I've been a fan of Japanese popular music for 40 years, and have managed to collect a lot of material during that time. So I decided I wanted to talk about Showa Era music with like-minded fans. My particular era is the 70s and 80s (thus the "kayo kyoku"). The plus part includes a number of songs and artists from the last 30 years and also the early kayo. So, let's talk about New Music, aidoru, City Pop and enka.
Credits
I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.
In recent years, it's been getting increasingly more difficult to post up Miki Imai（今井美樹）articles simply because I burned through pretty much all of the songs and albums by her that I've cherished in the first years of KKP. It's just the life of a blog. However, once in a while, I do come across a gem or two.
And if it weren't for YouTube, this song may have remained all but a mystery except to those Imai fans who were able to get her very first single from May 1986, "Tasogare no Monologue"（黄昏のモノローグ）. "Tameiki Moyou" (A Pattern of Sighs) is the B-side to the single that has apparently not ever shown up on an album...not her debut album"Femme" or any BEST compilation. Perhaps she has felt that it wasn't really worthy of any time or effort to do so.
But I think for any Imai fan such as myself, "Tameiki Moyou" is still worthy of many listenings. A wistful and introspective pop song, this was created by the same duo behind "Tasogare no Monologue", lyricist Etsuko Kisugi（来生えつこ）and composer Kisaburo Suzuki（鈴木キサブロー）but this time, the arranger was Eiji Kawamura（川村栄二）. I noted in the article for the A-side that with Imai's young vocals back then and the overall arrangement, there was something there that made the song tend towards aidoru-dom but not quite. The uploader for the video noted how young those vocals sounded, and yep, I would agree; in fact, "Tameiki Moyou" pushes the needle even further toward aidoru-dom.
I should also note that Kawamura passed away earlier in May at the age of 78. My belated condolences to his family and friends.
I'm not sure if this is the gastronomic trend in Japan for 2025, but through a couple of Japanese programs including yesterday's final episode of "Asaichi"（あさイチ）before going on summer hiatus, I found out that the drink known as a tea soda may be getting lots of love around the country. Through the other variety show, the tea soda (which is what the name says) originated in one area of Japan and has remained a local favourite but suddenly it's making its way around the country.
Now, at first impression, the thought of mixing cold Earl Grey tea and soda water doesn't exactly thrill me but then again, I have to remind myself, I once had the same reluctance with Calpis soda since I thoroughly enjoyed the original Calpis syrup mixed with plain cold water. I'm OK with it now although I will still prefer the unfizzy version. But once the heat over there comes back down to something more humane, those who are heading to Japan on vacation might want to see if a café is serving the stuff. I'd be game to try it out.
Seeing tea soda last night did have me thinking about another Author's Picks, and this time, it's revolving around tunes that have something to do with the basic drinks of coffee, tea and milk. It took a bit of doing, but I was able to track down six. Wherever you are, enjoy a cup or glass!🥛
Soulful singer-songwriter Roberta Flack has had representation on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" via Reminiscings of Youth with two songs, her iconic "Killing Me Softly with His Song" and her 1983 duet with Peabo Bryson, "Born to Love". Unfortunately, her third article on KKP in a special ROY today is being posted on the day that she died at the age of 88.
As I mentioned in the ROY article for "Killing Me Softly with His Song", Flack and her ballad were something that I heard as a boy while being driven home from family friends' houses. Her relaxing vocals and the arrangement stuck with me as I was nodding off to sleep in the backseat of the car while watching the street lamps go by.
Her June 10th 1974 single "Feel Like Makin' Love" is another classic that I used to hear all the time on radio in the car and in the apartment. It's become so ubiquitous through cover versions and the like that I had to do some hunting before I found out that it was Flack who had originally recorded it with Eugene McDaniels taking care of the songwriting. Rather than getting images of late-night dark skies, "Feel Like Makin' Love" (without realizing what the title meant at the time) had me thinking of Sunday afternoon strolls in the park because it was such a relaxing and friendly number.
As one commenter put it, Flack's vocals were like warm butter. I'll raise that person's bet and say that they were like warm butter sliding down a stack of fluffy pancakes. "Feel Like Makin' Love" hit No. 1 on both the American and Canadian charts. My condolences go to her family, friends and fans.
Singer-songwriter Miki Imai（今井美樹）covered the Flack classic in her December 1988 album of covers "Fiesta". I remember placing the CD into the Onkyo stereo and although I knew it was a release of her singing other people's major hits, it was still a shock to hear her covering this particular one. Maybe it was because the song went all the way back to my early childhood.
Anyways, what were hitting the Top 3 on the Oricon chart back on June 10th 1974?
A few decades ago, someone had the bright idea to enshrine the third Monday of January as Blue Monday, the saddest day of the year. As much as folks and maybe even authorities have tried to debunk it, the concept has remained stuck to pop culture like hawk talons on a fish. Ironically, a lot of those credit card and utility bills have poured into my mailbox today.
Well, Monday is bad enough but a Blue Monday calls for some help and perhaps I can humbly provide some "blue" songs that can have you swaying, skipping, grooving or even dancing. Enjoy!
Welcome to the middle of May right after Mother's Day. Hope you all had a wonderful tribute to your Moms wherever you are. Sushi was the order of the day for our family.
Another mantra of mine since starting up "Kayo Kyoku Plus" years ago has been "Always check out those B-sides or coupling songs". There is a good chance that you may encounter something wonderful or at the very least intriguing there since that song may have never ended up on an original album or a BEST compilation.
Case in point: the lovely singer-songwriter and actress Miki Imai（今井美樹）. I've been more than happy to fill up the blog with her tunes ever since I began KKP back in 2012 and my thought was that I basically got all of my favourites of hers posted. Well, lo and behold, I did find a song that I'd never heard by Imai and it was indeed a B-side/coupling song for her 2nd single "Yasei no Kaze"（野性の風）, released in July 1987. Compared to her very languid ballad on the A-side, "Mikazuki no Saber"(Crescent Moon Saber) is quite the different animal.
Created by the same people behind "Yasei no Kaze": lyricist Masumi Kawamura（川村真澄）, composer Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）and arranged by Joe Hisaishi（久石譲）, "Mikazuki no Saber" is something more for the dance floor...well, as much as a J-Pop song can be. In fact, I swear that Tsutsumi and Hisaishi had Bananarama's "I Heard A Rumour" on the brain when they came up with this one. I don't think I had ever heard Imai attempt something Eurobeat and her voice was getting close to cracking in those higher registers. Well, I can say that it's definitely in the intriguing department and as far as I know, it may not have gotten any other presence outside of the original single. I'll have to thank Crispy French for this post.
Welcome to another Thursday Reminiscings of Youth where I go over some of the Western pop songs that I used to hear and cherish back in my childhood and youth. I was thinking about posting something by a female singer that I had yet to cover here on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" and by wonderful providence, one lady from my memories showed up yesterday on the local news channel for an interview: singer-songwriter and actress Taylor Dayne. I hadn't heard from her in a few decades and I'm glad that she's still out and about especially since she did have to tackle cancer several years ago.
Of course, when it comes to Taylor Dayne, the one song that we'll always remember is her debut single"Tell It to My Heart" (by songwriters Seth Swirsky and Ernie Gold) which hit the music store shelves in July 1987. Another part of my Dayne memories is the music video for the song: big hair, big cosmetics, big leather and the dancing backup. Couldn't get more 80s than that! We ended up getting the 12" remix record along with a CD of her album "Tell It to My Heart".
When I look back at the song, I was also drawn to how she sang it. There was that certain way she sang out "heart" which always stood out to me. Her Wikipedia biography states that she was born and raised in the New York City area so perhaps it was something to do with a Bronx or Brooklyn accent. "Tell It to My Heart" has been described in its own article as dance-pop, freestyle and Hi-NRG, and if it had been created in Europe, I would have said perhaps Eurobeat as well. The song peaked at No. 7 on US Billboard in January 1988; it did even better in the UK where it hit No. 3.
So, what was being released in Japan in July 1987?
Happy Thursday and welcome to another Reminiscings of Youth (or in this case, thirtysomething) for this week as I write about some of the non-Japanese songs that I enjoyed in my younger days.
It was a few years ago when I posted "Virtual Insanity" by Jamiroquai, a group, as I mentioned in that article, that had been first introduced to me by a student in the Voice Room of my NOVA branch in Asakusa. Took me a couple of tries to comprehend who she identified at first. But I did finally get to see and hear Jay Kay's cool and soulful delivery of the 1996 hit song with his video of smooth steps and mobile furniture.
Another few years would pass by and then just in time for all of that Y2K stuff and turn-of-the-century fear and excitement, we would get "Canned Heat", Jamiroquai's single from May 1999. Now, I do love my "Virtual Insanity", but this song that has been categorized as nu-disco on Wikipedia is also another supremely infectious banger of a tune. Plus its video is incredible as well (flying over red carpeting? Amazing!). "Canned Heat" could actually get me to dance off my seat again after so many years, but since I like to be kind to sighted people and the floor's structural integrity, I'll refrain. However, I was convinced that the music of my youth and childhood could return over and over again.
According to that Wikipedia article, "Canned Heat" hit the dance club charts at No. 1 on America's Billboard while in Canada, it peaked at No. 7 on RPM's Dance/Urban charts.
Well, what was also coming out in May 1999 according to the good folks at straw-wara?
In the light of the passing of singer Junko Ohashi（大橋純子）and lyricist Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子）over the past week among the several figures who have left this mortal coil in 2023, I unfortunately have to report another untimely death. Singer-songwriter Kan Kimura（木村和）, who went by his stage name of KAN, had died on November 12th 2023 at the age of 61 although the first news reports didn't come until earlier today. Earlier this year, he had been diagnosed with cancer of Meckel's diverticulum in the small intestine although the direct cause of his death has yet to be announced.
Last night, I was about to turn in when something spiked in my head to check the Japanese news feeds on Yahoo.jp or Mixi. I'm not clairvoyant in the least but I sometimes go with my instinct and considering the sad number of times that I've had to announce the death of a figure in the Japanese music industry recently, I went to Yahoo and saw the headline of comedienne Kuniko Yamada（山田邦子）expressing her shock and tribute toward KAN.
As I expressed earlier this spring, KAN was a musical figure that I considered to be one of the four male pillars in that realm during my time on the JET Programme (1989-1991). His most successful single "Ai wa Katsu" was all over the airwaves during the latter half of my first stint in Japan. And if there had been a TV home base for KAN, it would have been Yamada's popular Wednesday night variety show on Fuji-TV,"Kuniko-chan no Yamada Katsutenai Terebi"（邦ちゃんのやまだかつてないテレビ）which had its run between October 1989 and March 1992. He was pretty much a semi-regular there performing "Ai wa Katsu" and writing songs for Yamada herself, and even for a while, the hit was used as the opening theme. Yamada even provided a parody song "Ai wa Chicken Katsu"（愛はチキンカツ...Love is a Chicken Cutlet）.
From Oricon.co.jp
In terms of how he presented himself, he always looked very dapper in a series of suits, sweaters and pullovers, but because of one appearance somewhere on TV, I will always envision him in a natty suit with a bowtie. With his friendly and slightly hangdog expression, he struck me as being the nice cute guy that any potential parents-in-law would accept on a dime. Plus, the way that his voice almost cracked when he hit the high notes probably cemented the adorableness factor. If I'm not mistaken, he admired Billy Joel, and I think he took some of the Piano Man into himself with his brand of piano pop and rock, and he has probably given some of his own self to contemporary artists such as Gen Hoshino（星野源）.
Below I will provide some of the KAN songs (his own and by others) that I've remembered from around 30 years ago. My condolences go out to his family, friends and fans.
Back in the summer of 2020 when the world was in the middle of the pandemic, I posted up the third in the series of "Happy Songs for Me"...those tunes that would get me in a better frame of mind just simply by listening to them. Well, yesterday I listened to a Junko Yagami（八神純子）favourite on YouTube, "Be My Best Friend" from 1980 and although I hadn't been in a dark place, I could immediately feel the glorious decompression setting in once I heard those golden bossa nova tones.
Looking at the comments below the video, I saw one Japanese person mention how kokochi yoi"Be My Best Friend" was. Of course, I don't really teach Japanese through the blog but in the interests of cultural exchange, kokochi yoi means "comfortable" or "pleasant". So, today I decided to start today's round of KKP posts with an Author's Pick on those comfy and relaxing songs. These ones can be different from the ones that I've picked on "Happy Songs for Me" (although there may be some overlapping) in that these don't so much energize me into bliss as they actually give me that ASMR feeling of "Ahhhhhh". More hammock than nightclub, you might say. Anyways without further ado and in no particular order, I give you the following tunes.
I've always wondered about titles in Japanese songs where the sky was concerned. In addition to the topic of this article, I was reminded of Mariko Takahashi's（高橋真梨子）1979 classic"Anata no Sora wo Tobitai"(あなたの空を翔びたい...I Want to Soar in Your Sky）. There don't seem to be such expressions of love in that form in English, so the best I can speculate is that it could mean "I want to be yours" or "I want to be with you".
As I said, this article is on "Watashi wa Anata no Sora ni Naritai" (I Want to Be Your Sky) which was Miki Imai's（今井美樹）14th single from November 1997. It was truly a husband-and-wife love ballad with Tomoyasu Hotei（布袋寅泰）composing the tune while Imai created the lyrics. The song weaves in style between a simple romantic fireplace pop song and a late Beatles type of production, perhaps in a baroque pop fashion.
Oooh...there's even a jazz arrangement for it that she did at the Blue Note! Marvelous! Anyways, I had thought that "Watashi wa Anata no Sora ni Naritai" was a theme song for a typically romance-filled J-Drama, but actually it was the ending theme for late-night TBS news broadcast "News 23". The song hit No. 32 on Oricon, and it was termed a double A-side CD with its "partner" being the Christmas tune "Shiro no Waltz"（白のワルツ）.
Not quite there yet in terms of summer patio visits. Folks would probably want the temperature by some more degrees before those happen. Still, the sun has been out after a number of rainy days so we'll take what we can get right now and hope for warmer spring weather to result next week.
In the meantime, we can all get aurally comfortable and party-like with Tokyo DJ/pianist/producer Ryota Nozaki（野崎良太）and his collective Jazztronik. I wrote about his "Today" a few years ago and today I've got his even earlier "Searching for Love" from his August 2005"Cannibal Rock".
I was wondering about that wonderful voice helping to propel the tropical dance club-loving "Searching for Love", and it happens to be veteran songbird Miki Imai（今井美樹）. There's a lot in this one that reminds me of Mondo Grosso's way of getting folks to get up and dance, and maybe it won't be too long before we can all do that again in Toronto. Daisuke Kawaguchi（川口大輔）was responsible for the lyrics.
Hey, you can listen to the Rasmus Faber remix of it as well.
Back on my wistful and whimsical imaginary Gosanke（御三家）series where I come up with my own trio of singers depending on my own times and experiences. Last week, my musings took me to the harmony-laden vocal groups of my past. Today though will be more about four (!) individual female singers that I remember fondly while I was on the JET Programme between 1989 and 1991. Now of course, I knew more than four female singers but these are the ones that hit my psyche the best during my time in Gunma Prefecture.
Now, I was just going to go with Misato Watanabe（渡辺美里）, Mariko Nagai（永井真理子）and Kahoru Kohiruimaki（小比類巻かほる）as would be the case for the typical trio of singers. But then, I recollect that I got to know Miki Imai（今井美樹）for the very first time while I was having tea in a stylish lodge-style café on the way home after a JET seminar, and I was absolutely smitten. So, you'll forgive me if I push the envelope a tad and extend beyond the usual Sannin Musume（三人娘）to Yonin Musume（四人娘）.
Well, it's been a couple of years since I wrote about one of my favourite singers, Miki Imai（今井美樹）, and that's primarily because I had already written quite a lot about her in the early years of the blog, including articles on whole albums. So, I've gone over her CDs including "Mocha (Under A Full Moon)", "Retour" (my personal favourite) and even her very first BEST compilation, "Ivory", which happens to be my very first purchase of an Imai album.
Therefore, I decided that I should go over one of her earlier albums and so I'm going with her 2nd release "elfin" which came out in September 1987. Actually, four of the ten tracks already have representation via their own articles: the playful "Futari de Splash"（ふたりでスプラッシュ）, the first track "Doshaburi Wonderland"（どしゃ降りWonderland）, along with "Pole Position" and "Yasei no Kaze"（野性の風）, the latter two of which have been talked about in the "Ivory" article.
Most of the tracks were written by lyricist Masami Tozawa（戸沢暢美）and arranged by Jun Sato（佐藤準）with a small variety of composers helping out. For example, "Club Lonely Hearts Exotica"（クラブ・ロンリーハーツ・エキゾティカ）was composed by Hideya Nakazaki（中崎英也）, and this one comes in as Track No. 3 following the aforementioned "Doshaburi Wonderland" and "Pole Position".
Although I know that Imai has done her share of upbeat songs such as "Pole Position", I've always seen her as being a singer behind love ballads and calming tunes. It was with some initial surprise then that "Club Lonely Hearts Exotica" has that feeling of a Saturday night in a Roppongi or Shinjuku dance club. In a way, it sounds like something more for Yoko Oginome（荻野目洋子）.
The following track "Omoidashita dake"（思いだしただけ...Just a Memory）, composed by arranger Jun Sato begins sounding like a Fashion Music tune via synthesizers before it goes into a mid-tempo pop song with a bit of Motown soul in parts. It's not my favourite Imai tune, but at least her vocals reminded me why I've enjoyed her music over the years. The lyrics relate a tale of remembering an old relationship.
Track No. 7 is the dramatic "Sayonara no Yukue"（SAYONARAの行方...Where Goodbye Goes） was written by Keiko Aoki（青木景子）and composed by Ken Sato（佐藤健）, and it has that rumbling rhythm throughout which could mean a fast ride through the highways and byways of Tokyo. However, the song was actually used as the ending theme for an NTV quiz show, although I think that it could have made for a good theme song for a suspenseful anime.
"Hikari no Yume"（光の夢...Dream of Light） is a pleasant ballad about a couple of friends, one of whom has discovered to their delight and giddiness that the feelings have gone deeper, so to speak. And there are hints that the buddy is thinking the same thing. Junko Sato（佐藤純子）was the lyricist while none other than Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）came up with the melody which made a nice fit with Imai's style.
The penultimate track also happens to be the title track "elfin". I'm familiar with it since it was also included as one of the tracks on "Ivory". Written by Imai herself and composed by Tohru Yamazaki（山崎透）who was part of the rock band PaPa, "elfin" is a soothing soundscape for a couple taking an evening stroll or a swim along the shore, and it comes with its sounds of waves.
My final song doesn't have its own video on YouTube and can only be found as part of the video of the whole album. But if you can search for 24:15 above, there is "Last Sequence"（ラスト・シークエンス）, another nocturnal rumbler by Aoki and Sato that kinda straddles pop and City Pop, although in support of the latter genre, there's something about the arrangement that had me thinking of the duo Airplay. A couple in a car are playing the silent treatment on each other after perhaps an argument.
"elfin" has some good tracks in there although it won't supplant "retour" as my favourite Imai album. However, what it probably did at the time was get listeners' attention to Imai's ability with music since if I'm not mistaken, she had been known more as a model and actress. Her first album, "femme", only got as high as No. 75 on CD (No. 47 on LP), but "elfin" was the first time that Imai enjoyed a Top 10 album by peaking at No. 5 on Oricon. The album also enjoyed becoming one of the year's best at the Japan Record Awards in 1987.
Just before I went for dinner before 5 pm today, I noticed a tweet stating that singer-songwriter Chika Ueda, a name that has had plenty of representation on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" almost as long as the blog has been in existence, had passed away last September, but the news was only coming out right now through an online article on the Asahi Shimbun. The article itself had only been up for just some minutes itself and it was the only one stating this sad news, so I decided to wait until coming back onto the computer tonight at 7 pm.
As of this writing, there hasn't been any report given on television news via YouTube, but I've now noticed that her J-Wiki article has been updated to reflect her passing along with some other news sources such as Yahoo News and 2Channel. She died at the age of 64 from pancreatic cancer.
Chika Ueda was born Chikako Ueda（植田知華子）in Tokyo and began studying piano at the age of 3. While studying at the Tokyo College of Music, she brought her talents in songwriting, vocals and piano playing and meshed them with a string quartet to form Chika Ueda + Karyobin which made their debut in 1978. KKP contributor nikala provided an article on a 1980 song by the group, "Purple Monsoon"(パープル・モンスーン) that I think is one of the more quintessential examples of Fashion Music, or the Japanese version of baroque pop, that I ever heard. Although I didn't know who they were at the time, I distinctly remember this song being played on an episode of "Sounds of Japan" on the radio.
Following the breakup of the group around 1982, Ueda continued to provide some of her own solo material in the form of albums and songs for other singers. My take on her songwriting is that her music was often very soft and romantic, and not surprisingly, she was an ideal fit for singers like Miki Imai（今井美樹）for whom she came up with a large number of tunes in the latter half of the 1980s going into the 1990s. In fact, one of Imai's biggest hits was "Piece of My Wish" from 1991 which was composed by Ueda and written by Yuuho Iwasato（岩里祐穂） .
In that same year, Ueda released her very first single as a solo artist "I Will", a theme song for a Fuji-TV drama. Wilton Felder of The Jazz Crusaders added his saxophone to Ueda's velvety vocals to create a ballad magical enough to entrance me into buying the CD single and even her album with the same title. This was the first time that I had ever heard of Ueda and after realizing that was making a lot of Imai's wonderful songs, her name was something that would always gain my attention whenever I saw it in anyone's liner notes.
Ueda's list of clients, as it were, is a very long one, and one such singer is Kanako Wada（和田加奈子）for whom the songwriter provided "If" for her 1989 album"dear", one of my favourites for easy listening J-Pop.
One thing that I was surprised about as I delved further into the history of Ueda was that she did have her 1980s solo albums although no singles were released from any of them. I was especially struck by the album "Classiest" from August 1984 because one of those tracks "Madogiwa no High Heel"（窓際のハイヒール）was pure Donald Fagen-inspired City Pop. However, from the same album, I found this gem titled "Starry Night" which is actually more of the wistful pop concoction as if filtered through Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）. This was written and composed by Ueda.
Marcos V. introduced pop-rock singerSaiko SAICO Suzuki（鈴木彩子）through his article on a compilation album "I Love Dance Number". Ueda wrote and composed a track, "Denwa Dekinakatta"（電話できなかった...Couldn't Make the Call） for her on her March 1992 3rd album"Juu-kyuu Sai no Kodou"（19歳の鼓動...Heart Beating at 19）. I can hear the rock gruffness in SAICO's voice but the music accompanying her does sound like an Ueda composition.
One other new song created by Ueda that I'm introducing here is "Umi wo Miteiyou"（海を見ていよう...Let's Look at the Ocean）, a languid bluesy ballad performed by the veteran vocal group Pedro & Capricious（ペドロ＆カプリシャス）with Naoko Matsudaira（松平直子）as the main vocalist. This was the final track in the band's April 2006 album"Cadena".
My final song for Ueda is the one that she composed with lyricist Masami Tozawa（戸沢暢美）, "Boogie Woogie Lonesome High Heel" for Imai's 1989 album"Mocha--Under A Full Moon". The title might be loopy as all get out, but it stands as one of my favourites by either Ueda or Imai. It's just so calming and so representative of one of the things that I loved about the music of the late 1980s and early 1990s: the female singer-songwriter which of course includes Ueda.
It is very sad to hear of her departure from this mortal coil but once again, we have this wonderful legacy of her compositions, and I'm hopeful that many of them inhabit YouTube. All of my condolences to her family, friends and fans.
Man, this has been the most difficult Creator article and this has been the most difficult Author's Picks article that I've ever written...in a good way, of course. Ryuichi Sakamoto has been a music producer, musician, composer and arranger for so long and for so many other artists that his breadth of work is simply too huge to cover adequately, and I'm not going to pretend that I can even try to do that (in fact, a list of his works needed a separate page on J-Wiki). Therefore, I will take the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup approach and merge the Creator and Author's Picks here for this one article.
On top of that, that list is so big that I have decided to narrow things down by just including my very favourite songs (and yup, most of them are on the technopop side) by the Tokyo-born music man, and those are creations that he has provided other singers. Therefore, none of his Yellow Magic Orchestra or his solo material are included. Even so, I had to cram the Labels section to the 20-item limit so I couldn't even include all of the genres that he has dabbled in, but perhaps I can do so here: along with the Pop that I could squeeze in on the side, there are techno, New Wave, Latin, and City Pop among others. He's also been known to have helped in the formation of genres such as hip-hop and electro but otherwise, you can get the full biography at Wikipedia.
Finally, the entries that I've given here are ones that already have representation on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", so the usual links will be present. However, some time in the next little while, I hope to get a second part of my tribute to The Professor up on the blog which will cover those songs of his that I have yet to get acquainted with.
This is a Sakamoto instrumental but it was included on his YMO bandmate Takahashi's（高橋幸宏）solo "Saravah!" album. With "Elastic Dummy", I think about my favourite salad that I bought from convenience stores such as Lawson and 7/11 with all sorts of bright and leafy vegetables with the much-vaunted protein of chicken chunks and a spicy-sweet dressing. In other words, "Elastic Dummy" has got everything of nutritious urban contemporary value: disco, detective drama soundtrack, City Pop, jazz, samba, technopop noodling, Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）, Minako Yoshida（吉田美奈子）and perhaps even a look into early 2000s J-R&B. Y'know, I wouldn't mind hearing this ball of fun (how much coffee did The Professor have when he created this one?!) being played over some ending credit sequence for a movie.
A track from Rajie's 1979"Quatre" album, Sakamoto created this funky late 1970s Bee Gees-esque tune along with Akiko Yano（矢野顕子）. It's got the technopop in there, too, but it's not merely a YMO song with Rajie as the featured guest vocalist. The singer is leading the way here with her high and floaty voice about the "Nantonaku Crystal" lifestyle in the big city.
Choosing one from the Ohnuki/Sakamoto file was quite the task considering that the two had worked together on oodles of material for several years from the late 70s well into the 1980s. Ultimately, though, I had to go with "Decade Night" from "Romantique", Ohnuki's（大貫妙子）1980 album and the LP that introduced a new direction for the singer-songwriter. Sakamoto produced "Romantique" and a majority of its tracks including the enigmatically attractive and quirky "Decade Night" that simultaneously reminds me of New Wave, avant-garde and a 1960s Hollywood romance soundtrack.
Sakamoto was applying that technopop touch through a number of genres at that particular time, so he probably figured why not do the same to the kiddies' song. And so he arranged Ryoichi Ito's（伊藤良一）"Computer Obaachan" about one cool senior citizen as a popular song on NHK's "Minna no Uta"（みんなのうた） series.
The Professor produced Hiromi Go's（郷ひろみ）album"Hiromi-kyo no Hanzai" and he composed the unique breezy and futuristic-feeling title track with Miyuki Nakajima's（中島みゆき）lyrics. Go's resigned voiceovers and Sakamoto's fleet-footed synthpop might bring images of "Blade Runner" but I can't help but think that the actual setting for the song is much more of a crystalline utopia.
If Sakamoto can provide a catchy technopop tune for a former aidoru of the 1970s, then he can do the same thing for a singer who played a fictional aidoru of the future from a beloved anime franchise. Indeed, I'm talking about Mari Iijima（飯島真理）and her creation of "Blueberry Jam" from the 1983 "Rosé" album. The song is supremely bouncy like an aidoru tune but it's got that Sakamoto sheen and I can even imagine Lynn Minmay singing that one on the SDF-1.
As much as I wanted to put up a cover of this song by Miki Imai（今井美樹）, I think only the original version as partially provided at iTunes displays the Sakamoto-ness of this mix of synthpop and bossa nova. I mean, up to the time that I got her 1994 album"A Place in the Sun", I had never thought a melding of these two genres was possible but I was happily proven wrong. "Martinique no Kaze" is easily my favourite track on the album because of this fusion, Imai's vocals and Sakamoto's piano solo.
My final entry for earworm Sakamoto goodness is Miki Nakatani's（中谷美紀）"Kinokhronika" from her "cure" album. At this point, it was verging on the 20th anniversary of the formation of YMO, but Sakamoto could still come up with the techno dance beats. Just imagine him holding court in the clubs. If I need an energy boost, I sometimes listen to this one.
As mentioned all the way up at the top, these examples are just a fraction of what Sakamoto has done, and it certainly looks like I've only scratched the surface of what I know of his works. However, these eight songs by the Professor are among my favourites, but I've caught a glimpse of some of these other Sakamoto works that have been unknown to me and I'll feature them in a second tribute in the near future.
Happy Monday! First, a very tiny PSA from me. I found out from a good friend of mine last night as well as from an announcement from CD Japan that all registered mail and EMS packages from Japan to Canada have been suspended as of November 26th. Although other methods exist of getting those albums from the company, I am glad that I did get my latest package when I did. If you're a regular customer of CD Japan, you may want to check the mail situation for your country.
In any case, to start this first article on the last day of November 2020, I have to provide an observation that it seems that Japanese songwriters have a thing for the facial profile. They imbue perhaps quite some meaning into the side of the face for some reason. I've come across a number of songs that involve the word "yokogao"（横顔）which means "profile" or "side of your face" with the most prominent example from my memories being Taeko Ohnuki's（大貫妙子）jazzy standard "Yokogao" from her 1978 "Mignonne" album.
Well, I've now encountered yet another song title with that very word...this time, being in Miki Imai's（今井美樹） 2nd track on her 1989 "Mocha (Under A Full Moon)" album. Titled "Yokogao kara I LOVE YOU" (Saying I Love You From the Side of Her Face), it follows right after the very zippy "Tokyo Hachi-gatsu Sunglass"（TOKYO 8月サングラス）, so unsurprisingly it's also quite the synth-heavy urban contemporary pop fest. The segue is really quite smooth between the two songs considering that both of them had different lyricists and composers working on them.
This time, it's prolific lyricist and frequent Imai collaborator Yuuho Iwasato（岩里祐穂）and composer Satoshi Takebe（武部聡志）on "Yokogao kara I LOVE YOU" which even has a synthesizer pulling off the City Pop trope of a sax solo. I covered a much different Iwasato-penned song just last night which was released 22 years later. As for my two Canadian non-existent pennies on the meaning of the title, I've known that perhaps until recently, it's awfully difficult for a Japanese person to say those three important words to his/her significant other unless the pair is in the most intimate of circumstances and environment. Therefore, I can imagine that in all other situations, whispering out "I love you" out of the side of the mouth was probably the thing to do. But again, that's just my take.
One final piece of trivia is that on backup chorus here is Yoko Takahashi（高橋洋子）, the singer behind one of anime's most beloved theme songs.
With a title like "Hohoemi no Hito" (Smiling People), isn't it perfect for someone like songbird Miki Imai（今井美樹）to handle it? She is famous for that wide-as-the-Mississippi smile of hers, and she even got a shoutout in the training manual for the JET Programme for that smile since she was becoming quite famous in the late 1980s.
Mind you, "Hohoemi no Hito", her 21st single wouldn't come out until May 2002. Even though, I've gone on record to state that my favourite period for Imai's songs was the latter half of the 80s and a bit into the early 90s, this particular single is something that I would invest in, although most likely I would purchase the album that it appears in, her BEST compilation "Ivory III" from June 2004.
Written, composed and arranged by her husband and "Kill Bill" theme song creator Tomoyasu Hotei（布袋寅泰）, "Hohoemi no Hito" is leagues away from "Battle Without Honor or Humanity" in terms of tone. Something more in the light & mellow vein of music, I guess it can be considered to be an updated version of sunshine pop with a touch of bossa nova and some of Hotei's guitar work with longtime Imai collaborator Tsuyoshi Kon（今剛）also helping out on the guitar solo. Plus, something as light and silky like "Hohoemi no Hito" will also have its need for those horns including the flugelhorn.
The single reached as high as No. 25 on Oricon while "Ivory III" peaked at No. 2. I think that during these uncertain times, a song about smiles will not cure things but perhaps it can give some solace and support.
Ever since I heard my very first Miki Imai（今井美樹）song, "Natsu wo Kasanete"（夏をかさねて）, in that relaxing lodge-style café in Gunma Prefecture over 30 years ago, the usual reaction template was set whenever I hear one of her ballads: exhalation. Yup, just like walking through a forest or watching an ASMR video of someone getting a scalp massage, I exhale in relaxation and stress seems to slowly melt away.
(very short version)
"Haru no Hi" (Spring Days) is one of those Imai songs that does just that. A track from her July 1995 9th album"Love Of My Life", perhaps the timing is a bit off here, but putting this one up right now makes me forget that we're approaching the dog days of summer (albeit the weather was somewhat cooler today).
With lyrics by Imai, music by Mayumi Horikawa（堀川まゆみ）and arrangement by Yoko Kanno（菅野よう子）, the singer's soft vocals, the resonant piano and what sounds like an accordion immediately puts me at ease, and I feel like returning to that mountain café for a cup of coffee. As much as I've not done too badly under the COVID-19 restrictions for the past few months, a song like "Haru no Hi" does make me pine a bit for a visit to a stylish coffeehouse with one or two buddies.
My days in Gunma Prefecture were the period in which I first discovered the lovely tones of Miki Imai（今井美樹）. For me, the two biggest purchases of her were her first BEST compilation "Ivory" and then the follow-up original album "Retour" from 1990. That latter release especially has had me considering it as one of the finest J-Pop albums that I've ever bought.
Weirdly enough though, the original Imai albums that actually preceded "Ivory" were ones that I dutifully bought but never gave a lot of listening time to, and that includes her 1988 release"Bewith", her 3rd album. I guess it was because at the time, I treated the tracks as OK but not overwhelmingly amazing pop tunes. From what I've read in some of the YouTube comments, I wasn't the only one with the same observation.
At the same time, however, at least one of those commenters also pointed out that the passage of time and the growing filter of nostalgia for a type of pop arrangement that doesn't seem to exist anymore have generated a fondness and a newfound appreciation for those Imai tunes (and I'm assuming songs by other artists). I can put myself into the same shoes, and so it goes with Track 9 of "Bewith", "Kiiroi TV".
That title had me initially wondering about its translation. I would have said "Yellow TV" and though such an interestingly-coloured telly is entirely possible, I just thought it rather odd. Then, I checked out the other definition for kiiroi on jisho.org, and it is high-pitched. So, perhaps what Imai and the songwriters were going for was "High-Pitched TV" or even "My Old TV". In any case, Imai is singing about relying on her old set for companionship when her beau isn't around, signifying some lingering loneliness.
Lyricist Yuuho Iwasato（岩里祐穂）and composer Chika Ueda（上田知華）were the creators for "Kiiroi TV", and the two are songwriters that I've often associated in Imai's early part of her singing career. So for me, Iwasato and Ueda are the ones that are partly responsible for that early Imai sound that I've always cherished. They also had a hand in several of the other tracks on "Bewith" with almost all of them arranged by Jun Sato（佐藤準）. With "Kiiroi TV" especially, that lush piano intro, Imai's soft vocals and the other keyboards all work together for that quintessential Imai tune of the late 1980s and early 1990s. According to what I've read on the J-Wiki profile for "Bewith" and one YouTube comment, the album provided the first opportunity for Imai, Iwasato and Ueda to work together so perhaps that early Imai sound was finally set on this album.
Speaking of "Bewith", I don't think I can actually write about the album for its own article anymore because I've already written about many of its tracks individually such as the previous article, "Kiss yori, Toiki yori"（キスより吐息より）, the classic "Natsu wo Kasanete"（夏をかさねて）and "Second Engage"（セカンドエンゲージ）.
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