Midori Hara -- KO・KO・RO・NOTE (Part 2)

From Discogs

Last Friday, I provided an article featuring Side A of Midori Hara's（原みどり）sophomore album from March 1988, "KO・KO・RO・NOTE" (Heart Note) . It's been a production that's surprised me with the singer tackling some of the more urban contemporary genres such as City Pop. Today, I'm finishing up with the Side B tracks. Unless noted, everything here is by Hara.

This starts with "too young" which was written by Yu Aku（阿久悠）with Hara providing the melody which Masahiro Ikumi（幾見雅博）arranged (and in fact, he arranged all of the tracks). It starts off feeling as if David Foster got his hands on the song and it then continues onto a West Coast AOR vein. If you ever wondered what such a song would sound like if YUKI from Judy & Mary or NOKKO from Rebecca had gotten behind the mike, then today is your lucky day (though it's ironic then that today is Friday the 13th).

"Iro no Nai Movie"（色のない Movie...Colourless Movie） is a wholly Hara creation whose verses are underlaid with a bit of reggae before going into a city strut chorus. The singer herself takes on a slightly more plaintive and sultrier direction with her vocals. There's also some really nice guitar work here in the intro and instrumental bridge.

The penultimate track has a pretty existential title. "Yojigen Kuukan Ryokou"（四次元空間旅行...Trip Through Four-Dimensional Space） has that feeling of a relaxing jazz standard with a wood bass figuring prominently in the arrangement, although the presence of the Fender Rhodes or electric piano keeps things in the contemporary. So, would the title be referring to a regular trip through time and space?

For the final track of "KO・KO・RO・NOTE", "Tsuyoku Dakishimeteite mo Sayonara"（強く抱きしめていてもSa・Yo・Na・Ra...Holding You Tight Even If It's Goodbye）, the poignancy is in the piano as Hara delivers a heartfelt ballad about saying goodbye although the feelings for each other are still there. Just like the final track on Side A, "Itami"（痛み...Pain）,  I can get that hint of gospel blues which makes me wonder what would it have been like if an actual organ had been used instead of the piano.

As I've mentioned, "KO・KO・RO・NOTE" is quite the delightful surprise from thirty-eight years ago by Hara. For those who like their 80s City Pop and some more genres, you can give this one the good ol' college try.

Midori Hara -- KO・KO・RO・NOTE (Part 1)

Fred Cherrygarden via Wikimedia Commons

 

The above is the famous gyoza statue just outside of JR Utsunomiya Station in Tochigi Prefecture. Utsunomiya City is one of the big places for the cooking and consumption of those plump and delicious gyoza dumplings. I actually transited through the station on my way to other farther places in Japan at the time, but sadly, I couldn't partake in any of the gyoza places there (although I ate a truck's worth of the dumplings during my 17 years in the nation). 

From Discogs

Now, the reason that I started out with one of the big symbols for Utsunomiya is that the lady for this article hails from there. I'm talking about singer-songwriter Midori Hara（原みどり）who has been mentioned twice in the blog. One article featured her 1987 debut (and what a debut!) single "Tsugunai no Hibi"（償いの日々）which was also a debut with Tulip lead singer, Kazuo Zaitsu（財津和夫）. If anyone asked me what an 80s power ballad sung by Japanese artists is like, I would point to this one.

I also found out that she had been the first female vocalist for the long-running eclectic band SPANK HAPPY from the early 1990s. And in those days, the band took on a rock flavour with Hara taking on a katakana-ized form of her name（ハラミドリ）and a certain timbre that reminded me of another rock vocalist, YUKI from the band Judy & Mary. And it was then that I assumed that Hara was really about that pop-rock sound.

Well, how wrong I was. I had a bit of a taste of her debut album from June 1987, "MiDo", and the songs sounded like a playful funk-pop. And then for the Holidays, I was able to pick up a few albums, one of which was her second album "KO・KO・RO・NOTE" (Heart Note) which was released in March 1988. If I'm not mistaken, Hara took care of all of the songs' words and music while both Hara and Masahiro Ikumi（幾見雅博）were the album arrangers.

"KO・KO・RO・NOTE" is quite the revelation. If the aforementioned YUKI had been asked to tackle a City Pop or generally adult contemporary project, this album would be what I had envisioned. It all starts with "Pajama no Mama de STEP!"（ぱじゃまのままでStep!...Dance About In Your Pajamas!）which has a battery of synths and horns coming together to provide some of that Bubble Era champagne-and-caviar urban sound. The singer even sounds a bit like Janis Joplin having some real vocal fun with the breathy and propulsive delivery and scatting. I can imagine her dancing in her PJs when she was a teen...and getting yelled at by her parents.

"Uchuu Kuukan Yuuei"（宇宙空間遊泳...Spacewalk） is the second track and this one hit me very hard when I first heard it because of the really smooth City Pop vibes here. The groove and romantic sax solo provided by arranger Ikumi rolls in like a large ripple of velvety-smooth chocolate syrup. There are some big names of the genre helping out as well such as Shin Kazuhara（数原晋）on flugelhorn, Shuichi "PONTA" Murakami（村上ポンタ秀一）on drums, and Hiroshi Sato（佐藤博）on piano (you can see the full list underneath the video at YouTube). It's been a while since I've heard something this City Pop and at the same time, I also got those early 80s Manhattan Transfer vibes.

Track 3 is "Kannazuki no Omoi"（神無月の想ひ...October Memories） which is even more laidback and languid than "Uchuu Kuukan Yuuei" but this is more of a Latin-tinged pop ballad. Time for a twirl around the dance floor at 10 pm here.

"Kokoro no Juunan Taisou"（Ko・Ko・Roの柔軟体操...Calisthenics of the Heart） has her bringing more of the old-timey-wimey jazz although the song is more of a fusion effort between it and pop...nice to bring this in when we've completed the first century of the American-born genre. I don't get to hear clarinets so much in jazz anymore so it's nice to have the ol' licorice stick back, especially I used to bring that home almost every night during junior high school.

The last one for Side A and the last one for Part 1 is "Itami"（痛み...Pain） which is a gently lilting ballad with a bit of a gospel blues touch. It makes for a nice contemplative cool-down track to end the side. Speaking of which, I'll bring Part 2 next Friday.

Ritsuko Kurosawa -- Eve no Tenmondai（イヴの天文台）

 

I think I've gotten most of the Xmas cards sent out by now. I'm usually pretty diligent with those.

The latest J-Xmas tune for this season and the one to round out today's crop of KKP entries is "Eve no Tenmondai" (The Observatory on Christmas Eve) by Ritsuko Kurosawa（黒沢律子）. Released in December 1991 as her 4th single, it's a pleasant pop ballad of the season about a couple who once met at an observatory one Christmas Eve. To be honest, that's the first time I've ever heard of a place dedicated to space as a romantic meetup spot. Usually, I think of places with tons of illumination or restaurants for that special dinner, but perhaps privacy is a good site for some. Anyways, "Eve no Tenmondai" was written by Masami Tozawa（戸沢暢美）, composed by Takaaki Yasuoka（安岡孝章）of the band I Re'in For Re'in（アイリーン・フォーリーン）and arranged by Masahiro Ikumi（幾見雅博）.

Kei Ishiguro -- Ame no Freeway（雨のフリーウェイ）

 

I took one look at that cover of Kei Ishiguro's（石黒ケイ）1985 album "Mont Saint-Michel no Kodoku"（モン・サン・ミッシェルの孤独...The Solitude of Mont Saint-Michel ）along with the singer's very artistic appearance, and figured that this was going to be a different animal compared to my usual impression of her as a jazzy City Pop singer through songs such as "Hearty" and "Misty Night"（ミスティ・ナイト）. Even the title hints at the Gallic-ness of it all and when it's produced in the mid-1980s, it's just gotta be somewhat avant-garde and/or New Wave.

And yep, the first track on "Mont Saint-Michel", "Ame no Freeway" (Rainy Freeway), strikes me quite different for an Ishiguro song, but not so much that I consider it to be way out from left field. Written by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）and composed by Masahiro Ikumi（幾見雅博）, there are the synthesizers and syn-drums that remind me a bit of Asami Kobayashi's（小林麻美）"Ame Oto wa Chopin no Shirabe"（雨音はショパンの調べ）along with the breezy je ne sais quoi arrangement. Still, even with Ishiguro's vocals that hint at a certain feeling of chaise lounge behaviour, I can pick up on some of the old urban contemporary and sophisticated pop.

Yuko Imai -- Day-Up Heart

 

I've seen my fair share of soap commercials on Japanese television although the one above seems to be back from the 1970s and perhaps inspired by the anime "Heidi" (was almost expecting Clara to suddenly jump out at the screen). That one is for Gyuunyuu Sekken（牛乳石鹸）which translates directly to Milk Soap which personally sounds better than the official English name of the company, Cow Brand Soap (potential slogan: Go ahead! Smell like a cow! Cow Brand!). 

Unfortunately I couldn't find the ad for which Yuko Imai's（今井優子）"Day-Up Heart" was used as a campaign song, and I only found out about the association through the YouTube commenters. But it's quite the snazzy jingle. A track from Imai's October 1993 album "Fun Fun Fun", it was written by Mayumi Hara（原真弓）and composed/arranged by Masahiro Ikumi（幾見雅博）, and it's interesting for the fact that it seems to have incorporated some of that 90s City Pop and a bit of 80s Eurobeat sound.

However, I should correct myself. According to the ad (which doesn't contain "Day-Up Heart") below, Cow Brand came up with a shampoo called Day-Up. The jingle still wins for bringing in that fresh up-and-at-'em sound to get ladies feeling the same way after washing their hair.

Kojiro Shimizu -- Merry Go Round

 

I'm kinda wondering whether City Pop enjoys a good carousel in its lineup. I recollect that Akira Terao（寺尾聰）had sung a mid-tempo tune of that nature titled "Merry Go Round" back in 1981.

Well, I found this considerably more uptempo song, also titled "Merry Go Round", complete with some snazzy horns, piano, saxophone and snappy percussion sung by actor/singer Kojiro Shimizu（清水宏次朗）for his December 1991 album "Mind Breeze". I saw this on YouTube and as soon as I saw the thumbnail with the album cover, I figured with that title, there had to be something urban contemporary about this release.

Sure enough, there is something of the Toshiki Kadomatsu（角松敏生）flair and Resort Pop in "Merry Go Round" which was actually written by Masako Arikawa（有川正沙子）, composed by Kazuhiro Hara（原一博）and arranged by Masahiro Ikumi（幾見雅博）. In an interesting turn of coincidence, Arikawa was also the lyricist behind Terao's "Merry Go Round" a decade prior (things that make me go Hmmmm). Anyways, both songs with the same title but totally different melodies hit me just fine.

Shimizu hails from Tokyo and was scouted right in Harajuku where he was hoofing it up as a member of the famous Takenoko-zoku dance group. He made his debut as an aidoru in 1981 under the stage name of Koji Take（竹宏治）. After taking a short break from the industry, he returned to show business in 1984 under his real name with the single "Billy Joel wa Niawanai"（ビリー・ジョエルは似合わない...Billy Joel Doesn't Fit Me） which earned him the Grand Prize at the 13th Tokyo Music Festival. A whole barrage of singles and albums came out following that. At the same time, Shimizu walked the acting path which included a role as one of the pompadoured young toughs, Hiroshi Kato（加藤浩志）, in the "Be-Bop High School"（ビー・バップ・ハイスクール）series.

Kazuhito Murata -- Flying Santa Claus

 

Of course, Santa Claus flies. He's got that sleigh all kitted out by Tony Stark, a TARDIS-like interior fitted by The Doctor through dimensional transcendentalism for all of those packages, and impulse engines sponsored by Starfleet. Yesterday, there was a cute Canadian government-sanctioned commercial of one minister giving St. Nick air clearance to fly over the Great White North in a matter of hours, and I'm sure NORAD has eternal standing orders to always allow the man flight privileges over North America, at least.

There's even a song called "Flying Santa Claus" by the late singer-songwriter Kazuhito Murata（村田和人）who was usually known for his City Pop or summer pop songs. But this time, he's in Xmas mode with this seasonal song about having Kris Kringle cure all that ails folks. "Flying Santa Claus" is a track on his October 1988 album "Go Pop", and it's a pleasant and at times flying number heightened by Murata's vocals and the arrangement of the singer's melody by Masahiro Ikumi（幾見雅博）. Shun Taguchi（田口俊）provided the lyrics.

Let's all hope that Santa has been having a safe trip. I think that he passed Hokkaido hours ago.

Masahiro Ikumi -- Say, My Love

Sigh...next time I visit my old stomping grounds again in Chiba Prefecture, I really ought to take more photos of Urayasu（浦安）. The above was the only one I took in October 2014 and that was from my friend's car and it was a rainy day.

To give you some geographical perspective, I lived in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture which is an eastern bedroom city for Tokyo. Urayasu is the city that is between Tokyo and Ichikawa. The Tokyo Metro's Tozai Line runs through my old station of Minami-Gyotoku（南行徳）and the one before it, Urayasu Station.

The above video (and I thank you, peakysaltsy for the remembrance of my old neighbourhood) shows the area which I like to call Old Urayasu. Just surrounding Urayasu Station, it has that look of a sub-city centre, and yep, I got off here once or twice a week to teach at my friend's juku which was about 10 minutes away on foot. You may notice the Seiyu Department Store right by the station? I went there fairly often since there was a CD store and also a local MUJI. Another reason is that there was a family restaurant up on the 2nd floor where I ate frequently enough so that I would get some knowing smiles from the staff there whenever I entered. I believe one of the waitresses must have thought on seeing me come in that I would be responsible for helping out the restaurant coffers immensely when I ordered my meal.

To give credit where credit is due, this video is by toki-toki and it is of the area that I call New Urayasu. Although Old Urayasu is the area that I was more familiar with, I actually made the effort to take a bus to visit the new and gleaming part of the city time and again, and it definitely couldn't look more different. With the palm trees, modern condos and a fancy-schmancy shopping mall characteristic of this area by Tokyo Bay, it positively demands a City Pop album.

Well, come to think of it, I did find one some months ago. The above video is of part of the 1983 album "uLAyasu" by jazz guitarist Masahiro Ikumi（幾見雅博）. I'm not sure what the really big caps of "LA" in the title are all about but I can speculate that he had wanted to bring some of that LA sound into the Chiba city. Since the new part of Urayasu probably hadn't been developed at the time of the album's release, I don't think Ikumi was inspired by that for his album although New Urayasu looks like a really nice beachside district of Los Angeles.

Anyways, the first track, "Say, My Love" sounds like something that would make for a nice musical accompaniment for another video of New Urayasu. For those who aren't in an aidoru or enka frame of mind, this is a nice gin and tonic to go with that glass of Perrier chaser. Artists like him, Casiopea and The Square were making some fine fusion back then.

As I said, the information on his website isn't particularly comprehensive but Ikumi is also a composer, arranger and producer who has produced a lot of commercial music for companies ranging from Coca-Cola to JAL. Plus, he has had his hand in making anime music and scores, including the one for the 1998 movie "Perfect Blue". He originally hails from Shizuoka Prefecture.

Well, what do you know? peakysaltsy was even able to put up a video of my old neighbourhood around Minami-Gyotoku Station, or as the locals call it, Nangyo（南行）! Ahh...good times.