Takako Ohta -- Merry-Go-Round

 

We've been getting reminders of it this week but as of tomorrow and for the whole weekend, Toronto Comicon will be making its presence known at the Metro Convention Centre by the lake. I've been to the summer Fan Expo but not to the spring Comicon (and indeed, spring does arrive tomorrow), although from what I've seen of the video above of last year's version, there doesn't seem to be anything really different. Anime and cosplay will show up as usual. I'd been thinking of putting up a list of the most popular anime cosplayers but the list doesn't include any show I know very well. I've heard of "Jujutsu Kaisen" and "Chainsaw Man" but never got into those. 

Amazon.ca

Just to warn viewers, this is going to be a very shoehorned segue but perhaps for anyone interested in the old DC comics, there is the superhero and stage magician Zatanna. Maybe someone at a Comicon anywhere around the world could dress up like her.

AND SPEAKING OF MAGICIANS (ahem), we have Takako Ohta's（太田貴子）10th album "Magician" from October 1989. One track from this one is "Merry-Go-Round" which is this synthpop concoction written by Hideyuki Yamamoto（山本秀行）and composed by Masaya Ozeki（尾関昌也）. At first, I'd wondered whether this would fall into the Eurobeat category, but then I opted to keep it within pop. But you folks can listen to it and decide. 

Yukiko Tanaka -- Futari no Cinema wo Tsukuritai（ふたりのシネマを作りたい）

 

There were a number of movie theatres that my friends and I attended to catch the latest blockbusters: the Wald 9 in Shinjuku, the older theatres in Yurakucho and then the relatively newer ones in Odaiba in the Aqua City complex, I believe, as you can see above. Conveniently, they were all located smack dab among a whole bunch of restaurants.

I found this opening track in Yukiko Tanaka's（田中友紀子）July 1994 album, "Reflection", called "Futari no Cinema wo Tsukuritai". Not 100% certain what the cinema in the title is referring to. Is it a theatre or an actual movie that the two lovers want to make? Most likely, I think that it's the latter so that I can perhaps translate the title into "Want to Make a Movie for Two". 

"Reflection" has been referred to as a City Pop album. I haven't listened to the entire album as portrayed above but at least for Track 1, I think that this is more of a pop number, albeit one pretty energetic one. Written and composed by Masaya Ozeki（尾関昌也）, the same fellow behind the creation of the melody of the huge Wink hit, "Samishii Nettaigyo" （淋しい熱帯魚）, the synths are definitely at play here.

Not much information on Tanaka although she has a prior listing on KKP because of her 1993 cover of Kazuhito Murata's（村田和人）"Summer Vacation" (サマーバケーション). However, I could find a listing on "CD Journal" which lists her albums and singles, and if it's indeed a total list, then "Reflection" was her 3rd and final album to date.

Breakfast Club -- Wangan-sen 357（湾岸線357）

 

Learned about this song from both commenter Matt K. and uploader Marty McFlies. Ah, by the by, the breakfast above was courtesy of the Harmony of the Seas cruise a few years ago. Can't let all that cholesterol go to waste, y'know.

Matt has often told me about some of the more delicious offerings given through the Japanese genre of techno-jazz-pop in the 1980s, and indeed, he tipped me off on a video that was up on Marty McFlies channel. It's for an obscure band called Breakfast Club, and no, there doesn't seem to be any direct link between it and the famous John Hughes movie released at around the same time. Strangely enough, there was also an American New Wave band with the same name that lasted from 1979 to 1990.

However, this band isn't it. I did ask Marty himself whether he knew any more information about the Japanese Breakfast Club but he didn't. The only other thing that I could find about this group was at a site called Meg-CD.jp where the band's self-titled 1986 album (perhaps its lone effort) was sold. "Breakfast Club" contains 8 tracks of which all of them were composed by the band itself and the lyrics provided by Masaya Ozeki（尾関昌也）, a lyricist and composer who came up with the melody for Wink's landmark hit "Samishii Nettaigyo"（淋しい熱帯魚）later in 1989.

One of the tracks is "Wangan-sen 357" (Bayshore Route 357), a wistful and whimsical ditty that seems to bring together a whole mélange of influences including that 1980s techno-jazz-pop espoused by Kazuhiro Nishimatsu（西松一博）and Harumi Ohzora（大空はるみ）, some City Pop especially in the intro and maybe even a feeling of the old standards. I don't know who the vocalist is but he's got an interesting voice which is light with a touch of sandpaper.

As for the title, I think the title "Wangan-sen 357" is an amalgam of two routes: Japan National Route 357, the highway paralleling the actual Bayshore Route of the Shuto Highway. Some good news, though, is that Marty has uploaded the entire album onto this channel, so enjoy! It's not all techno-jazz.

Eriko Tamura -- Process（プロセス）

I just managed to hear a bit of her next single after "Honki", "Process", which turned out to be her most successful song. Sounded pretty promising as well, so I may be doing a bit of re-exploration of her discography.

Well, the above was written by me about "Honki"（真剣...Serious）...all the way back in August 2013! Mind you, I didn't use the word "soon" in there and I did use "may" which would get me off the hook. Still, having over six years pass by like that without any Tamura tune isn't great, and so I couldn't blame Ms. Tamura for giving me that sort of look above.

Allow me to make amends. Indeed, this is "Process" by late 80s/early 90s aidoru Eriko Tamura（田村英里子）,and it's a pretty boss tune with that guitar and bluesy sax in there. "Process" was actually the lass' 4th single (January 1990), following "Honki" which is the song that I have associated most with her.

Instead of having Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）and Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）create the song this time like they did with "Honki", "Process" was taken care of by lyricist Masaya Ozeki（尾関昌也）and composer Ken Sato（佐藤健）. I've also picked up on that pretty speedy rhythm with keyboard work that feels a bit urban contemporary as well, so it's quite an interesting mix. As I mentioned above (or in the last Tamura article), the song was Tamura's most successful hit, as it reached No. 7 on Oricon.

GWINKO -- Mermaid in Summer

I finally got to get an idea about what the pop singer GWINKO was all about when JTM introduced me to her material a couple of years ago. Through her 1990 "Yokubari na Weekend"（よくばりなウィークエンド）, I got the impression of the Okinawan singer as a dynamic singer of poppy R&B.

But she can also sing some straight dynamic pop according to her "Mermaid in Summer" from her final album to date, "Princess Moon" from 1994. Some very summery synths populating this track as people enjoy a fine time at the beach. The music was provided by Masaya Ozeki（尾関昌也）and the lyrics are from Ikuru Kabuchi（橙育琉）, and it's pure speculation on the reading of that lyricist's name but I tried my jisho.org best.

Up to this point, I've only been able to judge from a couple of songs but with "Mermaid in Summer", there is some aspect of GWINKO's voice that reminded me of early 1980s Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）for some reason.

Tetsuwan Miracle Babies -- TALK SHOW

Ah...The Tunnels（とんねるず）. Back in my JET days, Thursday nights were almost always Tunnels nights. The comedy duo of Takaaki Ishibashi and Noritake Kinashi（石橋貴明・木梨憲武）was just thrilling, entertaining and terrifying viewers and guests (sometimes even themselves) alike with their insane antics whether it be knocking down really expensive TV cameras live or frankly harassing the aforementioned guests...especially the female ones (although I remember one scene where Ishibashi was even molesting Hiromi Go!).

My main source of Tunnels craziness was Fuji-TV's "Tunnels no Minasan no Okage desu"（とんねるずのみなさんのおかげです）on Thursday nights at 9 pm. The show was an amalgam of movie/TV parodies and wacky challenges (which may have been partially responsible for Westerners' idea of a Japanese game show) with regular tarento such as Onyanko Club（おニャン子クラブ）graduate Marina Watanabe（渡辺満里奈）helping out...or enduring. I loved the show so much that I taped a lot of the episodes onto VHS and brought them home with me. They're still stored somewhere, and I've still got the VCR.

However, late Saturday nights for 7 years between 1987 and 1994 was also another Fuji-TV and Tunnels collaboration of a different type. This was "Neruton Beni Kujira Dan"（ねるとん紅鯨団...Nelton Red Whale Party) or "Nelton Club" which was the matchmaking show in Japan years before America's "The Bachelor". It was a whole lot more innocent, too. 

To be honest, I wasn't all that much into "Nelton Club" despite its popularity since I thought the idea of watching young folk wooing each other awkwardly on the small screen was...bleaugh! But the show did attract a lot of famous folks as guests as you can see above.

But even I can remember the theme song that started off each and every episode of "Nelton Club". It was this mix of dance-pop and Latin that I would find out was titled "TALK SHOW" and was performed by a group of women called Tetsuwan Miracle Babies（鉄腕ミラクルベイビーズ...Strong Arm Miracle Babies）.

I had never heard of this trio but according to this one site, vocalist Satoko*（倫子）and bassist Taeko（妙子）who had been members of the band Hot Rod joined up with their old schoolmate, drummer Kumiko（久美子）, to form Tetsuwan Miracle Babies, perhaps in 1986. One other member had been recruited through an advertisement in a music magazine but left within a year. Their 15 minutes of fame came in 1987 when Masaya Ozeki（尾関昌也）wrote and composed the spicy "TALK SHOW" for them, and the ladies exhorted the guys to get off their duffs and get romancin'.

"Nelton Club" may not have been my cup of ocha, but that theme I will always remember. Plus, one commercial tune that got played on the show weekly has become thoroughly embedded into my memories as one very natsukashii song of my time in Gunma.

*The kanji for the name has a lot of readings so that I'm purely guessing. I just chose the first name at the top at jisho.org.

Kimiko Mizuno -- Watashi no Mon Ami（私のモナミ）

Until a couple of days ago, I had no idea who Kimiko Mizuno（水野きみこ）was. However, according to her J-Wiki bio, she was a Nagoya-born aidoru who had a yearlong stint as a singer between 1982 and 1983 before retiring from show business to head back to work for a while at the flagship store for Matsuzakaya in Nagoya and then later getting married.

Mizuno released only 4 singles and 1 album with the debut single being "Watashi no Mon Ami" (My Mon Ami) in May 1982. It's the quintessentially early 80s aidoru tune with plenty of chirpiness and cheer (if not any strong singing ability, especially in the onstage version below) supplied by the singer. The one reason that I have put this up on the blog is that it was written by Masaya Ozeki（尾関昌也）, a songwriter who would some years later compose a much much bigger hit of a different sort for a different sort of aidoru...namely "Samishii Nettaigyo"（淋しい熱帯魚）for Wink. The melody for "Watashi no Mon Ami" was created by Yuuji Ozeki（尾関裕司）, although I couldn't confirm whether there was any official familial relationship between him and Masaya.

Megumi Hayashibara -- Half and, Half

Being my first full album entry, I had to talk about Megumi Hayashibara (林原めぐみ), as she is the artist I had listened the most in the past 10 years. Also, it's no mystery that her discography is the biggest treasure in my music collection (Yeah, I'm like a proud dad when it comes to my Megumi's CDs). But trying to pick one album from her big discography was kind of difficult for me. In the end, I chose “Half and, Half”, her debut album and, surprisingly, the one I find most cohesive (“SpHERE”, her fifth album, and “Fuwari” [ふわり], her ninth, are two close runner-ups).

Released in March 1991, “Half and, Half” is an interesting aidoru crafted album. Strange enough, besides Megumi being almost 23 years old when the album was released, the team responsible for the “artist image” decided to make her a kawaii aidoru. Based on that, we can take the “Why Don’t You Come Into My Heart?” question placed in red right below the album title as a warm invitation from a Japanese aidoru singer aiming at the public to follow her in this new path (not so new if we take in consideration that Megumi started recording some anime songs back in 1989). Talking about anime, it's worth note that "Half and, Half" is Megumi's only album to date with no anime-related songs placed in it. I only put the anime tag in this article because of Megumi's huge relation with the genre.

The aidoru approach per se is more than enough for we to conclude that “Half and, Half” is full of cute, dreamy, playful and saccharine songs, like “a Late Comer”, “Don’t Say ‘Wake Up Baby’” and “College Ring wo Kai ni Yukou” (カレッジリングを買いにゆこう). Of that bunch I selected just “A Late Comer” to talk about, as the other two are kind of too much for me in normal days. So, please, enjoy the “A Late Comer” video (sorry the video has been taken down) where Megumi acts like the typical innocent and girly aidoru.

http://www.amazon.co.jp/Half-%E6%9E%97%E5%8E%9F%E3%82%81%E3%81%90%E3%81%BF/dp/B00078XEOE

(excerpts only)

“a Late Comer” is the second song of the album and, although cute and silly, shows some interesting musical elements accompanying Megumi’s vocals. Maybe it’s too much, but “A Late Comer” is for me a “Nu jazz” song, where the traditional feel and sound of Jazz is mixed with other styles and instruments. If anything, it can also be called “aidoru Jazz” (if that means something at all). I don’t know how to categorize it, but I can hear some Jazz in it, and it’s a nice variation to the album, while not sounding too out of place.

On the other extreme, songs like “Kimi no Answer” (君のAnswer), “Nijiiro no Sneaker” (虹色のSneaker) and “Manatsu no Valentine” (真夏のバレンタイン) are perfect examples of the heavy “eurobeat-esque” synth-pop sound that was so used in Japanese aidoru songs during the late 80s/early 90s. These three are very nice songs, and just like “A Late Comer”, they have videos, so I recommend the reader/listener take some time to watch them while enjoying the songs. After all, who doesn’t like to have fun watching a young Megumi running and smiling to the camera? As for the other selected songs, they are just audio videos from YouTube.

Apparently, a video for “Kimi no Answer” exists as it was released in a Video Single Format back in the days. It’s nothing more than a compilation of scenes from her other videos of the era and some backing scenes as well. Quality is horrible, but this is a rare video. As for the song, aside being the album opener and a nice synth-pop tune, it has quite an story behind, as Megumi, in her “VINTAGE A” compilation liner notes, remembers that she was recording the song while the Operation Desert Storm was taking place in the Gulf War and somehow she connected the lyrics with that moment. As I know nothing about “Kimi no Answer” lyrics, I can’t share my own opinions about the subject, though.

“Nijiiro no Sneaker” is the mellow synth-pop aidoru song, which has also served as Megumi’s major label debut and lead single of “Half and, Half”, released a few weeks before the album. Also, the song was used as the theme song of Megumi’s “Heartful Station” radio program until 2003, when it was replaced by “Makenaide, Makenaide…” (負けないで、負けないで…), a beautiful Megumi song, more mature than the “Half and, Half” stuff. Back to “Nijiiro no Sneaker”, I find the guitar solo at the end quite nostalgic.

(Unfortunately the video has been taken down. Please refer to the Amazon link above.)

About “Manatsu no Valentine”, the summer tune about Valentine’s Day, I consider it one of the strongest songs of the whole bunch. It’s very bouncy and cute with the whole “in-your-face” aidoru vibe. As I’ve already talked in Megumi’s “Forever Dreamer” entry, “Manatsu no Valentine” serves as a good example of an eurobeat song with an aidoru approach, or vice-versa, which was a very common combination at the time.

“Ame no Hi no Shakespeare -TO FLY AWAY-” (雨の日のシェイクスピア-TO FLY AWAY-), is easily one of my favorites. It has a more serious vibe than the other songs presented until now. It also gives me an airy feeling when the song breaks for a bit and Megumi starts the “la la la” thing before the full arrangement moves it forward again. Also, Megumi’s vocals are very lovely in this song.

(Unfortunately the video has been taken down. Please refer to the Amazon link above.)

NOTE: The name of the song is mistaken in this video. The actual song is "Friends". As for "College Ring wo Kai ni Yukou", it's a song from "Half and, Half" that I chose not to feature in the article.

Right after “Ame no Hi no Shakespeare -TO FLY AWAY-”, “Friends”, one of the catchiest songs of “Half and, Half” and another personal favorite, sees Megumi using her deeper tone in the verses just to release her cute and child-like voice for the joyful chorus. Also worth of note is the very well put together arrangement of the song. It’s full of infectious guitar solos and sharp synth riffs that make me feel truly happy every time I hear it.

http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm28981697

(Miku Hatsune version)

With “Regret ga Naiteiru” (リクレットが泣いている), we’re facing one of the two ballads of the album. Megumi’s voice is very lovely in this beautiful song, probably making this her best deliver in the album. As a side note, “Regret ga Naiteiru” is another favorite of mine (Yeah, I really like this album).

(Sorry but the video has been taken down.)

Near the end, we have “EL WAKT”, your typical Latin inspired song that must appear in almost all pop albums. Megumi has a bunch of Latin songs in her discography, and this one was her first try. It’s an OK song that, unfortunately, kind of drags a bit because of the elongated notes. Also, I’d love to know what “EL WAKT” means.

The last song of the album is the classical inspired ballad “BECAUSE”. This one always makes me sad because I know the album is almost finishing, and the song itself is, in essence, well, …kind of sad. Megumi’s vocals are very angelic and vulnerable. As for the arrangement, the orchestra is just beautiful, which makes “BECAUSE” a great way to finish Megumi’s first album, “Half and, Half”.

All in all, “Half and, Half” is a very nostalgic album with a specific sound that throws the listener back to the mainstream dance-pop sound of the early 90s combined with the usual aidoru cuteness. It’s a very dated sound to today’s standards but, in my opinion, that just adds fun to the game. Also, it’s important to note that Megumi was a very raw singer at the time, which makes the whole “Half and, Half” album an interesting listen. This notable rawness was also something that, alongside the arrangements, added a naïve feeling to most of the songs. I remember reading in Megumi’s manga autobiography that she sounded awful during the recording sessions for the album, but her producer, then, said that the way she sang it was more important than the actual quality of the singing. And, to be honest, that’s probably the true essence of a Japanese aidoru. And for a registered nurse who turned into a seiyuu (voice actress), and then into a singer, Megumi did quite a good job in this album. Of course she got better with time, but that’s subject for future posts.

The album reached #45 on the Oricon chart, selling 20,180 copies. The edition I bought is a 2005 reissue that reached #288 and sold 763 copies.

And here are the names responsible for lyrics, music and arrangement of each song presented in this article.

Track 1 - "Kimi no Answer": lyrics by Yumi Yoshimoto (吉元由美), music and arrangement by Haruhiko Nishioka (西岡治彦).

Track 2 - "a Late Comer": lyrics by Keiko Kimoto (木本慶子), music by Masaya Ozeki (尾関昌也) and arrangement by Toshiyuki Omori (大森俊之).

Track 3 - "Nijiiro no Sneaker": lyrics and music by Midori Karashima (辛島美登里), and arrangement by Yasuhisa Murase (村瀬恭久).

Track 4 - "Manatsu no Valentine": lyrics by Yui Nishiwaki (西脇唯), music by Cozy Kubo and arrangement by Takashi Furukawa (古川貴司).

Track 6 - "Ame no Hi no Shakespeare -TO FLY AWAY-": lyrics by Miho Matsuba (松葉みほ), music and arrangement by Toro Okada (岡田徹).

Track 7 - "Friends": lyrics by Keiko Kimoto (木本慶子), music by Masaya Ozaki (尾関昌也) and arrangement by Toshiyuki Omori (大森俊之).

Track 9 - "Regret ga Naiteru": lyrics by Yumi Yoshimoto (吉元由美), music by Katsuki Yamaura (山浦克己) and arrangement by Norimasa Yamanaka (山中紀昌).

Track 11 - "EL WAKT": lyrics by Yui Nishiwaki (西脇唯), music by Katsuki Yamaura (山浦克己) and arrangement by Yasunori Nakamura (中村康就).

Track 12 - "BECAUSE": lyrics and music by Yui Nishiwaki (西脇唯), and arrangement by Tomoki Hasegawa (長谷川智樹).

To finish, here are some photos of my “Half and, Half”.

Cute Megumi with Hello Kitty in bed!

Megumi preparing some great food in the kitchen!

She surely eats a lot!

Cute Megumi with an old phone!

Early 90s fashion style!

The whole "Half and, Half" package!

CD back!

Wink -- Samishii Nettaigyo （淋しい熱帯魚）

Since arriving in Japan for the JET Programme, this was a song that just about flooded the airwaves and the soundstages for the remainder of that year. And it was my introduction to the world of Wink. "Samishii Nettaigyo"(Lonely Tropical Fish) was the duo's 5th single and breakout song, released in July 1989. Any music show or variety show just had to have Wink on board for a performance of the song....or if they couldn't make it, a couple of other TV personalities performed the karaoke version.

Sachiko Suzuki（鈴木早智子）of Saitama Prefecture and Shoko Aida（相田翔子）of Tokyo first joined up after they had both entered a magazine beauty contest back in 1987. Suzuki won the contest while Aida was one of the runners-up. Some months later in 1988, Wink was officially on the J-Pop map with their first single, "Sugar Baby Love", a cover version of a 1974 pop song by British group The Rubettes (the same song was covered by another legendary 1970s female aidoru group, The Candies). Wink would follow a pattern of covering songs by foreign singers while also performing original material.

Another Wink characteristic which stood them apart from other aidoru groups of the time or even female aidoru duos from other eras was their delivery style. A decade before Wink's arrival, the legendary duo Pink Lady was well-known for their bright smiles, frenetic choreography and roller disco fashion. On that level, you might call Wink the anti-Pink Lady: emotion-drained faces, robotic moves utilizing mostly their upper bodies, and Lolitaesque dresses. They looked just like porcelain dolls given life. Whoever came up with the idea of this counter-intuitive approach at the girls' talent agency probably earned a hefty bonus at the end of the year. My thought on seeing Wink several times on TV was that time really had passed by between Pink Lady and them.

Wink would become forever connected with "Samishii Nettaigyo", and for good reason. The song hit No. 1 and ended up as the 7th-ranked song of the year. It also earned the Grand Prize at the Japan Record Awards, and earned the ladies their first appearance on the Kohaku Utagassen. And I could imagine that a lot of the year-end parties in 1989 involved drink-filled women (and maybe some men) performing the song....with stiff choreography intact.

BTW, the single was also a track on Wink's 3rd album, "Twin Memories" released in December 1989. It peaked at the No. 2 spot on Oricon. The song was written by Neko Oikawa（及川眠子）and composed by Masaya Ozeki（尾関昌也）.