Saori Tsuchiya -- Nantoka Shite（何とかして）

 

Awww...isn't this adorable? This was a commercial for one of my favourite drinks, Calpis, and the title for this ad includes the name of the young girl talking, Saori Tsuchiya（土家里織）. According to her J-Wiki file, she did this in 1972. when she was all of three years old; it was the same year that I visited Japan for the first time and discovered the famous refreshment. 

Tsuchiya happens to come from a family of thespians including her parents: Shinjiro Ehara（江原真二郎）and Hitomi Nakahara（中原ひとみ）, and throughout her childhood, she would appear in a long-running series of commercials for Lion White & White Toothpaste alongside her famous parents for about a decade into the 1980s. She literally grew up in front of Japan's eyes.

Her acting career began in the late 1980s but it didn't lead to a similarly long singing career though. In fact, Tsuchiya released only two singles; one was a duet with legendary singer-songwriter Masaaki Hirao（平尾昌晃）in 1987 and then there was her one-and-only solo effort released in June 1988, "BOY". Today, I have the B-side, "Nantoka Shite" (Do Something About It) which was written by Shun Taguchi（田口俊）, composed by Masamichi Sugi（杉真理）and arranged by Kazuo Otani（大谷和夫）. It's a pretty blippy-bloppy synthpop tune with a rollicking rhythm.

Masamichi Sugi -- Vacance wa Itsumo Rain（バカンスはいつも雨）

 

Well, I guess this is a bit of a reversal of the usual Yutaka Kimura Speaks session. It was usually the case that I'd already written about a particular song before good ol' Kimura gives his two cents on the song via the YKS article. But as regular readers know from last night, the last edition of YKS provided the music specialist's take on Masamichi Sugi's（杉真理）"Vacance wa Itsumo Rain" (It's Always Raining on My Vacation） although I had yet to write an article on it. That changes here and now.

To be frank, I'm still not an expert on Sugi's discography which is why I had never realized that his 8th single from October 1982 became such a turning point and revelation for the singer-songwriter according to Kimura. Still, I have heard some of his earlier material such as his third single "Catch Your Way" from October 1980 and it's perfectly fine. But perhaps Sugi himself had been gradually approaching a certain crisis of faith up to that point just before "Vacance wa Itsumo Rain" which led to that important piece of advice that Eiichi Ohtaki（大滝詠一）had given him.

So I gather that Sugi was probably a faithful Beatles fan deep inside so he brought some of that into the song right from the get-go with that harmonica and the familiar melody. It's a happy-go-lucky song about a guy who just seems to be rather unlucky in the love department but remains ever hopeful. Certainly, Sugi felt as if a rather huge existential knot was massaged out of his shoulders via this hit judging from how cheerful it sounds. Incidentally, "Vacance wa Itsumo Rain" was also used for a Glico commercial.

Yutaka Kimura Speaks: Masamichi Sugi（杉真理）

 

The lead single from his 1983 album "Stargazer" and his first smash hit as a commercial jingle, "Vacance wa Itsumo Rain"（バカンスはいつも雨...It's Always Raining on My Vacation） was an important number and a turning point in Masamichi Sugi's career.

The previous year, Sugi had participated in the collaboration album "Niagara Triangle Vol. 2" with Motoharu Sano（佐野元春）and Eiichi Ohtaki（大滝詠一）. Advice that he had received from Ohtaki was the spark behind the creation of "Vacance wa Itsumo Rain" and that advice was to appeal to people by bringing more of himself into his music. From there, he rediscovered himself and developed a catchy chord progression which featured a harmonica intro with a beloved Beatles' rhythm. It was from this that clearly showed his own roots, something that he had never shown before.

And then, with his famous "Stargazer" completed and filled with all of this passion, he successively came out with the fulfilling albums "Mistone" and "Symphony #10", and managed to stake an unshakeable position in the Japanese pop scene.

I can only tip my hat in admiration to his sense as a melody maker which has had him dubbed as Japan's Paul McCartney and his talent in churning out song after song. After all, so many of his trademark songs in any of his albums come across as tunes that grab the listener's heart and don't let go.

By the way, I wonder how many people there are who remember the joint concert "Wonder Full Moon" with Sugi, Yumi Matsutoya（松任谷由実）and Kaoru Sudo（須藤薫）in 1982. I have rarely seen such a dreamy and exciting stage performance since then and I would have loved to have seen a reprise of the three of them getting together again.

The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised" (2020).

Kaoru Sudo -- Hadashi no Mama de（裸足のままで）

 

I couldn't help but get some of that atmosphere from the Righteous Brothers' classic "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" when I listened to the first few measures of this Kaoru Sudo（須藤薫）song. Released in November 1983 as her final single for CBS/Sony with whom she recorded since the beginning of her career in 1979, "Hadashi no Mama de" (Just Barefoot) sounds like a Hiroshi Nagai（永井博）painting given aural capabilities as Sudo croons softly of a woman at the side of a pool during one summer, thinking about a former flame.

Written by Shun Taguchi（田口俊）, composed by Masamichi Sugi（杉真理）and arranged by Masataka Matsutoya（松任谷正隆）, I wonder whether those last two songwriters were thinking of the Righteous Brothers and Phil Spector when they designed this rather lush ballad that has the vibes of a breezy 60s love song. Considering that we're not too far from the hot season right now, this could be quite the tonic.

From Amazon.ca

Yutaka Kimura Speaks ~ Japanese City Pop Masterpieces 100: Kaoru Sudo -- Rainy Day Hello

 

Number: 097

Lyricist: Masamichi Sugi

Composer: Masamichi Sugi

Arrangers: Masamichi Sugi & Masataka Matsutoya

From Sudo's 1982 album "Amazing Toys"

"Rainy Day Hello" is a romantic yet somewhat bittersweet rain-themed song that superbly paints a scene of a re-encounter of a couple that had first met and then broken up on a rainy day. Within the many Masamichi Sugi-penned songs（杉真理）, the A-side of the original "Amazing Toys" LP is chock-filled with his famous tunes, but "Namida no Step"（涙のステップ）and this particular track are Kaoru Sudo's（須藤薫）eternal classics. The song, the sound and the mastering are splendid and it represents the hey days of CBS Sony.

The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised" (2020).

Kaoru Sudo -- Rainy Day Hello

 

Well, this article is a continuation of the rainy day theme from Kunio Muramatsu's（村松邦男）"Rainy Day" and it only takes one extra word to complete this Kaoru Sudo（須藤薫）ballad "Rainy Day Hello".

Sudo was known as a singer who loved to give her own renditions of happy-go-lucky 50s/60s girl pop back in the day, but with "Rainy Day Hello", which is a track on her April 1982 3rd album, "Amazing Toys", the arrangement by Masamichi Sugi and Masastaka Matsutoya（杉真理・松任谷正隆）is contemporary pop/AOR balladry aside from a familiar vocal chorus behind her. It's probably not a tune that a freshly brokenhearted person would want to hear (or maybe he/she would😕) but it's a beautifully put-together song by Sugi in terms of words and music about a woman remembering how she met that wonderful man one rainy day only for a lie to bring the world crashing down and un-meeting that man on another rainy day. It's been called one of Sudo's best songs and I can believe it. 

For some of that 50s/60s girl pop sound, try Sudo's track mate on "Amazing Toys", "Namida no Step"（涙のステップ）. And indeed, this will be another Yutaka Kimura Talks song.

Hi-Fi Set -- Hoshi Geshou Halley（星化粧ハレー）

 

I guess that I should have added the label Kanebo Cosmetics to the Labels because so many of the songs noted here on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" have ended up as campaign music for the company's commercials.

But interestingly enough, this particular song hasn't been included in the video compilation at the very top. Apparently, this November 1984 22nd single by the vocal trio Hi-Fi Set（ハイ・ファイ・セット）, "Hoshi Geshou Halley" (Star Make-Up Halley) was used by Kanebo but I haven't been able to find any sign of a commercial associated with the melancholy number on YouTube. 

However, there is an anime short that has acted as the official music video for "Hoshi Geshou Halley" which is a bit on the bizarre side. It not only has the trio in anime and live-action form but it stars a time-displaced baby dinosaur missing his family dearly while he's struggling to figure out modern-day Tokyo. But no worries...Hi-Fi Set make like Doctor Who and set things back to normal although there is an Urashima Taro plot twist at the end.

As for the song itself, "Hoshi Geshou Halley" has a star list of songwriters: lyricist Shun Taguchi（田口俊）, composer Masamichi Sugi（杉真理）and arranger Akira Inoue（井上鑑）. It leans toward the sophisticated pop territory of City Pop although a lot of the song also has that Gallic feeling that might transport some listeners to the streets of Paris. Not sure how all this managed to intertwine itself with a baby dinosaur but hey, whimsy is Japanese pop culture's middle name.

Masamichi Sugi -- School Bell wo Narase!（スクールベルを鳴らせ!）

Wikimedia Commons
Sciondriver

 

This is going to be one of the more obvious things that I will ever say on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", but kids can get rather mischievous and rambunctious. Often was the time when the rapscallions ran down our corridor and knocked on every door to see if they can escape the hallway before anyone answered. And of course, the fire alarms got a workout sometimes, too.

I'm wondering if singer-songwriter Masamichi Sugi（杉真理） had the same idea in mind when he came up with his "School Bell wo Narase!" (Ring the School Bell!), a track from his April 1983 5th album "Stargazer". A good ol' rumbling rock n' roll tune, from the lyrics, I get the impression that young Masamichi was answering a dare from his buddies to sneak into school and ring that bell at midnight. It sounds like a prank that could have been done in the 50s or 60s along the lines of wrapping toilet paper around some guy's house.

Speaking of "Stargazer", Sugi was perhaps only a few years away from the Stargazer that I got to know quite well on a certain TV show.

Yutaka Kimura Speaks ~ Japanese City Pop Masterpieces 100: Masamichi Sugi -- Rambling Bird

 

Number: 090

Lyricist: Masamichi Sugi

Composer: Masamichi Sugi

Arranger: Masamichi Sugi

From the 1986 album "Sabrina"

"Rambling Bird" is Masamichi Sugi's（杉真理）version of "Free as a Bird" that encapsulates his own thoughts of a bird trying to fly up into the great big sky but can't. This particular song is relatively unusual within his discography in that it's something which possesses a comfortable bossa nova rhythm with a charming melody which seems to drift slowly through the air. Personally, I've always preferred the period when he himself did all of the arrangements.

The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised" (2020).

Masamichi Sugi -- Rambling Bird

 

Over the last couple of days, folks have been streaming out of Toronto via plane, train and automobile, most of them presumably to much warmer climes for the Holidays. And it's no wonder...this morning, I woke up to -17 degrees Celsius with a -24-degree wind chill. Having cocktails on the patio didn't come to mind here. The good thing is that the weather forecasters have predicted something closer to zero on Xmas Eve and Xmas Day with some precipitation so that we may get that White Christmas plus something a little balmier.

This particular cheerful song will be coming up on the final Yutaka Kimura Speaks article for 2024 (and after that, there will be just ten more weeks of the series before it all comes to an end), and all I can say is that Kimura must really love the works of singer-songwriter Masamichi Sugi（杉真理）considering how many of them have appeared.

His latest entry is "Rambling Bird", a track on his 8th studio album, "Sabrina", from July 1986. Written and composed by Sugi, it's another musical trip to Margaritaville and the beach through the eyes of the titular avian as he flits all over the place witnessing the beautiful people enjoying surf and sun. The light tropical air with the combination of piano, percussion and synth-harmonica (?) along with Sugi's floaty vocals bring that all-is-right atmosphere of flying down to a warm vacation away from the Great White North. Helping out on chorus is Seishiro Kusunose（楠瀬誠志郎）.

Yutaka Kimura Speaks ~ Japanese City Pop Masterpieces 100: Masamichi Sugi -- Yume Miru Nagisa（夢見る渚）

 

Number: 088

Lyricist: Masamichi Sugi

Composer: Masamichi Sugi

Arranger: Masamichi Sugi

From the 1982 album "Niagara Triangle Vol. 2"

"Yume Miru Nagisa" (Beach of Dreams) is a Masamichi Sugi（杉真理）resort song masterpiece that directly expresses his gratitude to the big man, Eiichi Ohtaki（大滝詠一）, himself through the singing of "The beach cassette is...always 'Long Vacation'" in his lyrics. Along with Ohtaki, there is also a hint of songwriter Kosaku Dan（弾厚作） (aka singer Yuzo Kayama). I think this is one song where you can really enjoy the charm of Sugi, who as a songwriter has based himself on the traditions of Japanese pop that has continued non-stop from the 1960s.

The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised" (2020).

Masamichi Sugi -- Yume Miru Nagisa（夢見る渚）

 

The last time I had singer-songwriter Masamichi Sugi（杉真理）on the byline was on Xmas Eve last year when I put one of his seasonal songs as part of the annual KKP Christmas season. Well, no Xmas Sugi song this time around but I have one here which will show up as a Yutaka Kimura Speaks tune in a couple of weeks.

"Yume Miru Nagisa" (Beach of Dreams) is a Sugi contribution to the March 1982 collaborative LP effort, "Niagara Triangle Vol. 2", with him, Eiichi Ohtaki（大滝詠一）and Motoharu Sano（佐野元春）, and yep, one of Sano's songs from that album has already been noted by me and Yutaka Kimura recently. Originally, "Yume Miru Nagisa" had been offered as a song for Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）to record but the people around her dissuaded Sugi from that notion (and I believe that the future "Plastic Love" lass was in the middle of her hiatus from show business at the time). Then, Sugi had thought about placing the song on his next album "Overlap" but then Ohtaki came along and persuaded him to place the song onto "Niagara Triangle Vol. 2" instead.

The song is an AOR delight about just enjoying the happy life on the summer beach. It's very inviting for those who may actually want to sprint to their nearest seashore, and I could imagine Mariya taking this one on although I also believe that the arrangement would have been changed somewhat. At the same time, I think I also know how Cameron Lew of Ginger Root may have found his voice for his own songs just listening to Sugi. Just to finish things off, the Eizin Suzuki（鈴木英人）paintings in the video is the chef's kiss for "Yume Miru Nagisa".

Caoli Cano & Hiroshi Takano -- First Flight

 

Admittedly, I'm beginning the KKP Xmas season a tad early but it's just for this song and I won't be officially getting into Christmas season until November 25th.

About a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned Scott's podcast, "Holly Jolly X'masu", regarding Masamichi Sugi's（杉真理）1997 compilation "Winter Gift Pops" from which I posted one of the tracks, Miwako Saito's（さいとうみわこ）cover of "Anata dake I Love You"（あなただけ I LOVE YOU）. The album itself may have that feeling of enjoying the wintry life but it isn't specifically Xmas-based for all of the tracks, according to Scott.

Case in point, we have another track which shows up at about 26:57 on the podcast titled "First Flight", a bubbly duet with Caoli Cano（かの香織）and Hiroshi Takano（高野寛）. One reason that I got impatient enough to put this one up is that neither Cano nor Takano have popped up all that much on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", so I wanted to further add to their files on the blog. Written by the two singers, composed by the aforementioned Sugi and Kiyonori Matsuo（松尾清憲）and arranged by Yasuharu Ogura（小倉泰治）, "First Flight" dances on the line whether it's a Xmas tune or a general winter tale of cool and breezy romance punctuated by the appearance of an aurora. Regardless of that short argument however, it's the story of two friends meeting up for the first time in a while and having the time of their lives with the potential promise of a more permanent relationship. 

You can take a gander at my first article for Cano for her song "Gensou Game"（幻想ゲーム）. Cano also contributed another track to "Winter Gift Pops" but unfortunately it hasn't shown up on YouTube, so I'm glad that at least "First Flight" is available. As for Takano, he's also done another winter-themed duet which got out several years earlier with Takao Tajima（田島貴男）, "Winter's Tale ~ Fuyu Monogatari"（冬物語）.

Atsuko Nina -- Wonderland Yuuyami City（Wonderland 夕闇 City）

 

Remembering that I was in the Tokyo area as a resident and employee rather than as a tourist, it's easy to forget that the megalopolis was quite the town for fun and frivolity...provided that I had enough saved from my monthly pay packet. Not the easiest thing to do as an English conversation teacher but I did have my opportunities to paint the town red...usually around restaurants and karaoke boxes. Exclusive clubs and French restaurants? Not so much (though I did partake on the rare occasion).

Maybe for those in a higher income tax bracket, a song like this might be more reflective. "Wonderland Yuuyami City" (Wonderland Twilight City) is a track from Atsuko Nina's（二名敦子）1986 5th album "him". As with a number of other City Pop tunes from the latter half of the 1980s, there is that brassy sense of caviar-and-champagne fragrance infused into the arrangement.

City Pop fans will positively be snapping their fingers and getting that urge to strut down Chuo Douri in Tokyo as they listen to this one. Shun Taguchi（田口俊）provided the lyrics but Masamichi Sugi（杉真理）, who I usually associated with more languid oldies pop compositions, really puts in the feeling of sharp suits, fine dresses, sports cars and luxurious dining in the Bubble Era. Perhaps I can find more of Sugi's more metropolitan-minded masterpieces sometime down the line.

Yutaka Kimura Speaks ~ Japanese City Pop Masterpieces 100: Kaoru Sudo -- Namida no Step（涙のステップ）

 

Number: 063

Lyricist: Masako Arikawa

Composer: Masamichi Sugi and Kazuo Horiguchi

Arranger: Masataka Matsutoya

From Sudo's 1982 album: "Amazing Toys"

"Namida no Step" （Tearful Dance Steps） is the best pop song by Masamichi Sugi（杉真理）with a multi-layer chorus that I'm really into. With a bittersweet aspect and a romantic taste that brings to mind 1960s girl pop, this brilliant revival of the genre in the 1980s probably only has one other comparable example which is Eiichi Ohtaki's（大滝詠一）"Long Vacation". This song, which has the premise of being dumped at a dance party, is the female version of "Koi suru Karen"（恋するカレン...In Love With Karen）, one of the tracks in "Long Vacation".

The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised" (2020).

Kaoru Sudo -- Namida no Step（涙のステップ）

 

Kaoru Sudo's（須藤薫）"Namida no Step" (Tearful Dance Steps) will be up as another entry in the "Yutaka Kimura Speaks" City Pop masterpiece series in some weeks' time, so I've decided to go ahead it and give it my own shot.

Her April 1982 single was written by Masako Arikawa（有川正沙子）, composed by Masamichi Sugi（杉真理）and Kazuo Horiguchi（堀口和男）with the two working with Masataka Matsutoya（松任谷正隆）on arrangement. There have been a few of Kimura's choices in his list of 100 masterpieces that has had me scratching my head since they didn't really strike me as being City Pop. "Namida no Step" is another one of those. It's more along Sudo's familiar and comfortable line of 1950s/1960s girl pop as she sings about a young lady's fears of losing her beau forever. I can imagine Sudo herself dancing on the floor dressed in that classic bobbysoxer outfit.

On the same day that "Namida no Step" was released, Sudo's 3rd album containing the song, "Amazing Toys" came out onto record store shelves. The album reached No. 77 on the charts.

Masamichi Sugi -- Christmas no Wedding（クリスマスのウェディング）

 

Last month in November, I covered Masamichi Sugi's（杉真理）"Saigo no Merry Christmas"（最後のメリー・クリスマス）which turned out to be the unofficial first Xmas song that we covered on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" this year about a week early, after which we let Yutaka Kimura give his two cents on the matter. We both agreed that the fellow mentioned in the lyrics was going to have his worst Christmas.

Happily, Sugi must have learned that not all Xmas tunes have to be about breaking up which is really hard to do. Instead, he went all the way to the other end of the spectrum with his "Christmas no Wedding" (A Christmas Wedding) which has a couple enjoy the most significant day in their lives with Christmas Eve nuptials. Once again, Sugi was behind words and music which is appropriately twinkly, chaste and reassuring. "Christmas no Wedding" is a track on his 10th album "Ladies and Gentlemen" from October 1989.

There was a period while I was living in Japan when weddings involving friends and family were occurring almost once a year. I can't say that I was able to attend an Xmas wedding but I was lucky enough to go to a wedding held in Nagoya, and Nagoyans really have huge reception parties. Bring an empty stomach if you've been fortunate to be invited to one.

Yutaka Kimura Speaks ~ Japanese City Pop Masterpieces 100: Masamichi Sugi -- Saigo no Merry Christmas（最後のメリー・クリスマス）

 

Number: 032

Lyricist/Composer/Arranger: Masamichi Sugi

From Sugi's 1986 album: "Winter Lounge"

"Saigo no Merry Christmas" (Last Merry Christmas) is a medium-tempo romantic ballad that is right up Masamichi Sugi's（杉真理）wheelhouse. I also mentioned this for another song of his in that the quality of his own arrangement also shows up in this song. It's an orthodox work without anything too elaborate, but that is the thing which draws out how good the melody and the lyrics are. Having said that, the protagonist's Christmas really must be miserable.

The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised" (2020).

Masamichi Sugi -- Saigo no Merry Christmas（最後のメリー・クリスマス）

 

Just for the record, the official Christmas season on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" won't start until November 25th in a couple of weeks. However, this particular song's entry on the Yutaka Kimura Speaks file is coming up really quickly as No. 32 next Friday, so I ought to give it my thoughts before letting Mr. Kimura take the helm.

Now, truth be told, I don't think Masamichi Sugi's（杉真理）"Saigo no Merry Christmas" (Last Merry Christmas) hits me as a City Pop Yuletide tune but when it comes to the feelings of the Holidays, no problems there. Sugi took care of everything: lyrics, music and arrangement for this contemporary take on the merry season although from the title, I gather that not everything is merry in the romance department. The melody has nice hints of soul in there and I wonder who's on the chorus besides Sugi...Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）perhaps?

"Saigo no Merry Christmas" was originally a track on Sugi's compilation album "Winter Lounge" from November 1986. Sugi invited a whole bunch of artists on his album for his take on a Christmas party and so we have folks such as PSY-S, Yoshitaka Minami（南佳孝）and Hi-Fi Set（ハイファイセット）. It was also released as his 13th single on the same day as the album.

December 9th 2023: The band Quruli has a namesake song although it is a completely different animal.

Yutaka Kimura Speaks ~ Japanese City Pop Masterpieces 100: Masamichi Sugi -- Catch Your Way

 

Number: 023

Lyricist/Composer: Masamichi Sugi

Arranger: Nobuyuki Shimizu

From Sugi's 1982 album: "Overlap"

Among Sugi's（杉真理）early singles that had been arranged by Nobuyuki Shimizu（清水信之）such as "Catch Your Way" and "Glass no Koibito"（ガラスの恋人...Glass Lover）, this particular song is said to be the most City Pop. With the backing of Shimizu's typically sharp and refined style, it resonates with the time's prosperity through its power resembling an impending takeoff promising to leave the uncertain 1970s behind and take that great leap forward into the 1980s.

The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised" (2020).