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.
Showing posts with label Makoto Fujiwara. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Makoto Fujiwara. Show all posts
When I first arrived in Tokyo in 1989 to start off my JET Programme career, we were all wheeled over to the Keio Plaza Hotel, and this behemoth building was being constructed right across from our hotel room.
It would turn out to become the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building or as I would simply put it, Tokyo City Hall. And frankly, first looking at this tower of glass and concrete, I had images of the SDF-1 from "Macross"（マクロス）. Wouldn't it have been something if architect Kenzo Tange（丹下健三）had admitted that he had been inspired by the show? Life imitating art, indeed. And my geekiness is showing. I'm sorry.
Even close to 30 years later, some pretty fine photos can be had in this area.
Oh, goofy me. In the years since I put up the article for the ending theme for the original "Macross"（超時空要塞マクロス）TV series, I had completely forgotten to give tribute to the opening theme for the series. Well, time to rectify this omission.
Mind you, as I did mention in "Runner"（ランナー）, I still prefer the ending theme over the opening theme...not particularly because I think "Macross" is bad or anything but I have always been the sap for a sappy sunset ballad.
In any case, as was the case with "Runner", "Macross" was heroically sung by the late Makoto Fujiwara（藤原誠）and was created by Akane Asa and Kentaro Haneda（阿佐茜・羽田健太郎）. I had described it as such in "Runner" but I will quote myself here as well: "The opening theme, "Macross" was this spirited steed of an anison which combined some of the old stomp-and-march vocals with a bit of a new pop orchestral sweep."
Listening to the original "Macross", I also discovered that Haneda had included that staccato trumpet phrase which signified the Valkyries getting ready for battle.
Strangely enough, though, I had never seen the anime series in its entirety. The 1984 movie treatment "Ai wo Oboeteimasuka?"（愛・おぼえていますか...Do You Remember Love?）was my first exposure to "Macross" after watching the US treatment of it via "Robotech". And yikes, was it an upgrade from the series! The animation struck me as being rougher and more glorious at the same time.
Additionally, it was my first time hearing the opening theme from the 1982 series although I hadn't known it was at the time. Haneda, as he did for the series, also took care of the soundtrack for the movie. His opening suite at the beginning of "Ai wo Oboeteimasuka?" combining the opening notes from "Macross" and what would become the overarching love theme for the movie is still awesome and manages to raise the hair at the back of my neck. It starts off ominously then hopeful before becoming cheerfully humdrum and urbane at the same time. I hadn't realized that an anime soundtrack could start off so sweeping and romantic. The overture almost seemed to say "OK, you liked the series but this is no longer....your elder brother's....Macross now. Buckle up!"
I wonder if I should just create a category labeled "Macross". But it would still be pretty limited, since I've only seen the original series and movie, and not the various sequels (December 20 2016...and yet, I've gone ahead and done it). In any case, Mari Iijima（飯島真理）never had a total monopoly on the music of this landmark anime which was one of the, if not the earliest, examples to tie up the genre with pop music.
Makoto Fujiwara（藤原誠） was responsible for the opening and ending themes of the original series when it debuted in October 1982. The opening theme, "Macross" was this spirited steed of an anison which combined some of the old stomp-and-march vocals with a bit of a new pop orchestral sweep. It's probably the more famous of the two songs, but personally if I had to choose, I would prefer the ending theme, "Runner". Like a lot of ending themes for anime, "Runner"is the ballad counterpoint to the more frenetic "Macross". But I've always enjoyed the languid guitar and the strings which frame "Runner". Another anison vet by the name of Isao Taira（たいらいさお） had actually recorded it, but I guess at the last minute, the producers decided to go with Fujiwara again and his version is the one up there for posterity.
"Runner" was composed by Kentaro Haneda（羽田健太郎）and written by Akane Asa（阿佐茜）, the same duo behind the opening. I have no idea how Taira's version sounded but I know I like Fujiwara's take on it. It sounds like a tune that should be heard no earlier than dusk, and ideally, somewhere in the western, less populated states of America. It has that kind of Lone Wolf vibe to it....after the hero takes care of the bad guys, he just heads off into the sunset alone while the rescued damsel or kid screams something like "SHANE!" However, the lyrics hint at not so much of the John Wayne cowboy but at the proverbial runner always striving for that goal, never quitting, although the words are vague enough so that they can refer to anyone....say, a transformable Valkyrie ace pilot.
The above video is of the ending credits of the show showing Hikaru's flyer against an appropriately setting sky while the song is being played....this time with Mari Iijima dueting with Fujiwara. Not perfectly harmonized but hey, the song survives it pretty well.
(Apologies but the powers-that-be have taken down the video for Fujiwara.)
The Tokyo-born Fujiwara actually started out playing the flute during his teen years and was in the school band which was done up in a Big Band style. However, he became a singer at the age of 24 and released his first single, "Nagai Tabi no Owari"（長い旅の終わり...Long Journey's End) in May 1972, which got as high as No. 57 on the Oricon charts. I'm not sure if it had been his idea or that of his handlers, but he was styled as "the Japanese Englebert Humperdinck", and looking at the above video and hearing his big voice, I could see why.
The video, by the way, is of "Sayonara no Riyu"（さよならの理由...The Reason for Goodbye), one of the tracks on his debut album, "Ai to Jiyu no Yoake"（愛と自由の夜明け...Sunset of Love and Freedom), also released in 1972. That and one other album, also released in 1972, would be the only ones of his career, although he would continue to release singles into 1980. Fujiwara would enter the world of anime songs and commercial jingles later on. Sadly, he would pass away from cancer in 2002 at the age of 55 (according to the Yahoo Japan search page for the man).
