Keiko Toda -- Ano Hi no Mama no Hohoemi de（あの日のままの微笑みで）

 

Back on Urban Contemporary Fridays on KKP, we have another gem from actress and singer Keiko Toda（戸田恵子）. My last article regarding her was when she was still an early 1970s aidoru with the stage name of Akemi Ayu（あゆ朱美）but this time, we're back to the future in the 1980s. 

Specifically, we're within her 1985 album "Tenderly" (although J-Wiki states 1984, I found an image of the actual record which says otherwise). I've already written about one track there, a cover of the jazz standard "Pay Some Attention to Me", but this time around, we have the preceding song, "Ano Hi no Mama no Hohoemi de" (That Smile from the Other Day). Written by Keiji Mizutani（水谷啓二）and composed by Masahiro Taniguchi（谷口雅洋）, it's got the City Pop rhythm intact but I think there is also something in the song that also hits me as old-style kayo kyoku for some reason. Maybe it's the background chorus, but regardless, it does feel like a breezy day trip tripping the light fantastic in Tokyo. 

MIO (MIQ) -- Paradise Night

 

Recently, there has been a trend of micro-tours, individualized tours for one person or a pair. So, instead of the generic Hato Bus rides traveling through Asakusa, Shinjuku, and the like, that one tourist can get their own choice of visiting, say, the temples and shrines of Tokyo only. Another example is instead of opting for doing the all-in-one thing at Yokohama's Ramen Museum, they can tour through the most famous ramen joints all over Japan (extra medical insurance and defibrillator not included).

Being a City Pop fan, I have wondered what a City Pop micro-tour would be like. Not sure if it would be easy to put together and it may just be a one-night thing involving a microbus ride on the Shuto Expressway in Tokyo while listening to the sounds of Tats, Miki and Fujimal onboard. However, maybe there can be stops in West Shinjuku (since those early "City Hunter" opening credits include the skyscrapers there) or Roppongi. A stop could be made in front of any of the recording studios where Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）made his greatest hits although I doubt that tourists could get inside.

Alas, I'm just waxing whimsically here. You can figure out what you would like in a City Pop micro-tour and it would be a paradise night...which is why I'm segueing into "Paradise Night" by MIO, a track from her December 1985 album, "Mr. Monday Morning". I've already covered the title track but "Paradise Night", which was created by the same duo behind "Mr. Monday Morning": lyricist Machiko Ryu（竜真知子）and composer Masahiro Taniguchi（谷口雅洋）, is a romantic ballad that sounds like a night with a happy ending involving a couple after a few too many drinks and not enough discipline. There is something woozy and wonderful in the arrangement which fits the scenario.

Masahiro Taniguchi -- Wakakusa no Moeru koro（若草の萌える頃）

 

Welcome to another end of the business week. It's been balmy here in the Greater Toronto Area for the past few days and I don't think anyone is complaining although the streets are slightly slippery due to the thaw.

The other thing that's been slipping is my memory since the fellow that I am about to write about is someone that I'd thought was appearing on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" for the first time. However, I'm a tad embarrassed to admit that bassist/singer Masahiro Taniguchi（谷口雅洋）has had his debut on our humble blog since last August as a songwriter for MIO's "Mr. Monday Morning". In the article, I even made some reference to the song that is getting its just dues right here right now. Will need a Gibbs slap.

Anyways, this is "Wakakusa no Moeru koro" (When Young Grass Sprouts) which is an odd title for what I think is a very pure City Pop song. The third track from his 1980 debut album "Communication"（コミュニケーション）, I don't know the botanical significance of the song but it is a classy hotel bar-friendly tune that was composed by Taniguchi, written by Keisuke Yamakawa（山川啓介）and arranged by Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）. Perhaps the botanicals are the herbs in his cocktail that he's sipping in the bar.

I love the Fender Rhodes, the silky strings, and Taniguchi's vocals which remind me of the voice of Junichi Inagaki（稲垣潤一）, another City Pop veteran (for that matter, I also get shades of Hideaki Tokunaga). Just like that setting that I mentioned in the previous paragraph, there is something nice and downtown classy about Hagita's arrangement. And before I forget, I would love to know who's helping with the backup chorus.

Some final trivia about Taniguchi is that he not only hails from Kyoto but he's been going by a different name over the years: Mamoru Taniguchi（谷口守）. Not sure if Mamoru is his real name or not but you can take a look at his website to check his credentials out. Also over the decades, along with MIO, he's provided tunes for Hiromi Go（郷ひろみ）, Kaori Momoi（桃井かおり）and Mariko Nagai（永井真理子）among other singers.

MIO (MIQ) -- Mr. Monday Morning

 

The above is a photo of my breakfast at the R&B Hotel in Otsuka, Tokyo when I had my last trip to Japan in 2017. It's a business hotel judging from the clientele and I really appreciated their washer-and-dryer facilities. Also, breakfast was fine, too, although sometimes just to jiggle up the variety, I enjoyed brekkie at the Royal Host next door.

Sorry but the video was taken down but you can listen to 

an excerpt here.

Speaking on that morning theme along with the fact that I'm typing this on a Monday, I have "Mr. Monday Morning" by jazzy singer MIO (although she has been known as MIQ for the past twenty years). Mind you, I'm typing this well into the afternoon...generally, I don't blog in the mornings. Anyways, this was the title track from her December 1985 album and although it starts off sounding a bit like a technopop tune, those horns and the synth-bass reassure listeners of the genre that it's a good and funky City Pop number.

"Mr. Monday Morning" was written by the prolific Machiko Ryu（竜真知子）and composed by Masahiro Taniguchi（谷口雅洋）, and I really like it when MIO throws out that "Tell me why!" in the refrain for this song which sounds as if love might actually be coming to a couple. From that title, though, it might be about an amiable friends-with-benefits situation (although the term probably didn't exist back in the mid-1980s), so that love thing may not be as smooth as assumed.

I'd never heard of singer-songwriter Taniguchi but apparently he released an album "Communication" in 1980 which is considered to be one of the more hidden City Pop delicacies. According to this page, it got its CD release just last year. Judging from what I've heard of this particular song, I'm going to have to pay some attention to his works very soon. Also, I did write about another MIO tune with a morning theme earlier this year.