Megumi Shiina -- THE WIND

 

Happy Sunday! I've read and have been told by others that watching a golf telecast is about as interesting as watching paint dry and eventually peel. Oh, I don't know...I've actually found watching events such as The Players quite soothing and things can get quite intense as we approach the 18th hole with several participants up near the top of the leaderboard. Moreover, as I remember back during the worst of the pandemic, golf was perhaps the first major sport to return to active duty although spectators were not yet allowed to show up. I, for one, was very grateful for the return of some normalcy.

Anyways, I was having a conversation with Rocket Brown from "Come Along Radio" yesterday, and he told me about this Japanese program called "Pro Golfer Reiko"（プロゴルファー祈子）from 1987 that was on Fuji-TV's Wednesday night lineup for about six months. It's basically a mixture of sports drama and tokusatsu shenanigans turned into a form of golf-fu starring Ai Yasunaga（安永亜衣）as Reiko Kamishima（神島祈子）, a female golfer with the meanest 5 Iron in existence. As crazy as the premise may sound, if a manga and television adaptation can make yo-yo-carrying high school students work, then why not a battle-hardened golfer with flaming balls?

The theme song is "THE WIND" by pop singer Megumi Shiina（椎名恵）. Released as her 7th single in October 1987, it was written by Shiina and composed by Takeshi Ike（池毅）as a slightly melancholy contemporary pop number. In a way, it has that 80s sound of a lonely warrior coming into town to help people and then promptly leaving...like the wind. 

Do not mess with Reiko...she will shank you!

Megumi Shiina -- Konya wa Angel（今夜はANGEL）

 

Last week, I mentioned about watching an old episode of "The Best 10"（ザベストテン）which commemorated the 8th anniversary of the TBS music ranking show in 1986 (unfortunately, couldn't find any footage of that on YouTube). Instead of its usual hour, vivacious host Tetsuko Kuroyanagi（黒柳徹子）took care of the program for 90 minutes and frankly, the set looked like a combination of the Jerry Lewis Telethon and Election Day headquarters as the equivalent of a small village of phone operators stood by to take in requests by viewers section by section throughout Japan to show some old footage of their favourite artists. As a result, there wasn't the usual rundown clatter of the countdown shingles and none of the performances. How could anyone perform among that racket?

Still for some reason, Kuroyanagi, her co-host and one staffer had one singer come on, Megumi Shiina（椎名恵）to sign an autograph since she did get onto the Best 10 list for that week. But for the rest of those 90 minutes, they just had the poor lady sit around without saying a word which was a pity for her and her fans. I thought that was the reason that any talk show has a Green Room backstage.

The song that got Shiina onto that episode of "The Best 10" was her debut single from New Year's Day 1986, "Konya wa Angel" (Tonight An Angel). Now, I've known Shiina more for one other song which was released later that year, "Love Is All: Ai wo Kikasete"（愛を聴かせて）, and that was actually a cover of Charlene's "I've Never Been To Me" , the mellow theme song for the 1982 movie "Paradise" with Phoebe Cates.

And for those eagle-eared 80s music-loving fans, "Konya wa Angel" is itself a cover. It just happens to be the Japanese version of "Tonight Is What It Means to Be Young" by Fire Inc. on the soundtrack for the 1984 rock musical film "Streets of Fire". Wow, that movie takes me back. In any case, Fire Inc. is actually the combination of the voices of Laurie Sargent and Holly Sherwood for Diane Lane's rock singer character of Ellen Aim.

Well, I'm glad that Shiina could sing on TV elsewhere. Her "Konya wa Angel" was given Japanese lyrics by the singer herself and Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子）over the original Jim Steinman melody. It was used as the theme song for the Fuji-TV drama "Janus no Kagami"（ヤヌスの鏡...Janus' Mirror）, and earned a top ranking of No. 7. It finished the year as the 27th-ranked single and was also placed onto Shiina's debut album "Miss You" which came out a couple of months following the single.

Interestingly enough, although I stated that "Konya wa Angel" was Shiina's first single, she had actually released a prior single under her real name of Chisa Oikawa（及川ちさ）back in August 1983, "Piiman Kiss"（ピーマンキッス...Green Pepper Kiss）. With a title like that, I can only imagine that she may have started out as an aidoru. But getting back to "Streets of Fire", I'm going to have to devote another song from that movie to a ROY article fairly soon since that became a huge hit.

Megumi Shiina -- Juu-ni-gatsu no Atsui Natsu（12月の熱い夏）

 

Sometimes the whole thing about Christmas can get to be a bit much with all of the music blaring out the speakers, all of the good cheer and the gaudy decorations everywhere. Maybe that's why we've had Ebenezer Scrooge and The Grinch all these years to provide the other point of view although they eventually found their way to the other side.

A similar point is being expressed (breezily, mind you) by the lady in this song, "Juu-ni-gatsu no Atsui Natsu" (Hot Summer in December) as sung by singer-songwriter Megumi Shiina（椎名 恵）. She composed the late 1980s City Pop tune while Keiko Aso（麻生圭子）wrote the lyrics of the woman in question fleeing to a more exotic environment during the Yuletide season to rid herself of any memories of a lost romance. Christmas simply brings back too many melancholy memories.

However, what she has lost in love, I think that I have gained in pure City Pop enjoyment with those familiar keyboards and the bass thrum. "Juu-ni-gatsu no Atsui Natsu" is also a track on her "29 Twenty-Nine ~ W Concerto II" album from June 1988. I've already written about the title track back in June. With all due respect to the protagonist within the song, I would prefer being in Tokyo listening to this instead of some tropical country.

Megumi Shiina -- 29 ~ Twenty-Nine

Dining inside a favourite restaurant, pub or fast-food joint is simply not impossible right now here in Stage 2 of the re-opening of the economy, although patio dining has become OK as of yesterday. Fortunately, the summer season is upon us, though. However, I'm sure that there are some of us who are hoping for the night that we can enjoy some fine dining in the good clothes with full courses and vintage wine and impeccable service. Me? I would just be happy with the Classic Breakfast at the nearest Eggsmart with family or friends.

When I listen to Megumi Shiina's（椎名恵）"29 ~ Twenty-Nine", her 10th single released in May 1988, I get that sophisticated dining experience in a French restaurant vibe. Yoshiaki Ohuchi's（大内義昭）melody is a bit reminiscent of 1960s Henry Mancini with that gentle infusion of jazz and bossa nova while Keiko Aso's（麻生圭子）lyrics are bittersweet as they describe a woman who has learned her share of wisdom in love at the age of 29 and would like to apologize to that man who she had fallen for when he was 29, and perhaps caused some consternation in his life. Good heavens! The lyrics could describe a plot line for a movie that would be scored by the late legendary Mancini.

In any case, this song is in one of the corners of City Pop that I've enjoyed...the one residing in that classy and expensive hotel in Tokyo. And I love Shiina's smooth and creamy delivery here...just like a glass of Baileys Irish Cream. Up to now, I've only known Shiina for her lovely cover of Charlene's "I've Never Been To Me" so it's nice to hear her tackle something in the uptown area of the city. Plus, it's a revelation to see that Ohuchi composed "29" because I've known him mostly for his uptempo pop/R&B compositions for Kahoru Kohiruimaki（小比類巻かほる）. "29" is also the title track for her June 1988 4th album "29 Twenty-Nine ~ W Concerto II".

Megumi Shiina -- Love Is All: Ai wo Kikasete （愛を聴かせて）

Back in the early 80s, I used to hear this ballad by singer Charlene on the radio titled "I've Never Been To Me" all the time. I couldn't figure out what that non-sequitur title was all about but would later realize that the song had the theme of "the grass being greener on the other side of the fence" as a worldly and world-weary woman advised a discouraged ordinary wife and mother about the jet-set life not being all that it is cracked up to be. For the longest time, I had assumed that "I've Never Been To Me" was the theme song for a 1982 movie starring Phoebe Cates called "Paradise"...most likely because the word "paradise" was in the Ron Miller and Kenneth Hirsch lyrics. But apparently such was not the case.

What surprised me even more was that "I've Never Been To Me" wasn't an 80s song. Actually it had been released in 1977. It didn't make any sort of a dent on the charts and basically disappeared. But somehow, it was re-released in 1982 and became a huge hit for Charlene, albeit a one-hit wonder sort of hit. It even topped the charts here in Canada which would explain the heavy rotation on the radio. I guess timing is everything.

Cue ahead a few years. I bought a compilation album on audiotape of Japanese music at Wah Yueh and dutifully put it into the tape recorder. The second track sounded awfully familiar despite the title being "Love Is All: Ai wo Kikasete" (Let Me Hear Your Love). As it turned out, it was a cover version of "I've Never Been To Me" by singer Megumi Shiina（椎名恵）that came out in November 1986. I thought at the time that the arrangement and Shiina's vocals were so similar to the original song and Charlene that it sounded like the latter artist learned Japanese and headed to a Tokyo recording studio.

In fact, it was Shiina's 4th single which became the theme song for a Japanese historical drama on TBS. The lyrics by Keiko Aso（麻生圭子）were completely different in meaning from the original version; the Japanese words were just about love instead of leading that exciting but ultimately empty life. Unfortunately, I couldn't find out how it did on Oricon. Basically speaking, this is the only song by Shiina that I know, so it was a revelation when I read Marcos V's article on one of her more uptempo tunes.

Love of yakiniku is all!

Megumi Shiina -- Shy na Boy (ShyなBoy)

I quickly mentioned Megumi Shiina (椎名恵) in my selection of Eurobeat songs as the singer who was going to record Megumi Hayashibara’s (林原 めぐみ) "Yoake no Shooting Star" (夜明けのShooting Star) in the first place, but nothing more was said about her in my entry.

I felt kinda bad because I really like singer-songwriter Megumi Shiina, or, more specifically, her debut album, “MISS YOU”, which was released in March 1986. As for the song I decided to highlight today, it’s called “Shy na Boy” and is the album’s opener.

With a strong and steady bass line, “Shy na Boy” can be described as a mixture of synthpop, funk with a touch of R&B (I don’t really know if City Pop is a good term to include here but I used this label as well). Maybe I lack a solid genre to classify it, but the sound is typical mid-80s, for sure. Besides the bass and some classy synths prior to the choruses, a nice guitar is introduced in the bridge and then, again, near the end of the song, giving “Shy na Boy” a “cool” vibe.

Other than the arrangement, Megumi’s vocals were a great surprise for me when I first heard this song and the whole “MISS YOU” album. To be honest, I didn’t expect Megumi Shiina to be such a strong vocalist, and I can’t really tell why I had such prejudice. The way she sings the whole chorus and pronounces “shy na boy” in a calm, yet firm way just makes me enjoy her singing a lot, and also the fact that her vocals just go up and down in the melody without major interferences.

As a fun fact, I can’t help thinking she is saying “China boy” instead of “shy na boy”. Taking in consideration that Japan refers to China as Chuugoku, I don’t really know if this sentence was premeditated or just a fun coincidence. In the end, I’m doomed to always hear “China boy”.

Like I said, “Shy na Boy” was included in Megumi Shiina’s debut album, but apparently the song was released in single format in 1997 as well. As I couldn’t find many information about this fact, I don’t know if she re-recorded the song or if she just released the 1986 version as a single.

Lyrics for “Shy na Boy” were written by Hiroki Ootomo (大友博輝). As for the composition, Hiroya Watanabe (渡辺博也) was the responsible.