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.
A few days ago, commenter and contributor Fireminer was asking about a particular Maki Ohguro（大黒摩季）song, and to be honest, it's been a few years since she's been up on the blog, so why not give this one a whirl?
It's nice to hear the ol' Ohguro arrangements of the 1990s (crashing synths and booming sax) again and her 7th single from January 1994, "Shiroi Gradation" was released between a couple of other singles that have been posted here: "Anata dake Mitsumeteru"（あなただけ見つめてる）and "Natsu ga Kuru"（夏が来る）. Takeshi Hayama（葉山たけし）was responsible for arranging all three songs.
Indeed, it's a very upbeat song written and composed by Ohguro, providing a surprisingly dark scenario (to me, anyways) of an erstwhile couple who've apparently drifted apart to the point of no return, although one of the duo still maintains a love for the other. As for the meaning of the title which I prefer to translate into "Shades of White" rather than "Gradations of White" (the latter sounds a little technical), the J-Wiki article simply says that the title really refers to the gradations of the heart...which doesn't really solidify things for me...and that gradations of white don't exist. What? What about pure white, creamy white, off-white for example?
But in the end, the title probably came into being because perhaps Ohguro had been asked to come up with a song for a Victoria Sporting Goods commercial, and with the January 1994 release, I can only think of skiing being the thing. The colour white in the title helped a lot, too.
Does she look like a bear to you?
Anyways, "Shiroi Gradation" peaked at No. 5 on Oricon and went Double Platinum. It ended the year as the 48th-ranked single. It is also a part of Ohguro's 4th album from November 1994, "Eien no Yume ni Mukatte"（永遠の夢に向かって...Towards the Eternal Dream） which hit No. 1 and became a million-seller.
One last piece of bitterly sweet humour regarding the single was given in the J-Wiki article. Apparently, the photographer and the director were biting their nails about the photos taken of Ohguro for the single jacket. She was referred to as looking like a bear or an old hag. On the surface, she laughed it off but she used a marker to draw some very vivid anime anger hash marks on her manager's palm. I'm surprised that she didn't use something sharper to carve something similar into the director's head.
Over the past few days, I've been watching some of the Paris Olympics events including judo which truly had the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. In the last hour, I saw Yuto Horigome win his second Gold medal in Men's Street Skateboarding; I was chuckling somewhat at the CBC announcers who apparently decided to act more like standup comedians during that event. Meanwhile, one of them was mangling Horigome's name by continuing to call him "Yuto Origami". But unlike that popular paper craft, the Tokyo athlete didn't fold and won it all once again.
Anyways, to start off this July/August 2024 week of "Kayo Kyoku Plus", I've decided to bring folks to the AI Gallery with an Olympics theme in mind.
I have to admit that the photo of Mr. Calico and Kayo is cuter than it is hot-bloodedly passionate but the AI generator kept pushing me to adjust my request. Oh, well...enjoy Ohguro's classic which is definitely fiery.
Well, that just happened! Last night, I was paying some tribute to the current World Cup in Qatar and wondered about any upsets to join the one in the aftermath of the Saudi Arabia-Argentina bout via King Gnu's"Stardom". And then, this morning, I found out that Japan did defeat Germany 2-1! Canada is playing Belgium as I type this, so will there be another shocker in the making?
Not surprisingly, Shibuya Scramble was scrambling with orgiastic fans lapping up the moment after the win. Yes, I realize that it's merely the first game, but every little bit helps.
As such, I've suddenly decided to put up an Author's Pick to commemorate this small but happy occasion with a few songs that have those certain words in the title and bring up those emotions in the byline...and joy and determination.
Well, this does take the proverbial cake. Almost ten years to the day after I'd put up my first Maki Ohguro（大黒摩季）song onto "Kayo Kyoku Plus", "Atsukunare"（熱くなれ）, I'm finally writing up its coupling song. I hadn't even been aware of the significance of the date (July 22nd 2012) until merely a few minutes ago.
"Atsukunare" was the hit single for rock and pop singer Ohguro that was used for NHK's coverage of the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996. For me, it still stands as the most blood-pumping J-Olympics tune that I ever heard and it could almost have me running a few laps around the block whenever I hear it. Almost.
What I had completely forgotten was that the coupling song "Soshite"(And Then), written/composed by Ohguro and arranged by Takeshi Hayama（葉山たけし）who had both contributed to "Atsukunare", was also utilized by the national television network in the 1996 Olympic broadcasts. As I remember, it was usually used as the song to end the program since the lyrics rather showed the coda of folks having joined together for a mighty effort and were now celebrating that effort through trying and triumph. "Soshite" has quite the happy and upbeat melody including one epic trumpet solo, and I can imagine young folks racing toward the shoreline to cavort about in joy and satisfaction.
New Year's celebrations over in Japan may have become more fun-filled and varied in recent years, especially in the cities, but I think the usual feeling is that it's still a fairly family-oriented and quiet time. Of course, over here in North American cities such as Toronto and New York, it's basically party time. And as such, I would like to start the evening segment of "Kayo Kyoku Plus" for this final night of 2019 with something festive. So, why not have veteran singer-songwriter Maki Ohguro（大黒摩季）star in a video of her own rambunctious hostess club?
The music video is for her 34th single, "Lie, Lie, Lie" released in September 2017. However, instead of that video, I first cottoned onto Ohguro's spicy number when I was in Japan in November that year and caught an episode of "Meitantei Conan"（名探偵コナン...Detective Conan） on the hotel TV and saw "Lie, Lie, Lie" being used as the opening theme for the show at that time. We've only been getting the 2017 episodes in the last couple of weeks here on TV Japan.
Apparently, "Lie, Lie, Lie" was Ohguro's first anison in 20 years since her "Sora"（空）for the anime "Chuuka ga Ichiban!"（中華一番!）back in 1997. The singer took care of words and music for "Lie, Lie, Lie" as it peaked at No. 20 on Oricon, and it's also a track on her 14th original album, "Music Muscle" from December 2018. Although Ohguro is someone that I've often treated as a pop/rock singer, she can really put in the dazzling samba steps for some of her other creations.
A friend and I went out to a Chinatown cafe after lunch today and we got into the topic of some of the Hollywood celebs (some of whom are making their arrival here in Toronto over the next ten days because of the annual film festival) who have ended up doing Japanese commercials. Of course, names like Tommy Lee Jones popped up and I certainly remember seeing Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone saying and doing some weird things all in the name of selling stuff.
I did not know about Edward Furlong, though. The young fellow who caught his break as the young John Connor in "Terminator II" alongside another Japanese CM vet, Arnold Schwarzenegger apparently ended up in a Japanese cup noodle ad soon after finding fame. The interesting thing is that he does look like a half-Japanese high school kid playing soccer.
The other story lies with the song that accompanied the commercial. The voice is instantly recognizable for those fans of 90s J-Pop, singer-songwriter Maki Ohguro（大黒摩季）. "DA・KA・RA" (SO) was her 2nd single released in September 1992, and in a way, I guess this was the "life saver" that got Ohguro to keep on with her solo career.
According to a 2016 interview on Cinra.net with her via J-Wiki, Ohguro had been planning to return to backup chorus work after the not-so-stellar results of her debut single, "Stop Motion" back in May of that same year, and so her recording team was broken up. But then, an old friend in the industry came up to her and asked whether she could come up with some sort of commercial jingle for the cup noodle ad by the next day! Not wanting to let the friend down, Ohguro was able to pull in one assistant and one arranger to help out and doing an all-nighter, "DA・KA・RA", a song about the mystery and demands of love, was the result.
Dang fine result for an overnight brainstorming session, if you ask me. It starts off with an introspective passage that reminds me a lot of the intro for Earth Wind & Fire's "Fantasy" before launching into a short but intense barnstormer of a tune that I think set up the Ohguro template in terms of her melody and vocals.
The Cinderella story concludes here with "DA・KA・RA" hitting a far more superior No. 2 on the Oricon weeklies as her first Top 10 hit and her first commercial tie-in. It even broke the million mark in sales and ended up as the 20th-ranked single for 1992...and remember, it was only released in September of that year. "DA・KA・RA" was also placed on her 2nd album"DA・DA・DA" from April 1993 which also hit No. 2 on the album charts and ended up as the 15th-ranked album for the year.
Probably the only down point for the whole affair, according to that Cinra interview, was that Ohguro didn't exactly pass the news about creating the song to the management company she belonged to at the time, Being, until the commercial started airing. That apparently earned her a solid chewing out from her minders. But in the end, it's the success that counted.
Well, I would say that summer has indeed come and has been around for a little while now, but the title of this song is "Natsu ga Kuru" (Summer Will Come) by one of the singing representatives of the season, Maki Ohguro（大黒摩季）. This was her 8th single from April 1994 and it's that racing pop tune with some Latin percussion that I would always expect from Ohguro.
The thing is, though, despite the title and the good feelings of the hot season within the arrangements, "Natsu ga Kuru" isn't really about having fun in the good ol' summertime. Written and composed by Ohguro, the lyrics are actually a friendly advice column about not letting any doubts generated by oneself or surrounding people about Mr. Right get in the way of a potentially happy life together.
I'm surprised that the song wasn't a theme for some comedy-drama on one of the private TV networks. However, it did serve as the opening theme for the TBS music program, "Countdown TV" and as the commercial song for Sapporo Ice Lager, a most appropriate drink for "Natsu ga Kuru". The song became a million-seller peaking at No. 2 on the Oricon weeklies. It also joined another Ohguro hit, "Anata dake Mitsumeteru"（あなただけ見つめてる）on her 4th album"Eien no Yume ni Mukatte" (永遠の夢に向かって...Facing the Eternal Dream) which came out in November 1994. That release quickly hit No. 1 in its first week. For the yearly rankings, it rapidly became the 13th-ranked album for 1994 and hung around for another year to rank in at No. 25.
Ordinarily, I have no interest in basketball, but even I couldn't ignore the fact that the Toronto Raptors won the NBA championship last night. So, as a Torontonian, I am a happy camper today as are tens of millions of other Canadians from coast to coast to coast.
To give tribute, I wanted to find something appropriate for the occasion so I'm going with one of the theme songs for the manga-turned-anime "Slam Dunk". Again, I've never been taken with Canadian James Naismith's 1891 invention but even I was aware of this famous Japanese pop culture creation due to the fact that I have had students who have been more than happy with both the manga and anime. As for me, the one thing I remember about the show is that one of the players there had that super technique of a thousand-arm block.
It's totally appropriate then that the very first ending theme for "Slam Dunk" was created and performed by 1990s pop/rock singerMaki Ohguro（大黒摩季）since I primarily remember her for "Atsukunare"（熱くなれ）, the fiery theme tune she provided for the NHK broadcast of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta that could make the frailest person want to take on a grizzly bear.
Her "Anata dake Mitsumeteru" (I Only Have Eyes for You) has the same sort of fire, and it's how I always feel about an Ohguro song: high and mighty vocals, banging synths and perhaps a hint of Latin in there. The song came out as her 6th single in December 1993 and broke the Oricon Top 10 weeklies by hitting No. 2. Afterwards, it even broke the yearly Top 10 for 1994 by finishing in at No. 8. It even broke the million barrier.
Every player probably started their life in basketball quite humbly but I'm not quite sure if Kawhi Leonard had this sort of start as displayed by the main guy in "Slam Dunk". In any case, the victory parade is on Monday morning, and I've got a feeling that a lot of folks may be coming in late to work or not at all on that day.
Yup, don't those 90s CD singles look cute? If I were at one of my old music store haunts such as RECOfan right now, they would probably be going for something like 50 yen a disc. Would like to peruse the bins again someday.
Good evening, folks! And in commemoration of the 7th anniversary of "Kayo Kyoku Plus", I would like to put out my 90s playlist...those go-to songs from the decade of the Komuro Boom, guitar pop/rock bands and the return of aidoru via Hello Project. I think it was about time since it was at the end of 2013 that I put out the 80s playlist and the middle of 2014 when the 70s playlist got written up. So it's been about 4.5 years between the last time and this list. Also, another reason for finally putting up the 90s list is that I was inspired by Noelle herself putting up her 60s playlist.
As with those lists, I searched the old memories for my favourite Top 10 from the 1990s, and once again, it was another lip-biting and mind-grimacing process of whittling down the list to just ten entries. So, for example, I had to sadly let go entries by Dreams Come True, Pizzicato Five and Original Love. The interesting difference between this list and the other two lists is that for a lot of the songs here, I was actually in Japan when they first saw the light of day due to my time on the JET Programme and then my early years as an inhabitant in Ichikawa.
So, without further ado...
1. Kazumasa Oda -- Love Story wa Totsuzen ni (1991): Finding the Kazumasa Oda（小田和正）original is currently impossible (as it usually is) although there are plenty of covers, so let me go with Miku Hatsune（初音ミク）here. I realize that this hit was going up against Chage & Aska's"Say Yes", but in the end, I had to go with this magnum opus by the lead singer of Off-Course（オフコース）. What is it about "Love Story wa Totsuzen ni"（ラブ・ストーリーは突然にー）that still continues to thrill me right from the intro? It just seems to possess that feeling of excitement and drama of living in one of the world's biggest cities as these complicated love relationships play out on Fuji-TV.
2. Noriyuki Makihara -- Donna Toki mo (1991): From the drama of "Love Story wa Totsuzen ni" in the early months, I encountered the happy joy of Makihara's（槇原敬之）"Donna Toki mo"（どんなときも）just when I finished my time on JET and did a final trip around southwestern Japan. I was so drawn by this song that whenever I got into a department store, I made sure that I coursed through every CD shop to track the single down. I finally got it after a few tries. Yeah, my first attempts only saw it sold out.
3. trf -- Boy Meets Girl (1994): I had heard of this technopop tune even before I made my return trip to Japan at the end of 1994. Never heard of trf, never knew about Tetsuya Komuro（小室哲哉）creating his huge steamroller of acts and never realized that "Boy Meets Girl" was meant to sell cola. All I did know was that this song was percolating through my head for days. It ended up being one of the first CD singles that I bought during my Ichikawa life.
4. Sing Like Talking -- Mitsumeru Ai de (1994): And to think that I bought my first SLT album, "Discovery", as a pure mistake. Best mistake that I ever committed. Thus started my happy hunt to get more of their albums, and from "Discovery", I discovered the urban and urbane "Mitsumeru Ai de"（みつめる愛で）created by Chikuzen Sato（佐藤竹善）and keyboardist Satoru Shionoya（塩谷哲）. To be honest, it was difficult to come up with a song by Sing Like Talking since the band has had so many scrumptious contributions but "Together" has already been put up on a couple of lists, and it was time to give some more love to this one.
5. Namie Amuro -- Chase The Chance (1995): Granted that a lot of Amuro（安室奈美恵）fans will probably go with other bigger hits by the just-retired Okinawan singer, but I've always gravitated to "Chase The Chance" for some reason. I guess that I will always be attracted to high-energy tunes that give off that sense of action although this song was used as the theme for a show about a crusading hero chef. Those were good times.
6. B'z -- Love Phantom (1995): For me, if it comes to a B'z ultimate favourite, I would have to go with either "Bad Communication" or "Love Phantom". Considering that this was a promotion song for TV Asahi's broadcast of "The X-Files" (which I did watch on my remote-less, dial-only TV every Wednesday night), this may go down as the quintessential cool J-Halloween song. I can no longer listen to this song without images of Mulder, Scully and Fluke Man forming in my head.
7. Toko Furuuchi -- Dare Yori Suki Nanoni (1996): Another beautiful ballad to remind me that some soul music still existed since the transition from kayo kyoku to J-Pop. Whenever I think of the 90s brand of popular Japanese music, "Dare Yori Suki Nanoni"（誰より好きなのに）never fails to pop up in the head. The arrangement of Furuuchi's（古内東子）representative song also has me thinking back to the 1980s. It's no surprise that it has been covered by other singers since its release.
8. Maki Ohguro -- Atsukunare (1996): As much as one of my favourite songs by Furuuchi always calms me down, Maki Ohguro's（大黒摩季）"Atsukunare"（熱くなれ）works very well in getting my blood flowing at beyond the official speed limit. In fact, I'm typing faster (and making more typos) since I'm listening to it as I get this paragraph down. NHK chose wisely in adopting this for the 1996 Games in Atlanta, and I can hope that the network can find a song that ups the ante in excitement for the 2020 Games next year.
9. Misia -- Tsutsumikomuyouni (1998): Man, did Misia make a splash. Along with Hikaru Utada（宇多田ヒカル）and bird, the three of them along with some other artists heralded a J-R&B boom, and Misia brought some good old-fashioned R&B of years past and present. "Tsutsumikomuyouni"（つつむ込むように）is still a title that has problems sticking in my head due to its length and pronunciation, but there is no doubt about the music there.
10. Morning Musume -- Love Machine (1999): At the beginning of the 1990s, I do remember aidoru acts such as Wink and CoCo, but then it seemed like the whole teenybopper thing that wound its way through the decades since the 1960s finally petered out. For a lot of my time in the final decade of the 20th century in Japan, female aidoru struck me as being extinct although Johnny's Entertainment had SMAP and other groups going on the male side of things. But then came the whole Tsunku-led Hello Project umbrella of aidoru groups and individual aidoru, and it all started with Morning Musume（モーニング娘。）. Things were moving slowly but steadily in the early years of the group but then it all exploded into super fame and popularity with "Love Machine"（LOVEマシーン）, and soon, the various members were showing up on their own myriad TV programs for a few years before more groups started forming. "Love Machine" became the funky choice to sing at the various karaoke boxes and year-end parties before the turn of the century, and Morning Musume took a new electrifying direction in their career.
Man, that was quite the decade, and there were so many other songs and singers that I would have loved to have included in the list, but I'm keeping it to ten. However, if any of the fellow collaborators would like to give their own 90s lists, they're more than welcome and commenters are also very welcome to provide their own contributions.
Yes, I could use with a good vat of sangria over the next number of days since the forecast for my city is Humidex figures in the 40s. Summer is definitely not over with us yet...not by a long shot. And summer is not done with this article, Part 2 of my own favourite summer tunes coming over from Part 1 earlier this afternoon. Without further ado:
I didn't mention this in the original article that I wrote for Jun'ichi Inagaki's dreamy "Natsu no Claxon"（夏のクラクション）but I think I may have heard and seen this through a concert video that was put on Fuji-TV in the early morning winter hours as I was shivering in my futon in Gunma. Oh, the irony. But then again, either Fuji-TV had a very sardonic sense of humour or the network was trying to get us folks thinking of summer thoughts to get us through the bitter snowy season. In any case, I think "Natsu no Claxon" is one of the summer J-AOR classics, and compared with the early summer vibe of "Summer Connection" by Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）who I also listed in Part 1, I like to think of Inagaki's signature song as something more mindful of the last few weeks of summer...namely now.
Ugh! Trying to think of an absolute favourite summer song by Yamashita would be like a parent choosing which one of his/her kids is his/her favourite...in front of all of the kids. I just can't do it and any one I choose will probably get some push back from the Tats fans, so let me just phrase things diplomatically and say that "Loveland, Island" is the representative of the vast number of beloved hot season tunes by the singer-songwriter. And I gotta say, I really love the song. I mean, I'm not too big on traveling but listening to "Loveland, Island" could make even me want to head off to tropical climes. Viva Tatsuro!
When the 2020 Olympics finally hit the big stage in less than 2 years, I hope that NHK will pick a theme song for its coverage that at least matches the epic heights of Maki Ohguro's fiery "Atsukunare"（熱くなれ）which was used for the network's broadcast of the 1996 Games in Atlanta. Living in Ichikawa at that point, I did watch my fair share of the events but I have to confess that the big thing I wanted to watch at the end of each highlight show on NHK was the above video showing the agony and ecstasy of competition while "Atsukunare" was playing. Got the heart pumping, it did.
The above is the extended version but even the single version has been a very pleasurable melodic trip through Brazil. I was wondering in the few weeks before I finally bought this collaboration between music producer Mondo Grosso and the wonderful Bird who created this fun number although I was able to peg the singer in an instant. It's one of the relatively few songs that could instantly make me bop about in my chair...not an easy thing to do when I'm typing, but that's how much I love "Life".
TUBE was definitely not going to be left out of this list by any stretch of the imagination. If there is any Japanese band that could be known as the permanent resident of the beach, it would be Nobuteru Maeda（前田亘輝）and the guys. And again, tons and tons of summer fun have been provided by the band over the years, but if I have to pick something, I will always go with their first bona fide hit, "Season in the Sun". I'm just surprised that it wasn't used by any of the TV networks as a theme song for one of their dramas.
My next two favourites for the summer were picked because I first heard them over my cherished radio program "Sounds of Japan" during the summer itself. 70s aidoru Yamaguchi's"Yume Saki Annainin"（夢先案内人）may have been released in Spring 1977, but everything about it says summer to me. The song could apply to walking through the streets of Tokyo or the beaches of Shonan at that time but the weather is always blisteringly sunny and hot. It may be rather uncomfortable out there in a typical Japanese summer but Momoe makes it darn inviting.
"Mizuiro no Ame"（みずいろの雨）is another tune that I picked up on "Sounds of Japan" back in 1982, and along with the dulcet tones of Mariko Takahashi（高橋真梨子）, Junko Yagami was another wonderful voice who made me realize that there were some truly amazing singers in Japan. Years before I even knew of the Japanese genres of New Music and City Pop, Yagami was already charming me with her brand of cool urban contemporary material with a Latin twist. I know that a lot of folks are going ga-ga over "Tasogare no Bay City"（黄昏のBAY CITY）on YouTube, and I love it too, but I will still have a special place in my kayo kyoku heart for "Mizuiro no Ame".
I will finish my tunes here with "Summertime Blues" which is not only a great Misato favourite but also one of my musical touchstones of my time in Gunma Prefecture. Perhaps even more than her most iconic "My Revolution", this particular single reflects Watanabe's big and bright presence on stage. I think everything about it brings back the memories of summer in Japan without the annoying heat and humidity...although I will accept the sounds of cicadas.
Well, that is my list and there are quite a number of songs this time around but as I hinted in the first article, it's awfully hard to pare these down. Perhaps some of you collaborators and commenters have your own favourite summertime tunes. If so, let all of us know!
I am home after a week's cruise on the Caribbean with the family. Vacations are great for that respite away from home and work but for me, they are also a way to be grateful for home, and I'll be honest here and say that I've never been a huge fan of heat and humidity of which that part of the Earth is famous for. Therefore, it was very refreshing and welcome to be exposed to the coolness of 15-degree Toronto once again. As you can see from above, the platform for my vacation was the currently largest cruise ship on the planet, the Harmony of the Seas, a seaborne city/starship of sorts. That will soon be superseded by the even more humongous Symphony of the Seas next year.
In commemoration of my time on board the Harmony, I'm hereby showcasing some tropical-themed songs that I've already written about on the blog so you can check out their history through the links. However, you can also enjoy the songs here as I go through my story over the past week.
Well, it was more like Fort Lauderdale at 3pm but it's hard to find a bad spot along the Florida coastline. We had a few hours after boarding to enjoy the shore view before the Harmony launched for the 1-week cruise.
The launch of the Harmony didn't feel like it needed a John Williams/Michael Giacchino overture but a nice little pop song about traveling such as the one above sufficed quite nicely.
The stops along this cruise were Mexico, Jamaica and Haiti. I took a bit of time to take look around Falmouth, Jamaica and although I didn't quite make it to Ian Fleming's Goldeneye, the area around the port was pleasant if not surprisingly commercial.
The food aboard Harmony was decent but not spectacularly great. Most of the downside was due to the buffet options which followed the rule of the landlocked buffet: quantity over quality. The dinner options in the American Icon Grill were much better on the whole. Still, this peach pie at the buffet was one of the few highlights. I can even recommend this to Mariya Takeuchi!
Although I love the Yagami song, we were all quite relieved that there was no rain at all during our week on the ocean. My favourite area on the Harmony has got to be Deck 8, Central Park which is the ship's courtyard. Plus, it does have a nice little snack place called The Park Cafe which makes a delicious roast beef sandwich with dollops of mustard and horseradish.
Came home in the late afternoon and enjoyed the coolness of Toronto again. Still, it was a nice little jaunt down there and perhaps I will take another cruise in the future but most likely will keep it farther north.
Thought I should at least leave you with a video of what the Harmony is all about.
My personal Maki Ohguro（大黒摩季）favourite will always be the blood-burning "Atsukunare"（熱くなれ）which was used as the NHK theme song for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. BOOM! Better than a Trenta cup of coffee from Starbucks.
However, the very first Ohguro song I came across was not while I was in Japan. It was actually during those 3 years that I was back in Toronto between Japan stints. I forgot who I had borrowed the audio tape from...it could've been one of my friends at university or even one of the students that I tutored at home. But in any case, I got this tape of various early 90s singers who were up and coming that I hadn't heard of. There was DEEN, TRF and then Ohguro.
And one of the Ohguro songs on the tape was "Harlem Night", the singer-songwriter's 5th single from July 1993. I wasn't quite sure what to make of the song at first. It did have quite the sultry beat but I didn't immediately cotton onto "Harlem Night" initially. I couldn't really say it was an R&B song despite the title and perhaps it was also the first time I had heard Ohguro's voice. Thinking about it much later, perhaps it was because her vocal style seemed a bit more suited for pure rock than pop.
But that was then and this is now. And of course, I started liking Ohguro's material after I did get to Japan again. In fact, I bought a few singles and one album by her in short order. And at the time, her star was indeed rising. I heard her fairly often via the various TV shows, music show appearances and commercials so I was able to get accustomed to her delivery quite nicely. As for "Harlem Night", it peaked at No. 3 and was a track on her 3rd album, "U.Be Love" which came out in November 1993 to get as high as No. 2.
It's something to say that I find her quite nostalgic now.
Up until a few minutes ago, I had been prepared to give an Author's Picks on "Psych-Up Songs"...those tunes that would give me that extra burst of energy and joy. But then I remembered that a scant few months earlier, I had already put up something very similar in the form of "Happy Songs for Me (for International Happiness Day)". In fact, there were a couple of songs that I was going to put up in this list that are already up in that other article. So I've just decided to go with the sequel formula here.
When I'm about to undertake a major project, I take a dose of this and don't need to call the doctor in the morning. I realize that in all likelihood the committee planning the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo will assign one of the big songwriters to create a new tune to represent the city at the Opening Ceremonies, but if an oldie-but-goodie can be introduced during the entertainment phase on the opening day, this is the one song that I'd want....with 3D projection mapping of dancing Tokyo buildings! If Yoshida can't perform this, then I nominate Kahoru Kohiruimaki or Miwa Yoshida.
The perfect summer song that wasn't sung by Tatsuro Yamashita. And it provides me with a fine sense of catharsis as it did for the finale of that 6th episode of the anime "Space Dandy" when the sudden and happy scene of space surfing came out of the blue. When I finish a major project, this is the song that I would like to play...as I walk off proudly into the sunset.
Another epic and EPO-esque song of City Pop coolness. Striding down the main strip of either East or West Shinjuku as the sun is heading out would be the ideal setting for this one. I think it deserved a higher profile when it comes to the EPO discography but for the die-hard fans, it's probably a well-remembered entry in any event. And considering the title, perhaps it's also the tune reminiscent of past economic days of glory.
When I recently heard the fictional Kitaoji High School band perform "Rydeen" on the anime "Hibike Euphonium", my jaw dropped and my joy rose. Yep, even after 35 years, a brass band version of a technopop tune had me squeeing like a little boy. At the time I first heard "Rydeen" in its original computer glory, I had no idea that the electronic pitter-pats which introduced the songs actually represented horse hoof beats but I immediately "got" the high-speed fun of the piece and was more than happy to ride on the YMO express.
I really cannot afford to take luxurious trips to far-flung tropical destinations...at least, not yet. However, "Loveland, Island" makes for a pleasant aural placebo...heck, a lot of Yamashita's summery works during the late 70s and early 80s would qualify but there is something about this particular song that just has me soaring off into the stratosphere over the Hawaiian coast. It's too bad that the original music video has been taken off the Net since it was fun to watch that supposedly old fellow bust a move like a pro...apparently that was none other than a disguised Noriyuki Higashiyama for 80s aidoru group Shonentai.
The mission of Kome Kome Club has been to bring zany, colourful and fun music to all who will listen, and a lot of folks did. Probably a majority of them would place some of their other hits above "Abracadabra", but for me, it's in my Top 3 for K2C. As the title hints, it's just this magic carpet ride led by a master magician...if the magician were Beetlejuice as portrayed by leader Tatsuya Ishii. It's one of a few songs that can actually make me sweat.
Referring to Minako Yoshida's"TOWN" at the very top of the list, Maki Ohguro's "Atsukunare" actually was one of the official songs for the 1996 Atlanta Games coverage by national broadcaster NHK. And yep, it did the right job in that it could get any couch potato such as yours truly pepped up enough to take on the planet. At least, it got me pepped up enough to get off the sofa and head over to the nearest CD shop to purchase the single.
But after writing this list down, I realized that although I will still call this "Happy Songs 2", all of the entries here indeed have that energy-building factor. It's not just the smile that has been put on my face but also that psyching-up feeling in my brain.
Wherever you are, it's either January 31st 2015 or will be pretty soon. And that means we have hit the 3rd anniversary of "Kayo Kyoku Plus"and are currently nearing the half-million view mark. Good heavens! And I remember getting excited when we just hit one-thousand...
So, how do we commemorate it? Well, I've done my playlists for the 70s and 80s, so why not go with the 90s? And an interesting thing about 1990-1999 personally is that at the beginning of the final decade of the 20th century, I was halfway through my JET days in the mountains of Gunma while at the end, I was living in the bedroom city of Ichikawa-shi, Chiba Prefecture. Music obviously evolved during that time as well. During my days of teaching at the countryside junior high schools, J-Pop had just started with all of these bands diverging into different styles such as Princess Princess, Jitterin' Jinn and Dreams Come True, and at the same time, there was also a softer side via these female singers and songwriters like Miki Imai, Midori Karashima and Reimy. But then, coming into my far longer stint close to Tokyo at the end of 1994, the Tetsuya Komuro era was gaining steam and the end of the decade started featuring new forms of aidoru and R&B. Of course, what I've stated isn't even a full summary of what was going on...it is just throwing out a few tidbits.
And once again, as was the case with the other two lists, I had to think quite a bit about what to include. And of course, I'll probably later slap myself upside the head for the ones that I've excluded but just remembered.
In any case, it's time to proceed...
1. Misato Watanabe -- Summertime Blues (1990): Of course, Misato's "My Revolution" will arguably be the trademark song for the Kyoto-born singer with the voice as huge as her eyes. But for me, "Summertime Blues" has acted more and more like the welcoming tune to my 2 years teaching in Gunma. The intro with the picky guitar before the strings go into crescendo mode felt like a curtain rising on my first decade residing in a foreign country. It's simply one of the happiest and most hopeful songs that I have ever come across.
2. Kazumasa Oda -- Love Story wa Totsuzen ni (1991): There was no way that I could leave this one off the list. For the baseball game that was "Tokyo Love Story", Oda's magnum opus was that 10th player; I would be exaggerating if I said it was the secret character in the show featuring urban love in the one of the world's largest metropolises, but simply speaking, I cannot imagine any of the episodes or the cast without thinking of the theme song. It's a killer to sing at karaoke (believe me, I know), so since that one disastrous time I tried to sing it, I've become old and wise enough to leave "Love Story wa Totsuzen ni" to the professional.
3. Noriyuki Makihara -- Donna Toki mo (1991): As much as "Summertime Blues" was the song to usher in my time as a resident/rookie teacher in Japan, Makihara's "Donna Toki mo" was the just-as-optimistic tune to see me off home to Canada. While I was sweltering through my vacation in Kyushu and Kobe during that final summer, I just had to hunt down the CD single for that happy song. I could get it at last and couldn't wait to put it into the player back in Toronto. Of course, there was the matter of actually buying the CD player...
4. Masayuki Suzuki -- Mou Namida wa Iranai (1992): One of the coolest urban contemporary songs that I have ever heard on either side of the Pacific Ocean, the default image I process through my mind whenever I hear "Mou Namida wa Iranai" is being in a car racing on an expressway with the well-lit nightscape of skyscrapers in the background. The saxophone that comes on halfway through is the cherry on top here. I'm not surprised that it was Martin's most successful contribution to his discography.
5. Dreams Come True -- Kessen wa Kin'youbi (1992): Since I was back in Canada for 3 years between tours of Japan, I missed out a lot on Dreams Come True's roll through the national pop culture, including their foray into late Friday night TV programming. But I was able to catch "Kessen wa Kin'youbi" through a brief snippet of "Ureshi Tanoshi Daisuki" that was tacked onto the end of a VHS tape that one of my friends had sent me. The disco tune had me pulling out the money order to get the album that it was placed on, "The Swinging Star". Naturally there have been other DCT songs before and after that were bigger hits, but personally for the 90s, this was the song for me.
6. trf -- Boy Meets Girl (1994): This may have been a jingle for a Coke commercial, but it was not only the song that represented my new beginnings as a teacher in more urban surroundings in Japan. It also served as a signpost of sorts for my entry onto the Magical Carpet Ride that Tetsuya Komuro had been supervising. Now, trf had already been pumping out the hits before I arrived at Narita Airport, but I couldn't get a better song to introduce me to the danciverse that Komuro created for us and acts like globe, Namie Amuro and Tomomi Kahala. "Boy Meets Girl" had me soaring through the headphones.
7. Kome Kome Club -- Abracadabra (1994): Again, there are a lot of other great songs by one of the great entertainment acts during the decade, but "Abracadabra" basically sums up why K2C was so popular live. Carl Smokey Ishii and his band regularly provided song and spectacle on the order of a Cirque de Soleil performance mixed in with good ol' Tito Puente. This particular song just brought together a fun combo of rock and R&B with some of that K2C magic that's hinted at in the title.
8. Maki Ohguro -- Atsukunare (1996): Like the average J-drama and its theme song, tie-ups between J-Pop and the Olympics are nothing new. However, one of the few examples of this that actually got me doing the dash toward the nearest CD store was Maki Ohguro's"Atsukunare". I don't remember much from the Atlanta Games outside of the tragic bombing there and an exhausted Yuko Arimori getting the Bronze in the Women's Marathon, but there was NHK's coverage of the Games, and I actually looked forward to the end of each broadcast just to see the sports montage with "Atsukunare" playing. Atsukunatta!
9. Hikaru Utada -- Automatic (1998): I first heard this as the theme song for a Sunday night variety program featuring comedy duo Utchan-Nanchan, and just thought that this was a little too cool for a zany show like that. Not too long after, I saw the famous video starring Utada shimmying around in the apartment with the lowest ceiling...man, the real estate market was really tight in New York City. But all kidding aside, I don't think "Automatic" by Utada revolutionized J-R&B (I may have been somewhat florid in the original article), but she and it certainly made things quite pleasant for the ears and added a bit more depth to the Japanese interpretation of the American genre.
10. Morning Musume -- Love Machine (1999): What can I say about the ragtag group of runners-up that turned into winners? "Love Machine" added that extra oomph to year-end parties and karaoke boxes at the end of the century, and sent Morning Musume into the pop culture ionosphere. And for a guy like me who gets all nostalgic for disco/funk, seeing this group hit the big time through this old 70s musical fad rather warms the heart. And for a few years at least into the new century, the girls had almost as much exposure as a certain group of guys from another aidoru conglomerate. Speaking of which, considering that at the beginning of the decade, aidoru were considered to be an endangered species, Morning Musume made it cool to be super cute again at the end of it.
Once again, I would like to thank everybody who has been reading in at some point during the past 3 years, and especially I would like to show my gratitude to the collaborators, JTM, Marcos. V, nikala, jari, Noelle and Larry for all of their insights and articles, and the commenters for their replies. Admittedly, our blog is a very niche one but I've been heartened by the fact that there are a lot of people out there who enjoy the myriad genres that are covered here and look forward to keep on going for the next little while at least.
After one of the most bitter and longest winters in recorded memory here in my hometown of Toronto, Canada, Mother Nature deemed that we had suffered enough. Therefore, today we had a sudden burst of summer. And not only did it feel like the beginning of summer, but it felt like mid-summer. I will not complain....at least not yet.
So, let's bring out another summer tune. I'm thinking of 1995. I'm thinking of Maki Ohguro's（大黒摩季）"Ichiban Chikaku ni Ite ne"(Stay The Closest To Me, Will You?). Coming out in May of that year, I'd known the singer to go for the rock and the power pop but then with this song I got very interested in her Latin. And so did a lot of other fans. This was a tune that got a lot of airplay on TV and I heard it in a number of CD shops during that year. And why not? Ohguro wrote and composed "Ichiban Chikaku ni Ite ne" to get everyone up to samba the day and night away. It was great to get the folks out of spring lethargy and prepared for the beach. I also recollect that it got quite a lot of favour at the karaoke boxes as well.
The coupling song was "El amor es ciego" (Love Is Blind). The title may have been Spanish but the sound is relaxing bossa nova. This was another pure Ohguro concoction that could accompany that break beside the ocean in the lounge chair while the waiter brings that giant cocktail.
Ohguro's 11th single peaked at No. 2 and became the 38th-ranked song for 1995. "Ichiban Chikaku ni Ite ne" was also a track on her 5th album, "LA LA LA" from July of that year, although it was re-arranged into the "Carnival Version". In terms of sales, the single sold 900,000 copies and for Ohguro, it happened to be the very first song she sang at her very first concert, according to the J-Wiki article on the song.
A bit unseasonal considering the timing but I think with some of the areas on our Earth (including my own patch) getting walloped with snow over the weekend, perhaps it wouldn't hurt to have a bit of summer back for a visit.
I enjoyed listening to Maki Ohguro's （大黒摩季）sunny "Sora" (Sky) so that I got myself the single. It doesn't have the Latin beat that some of her uptempo songs have had, but it still has that happy drive to go with Ohguro's strong vocals. That banjo in the refrain is a nice and interesting touch, and overall "Sora" just benefits from being just plain cheerful.
Written and composed by Ohguro as her 17th single released in May 1997, it was also used as the opening theme for an anime titled "Chuuka Ichiban"（中華一番...China's Number One!）, about a boy who aspires to be the best chef in China. I've never seen the show but just from the song, I can bet that the kid was probably one of the most optimistic and unrelenting lads in history. "Sora" itself peaked at No. 4 on Oricon.
