Art of Noise -- Dragnet

 

It's ironic...years before I started up the ROY series here on KKP, I still had been able to squeeze in great 80s collective Art of Noise into the blog with their "Legs" because the song had been used as the theme for veteran magician Mr. Marikku（Mr.マリック）and his "hand power". I even used the above thumbnail although I didn't even refer to "Dragnet" even though I gave some of their other hits a shoutout. But today, I finally give the band's second go at an iconic American crime show theme its just dues. However, I need to go through quite a bit of background.

Dum...de...DUM...DUM!

Yup, that musical cue isn't only one of the most famous musical cues in pop culture history, it's probably one of the first cues that I had ever heard and remembered as a toddler. Now, it wouldn't be for some years that I realized that the US police procedural program "Dragnet" had started as a radio program in 1949 before it became a long-running television show in the 1950s, both starring Jack Webb as the unflappable and intrepid Sergeant Joe Friday and a lot of others as his partners over the decades.

The whole franchise was famous for a number of tropes: the quick even-toned patter of Friday and his partner, Friday's narration of the progress of the case that episode, the description of Los Angeles, and the fact that the guys seemed to circulate like air through all of the police station's various departments. But my first exposure as a little boy to "Dragnet" was in its final years in the late 1960s when the older and portlier Friday was partnered with Officer Bill Gannon, played by veteran actor Harry Morgan.

Of course, there was that opening blast of ominous horns which launched the "Dragnet" song, one of the more recognizable themes in all of television. Officially titled "Danger Ahead" and composed by Walter Schumann, it not only struck me as foretelling of danger ahead but it also meant "Uh oh...police in back!". I've heard my old buddies in school intone it to signal big trouble...usually of a parental nature. 

"Dragnet" the original series finished its run very early in the 1970s and since then, cop shows evolved to show a more fallible side to their characters and even what they were up to outside of work hours. So it was with some surprise when I was already in university that a new movie version of "Dragnet" was hitting the big screen in 1987. I just saw the promotional picture of Dan Aykroyd as Joe Friday and Tom Hanks as new partner Pep Streebek, and thought "OMG! Are these guys actually going to do a serious movie?!". Aykroyd was the comedian from "Saturday Night Live" and "Ghostbusters", and Hanks at that time was also a comedic actor.

As it turned out, "Dragnet" in 1987 was a homage and a parody to the original Webb classic and the trailer above made that clear. Webb's Friday would never have reacted in the way that Aykroyd's Friday did when the car ran over his foot.

Then I found out through one of the music video shows that Art of Noise was tackling the iconic theme song for the movie. They did a great job with another legendary theme, "Peter Gunn", the previous year so I had great expectations. Well, to my initial disappointment, I wasn't all that impressed with the original version of AON's "Dragnet" theme. I mean, it was nice seeing the kid and her three buddies from the band's "Close to the Edit" don their California togs and have fun with scenes from the upcoming movie but in retrospect, this version seemed like a beta test take.

That didn't dissuade me from catching the movie though since I was interested in seeing how everyone involved, including Aykroyd and Hanks, would treat "Dragnet". As it turned out, the movie was OK but not great. I thought that Aykroyd gave an impressive and endearing Joe Friday impression, but like a number of comedies centering around successful characters from "Saturday Night Live" (with the exception of "Wayne's World" and the first "Blues Brothers"), "Dragnet" wasn't quite able to stretch out the story adequately beyond some of the funny gags.

But the intro was spectacular with it opening like a classic "Dragnet" TV episode under the narration of good ol' Joe and then the epic "Danger Ahead" horns and march. It was funny and awesome seeing Friday walk over to the station before the new version of the Art of Noise theme exploded on the screen. And this time, AON hit it out of the park with this dance remix version incorporating all of the jittery vocal excerpts. Before the advent of YouTube, I'd been searching for this take of the theme for years and years and so I was extremely happy for my ears to get reacquainted with it again.

I also have to say that the final scene of the movie was incredible and hilarious, too. 

The following year, Art of Noise released a number of remixes. I ended up getting one of my own.

"Dragnet" the movie was released in June 1987 so what were three of the singles that got released at the same time? Two of them were actually the debut singles for these singers.

Shonentai -- Kimi Dake ni （君だけに）

Maki Watase -- Pearl Monde Kiss (パールモンド・Kiss)

Chieri Ito -- Paradise Walker（パラダイス・ウォーカー）

Maki Watase -- Ame wa Yamanai（雨は止まない）

 

It's been a good four years since I last put up an article for Maki Watase（渡瀬麻紀）, late 1980s aidoru and future vocalist for rock band Lindberg.

Found this fairly snazzy number which turns out to be the B-side for her third and final single as an aidoru, "No Count", released in April 1988. "Ame wa Yamanai" (The Rain Doesn't Let Up), written by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）and composed by Hiroaki Serizawa（芹澤廣明）, has got a wall of electric guitar, horns, bass, drums and synths coming at the listener. It's kinda reminiscent of what Yoko Oginome（荻野目洋子）was singing a few years earlier, so I was surprised when I looked Serizawa up and discovered that he didn't contribute anything to the Oginome oeuvre. 

All of those instruments threaten to drown out Watase's relatively softer vocals but somehow she makes herself heard. Obviously I can't speak for her but I wonder whether from this song, she decided that she had to get herself into a new genre to boom out her voice some more.

Maki Watase -- Pearl Monde Kiss (パールモンド・Kiss)

Now, this is quite the find. As I read on a Japanese site, it wouldn't be surprising if there were quite a few folks who would be surprised on finding out the identity of this late 1980s aidoru. I had mentioned years ago when I wrote about rock band Lindberg's big hit "Ima Sugu Kiss Me"（今すぐkiss me）that I hadn't known anything about pixieish vocal Maki Watase's（渡瀬麻紀）brief aidoru past.

Well, here she is. Instead of the spiky-haired lady wearing those somewhat New Wave-y outfits, Watase had worn those cute aidoru-friendly dresses and sported a hairdo reminiscent of Akina Nakamori's（中森明菜）early days. To be honest, I had seen photos of her such as the one above in various magazines such as "Myojo" to advertise a talent management company so my knowledge of how she looked back at the beginning was already there. Apparently, she was inspired enough by Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）that she decided to enter show business.

However, I hadn't known how she sounded until the last couple of days. Her debut was "Pearl Monde Kiss" which I think is how it would be romanized. It did help a little that the catchphrase attributed to her at the time was "Shinjuu no you na onna no ko"（真珠のような女の子...A girl like a pearl）.

(starts at 2:12)

"Pearl Monde Kiss" was released in June 1987 and it was written and composed by Kyoko Matsumiya（松宮恭子）. A not-too-bad peppy tune with a plethora of squeaky synths, it's interesting to see Watase bopping around making those typical aidoru moves with her hands and arms. She definitely wouldn't have looked out of place on any of those variety shows with musical segments.

I don't know how her debut single did or how her aidoru age went but sometime in 1988, she got acquainted with Tatsuya Hirakawa（平川達也）who was one of the backup musicians during that time. Hirakawa in turn introduced her to his buddies Tomohisa Kawazoe（川添智久）and Masanori Koyanagi（小柳昌法）and they all created Lindberg with their debut in 1989.

Apparently no albums came out of her time as an aidoru with only 3 singles marking her time as a teenybopper singer. However, her first album as a solo pop singer was released in September 1995, "message d'amour" which had a markedly more mature sound when compared to those early days. By that point, her name was slightly changed to 渡瀬マキ.

Maki Watase -- Hoshi no Furu Machi （星の降る街）

http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm21030671

"Hoshi no Furu Machi" (Town of Falling Stars) might sound somewhat ominous in its translation, but as long as we believe those stars to be snowflakes glistening in front of the street lights, everything should be all right.

This was another track from Maki Watase's（渡瀬マキ）solo album, "message d'amour" (1995) from which I've already spoken on the title track. Although that title track had that quiet bossa nova thing going for it, "Hoshi no Furu Machi" is straight from the Christmas playbook. Isao (or Takeo) Isshiki（一色 赳夫）came up with the appropriate Xmas-y music while Watase provided the lyrics about a couple getting together for the Holidays as the snow is starting to fall. It has all the sweet ambiance of a seasonal peppermint latte from the local coffee chain.

Speaking about snowfall, it looks like Toronto is gonna get hit with 10-12 cm of the white stuff over the next 24 hours. I might be tempted by that latte but staying at home tonight, I'll settle for a regular instant coffee.

http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm1811674

Maki Watase -- message d'amour

I didn't know anything of Maki Watase's（渡瀬マキ）initial foray into the geinokai as a late 80s aidoru, but once I arrived in Japan for my stint on the JET Programme back in 1989, I really got to know her as the spunky lead vocal for the rock band Lindberg. Then, returning for my longer stay in 1994, I didn't hear much from the band at all and naturally assumed that Lindberg had had its 15 minutes of fame and would now be immortalized through karaoke, TV retrospectives and the occasional nostalgia tour.

However, as I was browsing through one of the CD shops one day in the mid-90s, I came across the album that you see at the top. I hadn't been too clear at the time of the name of Spunky but I thought that the lady with the wistful expression on her face standing on the boardwalk looked awfully familiar. Then, I saw the sign promoting this album "message d'amour" and there was the name of Maki Watase of Lindberg fame written on it. Well, I was intrigued right then and there. That sure didn't look like the cover of a rock album.

I plunked down my yen and placed the disc into my old Onkyo. The first track of Watase's first solo album was the title track itself, and it was definitely different non-Lindbergian. Instead of the rockin' guitars and the screamin' vocals, I heard a saucy intro before the music slid smoothly into a soft bossa groove that would have befit Miki Imai（今井美樹）. And instead of Watase bellowing, I got her fairly purring into the mike at a pretty darn high register.

Watase wrote the lyrics about sending a letter to an absent or former lover while she's traveling through an old favourite spot of theirs, and the music was by Hiroshi 'Monsieur' Kamayatsu（かまやつひろし）, former member of Group Sounds band The Spiders. Considering his somewhat wild and cool ol' fogey appearance on TV, I've always been pleasantly surprised when he is able to whip up these comforting tunes like this one. He also had a hand in Miki Imai's "Tea For Two" on her "Lluvia" album back in 1991.

Maki Watase is just another example of singers going off on a musical tangent away from their bands or units. Shoko Aida（相田翔子）from aidoru duo Wink went into similar territory and Kazumasa Oda（小田和正）veered into more urban contemporary territory from his folk rock group, Off Course, although admittedly the band was tending toward that genre after 1980.