Tatsuro Yamashita -- Circus Town

 

Kinda ironic that I just put up my "New York" tunes a week ago, and now I'm posting Tatsuro Yamashita's（山下達郎）"Circus Town" onto the blog since this song was not only the lead track and title track for his 1976 debut album but also a representative of the New York side of the album (Side B is the LA side of things). After all these years of posting his music onto KKP and it is today that I'm finally adding "Circus Town", maybe one of his songs that got him beloved among the non-Japanese community of City Pop enthusiasts, onto KKP.

There are a couple of reasons for this. One is that I'd assumed that I did put it up in the past but haven't bothered to check since I often get depressed scrolling down his vast file and seeing all of the videos that have been struck down...possibly on the singer-songwriter's command himself. The other reason is another assumption that "Circus Town" is just one of those iconic Tats tunes that other better music bloggers and journalists have given their sage two cents and that I needn't bother to do so.

Well, as it turns out, there's not a whole lot of insight put out for "Circus Town" that I could find (although I'm sure that commenters can point me in the right direction afterwards). Even J-Wiki didn't contribute much to the song itself although its article for the album in general is fairly voluminous. 

But what can I say about the song itself? It's wonderful! Breezy and seemingly celebratory about the Big Apple, it was written by Minako Yoshida（吉田美奈子）and composed/arranged by Yamashita, one of the star songwriting pairings in Japanese pop music (and my most recent article involving Tats was their duo cover of Niteflyte's "If You Want It" from almost a year previously). According to the brief paragraph on the song, "Circus Town" was based on the 16-beat pop that had been commonly played in New York circles. Blue Lou Marini was responsible for the scintillating sax solo and it was a nice touch to add that adorable piccolo rendition of circus music. And as much as Junko Yagami（八神純子）liked to call New York City "Purpletown", I think Yamashita calling what was once known as the World's Most Dangerous City "Circus Town" was very apt. I'm sure that for anybody coming into the metropolis from anywhere else must have been witness to quite the crazy circus-like atmosphere of Manhattan (check out those disco strings flying themselves into a tempests at one point in the song).

I have more hope that the above video of "Circus Town" will be staying up for a good long while since it actually does belong to Yamashita's own YouTube channel. Has the man followed the mantra of "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em"? Has he mellowed out when it comes to his works? In my case, I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Just gonna enjoy my repeated listenings to it.

HANDS Down!☹️

 

It's been almost a decade since I mentioned through my article on Akina Nakamori's（中森明菜）album "Crimson" that Jaws, my tape recorder, made a meal out of my audiotape of the album. It died rather gruesomely, kinda like Ben Gardner in "Jaws". Well, around this time yesterday, I realized that my home printer Sam breathed its last. It was 14 years old and from what I've read of life expectancies of such devices, ol' Sam lived an unusually long life so I'm not mourning too badly and I've got a new one on the way.

However, I have to state that another beloved thing from my memories is now in its last months. That would be the very first branch of the iconic Japanese DIY and hobbyist store Tokyu Hands (now known as Hands) in Shibuya. The doors will close at the end of this November and unfortunately, I will not be there to say goodbye. As usual for the fate of such emporia, the cause is the whole online thing and declining of foot traffic which is hard for me to imagine because the last time I was there was many years ago when the store was packed with customers.

During my years in Tokyo, next to Tower Records a few blocks over, Tokyu Hands was my regular go-to place in Shibuya. It was always the case of walking on one particular street from Tower and then eventually coming down the hill to see good ol' Hands to my left. I used to visit this ivory tower filled with mezzanines to purchase calendars and other examples of stationery along with other sundry items that I can't remember. I do remember the incense area on one floor where I picked up a lost-lasting box of incense cones. I lit up a cone with a match and quickly waved out the flame after which the smoke basically coated my living room in very heavy herbal scents for several days at a time. Basically, if there was something I wanted to buy for the home or make in the home, Tokyu Hands was the place. Now, Hands will go on throughout its other branches but Branch No. 1 has been given its terminal diagnosis and I will miss it.

By DeepSkyBlue via Wikimedia Commons

Now, I couldn't find any sort of music or singer that was attached to Tokyu Hands so I was at a quandary about how to pay tribute to the store. But then, I figured that I'll just provide a list of songs whose titles' first words begin with the letters in HANDS. So, here's my Author's Picks on the shop.

(1982) Minako Yoshida -- Hoho ni Yoru no Akari（頬に夜の灯）

(1977) Iruka -- Ame no Monogatari （雨の物語）

(1983) Yu Hayami -- Natsu Iro no Nancy (夏色のナンシー）

(1983) Yumi Matsutoya -- Dandelion ~ Osozaki no Tanpopo （ダンデライオン〜遅咲きのたんぽぽ）

(1983) Anri -- Surf City

Kenji Omura -- Gaijin Heaven（外人天国）

 

For my last entry for this Friday's edition of Urban Contemporary songs on KKP, I'm going for another track from Kenji Omura's（大村憲司）fourth and final album "Gaijin Heaven". In fact, it's the title track composed by him, and as with its fellow track mate, "Dance Your Way to God", it's quite the funky banger. Double in fact, I swear those horns in the intro must have been lifted from David Bowie's "Let's Dance"!

I was searching a few sites for who was singing "Gaijin Heaven" and at first thought, I had assumed that Fujimal Yoshino（芳野藤丸）was providing a guest vocal here but apparently, it's Omura himself behind the microphone. What was not in doubt was the background chorus...Minako Yoshida（吉田美奈子）! Peter Barakan, who often worked with Yellow Magic Orchestra, was responsible for the lyrics about a foreigner's observations about life in Japan. I was there in the big city between 1994 and 2011 but I wonder sometimes about how life really was for foreign residents in those hedonistic 1980s.

Minako Yoshida/Circus -- Keppeki Niisan（ケッペキにいさん）

 

When I think about a perfect example of the guy described in the title for this particular song, my thoughts turn to the one and only Felix Unger from "The Odd Couple". A neat freak and hypochondriac with a mess of neuroses, he would probably enrage the Pope if His Eminence ended up as his roommate. 

Perhaps singer-songwriter extraordinaire Minako Yoshida（吉田美奈子）based her song "Keppeki Niisan" (Mr. Fastidious) on a similar acquaintance. It's not even two minutes long on her March 1976 3rd studio album, "Flapper", but she describes a fellow who takes the utmost care in his physical appearance and dutifully appears at work as if he were aiming for Employee of the Month every month. Written and composed by Yoshida herself, the lyrics are repeatedly pattered out like a mantra or a teasing indictment of the guy while her music is a funky boogie that is as much New York as the setting for "The Odd Couple".

A few days ago, I expressed some disappointment that I couldn't track down Circus' debut single but at least, I could find something intriguing from their July 1978 debut album "Circus 1", and  it's the cover of "Keppeki Niisan". Packing a bit more in the arrangement and length of time, the vocal quartet makes like the Manhattan Transfer in their scatting and overall singing of Yoshida's creation. Perhaps there is less indictment in this version and maybe more of a straight-ahead description of Mr. Fastidious.

If I Had an All-Night Radio Show...

from Discogs

I had family over tonight for dinner after which most of us ended up watching the New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox game and the Edmonton Oilers-Florida Panthers Stanley Cup matchup. Drowsing off a bit in my armchair which is something that I tend to do with alarming frequency these nights, I started entertaining one of my fantasies which is wondering how it would be like to be an all-night radio DJ.

"Man, you must have been hitting the Canada Dry pretty hard, J-Canuck!" is probably what a lot of you might be thinking. But yeah, I've always wondered about a career in radio, and not just during the daytime drive time but also in the wee hours of the morning. After all, although I'm not sure whether I have a voice for radio, I certainly have a face for it! Plus, not only have I loved Donald Fagen's classic 1982 album "The Nightfly" as you can see above, I've also loved the cover of Fagen himself dressed up as a 1950s or 1960s disc jockey handling the overnight shift in that tiny room while he's charismatically spinning tales and records between midnight and 6 am.

One reason that I would love to try to give this particularly distinct job a whirl despite the hours is that I've read recently that live overnight radio in North America, at least, has been dead for a long time now (wherever you're reading this, perhaps you can tell me if this is also true in your neck of the woods). Financially speaking and in terms of personnel, I can understand why a radio station manager would cut all ties to all-night radio with a real human being; subscribing to a nationally-provided streaming service from a computer while the lights are all out at the station can save a lot of dough. However, I've also read that there had been DJs in the past who relished the overnight shift because they were a whole lot more free to talk and play their own kind of music and talk with the other all-nighters out there ranging from desperate university students cramming for exams to security guards at their lonely stations. Maybe they could have their own favourite guests or buddies come by to keep them company and nosh on pizza and stuff. As someone who used to man the Tuesday night shift at the International Student Centre at the University of Toronto, I was accustomed to seeing and chatting with all sorts of people who passed by the front desk and enjoyed it most of the time. I could enjoy that too as a DJ perhaps (of course, as long as the station manager was a nice and generous person).

But what would I play? Well, this is something that I was musing about for a long time and the six choices that I have are only a mere fraction of what I would like to play during a stint in the booth. Not surprisingly, it would be a mix of Japanese and non-Japanese music. So, typing this close to 11 pm EDT, here's a sextet of cool-down nighttime music coming up here on WKKP in Toronto. I'd also welcome any contributions by you out there.

Anita Baker -- Sweet Love

Earth Wind & Fire -- After the Love Has Gone

Donald Fagen -- I.G.Y. (What A Beautiful World)

Tatsuro Yamashita -- Blue Midnight

(karaoke version)

Minako Yoshida -- Hoho ni Yoru no Akari（頬に夜の灯)

Toko Furuuchi -- Dare Yori Suki Nanoni （誰より好きなのに）

Minako Yoshida & Tatsuro Yamashita/Niteflyte -- If You Want It

 

If you want it...you can get it!

Yum!

I was going to have some leftover spaghetti with some butter, soy sauce and pepper. But then I discovered that my supermarket was selling fully cooked smoked bacon. Well, since I think that pasta without some sort of meat is just plain naked, I wanted it, I could get it, and I got it! Throw in a few hot pepper flakes and I've got my make-do Pasta Pepperoncino. 

Now this whole joke segue landed in a pile of fortuitous coincidence since I would come home to the blog to find a comment from Francois stating his discovery of a wonderful cover by the duo of Tatsuro Yamashita and Minako Yoshida（山下達郎・吉田美奈子）, and those two have been responsible for the creation of some of the more beloved City Pop songs from that original period of the late 1970s going well into the 1980s. 

I am talking about their rendition of Niteflyte's "If You Want It", and many thanks to Francois for the recommendation. Apparently, this was some 1980 studio recording of the original 1979 single by the American funk group, so perhaps Yamashita and Yoshida performed it during a radio show, but the two are full money on their cover, especially due to Yoshida's soaring vocals. It's a wonder that the two didn't do any more of these duets. By the way, listening to this, I can get an idea of how "Sparkle" came about.

I can't think of a better song to start off this edition of Urban Contemporary Fridays on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" than "If You Want It". It was love and not bacon that was the subject of the original Niteflyte song which peaked at No. 37 on Billboard, and I have to admit that I love the original even more thanks to those disco strings which have plucked my own heart strings. And the groove is mighty epic! "If You Want It" is also present on the band's self-titled debut album from 1979. By the way, I wrote about Niteflyte for the first time almost a year ago with their 1981 "You Are".

Now I'm going off to have my pasta!🍝

Yutaka Kimura Speaks: Minako Yoshida（吉田美奈子）

 

Since 1973, when she released "Fuyu no Tobira"（冬の扉...Winter's Door） at the age of 20, the musical garb she has worn at different times may change, but Minako Yoshida's music has fundamentally remained the same. To give an example, back in the early 1980s, although she was wearing some very flashy outfits in the form of funk, it's the spirit she expressed through her songs that has remained constant no matter what outfit she changed into.

There are plenty of passionate Minako fans surrounding me. Every time they go to one of her concerts, they frequently go into dance mode. I've often heard that she gets a lot of repeat attendees. At the concert sites, naturally, her vocal expression is more clearly revealed, and I'm sure her devoted fans have enjoyed the pleasure of being able to directly touch the spirit of her songs.

Her overwhelming vocal power and volume are reminiscent of Aretha Franklin, and in fact, Yoshida is a huge fan of hers, but she also loves Parliament-Funkadelic. Her work from the 1980s, which earned her the nickname "The Queen of Funk," can be said to be the embodiment of these tastes under the most favorable circumstances.

Yoshida is a musician's musician who also has lots of fans among her contemporaries starting with Toshiki Kadomatsu（角松敏生）. Her distinctive presence that continues to shine in the city pop scene is one of a kind. As one of the pioneers for female R&B singers today, I highly recommend you listen to her many masterpieces, and although it is not listed in this book, her premium album "Bells" which was only sold in 1986 is something that I highly endorse thanks to her high level of gospel expression. As well, in recent years, she also released a collaborative album, "Nowadays" (2008), with Japan's top guitarist, Kazumi Watanabe（渡辺香津美）, where you can listen to her splendid vocals.

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

Just for Fun...The J-C AI Gallery -- Mizue, Minako, Shinji & YMO

 

Mizue Takada -- Watashi wa Piano (私はピアノ）

Minako Yoshida -- Koi wa Ryuusei (恋は流星）

Shinji Tanimura -- Subaru （昴）

Yellow Magic Orchestra -- Taiso (体操）

Dance-y Songs for Me (for International Dance Day)

 

I've already done my two articles for today but I just had to do one more because it is an Author's Pick that I'd been letting stew in my brain for a little while. Approximately a decade ago, I posted a similar article titled "Happy Songs for Me (for International Happiness Day)" on occasion of the annual March 20th tribute to all things happy. I realized that there were a number of songs already posted on the blog that simply made me happy each and every time I listened to them and so all those endorphins were flowing around like cars in the Indianapolis 500.

At the same time, I also recognized that there were other songs that not only provided an emotional high to me but also got me moving in my chair...not particularly easy considering a man of my mass and for that matter, a man of my often stoic temperament. But indeed, those tunes actually got me to dance...after a fashion. As such, I opted to put up my own list of tunes that have gotten me to shimmy. When I did a bit of research for this article, I found that there is such a day as International Dance Day but that's all the way ahead on April 29th. I'm not quite willing to wait that long.

So, without further ado, here is my list of up-and-at-'em tunes. As with the "Happy Songs" article, I've left out the years from Labels since that part of the article would have exceeded the limit of twenty and anyways, the years can be included easily enough beside the singer and the title.

(1981) Minako Yoshida -- TOWN

I believe I've given my opinions on each of the songs but allow me to add some more for each song. Knowing that there was basically no way that "TOWN" would be played at the Tokyo Olympics (especially since the song was actually more about New York City), but if it had been devoted to Japan's capital city, the music video would have had the buildings and the populace get into one massive dance party. It can almost...not quite, but almost...get me to play air guitar near the end.

(1982) Motoharu Sano -- Sugar Time

Dancing?! I don't need to dance to the well-titled "Sugar Time" to have a great time. All I need to do is jump all over the place. Whenever I listen to this fun fest, I always envisage Bobby Van's amazing sequence from the movie "Small Town Girl" released in 1953. Play "Sugar Time" and the Van dance while muting the latter. You'll lose a kilogram!

(1994) Kome Kome Club -- Abracadabra（ア・ブラ・カダ・ブラ）

I do my best air drums when I hear Carl Smoky Ishii and company blast this one out the headphone speakers. And then if I'm really in a mood, I even try to emulate the K2C dancers on stage (I make sure no one's home).

(1997) Miki Nakatani -- Kinokhronika（キノフロニカ）

I usually just repeatedly shift my weight to this technopop tune but my overactive mind envisions this being a battle and a dance simultaneously on the level and magnificence of the fights in the very first "Matrix" movie which was a mere two years after the source album "cure" had been released. It could be the background music for a fighting manga brought to life. And when the composer is the legendary Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）...well, quality guaranteed.

(2000) Mondo Grosso feat. Bird -- Life

When you link back to the original article, you'll notice that I only supplied one paragraph to this song, something that I haven't done in years. However, it really is the song that can give the oomph compared to anything that I could put down in prose. Some great samba beats by Mondo Grosso and some lovely vocals by Bird to get me doing my own line dance. I'm sure any concert performances of "Life" would have the audience frenetically dancing to theirs.

(2005) Tomita Lab feat. SOULHEAD -- Like a Queen

Once you get past the technopop intro, it's all wonderfully soulful brass and bass and disco strings and the Sawayama sisters. Yep, this is another one to get the blood pumping and the shoulders shimmying all over the place. Of course, I encourage you to be more ambitious in the movements.

(2018) Kirinji -- Jikan ga nai（時間がない）/ Hi Zero Wa Game (非ゼロ和ゲーム) 

Honestly speaking, I had to include both of these songs which come from Kirinji's heavy rotation 2018 album "Ai wo aru dake, Subete"（愛をあるだけ、すべて）. I mean, I probably would have included a few more tracks but I didn't want to go overboard. Of course, "Jikan ga nai" is the finest example of SALARYWAVE that I've seen especially with that section chief tripping the light fantastic on the disco floor in the music video. And then with "Hi Zero Wa Game", I never thought that I could dance to a Doobie Brothers-like arrangement but here we are. The concert performance videos are splendid but I wonder what a conceptual music video would have looked like.

I've enjoyed these and even burned some calories to them. How about you? Any danceable kayo kyoku out there?

February 23rd 2026: There's a sequel!

Yutaka Kimura Speaks ~ Japanese City Pop Masterpieces 100: Hiroshi Sato -- Rainbow Sea Line （レインボー・シー･ライン）

 

Number: 098

Lyricist: Minako Yoshida

Composer: Hiroshi Sato

Arranger: Hiroshi Sato

From Sato's 1976 album "Super Market"

Hiroshi Sato's（佐藤博）"Rainbow Sea Line" is a cover of a song that he provided Minako Yoshida（吉田美奈子）, but compared to the Yoshida version, it's even mellower and more effervescent. His solo debut album "Super Market" was recorded in Los Angeles through an abrupt decision, but even so, the sense of perfection here is such that I am keenly reminded of how much of a truly talented musician he was, no matter the decade. As the title suggests, it's a number that makes me want to listen to it during a drive while feeling that sea breeze.

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

Hi, J-Canuck here. I do remember posting an article regarding "Rainbow Sea Line" more than a decade ago on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", but despite me putting both Yoshida's and Sato's names on the byline, I actually wrote only about the former's version and threw in the Sato version from "Super Market" as an "emergency measure" because at the time, the only Yoshida version that was on YouTube had gotten taken down by the powers-that-be for the longest time. I didn't really bother writing anything about Sato's indeed truly mellower take which I hadn't thought was possible after first hearing the original take for Yoshida. But Kimura is right; his "Rainbow Sea Line" is ideal as a driving song with the top down on the convertible, and it's a tune that reflects the romanticism of 1970s City Pop regarding the possibilities of finally living the good life for a lot of Japanese.

I'd like to also remind readers of Yutaka Kimura Speaks that some 97 weeks ago, Sato was entry 001 for this series and I'm about to finish the final two entries in as many weeks.

Yutaka Kimura Speaks ~ Japanese City Pop Masterpieces 100: Minako Yoshida -- Yume de Aetara （夢で逢えたら）

 

Number: 086

Lyricist: Eiichi Ohtaki

Composer: Eiichi Ohtaki

Arranger: Eiichi Ohtaki and Tatsuro Yamashita

From Minako Yoshida's 1976 album: "Flapper"

Chock-filled with the American pop of Aldon Music and the essence of the Spector sound, "Yume de Aetara" has been the gold standard model from Niagara for the Japanese pop scene, especially when it comes to the aidoru music from the 1980s onwards. The beautiful string arrangement by Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）that is even more Jack Nitzsche than Jack Nitzsche is also very affecting.

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

Yutaka Kimura Speaks ~ Japanese City Pop Masterpieces 100: Tatsuro Yamashita -- Music Book

 

Number: 084

Lyricist: Minako Yoshida

Composer: Tatsuro Yamashita

Arranger: Tatsuro Yamashita

From Yamashita's 1982 album: "For You"

"Music Book" is a really invigorating number just like how the lyrics feel (Melody's rain...pouring down on you). With "Sparkle" before it and "Morning Glory" after it on "For You", this is the killer trio. And aren't there many of the delusional among those who have thoroughly listened to the record who keep hearing an acapella chorus even after the end of the song? This is a tribute to the time when Tatsuro's（山下達郎）sound was truly gleaming.

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

Yutaka Kimura Speaks ~ Japanese City Pop Masterpieces 100: Minako Yoshida -- Hoho ni Yoru no Akari（頬に夜の灯）

 

Number: 076

Lyricist: Minako Yoshida

Composer: Minako Yoshida

Arranger: L. Leon Pendarvis & Minako Yoshida

From Yoshida's 1982 album: "Light'n Up"

"Hoho ni Yoru no Akari" is the quintessential twilight-loving Minako Yoshida（吉田美奈子）song with its splendid hues and first-rate mellow groove. The horn and string parts had been recorded in New York City and the performance includes David Sanborn's wonderful sax solo, so in a blink of an eye, I'm transported to a flight going over to the Big Apple. To have that lady look at me with those unusually kind eyes while on a street enveloped by the sunset is a truly attractive moment.

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

It's Twilight Time!

 

It didn't take me too long to figure out that a lot of Japanese lyricists in the 1980s loved to pluck the Beatles' phrase of "Love me do" or another affectionate collection of words "Hold me tight" for their clients' songs. However, it took me a while of doing this blog before I realized that folks in the Japanese music industry had a love for that particular time period between bright afternoon and dark night if their song (and album) titles were any indication.

Yup, twilight, sunset, dusk, etc. which can be translated into Japanese as yuuyami（夕闇）, yuugure（夕暮れ）, tasogare（黄昏） and just plain sansetto（サンセット） is, I gather, the happy hours for musicians, singers and songwriters alike in Japan. Mind you, we've got our pop cultural representatives for that, too. One of the best examples is Rod Serling's "The Twilight Zone" mystery TV series. Ironically in Japan, it's titled "Mystery Zone", maybe because the distributors there probably didn't want something spooky to invade their romantic notions of twilight time.

Closer to what the Japanese have envisioned is most likely The Platters' "Twilight Time" from 1958 which I used to hear on some commercial aired in my old stomping grounds. Perhaps it was a beer ad or something for cars; the main point is that I think the Japanese cherish the sunset hours as ones when folks can just hit the highway after work for a relaxing drive or meet up with friends or that significant other for a drink or dinner as the sun dunks below the horizon.

I know that a lot of songs that have been created in Japan have those synonyms of sunset and twilight, many of which are already up here on KKP. And they don't necessarily have to be of the City Pop persuasion although some of the six here are. But I can say that they all have their varying levels of soothing feeling, so enjoy the following half-dozen. It's Twilight Time!

(1971) Hiroshi Itsuki -- Yokohama Tasogare（よこはまたそがれ）

(1977) Minako Yoshida -- Twilight Zone

(1979) Tazumi Toyoshima -- Tomadoi Twilight （とまどいトワイライト）

(1983) Junko Yagami -- Tasogare no Bay City （黄昏のBAY CITY）

(1983) Akina Nakamori -- Twilight - Yugure Dayori （トワイライト -夕暮れ便り-）

(2022) Natsu Summer & Ryusenkei -- Twilight Shadow

Tomita Lab feat. SOULHEAD -- Like a Queen

 

Over the course of "Kayo Kyoku Plus", I've done articles on albums featuring tracks and sometimes I've felt that some of those tracks deserved their own articles because I liked them so much. So, there was a bit of regret in there.

However, in one case, I'm going to rectify that today. Back in 2018, I featured the 2006 album "Shiplaunching" by Tomita Lab（富田ラボ）and on that album, there was R&B sister duo SOULHEAD and their contribution "Like a Queen". With Tomita Lab taking care of the melody and legend Minako Yoshida（吉田美奈子）handling the lyrics, aside from that slightly odd New Wave intro, "Like a Queen" truly rides in like a most gorgeous queen with the wonderful harmonies of Yoshika and Tsugumi Sawayama backed by a gosh-darn fine funky orchestra of strings and horns. It's the type of song that I love to hear whenever I've gone through a hard day.

Another reason that I'm doing a follow-up on "Like a Queen" is that the even more improved music video with the full version of the song has popped up once more on YouTube. Still retaining its theme of transportation in the big city, instead of the gold car from the 1970s, this time, the focus is on a young lady commuting through one fantastical and rhythm-accurate neighbourhood while upgrading her mode of transportation. Considering our mess of transportation systems here in Toronto, the lass has my envy and desire of shimmying to the music.

J-Canuck's Favourite Ballads by Female Singers

 

Realizing my advancing years and my regressing memory, it's possible that I may have already put something similar up on the blog, but at this point, I don't think so. In any event, enjoying my gentle love songs alongside my upbeat bangers, I wanted to use this quiet Sunday night to put up some (and definitely not all) of my favourite ballads by female singers. The first two entries, in fact, were created by crooning singer-songwriter Takao Kisugi（来生たかお）who will be in the article for a similar Author's Pick on the male balladeers.

(1982) Akina Nakamori -- Second Love （セカンド・ラブ）

(1981) Junko Ohashi -- Silhouette Romance（シルエット・ロマンス）

(1981) Ruiko Kurahashi -- Last Scene ni Ai wo Komete （ラストシーンに愛をこめて）

(1982) Minako Yoshida -- Hoho ni Yoru no Akari（頬に夜の灯）

(1983) Hiromi Iwasaki -- Ieji (家路）

Yutaka Kimura Speaks ~ Japanese City Pop Masterpieces 100: Rie Nakahara -- Dreaming Love（ドリーミング・ラブ）

 

Number: 056

Lyricist: Minako Yoshida

Composer/Arranger: Tatsuro Yamashita

From Nakahara's 1978 album: "Killing Me"

"Dreaming Love" is a sweet soul ballad that is right up the alley of soul freak Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）and makes effective use of the electric sitar. As soon as the arrangement was done in the manner of Thom Bell who had helped produce The Delfonics and The Stylistics, there was probably no one in Japan who could match Tats. And within that, the horns and strings arrangement along with the precise positioning were magnificent.

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

Hiroko Yakushimaru -- Christmas Avenue（クリスマス・アベニュー）

 

Ahhh...yes, the equivalent of "Teen Beat" in Japan, "Myojo"（明星）also has their Xmas issues. Kinda wonder what the magazine looks like now.

As with any town or city in many parts of the world, there is plenty of Christmas illumination and other decorations adorning the streets. One place that I've enjoyed viewing is actually a little north of us here. It's called Unionville and during the Holidays, it gussies itself up into basically the ideal Christmas town as you can see from the video by Intuitive Imprints. Heck, watching this, I wouldn't mind pulling up stakes and moving over to the community myself although I think realistically one would need a car to get around.

Coincidentally, singer-actress Hiroko Yakushimaru（薬師丸ひろ子）was singing about the same thing basically when she recorded "Christmas Avenue". It is a track on her August 1985 2nd album "Yume Juuwa"（夢十話...10 Dreams） and I've already written about the album that I have on audiotape but at the time, "Christmas Avenue" wasn't up on YouTube apparently. Well, it's up here now and this time around, this whimsical J-Xmas number has nothing to do with partying or romantic wonders/breakups, it's just about Hiroko enjoying that pleasant walk down the (Unionville) street around the Holidays. Can't be beat.

Written by Minako Yoshida（吉田美奈子）, composed by Takao Kisugi（来生たかお）and arranged by Kazuo Shiina（椎名和夫）, "Christmas Avenue" is a pop song that has that hint of old-style variety show jazz standard within it. I could imagine if Hiroko had ever performed this on TV or stage, she would have been accompanied by a bunch of dancing folks in candy cane or penguin suits.

City City Pops by J-Canuck

 

Looks like KKP AI representative Kayo is having her fun behind the wheel of a sports car. Pretty impressive if you ask me, especially considering that she was born a couple of weeks ago. 

Anyways to make things clear, I wasn't stuttering when I came up with the above title. It's just that I had one of my rare brain waves about putting up a small and incomplete list of City Pop tunes that basically spell out the city. Y'know...it is a city so why not sing about that city?

 (New York City) Junko Yagami -- Purpletown (パープルタウン）You Oughta Know By Now (1980)

(New York City [though I like to think Tokyo]) Minako Yoshida -- TOWN (1982)

(Yokohama/Kobe/Nagasaki) Yasuha -- Fly-Day Chinatown (フライディ・チャイナタウン) (1981)

(Osaka) Masaki Ueda -- Osaka Bay Blues (1982)

(Tokyo) Masayuki Suzuki & Momoko Kikuchi -- Shibuya de Go-ji (渋谷で5時）(1994)

(Nagasaki) Masashi Sada -- Nagasaki-City Serenade （長崎小夜曲）(1982)

Yutaka Kimura Speaks ~ Japanese City Pop Masterpieces 100: Tatsuro Yamashita -- Circus Town

 

Number: 033

Lyricist: Minako Yoshida

Composer: Tatsuro Yamashita

Arranger: Charles Calello

From Yamashita's 1976 album "Circus Town"

A 16-beat number embellished with that gorgeous opening, "Circus Town" is a solo debut that should be commemorated. Written and composed with the city of New York in mind, it's a song that's associated with the hustle and bustle of the streets. Charles Calello, who had his finger on the pulse of the East Coast pop scene at the time, made a world which is the perfect textbook that combines the dynamism and sophistication that can only be found in the home of metropolitan sound.

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