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.
Though I've yet to garner my own copy of Tomoko Soryo's（惣領智子）1977 "City Lights by the Moonlight" as one of the albums for City Pop, I've managed to write up on at least a few of the tracks over the years. The last one from that release I wrote about was "Mezamashi Dokei"（めざまし時計）back in 2023.
However, I've come across another track which has a very different bent although I think jazz is included under that City Pop or New Music umbrella. Starting with the clinking of tumblers and ice, her "Whisky Lullaby" is something reflective of jazz from a century ago with a swinging clarinetist leading the way like the Pied Piper of Hamelin. This track doesn't herald sake or shochu; it's more Old Parr or Suntory Tris in a very oaken bar. Soryo's husband at the time, Yasunori Soryo（惣領泰則）, was the composer and arranger here while Kyozo Nishioka（西岡恭三）and his wife Kuro were the lyricists.
Considering that New York has been called "the city that never sleeps", a song whose title contains "Manhattan" and "lullaby" would be a contradiction in terms.
However, Mantovani was able to create his own "Manhattan Lullaby" in 1963 and singer-songwriter Kyozo Nishioka（西岡恭蔵）and his wife KURO created his own "Manhattan Lullaby" as the final track for his 1981 album"New York to Jamaica". A soft and playful bluesy jazz number that has the personality of a sleepy kitten, it sounds like the ideal way to finish off a concert in some intimate hole-in-a-wall somewhere in the Big Apple or Tokyo without having the janitor angrily flick the light switch on and off to get the stragglers to go home. Have a safe trip back!
I've known about the Mississippi River since I was a toddler when I saw it used in a song in a cartoon. The spelling was killer for me for a while, though.
Several days ago, I received a contact from Alan who has been looking for the lyrics for the song "Mississippi River" by Ruriko Ohgami（大上留利子）. I'd never heard of the song before so I tried to search for those lyrics, but alas, I couldn't find them online.
However, at an attempt at some redemption, I'm covering the song right here. Now, "Mississippi River" was originally recorded by the composer himself, Kyozo Nishioka（西岡恭蔵）with his band at the time, Carib no Arashi（カリブの嵐...Caribbean Storm） when they put out their January 1978 album "'77.9.9 Kyoto [Crucifixion]"（'77.9.9京都「磔磔」）. With lyrics by his beloved wife, KURO, "Mississippi River" is a playful mix of blues, funk and jazz centering around the New Orleans area, according to those lyrics.
In the same year, Ohgami released her "Dreamer From West"（ドリーマー・フロム・ウエスト）sophomore album where she put out her cover of "Mississippi River" (which can be heard above at 19:15 in the above video). The same fun and sultry arrangement is there but with some added horn including a brassy saxophone doing a solo. I can imagine Ohgami being the owner and singer of some 1920s speakeasy as she's singing this.
Today is looking to be a rather dreary day with the possibility of some heavy rain later in the afternoon. We're still in summer, though, so perhaps this can be the appropriate song to start this Friday's session of the urban contemporary in Japan.
"Summer Rain" is the second track on "Paradise Café"(1983) by the band Kyozo & Bun, a collaboration between guitarist Kyozo Nishioka（西岡恭蔵）and multi-instrumental musician Yoshifumi "Bun" Okajima（岡嶋善文）that started in that year and went for at least a few more years with a second album "Travelin' Band" coming out in 1986. Nishioka is already known on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" for his folk music beginning with "Puka Puka"（プカプカ）in 1972 but he also made that leap into City Pop and funk with one example being "Animal Night" from 1981.
The percussive intro to "Summer Rain" had me thinking of Sade's "Smooth Operator" although that song wouldn't make its entrance until well into 1984. But the overall song is of tropical splendor and relaxation on the beach with that Resort Pop and jazz. It may be titled "Summer Rain" but I can't help but hear plenty of sun and breeze in this one...fueled by a nice zesty margarita.🍹
So I now take it that Judy Ongg no longer has complete control of the Aegean Sea because of her "Miserarete"（魅せられて）? She's gotta share now.
My jocularity stems from the fact that up to now, Ongg was the only kayo kyoku singer that I knew who referred to the Aegean in her famous 1979 hit. But that's over now. Why? Well, rocker Eikichi Yazawa（矢沢永吉）has a song that has the sea as its very title in his July 1986 album"Tokyo Night"（東京ナイト）.
But Yazawa's "Aegean Sea" doesn't have the exotic feeling of romance and adventure that "Miserarete" has. It's a contemplative musical musing on a romance that ended perhaps abruptly at the titular site, and hopefully nothing truly tragic occurred there. Despite the setting, there's something about the song that kinda straddles the line between pop and City Pop in terms of the arrangement and instrumentation, thanks to Yazawa himself. Kyozo Nishioka（西岡恭蔵）came up with the rain-soaked lyrics; I only wrote about him last Friday though his "Animal Night". The one thing that I like to know is who does that haunting female backing voice belong to.
"Tokyo Night" has been categorized as a rock album and considering who's behind it, I wouldn't blame the person who made that decision, but I think that "Aegean Sea" has more of the urban contemporary vibe to it. On the track list, "Aegean Sea" is followed by the rambunctious and more famous "Tomaranai HA~HA" (止まらないHA～HA), so I gather that after some commiseration by the rail of the cruise ship, Yazawa returned to the Lido Deck for some partying. I didn't mention it on that article but "Tokyo Night" was a Top 10 hit by peaking at No. 5. It was also co-produced by Yazawa and Andrew Gold.
It's been over two decades since I was last in the Big Apple. Wouldn't mind visiting New York City one more time. I'd like to try the Egg Cream again.
Through the work on this blog, I realized that some Japanese folk artists from the 1970s did make that leap into City Pop of the 1980s. Yet, I was still taken aback when I discovered that had also been the case with folk singer-songwriter Kyozo Nishioka（西岡恭蔵）since the stuff I've had on him up to now was his really folksy discography from the early 1970s. But I guess even he got into the urban contemporary of the times with his 1981 album"New York to Jamaica".
Case in point: one of the tracks is "Animal Night". Composed by Nishioka, written by his wife KURO (I think she's also on background vocals) and arranged by Hirokuni Korekata（是方博邦）, the singer gives his tribute to New York City (she's a funky, sexy and lonely lady) through an intense funk session. Plus, there's some fancy footwork via a piano jazz solo near the end. I wouldn't be surprised if the song and probably the entire album became a tantalizing ad for Japanese tourists to make their way to Manhattan. Of course, as the album title hints, Jamaica can be next on the list.
In October 2018, Kevin Lozano of the website "Pitchfork" contributed a fine article ostensibly on Haruomi Hosono's（細野晴臣）debut solo album "Hosono House" (May 1973) but actually delving into that album and some of his others from the 1970s and 1980s. His point was that there was more to Hosono than just being a part of the technopop pioneers in Yellow Magic Orchestra (of course, YMO in itself was an incredible achievement and influence on music). Since then, with interest in overall Japanese popular music of the past building thanks to the "Plastic Love" phenomenon around the time that Lozano's article was publicized, perhaps the author's wishes may finally be getting realized with listeners discovering Hosono's own music-laden past with Happy End（はっぴいえんど）and Tin Pan Alley（ティン・パン・アレー）in the early to mid-1970s which was far away from the technopop.
The reason I mention all this is that I wanted to cover Hosono's first track on "Hosono House", the quiet but happy-go-lucky "Rock-a-Bye My Baby". When I first laid eyes on the title, I'd assumed wrongly that Hosono was covering some old American pop song from the 1960s but this was actually his own creation on all fronts. In fact, "Rock-a-Bye My Baby", even listening to the LP or CD, sounds like an intimate experience as if Japan's music legend invited himself into your abode to play this on the acoustic guitar and you're happy that he did so. I imagine that Hosono's lyrics are all about enjoying time with that significant other on a bright sunshine-y day in the park with a local diner awaiting your patronage (meat loaf and mashed potatoes for me, thanks!).
Simply my opinion here but because this was Hosono's solo debut after breaking up with rock band Happy End, I think that he wanted to start off the album with something that was very different from that rock sound which he had created with his bandmates. Therefore, Hosono came up with this simple bluesy guitar-driven ditty about a happy day outside. Lozano did mention in his article that Hosono had wanted to come up with "virtual American country" for "Hosono House", and there is something very old country genteel about "Rock-a-Bye My Baby" as if this should be listened to while sipping a Mint Julep in a rocking chair on a wooden stoop. At the same time, there is something about that basic rhythm which had me remembering the theme song for the 1960s"The Dick Van Dyke Show" and a standard that was often played in a number of Warner Bros. cartoons.
In 1975, a couple of Hosono's contemporaries covered "Rock-a-Bye My Baby". One singer was Minako Yoshida（吉田美奈子）who recorded her version as the final track on "MINAKO", her 2nd studio album from October of that year. Hiroshi Sato（佐藤博）arranged the song as a breezy and groovier take with a hint of bossa nova. Although the YouTube video of the actual recorded version exists here, I wanted to include the live version above since it's difficult to find an early Yoshida performance.
Folk singer-songwriter Kyozo Nishioka（西岡恭蔵）did his own cover of the song earlier in July 1975 as the title track of "Rock-a-Bye My Baby" the album. I think the arrangement is similar to the Hosono original although there is a bit of that breeze in Nishioka's version as well. Incidentally, that original was used as the ending theme for the 2015 second season of the anime "Atashin'chi"（あたしンち...My Home） focused on the antics of a family in Tokyo (although despite the thumbnail image of the Tachibanas above, the Nishioka cover is being played).
To wrap up, here is Nishioka on television to sing "Rock-a-Bye My Baby". For some reason, the credits which pop up at the beginning of his performance have Nishioka behind words and music. Hopefully, Harry didn't take that personally.
Slightly over a month ago, I wrote about the late folk singer-songwriter Kyozo Nishioka（西岡恭蔵）and his "Umi Houzuki Fuki"（海ほうずき吹き）from 1974.
Well, for this nice and lazy Saturday, I've found another earlier song by Nishioka called "Puka Puka"(Puffing Away). This one was his debut single from July 1972 and it was also included in his debut album"Dylan nite"（ディランにて...At Dylan's）released on the same day.
With a relaxing and catchy melody, the song is about a man whose girlfriend is incorrigible when it comes to her vices which include smoking and gambling but still probably loves her all the same and forever. She is a vice that he can't give up.
Just the tonic that I need to chill out before I get ready for the next lesson with my student later on tonight.
Hoping that everyone is doing OK in Japan after the typhoon, I sent some messages over to a few friends earlier today. The weather here in Toronto has been very pleasant fortunately and later on tonight I will be meeting up with other family members for dinner.
Thankfully with this mellow atmosphere in mind, I will be providing this lovely folk song by the late singer-songwriter Kyozo Nishioka（西岡恭蔵）. According to his J-Wiki file, Nishioka was born and raised in Shima City, Mie Prefecture, and in the 1960s, he became the proprietor of the folk music cafe Dylan after which with the contribution by a number of regular customers, his folk group The Dylan（ザ・ディラン）was born. But then in 1971, he decided to strike out on his own and left The Dylan, although he would still contribute to the band in the coming years.
In January 1974, Nishioka came up with his 2nd solo album"Machi Yuki, Mura Yuki"（街行き村行き...Going to the City, Going to the Village）which was his first collaboration with Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）. Hosono supposedly produced the album and was also the bassist on at least one of the tracks, "Umi Houzuki Fuki", written and composed by the singer. Folk singer Morio Agata（あがた森魚）and the band Hachimitsu Pie（はちみつぱい）also contributed.
Looking at the lyrics, the story is about a man's love for his home in the countryside on some ridge, and that feeling of living away from the city is further emphasized by the use of a fiddle and a steel pedal guitar. However, I also thought the inclusion of that mellow piano brought over some feeling of the city for some reason, so I've also given the song an additional category of New Music. There is also something very warm and rustic about Nishioka's vocals, and I could imagine that must have been a very cordial manager at Dylan.
For me, though, there is some mystery about the title. When I tried to figure out the translation for "Umi Houzuki Fuki", Google Translate did so as "A Sea Breeze Blowing" which under the circumstances of the genre and song itself could be possible. However, I also found out that there is an actual tourist facility called Umi Houzukiin Nishioka's hometown of Shima City, although there is one written hiragana character in there 「海ほおずき」which is different. Also, umi houzuki can also refer to certain shellfish eggs. In any case, if anyone who knows of Nishioka's songs can let me know about what the title is indeed referring to, I would be very appreciative.
