Magokoro Brothers -- Endless Summer Nude

 

Hope your summer is getting off to a good start. We in most of North America are in that temporal corridor between Canada Day and the Fourth of July which possibly translates into cross-border tourism. I don't know about weather in other places but things are actually a little cool here in Toronto which will gain a lot of envy from the folks in Japan who are now sweltering slightly earlier than usual.

"Uta Con"（うたコン）was back on as scheduled and the theme this time around was songs used in the semi-annual Koshien High School Baseball Championships since the summer version will be coming up within the next number of weeks. However, after all that was done, some of the remaining guests appeared to do some of their old favourites and new songs.

One act was the rock and soul duo Magokoro Brothers（真心ブラザーズ）. Several years ago, I covered their 12th single from April 1995, "Summer Nude"（サマーヌード）, which was a tune that I accepted right off the bat because of its cool funkiness and a sound that reminded me of Original Love and, though I didn't mention them in that article, Flying Kids, too. Well, Hidetoshi Sakurai（桜井秀俊）and Yoichi "YO-KING" Kuramochi（倉持陽一）were on the show to do what has become their "Summer Nude" 2.0, so to speak. 

Apparently, a couple of years later following the release of the original single, the two of them realized that as wonderful as the original "Summer Nude" was, perhaps it had been rushed out a little too quickly and that it needed some further proper polish. So, they brought in songwriter and arranger CHOKKAKU and what everyone got was an even more oomphed-up version now known as "Endless Summer Nude" as their 17th single in July 1997. And man, does it have even more brassiness! Time to twist on the sands there. It hit significantly higher on Oricon than its ancestor by coming in at No. 41 and it's a track on Magokoro Brothers' 7th album "I Will Survive" from April 1998 which ranked in at No. 7.

Sounds like "Endless Summer Nude" was so infectious that it got its remix covers with one being by Tomita Lab（冨田ラボ）which he provided as the first track on "Magokoro Covers"（真心COVERS）, a tribute album of their songs done by other artists. That was released in September 2004 with a No. 25 ranking. The Tomita Lab sound goes quite well with this particular song especially. In fact, it's quite amazing when I look at the long line of cover versions on J-Wiki.

Asako Toki -- Ranhansha Girl（乱反射ガール）

Happy weekend! We finally got some of that rain that we needed although things are still rather steamy out there if a bit cooler.

I'm not quite sure when I first encountered Asako Toki（土岐麻子）and her brand of light pop. Certainly, it was when I was still living in Japan so probably in the late 2000s. Either it was her cover of Yellow Magic Orchestra's "Kimi ni Mune Kyun" （君に、胸キュン）or Seiko Matsuda's（松田聖子）"Komugi Iro no Mermaid" (小麦色のマーメイド）that I heard at the CD section of a department store in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, not too far away from my city of Ichikawa. Being a fan of both songs helped but it was also that coquettish but not supremely high-toned voice that lured me into her grasp. Eventually, I would get a couple of albums by the Tokyo-born singer, her 2011 BEST album "Light" and then her 2010 original album "Ranhansha Girl" (Girl of Diffuse Reflection).

Both albums have one song that I've already covered, her own cover of "Human Nature" originally by Michael Jackson for the amazing "Thriller" album and performed by her and Sho Wada（和田唱）of the rock band TRICERATOPS.

But today is on "Ranhansha Girl" which is her 4th major studio album from May 2010. It's been categorized on J-Wiki as a rock album but after listening to it a few times, I really don't think so. Case in point: there's the second and title track about a guy who's about ready to give up on the journey of love when he gets hit by the light of a lady who's apparently half-woman and half-extremely polished prism. He doesn't stand a chance. Written by Toki and composed by Daisuke Kawaguchi（川口大輔）, this is very twinkly pop with strings attached for that light sophistication.

That J-Wiki rock label gets further driven away with Track 3, "Nessa no Onna"（熱砂の女...Hot Sand Woman）. The title track had its elements of synthpop but "Nessa no Onna" gets even deeper into the synths with this bouncy and dreamy tune that tries to encourage the title lady to get back onto the romance track again. Toki was behind the lyrics here, too, with G.RINA providing the melody.

"Usubeni no CITY"（薄紅のCITY...Light Pink City） is one of my favourites on "Ranhansha Girl" as it takes on that contemporary form of City Pop while it describes a refreshing view of the life in the metropolis as the shackles of winter finally come off. Provide a romanticized model of your favourite city (Tokyo, Toronto or New York, for example) and "Usubeni no CITY" can be the theme song as you head downstairs to that brunch place for prosciutto-filled croissants and coffee. Junji Ishiwatari（いしわたり淳治）, guitarist for the band SUPERCAR, provided the lyrics while Hidetoshi Sakurai（桜井秀俊）of Magokoro Brothers（真心ブラザーズ）was behind the happy music.

Along with Michael Jackson's "Human Nature", Toki has also provided another cover of a song by a legend. This time, it's The Beatles' "All You Need Is Love" with that mix of Toki mellow pop and friendly small-town feeling. Kazumasa Hashimoto（カズマサ・ハシモト）arranged it, and I remember it well since it was used as the commercial song for docomo. Incidentally "All You Need Is Love" is the very first song by The Fab Four that I had ever heard...maybe it was because of my viewing of "Yellow Submarine" on CBS when I was a toddler.

My final song for the article today is "Sentimental" which is also another winner in my books. With lyrics by Toki and music by Kensuke Okuda（奥田健介）, guitarist/keyboardist of Nona Reeves, I love it for the sunny soulful groove. When I saw its involvement by someone from a band like Nona Reeves, I figured that it would get my aural stamp of approval. In addition to that groove, I also like the crystalline sound of the synthesizer that takes things into a more futuristic environment; I'm pushing it a tad far here, admittedly, but "Sentimental" almost sounds like the return of 70s/80s R&B in the 22nd century.

"Ranhansha Girl" had been another one of those albums that I let stew a while after my first listening to it but returning to it, I'm happy that I can appreciate it even more now. The album peaked at No. 32 on Oricon.

Asako Toki/Magokoro Brothers/Bird -- Summer Nude (サマーヌード)

At this point, I think I have two albums by the velvety-voiced Asako Toki（土岐麻子）, one of them being in the shot above. Still love that cover design for her 2011 "Light" album which is a BEST collection for the Tokyo-born singer.

She may have been born in The Big Sushi but for my own reasons, I've seen her as a Chiba lass. I remember seeing her for the first time on TV doing her version of YMO's classic "Kimi ni Mune Kyun"（君に、胸キュン）which got my curiosity. Then one time I was in the Tsudanuma district of Narashino City, Chiba Prefecture, not too far away from Chiba City since I usually taught my English circle there on Tuesday mornings. I had a few hours of time to kill before my next lesson in Tokyo so I had lunch in one of the commercial complexes in the area which included a CD shop. It just so happened that "Light" was on sale there and so the CD was playing on the speakers. As I said, I did love that 80s-looking cover and the music was quite nice so I picked it up right then and there. "Light" has been one of the touchstones that has helped me remember that shop and Tsudanuma in general.

This article would be the 6th Asako Toki entry on the blog, so 5 of them are from this album: "Komugi Iro no Mermaid"（小麦色のマーメイド）, "Gift", "I-ke-na-i Rouge Magic" (い・け・な・いルージュマジック), a cover of Michael Jackson's "Human Nature", and this one, "Summer Nude". A nice glass of smooth sherry of a song, it's got that lovely laidback and tropical feeling to go with those wonderful Toki vocals. I'd say enjoy that glass while swinging in the hammock. It might be cold out there wherever you are; put this on the player...you'll warm up. All kidding aside, the first time Toki sang this one was on her 2008 album "Summerin'".

What I didn't know was that "Summer Nude" was a Toki cover of a song that had been originally performed by a rock and soul group Magokoro Brothers（真心ブラザーズ）. I did hear of the name but never experienced their music before. And what a pity that is. Because I was really impressed by the original version of "Summer Nude".

Released in April 1995 as their 12th single, "Summer Nude" is a funky and jazzy delight by Magokoro Brothers that reminded me of another group which was quite popular around that time, Original Love. Love the horns! It may have only gone up to No. 81 on the charts but let's say that this wonderful song can be our own little secret. Once again, that analogy of some wonderful stuff in the underwater 90% of that J-Pop iceberg is coming into play.

"Summer Nude" was created by Magokoro Brothers, Hidetoshi Sakurai（桜井秀俊）and Yoichi "YO-KING" Kuramochi（倉持陽一）. The two first met in the late 1980s while students at Waseda University with Sakurai in the Faculty of Law and Kuramochi in the Faculty of Education. Their first single, "Umi" (うみ...Sea) was released in September 1989. "Summer Nude" was first included in an album through their 2nd BEST compilation, "B.A.D.(Bigger and Deffer) 〜MB's Single Collection" in June 1997. That album peaked at No. 10.

Bird released her rapid-fire version of "Summer Nude" as her 23rd and final single to date in July 2008. I'll have to be honest, though, and say that this was not quite up to the level of the ones by Toki and Magokoro Brothers and not even up to Bird's early wonderful material.

The Brothers came up with an improved version of their own masterpiece: "Endless Summer Nude" in 1997.