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 Marina Watanabe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marina Watanabe. Show all posts
It was January 2022 when I posted Wang Chung's"Everybody Have Fun Tonight" as the first (and certainly not last) entry of the band on KKP's Reminiscings of Youth series. From the date and at least one sentence in my comments, I got the impression that we were still cautiously exiting the pandemic tunnel at the time. We did need that great 80s party song to bring back some cheer and action into our lives again.
Well, more than two years later, it was nice to see lead vocalist Jack Hues appear on the local news channel here for an interview the other day because he and his partner Nick Feldman were to do a gig at the legendary El Mocambo in downtown Toronto. Absolutely amiable and classy guy. I'm sure everybody had fun that night.😛
So I figured that it was time for another Wang Chung song on ROY this week, and to keep the good times rolling, I'm going with their January 1987 single"Let's Go". I used to hear this all the time on the radio and I even ended up getting the 12" remix version but never got to see the entire music video. Man, is it the most 1980s video I've seen in recent memory! It's silly as all get out but fun as well. And I get to see Hues and Feldman really pour out the emotion unlike the stone faces they showed in the seizure-inducing video for "Everybody Have Fun Tonight". In fact, I think Hues had a major case of the giggles in the early part of the video here, much like Daryl Hall was having difficulty keeping it together in the video for "Method of Modern Love" (I'll have to cover that one soon enough).
But 80s imagery and goofiness aside, "Let's Go" is another fun-filled song. It may not have the nighttime party vibe of "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" but it's still as catchy with plenty of times to shout out during the song, thanks to that easy-to-yell title and it's a great thing that the expression "Let's Go" is still supremely popular at movies and sports events. The song reached No. 9 in both America and Canada and is also available as a track on Wang Chung's "Mosaic" album from October 1986.
So, what were taking up the three top positions on Oricon's list for January 1987?
Ah, yes...the kids are out on summer vacation for the next several weeks. When we were little, we had the same attitude of fun and relaxation, too, and of course, we rued the arrival of Labour Day in September since beyond that was the beginning of another school semester.
I didn't know about this particular song by the 1980s aidoru supergroup Onyanko Club（おニャン子クラブ）titled "Natsu Yasumi wa Owaranai"(Endless Summer Vacation), but it's a pretty funky number by the gang. Written by Onyanko Club (and later AKB48) guru Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）, composed by Ken Takahashi（高橋研）and arranged by Jun Sato（佐藤準）, "Natsu Yasumi wa Owaranai" was a track on the Club's 3rd original album, the Oricon No. 3-ranking"Panic The World" from July 1986. Just for the record, the four members fronting the song were Kazuko Utsumi（内海和子）, Ruriko Nagata（永田ルリ子）, Yukiko Iwai（岩井由紀子）and Marina Watanabe（渡辺満里奈）.
Actually, the first time I did hear of "Natsu Yasumi wa Owaranai" was from a cover insert song version done for the 2012anime "Natsuiro Kiseki"（夏色キセキ...Summer-Coloured Miracle）. This was a mere YouTube discovery by chance; I never caught the show myself and I don't recall my anime buddy ever mentioning it. However, it did have seiyuu who are now veterans of the art: Aki Toyosaki（豊崎愛生）, Ayahi Takagaki（高垣彩陽）, Haruka Tomatsu（戸松遥）and Minako Kotobuki（寿美菜子）. I get the impression from the premise that "Natsuiro Kiseki" was a mix of magic, slice-of-life and "Stand By Me". The animation style has me thinking a PreCure series without the PreCure powers or situations.
Whether it was by lucky happenstance or not, the four main seiyuu also happen to be members of the pop group Sphere（スフィア）and so they apparently handled all of the main songs including "Natsu Yasumi wa Owaranai". This version seems to have more of the dance beats and synthesizers going on full thrusters, thanks to Masaya Yamaguchi's（山口雅也）arrangement. For some reason, the song reminds me somewhat of "Futari no Kimochi no Honto no Himitsu"（ふたりのきもちのほんとのひみつ）, the ending theme for "Kill Me Baby" which was another 2012 anime.
Allow me the blogger's equivalent of Captain's Prerogative to start off today's round of articles.
Yesterday, I was paying tribute to Brazilian singer-songwriter Astrud Gilberto, an internationally known queen of bossa nova who had passed away on June 6th. Today, I have to pay my condolences again but this time it's for someone who was basically a much more locally known and beloved celebrity outside of the music industry.
Being raised in Toronto right by Lake Ontario, I was privy to both the Canadian television affiliates as well as the American stations across the lake in Buffalo and that included the various news teams. For me, the most approachable members of the news reporting groups were always the weathercasters. As much as I knew Bill Lawrence and Dave Devall up here on the CBC and CTV respectively, I also got to know weatherman Tom Jolls over at WKBW-TV, the ABC affiliate in the Queen City. But I first knew him as Commander Tom, the host of "The Commander Tom Show", the kids' show that was on weekdays whenever I got home from school. He was always the happy and handsome soldier who bantered with the puppets Dustmop, Matty and Cecily and presented repeats of "Adventures of Superman" with George Reeves. I had identified Jolls so much with his Commander Tom persona that I initially wondered what he was doing in front of a weather map in a civilian suit. His voice was so appealingly folksy and smooth that he also did a lot of the station's voiceovers.
It's been mentioned as well for the iconic comedy-variety show "SCTV" character's Wikipedia profile, but I always thought that the newscaster Floyd Robertson and his alter ego, Count Floyd of "Monster Horror Chiller Theatre" were partially inspired by Jolls' long-standing double duty as WKBW weathercaster and children's show host. What I think has also added to the legend of Jolls is that when he passed away yesterday at the age of 89, rival stations' newscasts also saluted him and the YouTube video paying tribute to Jolls above has had comments thanking him coming in from both sides of the border.
My one highlight of "The Commander Tom Show" was when Noel Neill, the second actress to play Lois Lane on the aforementioned "Adventures of Superman" appeared on the show right next to the commander. I knew that "Adventures of Superman" had finished its run long before "Commander Tom" came on the air but to actually see a cast member from that show come on live was pretty amazing. Jolls had his run as the commander from 1965 to 1993 and he retired from WKBW in 1999. My salute to you, sir, and have a salubrious eternity!
My apologies for going on so long about a local weathercaster instead of the usual Japanese singer and their song, but this tribute was definitely one from the heart. Anyways, to bring something fitting, I have Marina Watanabe's（渡辺満里奈）"Namida no Tenki Yohou"(Tearful Weather Report) which is a track on her February 1987 debut album"MARINA". Written by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）, composed by Masayuki Kishi（岸正之）and arranged by Hiroshi Shinkawa（新川博）, it has the usual kayo style of a very cheery and twinkly melody coating the sad lyrics of a young teenager visiting her significant other's house on hearing that he has a cold only to see a different girl's umbrella in the front hall of his house. 😱She quickly gets out of the house in tears just in time for the rain to fall.
Yes, I know. Just how does she know that the umbrella belongs to another girl her age? 🤔It could belong to a doting aunt or someone like that. But yeah, that's the setting. Let Yasushi be. Anyways, "MARINA" hit No. 1 on Oricon.
The Niagara Girl Pop sound has been passed down from Celia Paul in the 1970s through Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）in the 1980s and then to Marina Watanabe（渡辺満里奈）in the 1990s. "Anata kara Tooku e" is a bossa nova cover of a track on Sachiko Kanenobu's（金延幸子）evergreen "Misora"（み空）that was produced by Ohtaki for the first time, and Marina's cute vocals gently cradle the dazzling Niagara sound. Akira Inoue's（大滝詠一）flowing strings are also splendid.
The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised" (2020).
I actually found out about this song from the "Japanese City Pop Masterpieces 100" section of the 2020 edition of "Japanese City Pop" as curated by Yutaka Kimura, so this will be getting handled for next Friday's Yutaka Kimura Speaks session.
"Anata kara Tooku e"(From You to Beyond) apparently was selected to also go into Sony Music's own City Pop compilation, but I think that there's more going melodically here than just some 1990s City Pop. As sung by tarento and former 1980s aidoruMarina Watanabe（渡辺満里奈）for a track on her 9th original album"Ring-a-Bell" from March 1996, I can hear the mellow bossa nova in there but there's some pretty old-style sophisticated pop as well thanks to Akira Inoue's（井上鑑）strings arrangement, so I'm starting to think Shibuya-kei, too, especially with some of the keyboard work. There's also a fellow by the name of Tarao Bannai（多羅尾伴内）who was in on the overall arrangement and, for that matter, the production of the album itself. It turns out that it's Eiichi Ohtaki（大滝詠一）.
Watanabe's song was actually a cover of the original as written, composed and performed by folk singer Sachiko Kanenobu（金延幸子）. I first wrote about her almost a couple of years ago when I covered her "Aoi Sakana"（青い魚）from her first album, "Misora"（み空...Beautiful Sky） released in September 1972. Arranged by Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）, the original version of "Anata kara Tooku e" which also resides on "Misora" has a folk/pop feeling which reminded me of the works of Carole King. The lyrics relate the tale of a woman who's struggling a bit as her significant other is no longer beside her in bed.
Ryoko Tani（谷亮子）, nee Tamura. Now that is a name that I haven't heard in years since she retired from competitive judo over a decade ago and decided to tackle the politicians in the Diet instead as a member of the House of Councilors. But when she was competing on the mat, she was probably as popular as any Oricon-populating aidoru star due to her cheerful and forthright nature, and of course, her abilities as a judoka. She even got the nickname of Yawara based on the main character in the judo manga by Naoki Urasawa（浦沢直樹）, and that character of Yawara Inokuma（猪熊柔）was inspired from the first woman to win a world judo championship, Kaori Yamaguchi（山口香）, in 1984. Tani would follow in her footsteps.
Having watched a lot of the anime adaptation of "YAWARA!" during my days in Gunma Prefecture, I've been able to remember a number of the theme songs used and profile them on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" over the past decade. However, the last time that I wrote about a "YAWARA!" theme tune was way back in 2017 with Mariko Nagai's（永井真理子）"YOU AND I", and to be frank, I hadn't known that this particular song was used as the ending theme for a one-hour motion picture entry of the franchise, "YAWARA! Sore Yuke Koshinuke Kids!!"（それゆけ腰抜けキッズ...Go For It, You Cowardly Kids!!）that was released in theatres in August 1992.
From what I've read in J-Wiki, "Daisuki na Shatsu 1990 Ryoko Sakusen" (My Favourite Shirt ~ The 1990 Travel Operation) had been even used during the original TV series, and it was released as Marina Watanabe's（渡辺満里奈）13th single on July 1st 1990, almost 32 years ago. When I first heard the song, I thought that it was awfully Shibuya-kei for an anime based on judo but heck, as I remember, there was plenty of whimsy in the show and I think Shibuya-kei is absolutely soaking in whimsy, too.
Well, it was no coincidence. Music and lyrics were provided by the Double KO Corporation which is actually the songwriting name for the duo Flipper's Guitar（フリッパーズ・ギター）, one of the pioneers of Shibuya-kei itself. During those opening credit montages, the main character of Yawara was seen tripping the light fantastic throughout the streets of Tokyo and basically trying on every stylish outfit in sight. I would assume then that "Daisuki na Shatsu" would be the perfect accompaniment to a day on the town. Lyrically, it is all about that wonderful date outside with a guy, his favourite shirt and his favourite girl.
The coupling song to "Daisuki na Shatsu" is "Be With You", a light and mellow pop song that almost takes things into AOR territory. In fact, I'd probably say that it was quite close to a lot of the music that Miki Imai（今井美樹）had been performing at the time. I'm a sucker for the keyboard work and the chorus that sounds as if Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）had some involvement (but probably didn't). Watanabe was in charge of the lyrics while Mayumi Horikawa（堀川まゆみ）and Hiroshi Shinkawa（新川博）took care of the composition and arrangement respectively. The entire single peaked at No. 31 on Oricon. From listening to both songs and Marina's vocals for them, I can say that the aidoru tag wouldn't be needed here.
I literally waited several months to put this song up onto the blog and the day has finally come. Patience, be thanked!
"Hachi-gatsu, Saisho no Suiyoubi" (August, The First Wednesday) is the first track on aidoru Marina Watanabe's（渡辺満里奈）5th album"Sunny Side" from July 1988. And indeed today is the first Wednesday for August 2021 so it's rather nice to have this summery tune on board. For an aidoru tune, it's got some nice refinement in the arrangement. I couldn't find out who arranged the song but I wouldn't be surprised if it had been anyone behind the songs for Miki Imai（今井美樹）or Stardust Revue who were known for some very fine songs in the late 1980s.
As it is, MAYUMI（堀川まゆみ）was behind the melody, and she's been known to have created a few songs for Imai back then as well. Meanwhile, Keiko Aso（麻生圭子）provided the lyrics about a young lady trying to kick her boyfriend or husband off the couch and off the game controller (I'm wondering whether Aso had the power of prescience when she was writing up the words) so that they can enjoy some fresh air at the beach. The song is indeed nice but I think that opening synthesizer is a bit too tinny for something this smooth.
Yes, it's Thursday so it's another Reminiscings of Youth article.
First off, allow me to say that above photo is from a Toronto historical site called "Then and Now ~ Toronto Nightlife History" so if any of you hail from my hometown and are of a certain age (i.e. middle-aged), you can have a look at some of the old dance clubs that were around back then, including The Copa.
Ah, yes....The Copa. It was one of our favourite hangouts, and I believe that I did mention this disco in downtown Toronto from time to time in a few of the articles. In fact, my buddies in the Japanese-Canadian Students' Association (now known as the Japan-Canada Students' Association) often alternated between The Copa & other discos and Kuri the karaoke bar on Friday nights. Although it wasn't all the time, sometimes the bunch of us got there at opening time, around 7 pm (yes I know, not exactly the coolest time to enter a disco) since they also offered a decent-enough buffet for $3 before dancing got really under way past 9 pm. Then, things got truly lively from 10 pm onwards with the best remixes.
Among the various University of Toronto clubs and crowds, there were always a few songs that virtually demanded a rush to the dance floor at places like The Copa. One has already been featured as a ROY article, New Order's"Bizarre Love Triangle". Another one is the subject of this ROY, Depeche Mode's"Strangelove".
Depeche Mode is a synthpop band that I knew about almost from the beginning of the popularity of music videos in the early 1980s. Whether it be "People are People", "Master & Servant" and "Everything Counts", Martin Gore, Dave Gahan and the rest of the band had these amazing hooky songs pushed through their synthesizers in tandem with their videos. Ironically, though, I didn't get to see the original video for "Strangelove" until well after my dancing days were over, but the song by itself back in The Copa nights was enough to get all of us flying from our rickety tables and bouncing on the floor. It was usually the original single version but sometimes on a good night, it would be one of the remixes such as the Maxi Mix above.
J-Canuck at The Copa: Well, you know, as for Reagan's involvement in Iran-Cont...OH MY STARS AND GARTERS!!! IT'S STRANGELOVE!!!! ON THE FLOOR NOW!!
I just used nine exclamation marks in that dramatized quote. That's how rabidly popular "Strangelove" was for us. If there had been a film noir made for the late 1980s, this song would have been the ideal theme. The main melody could have become the Orson Welles character all by itself. In Canada, the single got as high as No. 11 on the RPM dance charts while south of us, it hit No. 1 on Billboard's dance club song charts after its release in April 1987.
Strangely enough, the Top 3 on Oricon for that release month are songs that I have yet to cover so I will give you No. 4, No. 5 and No. 8.
In this Reminiscings of Youth article, I will let you know what the "power" songs were with my university friends and I when we hit the discos back in the 80s. I may have already mentioned at least some of them in past articles but here goes: Ministry's"Every Day is Halloween", Paul Lekakis' "Boom Boom" (although not my personal favourite), and Depeche Mode's"Strangelove".
Then, there were the works of British band New Order. I swear that all of their songs were worthy of wearing out our shoes on the dance floor, no matter how late the hour, but the one single that had us rushing from our drinks, conversation and tables was the Extended Mix of"Bizarre Love Triangle". As was the case with Pet Shop Boys and the aforementioned Depeche Mode, New Order had its own distinctive sound when it came to the synthesizers, bass and percussion, plus of course, Bernard Sumner's cooing vocals. No matter where we went to dance, whether it be the Copa, the Diamond or Sparkles in the CN Tower, the DJ would always play the Extended Mix...had to keep the joy going for as long as possible.
"Bizarre Love Triangle" was released in early November 1986. I remember that our disco-ing days began soon after I joined the inaugural form of the Japan-Canada Students' Association when it started up in that same month, so the timing was excellent. From what I've read of the song on Wikipedia, I gather that my fellow club members and I weren't alone in our love of the song. Although it didn't exactly set the general charts in the US or the UK on fire, it did well on the dance and indies charts and has been included in Rolling Stone's"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" at No. 204 as of 2004.
I can no longer see myself getting anywhere close to a dance floor nowadays except in the possible position of a chaperone which is just as well. If I hear "Bizarre Love Triangle" again in that situation, my legs may just propel me back onto the floor. That would probably launch this reaction from the younger folk:
Anyhow, since the release date of "Bizarre Love Triangle" was November 5th 1986, what were the Top 3 songs on Oricon's October 1986list?
I guess that I shouldn't be all that surprised that various YouTube anime enthusiast uploaders have put up videos under the theme of jealousy. After all, it is a well-worn trope in anime of all stripes and a source of mirth, although some of those folks filled with that emotion can be darn "Fatal Attraction" scary.
As with the preceding article that I whipped up on aidoru Itsumi Osawa（大沢逸美）, this particular tune "Shinkokyuu shite" (Take a Deep Breath) also includes a bit of that green-eyed monster although it's probably a very light shade of green judging from the vocals and the happy-go-lucky arrangement.
What's special about "Shinkokyuu shite" is that it was also the solo debut single of 80s aidoru Marina Watanabe（渡辺満里奈）, also a member of Onyanko Club（おニャン子クラブ）. Released in October 1986 with the official added name tag of "...with Onyanko Club", a young lass is trying to sort out her feelings when she sees the target of her puppy love with somebody who may in fact be his girlfriend. If this had been a scene from an anime, the poor girl would have the "GOD IS DEAD" face and teardrops forming in the corners of her widened eyes. That torch for the lad has probably and suddenly burned down to the size of a cigarette butt.
Written by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）and composed by Harukichi Yamamoto（山本はるきち）, I like the somewhat old-timey ice-cream parlour style of jazzy arrangement by Hiroshi Shinkawa（新川博）for "Shinkokyuu shite". The tinny piano definitely helps. The interesting thing about the song is that the "...with Onyanko Club" is actually talking about the backup chorus consisting of a couple of Watanabe's fellow members, Shizuka Kudo（工藤静香）and Akiko Ikuina（生稲晃子）, who I believe are also in the video above.
The other notable piece of trivia is that not only did "Shinkokyuu shite" hit No. 1 (a nice feather in Watanabe's cap), but on reaching the top of the Oricon charts, Marina-chan broke a record that had been held for around 11 years and 9 months by 1970s aidoru legend Momoe Yamaguchi（山口百恵）for her "Fuyu no Iro"（冬の色）as the youngest solo female singer to reach No. 1 at the tender age of 15 years and 11 months compared to Yamaguchi hitting the record also at the age of 15 years and 11 months, so it must have been just a smattering of days that made the difference. Morning Musume（モーニング娘。）member Maki Goto（後藤真希）then took the record in 2001 with her "Ai no Bakayarou"（愛のバカやろう）.
Fascinating that all three singers who got that record all have given names that begin with M. This would go under the category of things that make one go "Hmmmm...".
I don't see former aidoru Marina Watanabe（渡辺満里奈）all that much on TV anymore unfortunately, except for the odd appearance on a panel for some talk show or variety program, but at one point almost 30 years ago, I could see her readily on commercials and especially on the old Tunnels' Thursday night show on Fuji-TV.
Therefore, it's always nice when I can hear her material on YouTube. It seems as if not too long after graduating from the Onyanko Club（おニャン子クラブ）in the late 1980s, she also graduated from her aidoru days, period, and went straight on to pop music.
Certainly when I listen to the adorable yet mature "Shifuukei" (My View) , I don't really hear a teenybopper. The song was a track on her December 1989 album"Two of Us", and although Christmas is not directly named in Arihiro Nakata's（中田有博）lyrics, there are enough hints in there (along with the release date) to illustrate that Marina seems to be finding her way in the city around the Yuletide, thanks to mentions of snow, winter wear, and parties. Plus, I can't help but feel that the light and breezy music by Tomoko Ozawa（大沢明子）seems really suitable for a J-Pop Xmas walk. Incidentally, the song was arranged by Etsuko Yamakawa（山川恵津子）. She and Watanabe collaborated on a number of other tunes together, and one can be heard on my article on Yamakawa's various works.
As for "Two of Us", that album peaked at No. 26 on Oricon.
The anime"Chibi Maruko-chan"（ちびまる子ちゃん）on Fuji-TV has become as much of a Sunday evening televised institution as "Sazae-san"（サザエさん）has although the latter's history has been much longer. Still, I remember watching the first year of the program from 1990 whose first run lasted almost 3 years before going on a hiatus for just as long. Then, it came back in 1995 and hasn't looked back since then.
This morning, the breaking news that came in on NHK's "News Watch at Nine" was that the author behind the original manga, Momoko Sakura（さくらももこ）, had passed away on August 15th from cancer at the age of 53. Usually, NHK wouldn't mention any program that was on a commercial network, and they didn't mention Fuji-TV by name, but they did mention about the long-running anime.
It was a pretty big shock since I had no idea that Sakura had ever been sick and especially since I do catch "Chibi Maruko-chan" with the rest of the family on Sunday nights here on TV Japan when I am at home on those nights. Maruko may act like a brat from time to time but it's still relaxing viewing to see the Sakura family in their home in Shizuoka in the 1970s.
The news is even sadder because just a couple of years earlier, the seiyuu who had played Maruko's older sister, Sakiko, Yuko Mizutani（水谷優子）, had passed away from cancer as well at around the same age. And then there was the recent passing of 70s aidoru Hideki Saijo（西城秀樹）who was a frequent presence on the show as the heartthrob that both Maruko and Sakiko were massively in love with, especially the latter.
It's hard to believe but there was a time when "Odoru Ponpokorin"（おどるポンポコリン）wasn't the de facto opening theme song for "Chibi Maruko-chan". It had started out as the ending theme during the show's first run with the opening theme being the very nice "Yume Ippai"（ゆめいっぱい）by Yumiko Seki（関ゆみ子）. There were a number of other opening themes before "Odoru Ponpokorin" permanently became the song in its various cover versions for the opening credits from 2000 (although "Odoru Ponpokorin" served as opening theme for over a year between 1998 and 1999).
The first opening theme for the second and current run when "Chibi Maruko-chan" returned to TV in 1995 was ex-Onyanko Club（おニャン子クラブ）member Marina Watanabe's（渡辺満里奈）"Ureshii Yokan" (A Happy Premonition). Veteran listeners of Japanese popular music could probably pick up that this was an Eiichi Ohtaki（大瀧詠一）tune right from the jingly melody which includes the chorus arrangement by Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）. Sakura herself wrote the lyrics.
"Ureshii Yokan" was Watanabe's 16th and second-last single to date and was released in February 1995. Ohtaki's old bandmate from Happy End, Shigeru Suzuki（鈴木茂）, was on guitar during the recording, and the surprising thing I read on the song's J-Wikiarticle was that Ohtaki borrowed the intro riff and perhaps the harmonica solo by Toshiaki Chiku（知久寿焼）from The Beatles'"Please Please Me". The single managed to get as high as No. 31 on Oricon and was also placed as a track on Watanabe's 9th studio album, "Ring-A-Bell", released in March 1996, which was also produced by the late Ohtaki.
As sad as her untimely passing is, Sakura has left her legacy of manga, songs and the anime for us to enjoy for many more years.
Etsuko Yamakawa is a name that I have seen through various liner notes over the years but it wasn't until her lovely performance in the one-off duo Tohoku Shinkansen（東北新幹線）that I really got interested in what she had to say within her creations.
Yamakawa was born in 1956 in Kyoto. She attended Ferris University in Yokohama where she majored in the Faculty of Music. From her student days, she was involved with the Yamaha Music Foundation working with various musicians as a tour member starting with singer-songwriter Hiroko Taniyama（谷山浩子）. If I remember from reading the liner notes for Tohoku Shinkansen's sole album "Thru Traffic", the foundation was also where she met her partner, Hiroshi Narumi（鳴海寛）. Following graduation, she began her activities as a composer, arranger, music producer and a studio musician (keyboardist). Probably one of her earliest works was for Junko Yagami（八神純子）, the lovely "Be My Best Friend" in 1980.
One of the things that I noticed while scrolling down Yamakawa's body of work on J-Wiki was that she participated in the creation of songs for those 1980s aidorusuch as Kyoko Koizumi（小泉今日子）. For Kyon-Kyon, she arranged her 18th single"Hyaku Percent Danjo Kyousai"（100%男女交際...100% Men And Women Dating）which was released in April 1986. The songwriters were Keiko Aso and Koji Makaino（麻生圭子・馬飼野康二）, and the song went as high as No. 2, eventually becoming the 86th-ranked single of the year.
Although Koizumi was apparently not too thrilled with the final title, "Hyaku Percent Danjo Kyousai" won Yamakawa a Best Arrangement prize at the Japan Record Awards for that year. In fact, it was the first time that a woman won the award.
Marina Watanabe（渡辺満里奈）was another 80s aidoru for which Yamakawa had come up with several songs. One was her 2nd single, "White Rabbit kara no Message"（ホワイトラビットからのメッセージ...A Message From the White Rabbit） which was composed and arranged by Yamakawa and then released on New Year's Day 1987.Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）was the lyricist. My impression so far is that Yamakawa provided quite a number of sprightly tunes for her young charges. It hit the top spot on Oricon and became the 37th-ranked single of the year. Apparently the animal of the title came about since 1987 was the Year of the Rabbit.
I mentioned Hiroko Taniyama at the top there so this is a song that she wrote and composed titled "Country Girl"（カントリーガール）, her 8th single from March 1980. Yamakawa also arranged this one about a young man enthralled with the lass in the title. It got as high as No. 55 on the charts.
Before I discovered that Yamakawa was providing a lot of aidoru material, my impressions of her were that she took care of the mellower side of pop back in those days or she was into the City Pop side of things. "Tomete, Passio"（とめて、パシオ...Stop It, Passio）, a track from Etsuko Sai's（彩恵津子）5th album, "PASSIO", from October 1986 is a Yamakawa composition that fulfills the latter impression. Chinfa Kan（康珍化）, under his pseudonym of Shirusu Morita（森田記）, provided the words to this mysterious song of the night. Yamakawa is even one of the backup singers here.
I did find a mellower song here in the form of "Aki no Jasmine Tea"（秋のジャスミン・ティー...Autumn Jasmine Tea） by veteran Yukari Ito（伊東ゆかり）. Not sure whether Yamakawa composed, arranged or both but there is a nice touch of Latin with this one. Unfortunately, I couldn't find out who the lyricist was, but the song was originally part of Ito's 1984 album"fado".
For my last song, I've gone with Yuko Imai's（今井優子）cool "HOTEL TWILIGHT" from her 1988 album"VOYAGEUR". Yamakawa arranged this number written by the aforementioned Keiko Aso and composed by Hideya Nakazaki（中崎英也）, and it rather gleams with that champagne-on-the-town sound that I often associated with some of the female pop singers at the end of the 1980s.
On one Mixi blog, one writer stated that he took a listen to "HOTEL TWILIGHT" and remarked that he had initially thought it was a Swingout Sister song with those strings and dramatic arrangement. The statement knocked me for a loop since I finally put two and two together. That champagne-on-the-town sound in that certain corner of J-Pop of the time might have been inspired by the British group. So, perhaps I can say that as much as the Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan probably inspired City Pop at the beginning of the 1980s, Swingout Sister may have influenced the urban contemporary tunes of Japan at the end of that decade.
To sum up, Yamakawa has created a wider palette of music than I had expected, ranging from sweet aidoru to cool urban. Of course, J-Wiki probably hasn't included every single work that she ever made so I will continue to look forward to any further discoveries.
As long as I was referring back to that old compilation LP from which I plucked a song which became the subject of my last article, I thought why not try another track. And compared to the rock/traditional of Ryudogumi（竜童組）, this song is solidly in sweet aidoruville. By the way, the above video is just dark; the song will play.
Marina Watanabe's（渡辺満里奈）"Ballad wo Kikinagara"(As I'm Listening to a Ballad) wasn't released as a single but it was placed on this compilation. Originally, it was from her 2nd album, "Evergreen" which came out in September 1987. Written by Ayuko Ishikawa（石川あゆ子）and composed by Masayuki Kishi（岸正之）, the song is anything but a ballad with images of stars and My Little Pony following young Marina on the yellow brick road. Although the lyrics are about Marina pining over that lost love while she's listening to that song that her former beau had once played in his room, the bouncy music just says that she'll be back on her feet in no time kibbutzing with her classmates at the nearby fast food shop. Maybe I've been watching too much anime.
Since it wasn't an official single, I doubt that the song ever got performed on "The Best 10" and the like, but if it had, it would probably have had Marina in a fluffy dress with a bunch of guys in bow ties, pork pie hats and walking canes dancing around her. Maybe I've been watching too many ranking shows.
I was aware that veteran TV performer Marina Watanabe（渡辺満里奈）started her professional life as an aidoru and as a member of Onyanko Club（おニャン子クラブ）but basically my sightings of her over the past few decades have been through her appearances on television as an actress, host or guest panelist and overall tarento. And that includes the above video from "Tunnels no Minasan no Okage desu"（とんねるずのみなさんのおかげです...Tunnels' Thanks to Everyone） which was where I first got to know the Tokyo native. She was often the regularly featured player in The Tunnels' various skits or the overall straightperson to the duo's zaniness (could explain why she ended up getting married to a member from another crazy comedy team, Jun Nagura of Neptune) back in the late 80s. One of the reasons that I enjoyed watching "Minasan no Okage desu" was seeing whether the cute Marina was going to finally crack out laughing at Ishibashi and Kinashi's antics; this didn't happen as much as one might think....she kept a very good hold on her emotions.
But of course, Marina-chan did release singles when not having fun with The Tunnels. I was not very knowledgeable about Onyanko Club but about 7 months after debuting as the No. 36 member in March 1986, she released her first single,"Shinkokyu shite"（深呼吸して...Take a Deep Breath）under the banner of Marina Watanabe with Onyanko Club, and the song hit No. 1 with a bullet. In fact, she became the youngest female solo singer to hit the No. 1 spot at 15 years and 11 months old, breaking the nearly 12-year record established by Momoe Yamaguchi（山口百恵）when she was also 15 years and 11 months old (so Marina's record was achieved by just a smattering of days). No. 36 would hold onto that record for almost 14.5 years until then-Morning Musume member Maki Goto（後藤真希）displaced her with her hit single, "Ai no Bakayaro"（愛のバカやろう...Fool of Love）.
It was quite the achievement to have had. However, one Thursday night at the end of another hilarious episode of The Tunnels, Marina actually picked up the mike to sing a tune, and it turned out to be her 3rd single, "Marina no Natsu" (Marina's Summer). I'm not sure what the special occasion was since she sang it while I was already in Japan between 1989-1991 and she had already released it back in April 1987. It could have been sung to mark her last episode since the song was accompanied by past footage of her time on the show.
I literally haven't heard "Marina no Natsu" in over 20 years so it was great to hear this very cheerful song once again. Listening to it once more, I'd had the sneaking impression that the music was provided by Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）because it just sounded so bouncy and summery, but actually it was singer-songwriter Masayuki Kishi's（岸正之）baby (although he and Hayashi had collaborated on one song, "Samurai Music" a few years previously). Svengali for both Onyanko Club and AKB48, Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）provided the lyrics. It, like her first 2 singles, hit No. 1 on Oricon.
To finish things off, here are Marina and frequent guest Rie Miyazawa（宮沢りえ）on "Minasan no Okage desu" in one of the numerous skits that The Tunnels pulled off.
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