboom that was taking place in the late 1970s. Of course, a lot of folks will point out the visual spectacle of Ongg and that dress of hers, but that dramatic and free-flowing melody has provided the wind beneath her wings (as corny as that may read).
Compared to the previous songs, MANNA's "Tokio Tsushin" is probably one of the lesser-known creations by Tsutsumi but it has been one of my favourites by the composer. It's got that disco beat, to be sure, and I think he was on that disco kick for a bit, but it also has some of that exotic kayofeeling as well. Perhaps he was aiming for France in this case. As I mentioned to one person, "Tokio Tsushin" is appealingly quirky.
"Kokuhaku Telephone" is another appealingly quirky and lesser-known song composed by Tsutsumi with new singer Endo（遠藤響子）providing the lyrics. "Kayo Kyoku Plus" helped me get to know more about the songwriters for all of the kayo, and with Tsutsumi, I first got to realize how many of the big hits he was responsible for, but then with further digging, I also discovered that he had a lot of hidden gems in his jewel case as well. For "Kokuhaku Telephone", the setting might be a stationary one by the phone but Tsutsumi makes it all sounds like a whirlwind tour around the city.
As I stated in the original article for "Aishitsuzukeru Bolero", this won't be one of the bigger songs for enka/kayo master Hiroshi Itsuki（五木ひろし）, but it's still one of my favourites by the singer and that is because of Tsutsumi's melody. The composer splendidly weaves in Latin, Mood Kayo and even some hint of City Pop to create that classy tune to accompany a drink in an expensive Akasaka bar. After first listening to this one on "Sounds of Japan", I realized that Itsuki wasn't just strictly an enka singer.
For me, "Natsu no Claxon" is one of Inagaki's trademark tunes as he wistfully sings about the end of the hot season, and Tsutsumi here spins up a bluesy City Pop/AOR melody handled by the piano, strings and background chorus to provide instant relaxation and some reminiscing of the pop ballads of yesteryear on the radio. Summer might be going away for another year but it's going out gracefully.
I think by this point, Tsutsumi may not have been as prevalent in the pop culture sphere but he still provided a banger with "Ambitious Japan" by the Johnny's Entertainment band TOKIO. I'm not sure if the composer had meant to do so, but he may have given the staff of Japan Railways and for that matter, anyone who wants to see Japan get higher, stronger and faster, the song to rev up to. The entire arrangement is designed to power a maglev train up to 603 kph and then whip it across the country. I'd probably say that this is my favourite Johnny's song.
I've saved this one up for the very last entry since I think as a final farewell song for Kyohei Tsutsumi, "Mata Au Hi Made" is the one to use since it does mean "Until We Meet Again". Ironically, when I wrote up the article back in June 2012, it was on the occasion of singer Kiyohiko Ozaki's（尾崎紀世彦）death. One of Tsutsumi's greatest creations may have been initially meant for an air conditioner commercial, but I think since then, it has become not only Ozaki's most famous song but also a fine kayo of bittersweet bye-byes and then hoped-for reunions. Speaking of hope, I do hope that this will be the show-ending showstopper for any televised tribute to Tsutsumi. Perhaps this could be an idea for the upcoming Kohaku Utagassen, as different as it will be this year.
As I mentioned off the top of the article, it was difficult to pare down my choices and I've left a few that I would have put up if I had wanted to push it to twenty. However, these are my own favourites but if any of you have your favourites that I didn't mention, please feel free to say so below.
Although I couldn't track down how many songs he composed in total during his 55+ years in music, according to his J-Wikiarticle, Tsutsumi has 2709 songs registered in JASRAC which I'm pretty sure is only part of that total. He may not have covered the entire breadth of music in Japan (just couldn't see him doing punk rock or hardcore enka) but he took care of a huge chunk of it. One question that I've seen pop up in Japanese sometimes for a Tsutsumi tune (and one that I've blurted out myself) in the comments section of a YouTube video consists of three words, a question mark and an exclamation mark: "He composed that?!". Yup, he certainly did.
He may not have been as prolific in recent years as he once was, but he kept on working right to the end. In fact, his final song was one he did for seiyuu/singer Azusa Tadokoro（田所あずさ）in mid-2019 at the age of 78.
Being someone who has been enjoying Japanese popular music for many many years, there will always be aspects that I miss. I've mentioned this before but I miss some of the soul music that came into J-Pop in the early 2000s via songstresses such as bird and Misia. Even a decade earlier than that, there was also a brief dalliance in the early 1990s when there was a small cadre of female singers and/or songwriters providing some nice urban contemporary balladry.
Back on New Year's Day, I wrote about a nice song sung by Hikaru Nishida（西田ひかる）titled "Kinou to wa O-Chigai"（きのうとは大違い）which popped up by chance while I was searching for any more music by the songwriter of the piece, Kyoko Endo（遠藤京子）.
Well, it turned out that I found this wonderful ballad written, composed and sung by Endo called "27-sai no Seishun" (My Youth at 27). Also arranged by Yoko Kanno (菅野よう子...who would later be responsible for a number of amazing things, including one of the most iconic themes in anime history), this song is one of the prime examples about that urban contemporary balladry I was referring to earlier.
"27-sai no Seishun" was released as Endo's 14th single in March 1993 and was also a track on her 7th original album"Koibito ni Naritai"（恋人になりたい...I Want to be a Lover） which also came out on the same day as the single. The singer-songwriter-actress had already been in the music business since 1981 but never quite hit the huge fame that some of her clients such as Nishida or Hiromi Iwasaki（岩崎宏美）did. Not that it would really matter; her ability to not only write but also deliver a tune probably has garnered a very dedicated group of fans, yours truly included.
This particular song may or may not be categorized as City Pop. However, I am since from the music I can't imagine any place other than a big city where the music or lyrics can be played out. With that slight sense of bossa nova in there, "27-sai no Seishun" has that romantic flair masking a deep sadness in the words. That title may look and sound like something to be envied but according to Endo, it's quite the opposite as described in the wording. The heroine is describing perhaps yet another failed relationship, something that she had thought would only be occurring with any frequency during her true adolescence when she was younger, more reckless and more willing to roll with the punches. Well, in Japan, she's now 7 years past her official inclusion into adulthood and disillusioned that this part of youth has not let her go yet, and perhaps she's wondering whether it will ever do so. Certain listeners may want to have a stiff belt of scotch with this one.
Still as I've said, it's a lovely song although very bittersweet. It has renewed my nostalgia for those ballads from over 20 years ago.
Hikaru Nishida（西田ひかる）has been more in Marcos V.'s wheelhouse although I have known about the bilingual aidoru for years. However it's been more for her appearances on the telly as a young tarento that I've been familiar with Nishida. Apparently, she and her family are living very close to Hanshin Koshien Stadium where the baseball team Hanshin Tigers play. However, although her husband is a dyed-in-the-wool Tigers fan, Nishida is an ardent Tokyo Giants enthusiast. I can only imagine the conversations during the summer in their household.
Getting back to the topic at hand, I encountered this song, "Kinou to wa O-Chigai" (A Big Change From Yesterday) by Nishida which is a track on her 9th original album from July 1996, "24 two-four". I was initially searching for some music by singer-songwriter Kyoko Endo（遠藤京子）since I hadn't written about her in some time but then I came across this tune that she had created for Nishida and took an instant liking.
From listening to Endo's own BEST compilation, I garnered that she enjoyed some of the old-fashioned standard arrangements such as jazz. And true enough, she made "Kinou to wa O-Chigai" as this nice and light and breezy ballad with a bit of Bacharach and Alpert infused in there as Nishida sings about a girl's life being changed forever on discovering her first love. Nope, I don't think Nishida has the most solid vocals especially when she goes high but as has been discussed before between Marcos and me, a fine arrangement of music has often provided good enough support for an aidoru.
Today I'm still recovering a bit from writing Part 1on Yu Aku's（阿久悠）body of work (Part 2 to come perhaps sometime during the weekend...I hope) and then there is the new pile of translations to complete. So I decided to keep things rather light tonight.
Actually, I was happy to get my newest 3 CDs in the mail this morning, so I got the BEST of Yoshimi Iwasaki（岩崎良美）and Yukiko Okada（岡田有希子）and a rare album by this relatively obscure chanteuse by the name of Keiko Kimura（木村恵子）. Speaking of which, I also decided to give another listen to another singer who didn't quite make superstardom but has quite the nice voice, singer-songwriter Kyoko Endo（遠藤京子）. I listened to that BEST CD of hers which I got several months ago and again noted her willingness to cut a wide swathe through the genres from jazz to City Pop.
Well, I saw her debut album of December 1981, "Operetta" and the tracks on it. One was the peppy "Kokuhaku Telephone"（告白テレフォン）, her debut single from the same year that I've already profiled, but then I saw this other track's title, "Koi no Nikki"(The Diary of Love). My memory was instantly jogged to another song with the same title and went "Hmm...could it be...?" I listened to it and confirmed that it was the cover of the Neil Sedaka original, "The Diary" from 1958.
The reason I knew was that I had covered this exact song when vocal group Hi-Fi Set did its own Japanese cover back in the late 70s. I loved their jazzy interpretation and I also like Endo's own jazzy version. However unlike Hi-Fi Set's longer and more clubby take on Sedaka, Endo performs "Koi no Nikki" in the original English and it sounds more like a dreamier lullaby. Her English is not native but I was still impressed with the fact that this pop singer went for a straight jazz ballad in her first album and did well with it. I've always liked singers who could try different genres, and perhaps I might actually get one of Endo's studio albums one of these days, including "Operetta".
From the articles that nikala and I wrote on Kyoko Endo's（遠藤京子）songs and listening to both, and seeing her shining face in "Japanese City Pop", I was pretty interested in finding out more about her work in general, so when opportunity rose to get some more CDs, I decided to get her "Golden Best" collection. Taking a listen to the full album last night, there was a bit of a superficial resemblance to singer-songwriter Kingo Hamada （濱田金吾）in that Endo has cut a fairly wide swathe between City Pop and Swing Jazz. The critic writing about her third album, "Yume Miru Star" （夢見るスター...Dreamwatching Stars） in "Japanese City Pop" mentioned her "milky voice". I'd probably go with "creamy voice" here in Toronto (since I think the cholesterol problem is a bit more pronounced here), but in any case, it is a pretty distinct one that likes to tackle all sorts of musical hooks. Sometimes, I get hints of EPO and then in other songs, I hear Reimy（麗美）.
(cover version)
The first track in her "Golden Best" is "Kokuhaku Telephone"(Confession Call). Not surprisingly, it is her debut single from November 1981 written by Endo and composed by Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）. Hearing those first few notes, I initially thought that the singer started out as an aidoru (she was over 22 years old at the time which would have been practically ancient for a Japanese teenybopper singer) but then the song hits the ground to instantly change into something a bit closer to a fast-paced City Pop. However, Endo's lyrics focus solely on a woman's few minutes of trepidation prior to making that telephone call to confess her love to the lucky fellow. My own first few seconds of trepidation were quickly alleviated as "Kokuhaku Telephone" turned out to be this quirky and catchy pop tune of the 80s. And I was going to hear some more interesting stuff as the album went through its 77 minutes. The single itself also made it onto her debut album, "Operetta" from December 1981.
Didn't take me long to appreciate this wonderful singer Kyoko Endo (遠藤響子) since I first came across articles on her in Japanese City Pop. Beautiful feminine songs carried by a charming voice are what attracted me to her. It also didn't hurt that she showed a pretty smile on many of her covers, such as the "Yumemiru Star" album, which I purchased shortly before my departure for Japan. Listening to songs from that early part of her career between 1981 and 1985, I'd say my image of her would be that of an outgoing young lady straight out of university (which she actually was) with a colorful fashion sense and a fondness for European things. And then I saw the above video of her single "Jenny Fey", which came out in April 1988, and thought to myself: "Well, ain't this a cheerful tune..." Here was Endo in the early Suzanne Vega mode with an acoustic guitar conveying a girl's cry for help from her mother as she feels neglected by a father who originally won that custody battle. Quite a departure from her early sound, but then again, she did take a 3 year pause between her previous single and this one.
Like I said, "Jenny Fey" is a heavy song but it's a beautiful one nonetheless. The melody and Endo's poignant delivery are what drew me in. The arrangement is pretty straightforward with a nice addition of folksy guitar which gives off a sense of (crushed) innocence. It especially stood out during the instrumental interlude before the final chorus. The song was written and composed by Endo and arranged by Yutaka Hosoi (細井豊), a member of Sentimental City Romance. It was also included on her album "Girl life", which was released on the same day as the single.
Random piece of trivia from Endo's official profile on her home page that I found personally appealing: she's apparently a fan of the Soviet animator Yuriy Norshteyn, whose films I often watched as a child.
Kyoko Endo（遠藤京子）is one of those singers that I found out about through "Japanese City Pop", that book I bought at Tower Records a few years ago (profiled under Media). That book has helped open up a world of singers that I would never have heard of: Makoto Matsushita, Hitomi Toyama, Takako Mamiya (all profiled), and here, Kyoko Endo.
(karaoke version)
"Yuki ga Furu Mae ni"(Before the Snow Comes) was Endo's 6th single, released in October 1984, and it was a track on her 3rd album, "Yume Miru Star"(夢見るスターDreamwatching Stars). The song is a Christmas-y one, but I'm putting it here and now since my city is on the verge of getting some flakes in the next several hours. It's a pleasant combination of the sound of some of the lusher aidoru ballads created by songwriters such as the Kisugi siblings and Karuho Kureta during the 80s, and the urban contemporary songs sung by chanteuses like Ruiko Kurahashi and Mariko Takahashi. And it was written and composed by Endo, who also did the same with many of her singles. She also had a hand in writing songs for a number of other artists such as Hiromi Iwasaki, Wink and Mariko Nagai.
Well, better late than never, I say. Time to do some more searching for her work.
