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.
Welcome to Single 11112 according to the Labels count, and I'm happy to say that this song is from Yumi Seino（清野由美）who I last spoke about at the end of November regarding her "Rio no Mahoutsukai"（リオの魔法使い）.
As with "Rio no Mahoutsukai", "Hasta Manana"(See You Tomorrow) also belongs to Seino's debut album"U・TA・GE" from March 1981. In fact, this is the track that starts things off and it itself starts off with a big boppy bass riff before things go into an appropriately jumpy Latin pattern but then it keeps interweaving with City Pop and pop rhythms. Talk about trying to nail this genre down. In any case, "Hasta Manana" was written by Mami Kikuchi（菊地眞美）and composed by City Pop permanent resident Akira Inoue（井上鑑）.
First off, I have mentioned in the past that among the years portion of Labels on the right side of the blog, 1981, 1982 and 1983 have had the largest number of entries throughout the history of "Kayo Kyoku Plus". I'd probably say that the three have been friendly rivals for Top Year. Well, today, I can declare that 1982 is the first to break the 600-entry barrier, so let's have a hand for 1982!👏😁 But of course, the battle continues.
And for 1982's 600th article, I once again bring you singer-songwriter and broadcaster Mami Kikuchi（菊地真美）. In my previous article, I mentioned that Masayo Kawaguchi's（川口雅代）"Tomorrow ~ Only You" made for quite the nice musical version of orange juice to wake me up from a sad and tired stupor. Well, in Kikuchi's previous article regarding her 1982 debut single"Morning Dew"（モーニング・デュー）, her record company's promotion department breathlessly flogged it as an example of high-energy Wake Pop!
Well, OK on that and I hope that the promotion department got their bonuses that year. But I will bring you to Kikuchi's debut album once more, the 1982 "Shimauma ni Notta Secretary"（縞馬に乗ったセクレタリー ...The Secretary who Rode a Zebra） which starts off with the helplessly catchy and quirky title tune. Singer-songwriter Akiko Yano（矢野顕子）came up with that one and she also comes up with another track "Penny no Himitsu" (Penny's Secret). With Kikuchi as the lyricist and Makoto Yano（矢野誠）arranging everything, there are elements of 1950s or 1960s pop but a lot of the song is quite gracefully melodic in that Akiko Yano way, and apparently, Alvin the Chipmunk joined the chorus. I think for those reasons, "Penny no Himitsu" is quite the quirky tune, too, and perhaps another example of Wake Pop described above.
Mami's bringing her treasured morning just for you.
Coffee, salad, morning dew.
Wake Pop with Mami's songs!
Translating this from the cover of the 1982 special promotion single and debut single for singer-songwriter Mami Kikuchi（菊地真美）, it's obvious the copyrighter here perhaps had too much Mountain Dew for breakfast.😵
But in any case, I'm here to talk about "Morning Dew" which was written by Kikuchi and composed by Yasunori Soryo（惣領泰則）. The arrangement and the singer's vocals make it sound a little calmer and more relaxing than the hyper copy adorning the single cover which should be the atmosphere for the average Sunday brunch. You can compare this one with the B-side that I covered years ago in 2019, "Neo Silk Road"（ネオ・シルクロード）which has a more City Pop bent. Both songs were included on her "Morning Dew" album released also in 1982.
When I wrote about Mami Kikuchi's（菊池真美）"Shimauma ni Notta Secretary"（縞馬に乗ったセクレタリー ...The Secretary who Rode a Zebra）, the title track from the singer-songwriter's 1982 album, on Boxing Day last year, I noted that just from that song alone, the album garnered my attention for a future purchase. Alas, I still haven't gotten it and it doesn't look like I'm going to get it anytime soon.
That's certainly a pity since I not only mentioned that Track 2 from the album, "Walkman Baby", also came across as interesting, but the first track on Side B of the original LP, "Watashi wa Festival" (I am The Festival) is also a quirky treat. Being weaned on the works of Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）in the 1970s and early 1980s, and recently being rather entranced by Ritsuko Kazami's（風見律子）"Aventurier", Kikuchi's title track and "Watashi wa Festival" now have me really wondering about whether I can get "Shimauma ni Notta Secretary".
Not sure if "Watashi wa Festival" would be considered a bona fide City Pop song or a general pop song with an attitude, but the underlying rhythm sure has that feeling of the former. Additionally, it feels like a festival thanks to all of the melodic dressing over that rhythm including a technopop-friendly synthesizer dropping by now and then and Kikuchi's high-toned vocals which has made me wonder whether she was aiming for Kate Bush or Nina Hagen. The singer was also the lyricist while Masamichi Amano（天野正道）took care of the music. Incidentally, Amano has been involved in providing music for a number of movies, anime and video games including the anime adaptation of the manga "Miyuki"（みゆき）in 1983.
Thus far, there have been more Mami Kikuchi（菊地真美）contributions on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" as a songwriter rather than a singer. In fact, I only wrote about one where she is behind the mike back in the middle of 2019 for her City Pop"Neo Silk Road"（ネオ・シルクロード）. That was the flip side from her debut single "Morning Dew" in 1982.
I did mention about her debut album, also from the same year, "Shimauma ni Notta Secretary"（縞馬に乗ったセクレタリー ...The Secretary who Rode a Zebra）, and here is the actual title track which begins the album (the video actually contains Side A). The title itself gave me some pause and the song itself is some great hook. Punctuated by some peppy percussion and chorus work, this is one appealingly quirky tune that has its piano taking us on quite a pop adventure through Africa apparently. Perhaps it's not that surprising then that Akiko Yano（矢野顕子）was the composer while Kikuchi took care of the lyrics.
Just from that title track, I am curious about acquiring my own copy of "Shimauma ni Notta Secretary" for what other wonders I can find. Already, the second track "Walkman Baby" has my attention, too.
Singer/songwriter/TV personality Masashi Sada（さだまさし）has been a familiar face to millions of Japanese for decades since he was involved in his folk duo Grape（グレープ）from the late 1960s up to the present day where I often see him hosting a late-night NHK chat show. And of course, for a lot of kayo fans, he is responsible for the calming and rustic theme song for the Fuji-TV drama "Kita no Kuni kara"（北の国から）which is set up in Hokkaido. He also has some good representation on "Kayo Kyoku Plus".
However, I've never mentioned his former Grape partner, singer-songwriter Masami Yoshida（吉田政美）until now. Affectionately known as Machami（まちゃみ）by Sada and fans, the duo had a good run when they broke up the act in April 1976. Less than 6 months later, though, Yoshida started a new band called Tchabows（茶坊主...The Tea-Servers） with 6 members including co-vocalist Mami Kikuchi（菊池まみ）with a release of one single and one album. Alas, sales didn't really impress anyone so Tchabows didn't last too long.
In 1980, Yoshida released his first solo single"Natsu no Kioku ni" and an album "My tune My turn masami". The single can be directly translated into "In Summer Memories" but the English title is actually "Sailing For Two". And certainly from seeing the cover of "My tune My turn masami" which includes "Natsu no Kioku ni" and hearing the West Coast good-time sound of the single, it brings that feeling of languid Resort Pop into full focus. The soothing and crooning voice of Yoshida plus his guitar kinda make me wish that the song wouldn't end so soon but it's only about three minutes and thirty-five seconds long.
Don't know for sure but I think that's Kikuchi helping out on chorus since she was also behind the lyrics for "Natsu no Kioku ni" while Yoshida took care of the relaxing melody. Kikuchi herself would also be writing for other singers and there's even a KKP article of one song that she's recorded "Neo Silk Road"（ネオ・シルクロード）.
Found something nice and Long Island lounge-y through one of the "Light Mellow" series of CDs the other day. The vocal group Hi-Fi Set（ハイ・ファイ・セット）has had a fair number of its songs included onto the various albums, and it's no surprise. Especially when it comes to their 70s material, Junko Yamamoto（山本潤子）, Toshihiko Yamamoto（山本俊彦）and Shigeru Okawa（大川茂）and their harmonies have always seemed to bring that need to relax and nurse a Chablis.
And so it is with "School Band no Onna no Ko"(School Band Girl), a track from Hi-Fi Set's July 1979 7th album"Flash"（閃光）, about a young girl who apparently follows the boy of her dreams into the school band. From the harmonic give-and-take between Junko and I'm assuming her husband Toshihiko, it looks like the pairing worked between the flautist and the trumpeter.
Considering the title, I couldn't help but be reminded of the anime"Hibike! Euphonium". If the show had been created a few decades earlier, would it have had a similar story with the Hi-Fi Set song as the theme? I think folks would have been quite impressed by having such an AOR tune as an anison, but I'm just fantasizing here. Anyways, "School Band no Onna no Ko" goes down smooth, and it's certainly the mellowest song I've ever heard regarding anything to do with school.
Words and music were by Ken Gibson with Mami Kikuchi（菊地まみ）providing the Japanese lyrics.
Heard plenty about the anime franchise "Tenchi Muyo!"（天地無用!）but never saw it, although an old university classmate tended to wear a T-shirt with the picture of the characters emblazoned on it.
Still, early this year, I encountered this fun and jazzy (and initially acapella) version of the evergreen "Jingle Bells" as performed by the cast of this anime. I kept it ready for just the right occasion, and seeing that we're now a month away from Xmas Eve, I figured it was time to start up the annual "Kayo Kyoku Plus" series of Xmas tunes with this one.
Did a bit of digging and found out that it was a track on "Tenchi Muyo! Ryo Ohki no Christmas Album"（天地無用! 魎皇鬼のクリスマス...Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki's Christmas）from November 1993. From one site, I even managed to find out all of the seiyuu names behind this party version of "Jingle Bells": Masami Kikuchi（菊池正美）, Yuko Kobayashi（小林優子）, Etsuko Kozakura（小桜エツ子）, Yuko Mizutani（水谷優子）, Ai Orikasa（折笠愛）, Yumi Takada（高田由美）and Chisa Yokoyama（横山智佐）.
Well, I managed to find a City Pop song by an M. Kikuchi but the lass here isn't the one that you City Pop fans might be assuming. Nope, it's not Momoko.
Actually, this is Mami Kikuchi（菊地真美）, and once again, this is one of those people whose profile from the days of her singing is hard to track down. I had to look through a few sources just to gather some of the crumbs of information that I could glean.
But first off, "Neo Silk Road" is a track from her 1982 album "Morning Dew". Written by Kohei Oikawa（及川恒平）and composed by Yasunori Soryo（惣領泰則）, it has that funky guitar and cool trumpet leading the way and then Kikuchi's light yet resonant vocals trip the light fantastic through the lyrics. I also like the harmony in the backing vocals. The two slightly odd things, though, are the crack of thunder near the beginning and then Kikuchi leaving the melodic interchange for a few seconds to whimsically repeat the title before getting back to the on ramp as the song approaches its end.
From one Yahoo blog, I found out that Kikuchi had released a single back in 1980, "Heart Beat" which was apparently more of a Blondie-esque New Wave tune. Plus, that song had also been composed by Soryo. And on the website for an online record store, her debut album from earlier in 1982 was "Shimauma ni Notta Secretary"（縞馬に乗ったセクレタリー ...The Secretary who Rode a Zebra）.
Finally, she went to America to study music and participated in reporting and other media-related activities according to the website for Will-B International Inc. which apparently specializes in providing bilingual emcees (such as herself) and narrating services. After returning to Japan, Kikuchi made her debut as a newscaster and has appeared on TV Asahi and NHK. At the link, you can also see a YouTube introduction of herself in Japanese and English.
I was rather surprised that this chorus group SOAP hadn't appeared in my City Pop bible "Japanese City Pop" since their contemporaries, Hi-Fi Set（ハイ・ファイ・セット）and Circus（サーカス）, were listed. My discovery of them was purely under the aegis of YouTube and later on through the "Light Mellow" series of CDs.
Speaking of that series, "Roommate", originally the B-side to SOAP's 1981 single"Shinjuku Transfer", has gotten its first appearance on a CD via the "Beams" album in the "Light Mellow" catalog (apparently the originating album of "Harmotopia", their lone album, has yet to transition from LP to CD). It's a breezy and sunny day-in-the-life number about a couple for whom the song title is a bit of an understatement seemingly. The lyrics by Mami Kikuchi（菊池真美）have plenty of katakana household terms, perhaps referring to the breezy urban lifestyle the couple has. Maybe "Roommate" is the theme song for the yuppie life in Japan?
The title for that single "Shinjuku Transfer" is no accident since SOAP indeed does have that Manhattan Transfer influence. Moreover, according to the liner notes description of this particular song in "Beams", "Roommate" had been inspired by the Manhattan Transfer's cover of an instrumental tune by the fusion band Spyro Gyra.
SOAP consisted of Hisae Hasegawa（長谷川久恵）, Keiko Arisawa（有澤圭子）, Hideki Matsubara（松原秀樹）and Takanori Arisawa（有澤孝紀）. And indeed, Keiko and Takanori were married to each other. In fact, the latter was the one who came up with the melody for "Roommate". Another interesting tidbit about the composer was that he later created a lot of background music for anime and commercials, including several compositions for the "Sailor Moon" soundtracks which won him JASRAC international awards in 1998, 2000 and 2001 according to his J-Wiki article. Sadly, he passed away at the age of 54 in 2005.
There are a couple of observations that I have for the vocal group Hi-Fi Set（ハイ・ファイ・セット）. First off, for a group that had their heyday in the 1970s, Junko Yamamoto（山本潤子）, Toshihiko Yamamoto（山本俊彦）and Shigeru Okawa（大川茂）have had a lot of representation on YouTube. It's great to see a lot of their videos there. Secondly, and perhaps this may not be totally accurate, my impression is that the group seems to enjoy singing about school-related stuff.
Case in point: their "TWO IN THE PARTY", a track from Hi-Fi Set's 8th album"Quarter Rest" from 1979. With lyrics by Mami Kikuchi（菊池まみ）, the Yamamotos and Okawa croon about a young lady, perhaps in her twenties, looking forward to what seems like the swankiest school reunion in the city. More importantly, the lass is anticipating catching up with an old friend (wink, wink). There are even some party sound effects to add to the atmosphere.
The music by mellow composer Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）starts off with a funky riff that sounds a lot like it came from an R&B song I used to hear on radio here in Toronto back in the 1970s so I'm wondering if there had been some liberal borrowing. However, the music then heads back into familiar Hi-Fi Set territory with a mix of swingy jazz and downtown feeling. Of course, there are those wonderful harmonies by the trio. May want to pick up some of those old albums of theirs in the near future.
