"Day" Songs

 

Being the usual lazy Hump Day, I'm going with a sequel to yesterday's "Night Songs" and presenting some "Day Songs".

(1981) Takao Kisugi -- Goodbye Day

(1981) Off Course -- Christmas Day

(1982) Motoharu Sano -- Someday

(1988) Hi-Fi Set -- Too hot day

(2001) Misia -- Sunny Day

Misia -- Love Never Dies

 

Well, I gotta say that as a Misia fan along with tons of other people, I was rather surprised and delighted to see the famed singer-songwriter show up on two NHK shows within as many nights. First off, she appeared on the morning information variety program "Asaichi"（あさイチ）as a guest on the Premium Talk segment and then earlier tonight, she was even one of the panelists on the popular "Chiko-chan" quiz show. And in both cases, she was talking up a storm. The "Asaichi" appearance alone was the most that I had ever seen her converse with anyone. 

My history with Misia has been long and has had its ups and downs. When I first heard about her in the late 1990s, I considered her to be one of the biggest vocal powerhouses and pioneers of J-R&B going into the turn of the century, mixing in soul, hip-hop and dance music into an intoxicating blend. Of course, she came through with some heartrending ballads and for a number of years, I lost touch with her because I just thought that she was overdoing it with the love songs. I also enjoyed her upbeat and danceworthy tunes, too.

Well, somebody has got to update the J-Wiki article for Misia's discography because the R&B diva has just released a new single in the last few days titled "Love Never Dies". Of course, she introduced it on "Asaichi" and one YouTube commenter noted that it sounds like some of her old dance stuff, and that person is right and doesn't mind at all. I certainly don't mind at all. Created by Toshiaki Matsumoto（松本俊明）and Misia, the above has gotten a remix by Eric Kupper.

A considerably shorter version of "Love Never Dies" is the soundtrack for the official music video starring the vivacious Naomi Watanabe（渡辺直美）in a Cinderella-esque role.

"Soundtrack" from "Otona no Wagamama Tabi"（大人のわがまま旅）

By Alix Lee
at Good Free Photos

by Maibaru Travel

I didn't think that I would write such an article but after having watched NHK's travelogue "Otona no Wagamama Tabi" (An Adult's Selfish Trip) last night, I was rather inspired by the "soundtrack" pushing things along. The city for last night's episode was Taipei, Taiwan, and unfortunately, I couldn't find any sign of anything of the NHK show but I figure that the network had done its usual search-and-destroy mission of any signs of unpermitted NHK coverage on YouTube. However, I've found a fine video by Maibaru Travel as you can see above. I've been to Taipei myself once and all I can say after watching the episodes is that I still have much to discover about the city, especially when it comes to its gastronomy.

Anyways, about that eclectic "soundtrack", and yes, I have put it in quotation marks because I'm fairly sure that NHK is not going to put out an actual soundtrack but I thought it was nice to hear some of the old songs, a few of which were instrumental covers while others were the real McCoy. Here is what I heard as the actor/model on "Otona no Wagamama Tabi" was touring and eating his way through Taipei. 

(1997) Yumi Yoshimura -- V.A.C.A.T.I.O.N.

(1986) Akiko Yano -- David

(1981) Eiichi Ohtaki -- FUN X 4

(1990) Kome Kome Club -- Roman Hiko (浪漫飛行）

(1978) Yellow Magic Orchestra -- Tong Poo（東風）

(1998) Misia -- Tsutsumikomuyouni （つつむ込むように）

Misia -- Shiawase wo Forever（幸せをフォーエバー）

 

The theme for today's "Uta Con"（うたコン）was weddings since June is known as the month for the celebratory event, so songs such as Kaela Kimura's（木村カエラ）"Butterfly" and Official Hige Dandism's（Official髭男dism）"Hyaku-juu-go-man Kilo no Film"（115万キロのフィルム）were featured. For those relative newlyweds who feel like tearing up a bit, feel free to pick up a tissue.😢

Although this particular song wasn't on the wedding song list on "Uta Con", I did find it on an online list of popular wedding-themed J-Pop tunes. Who better to signify the bonding of two people in matrimony than Misia with her 29th single "Shiawase wo Forever" (Happy Forever) from September 2013? Written by the singer and composed by Toshiaki Matsumoto（松本俊明）, it is a gentle and soulful tune with the touch of the gospel, and with Misia delivering another heartfelt love song, it's probably no wonder that "Shiawase wo Forever" has been a favourite at wedding receptions.

The official music video of a couple's relationship from meet cute to the exchange of wedding rings is chock-filled with celebrities, and that includes the bride and groom. Actress Kazue Fukuishi（吹石一恵）would get married to singer-songwriter/actor Masaharu Fukuyama（福山雅治）a couple of years later while former 80s aidoru and actor Noriyuki Higashiyama（東山紀之）had already gotten married to actress and TV personality Yoshino Kimura（木村佳乃）back in 2010. 

"Shiawase wo Forever" peaked at No. 26 on Oricon and it's a track on Misia's 11th original album "New Morning" which came out in April 2014. It was also used as the campaign song for the bridal magazine "Zexy".

Izumi Yukimura/Masashi Sada/Misia -- Niji ~ Singer（虹～Singer）

 

As has been the case for the past few years, I'm betting that R&B/pop singer Misia will be finishing up the Red Team's contributions to the annual Kohaku Utagassen in a couple of months' time. We should be hearing the announcement on the lineup in a few weeks.

When I first came across this song by her last night, looking at the thumbnail, I'd assumed that Misia contributed her song to the NHK children's song vignette program "Minna no Uta"（みんなのうた）. I failed to look at "the fine print" a little more closely as I now know that the name there is "Minna no Sada"（みんなのさだ...Everyone's Sada）. In other words, I was looking at the cover of singer-songwriter Masashi Sada's（さだまさし） tribute album to commemorate his 50th anniversary in the music industry. The album came out today. I wouldn't be surprised if "Niji ~ Hero"（虹～Hero...Rainbow ~ Hero） were the song that she will perform on December 31st on NHK since it's the type of soulful showstopper that she's done in past editions of the New Year's Eve special and it's been written and composed by Sada himself, someone who's made his presence known on the Kohaku as well.

It's happened often enough before and I'm glad that it has, but this particular song has taken me down the rabbit hole because it has a pretty long history. So, allow me to go back. Misia's "Niji ~ Hero" was originally known as "Niji ~ Singer" (Rainbow ~ Singer) and a recorded orchestral version of the song performed by Sada himself was placed onto his June 2013 BEST compilation "Appare ~ All-Time Best"（天晴〜オールタイム・ベスト〜...Clear Sky）. Not surprisingly, his version is the type that can wrench tears out of a slab of granite. From what I've read on J-Wiki though is that an earlier version of Sada's performance first appeared on his multi-disc April 1994 live album "Nochi no Omoi ni"（のちのおもひに...For Later Memories）.

However, Sada had created "Niji ~ Singer" for veteran singer-actress Izumi Yukimura（雪村いづみ）to commemorate her 40th anniversary in show business back in 1994. With a similarly epic orchestra backing her up, it was the title track for her own April album "I'm a Singer". The arrangement is probably reminiscent of those appearances of pop singers back in Yukimura's early days as a teen on the televised music-variety shows such as "Yume de Aimashou"（夢で逢いましょう...Let's Meet In Our Dreams）, musicals back then, or even the early editions of the Kohaku Utagassen on which she appeared ten times up to 1989.

The Works of Nobuyuki Shimizu（清水信之）, Part 2

 

Last Wednesday, I posted "The Works of Nobuyuki Shimizu"（清水信之）, Part 1 to pay tribute to this veteran musician and arranger. There were a lot of notable works so I'm going into a Part 2.

(1980) Mariya Takeuchi -- Fushigi na Peach Pie （不思議なピーチ・パイ）

Although his arrangement of EPO's cover of "Downtown" may be seen as his first work, he was also quite busy crafting Mariya Takeuchi's（竹内まりや）"Fushigi na Peach Pie" in the same year. As far as I and J-Wiki know, this song was the only Mariya tune that he helped on, but in doing so, he helped in cementing her early career as one of giving tribute to the girl pop of the 1960s.

(1987) Yoshitaka Minami -- Video City

As noted in Part 1, Shimizu did like his City Pop and that was also the case with Yoshitaka Minami's（南佳孝）"Video City". I've usually seen Minami as the ballad crooner so it was surprising to hear this modern contemporary pop equivalent of taking that spree through the wonders of metropolitan living. Shimizu pretty much threw the mix of consumerism and Bubble Era out there.

(1988) Junko Ohashi -- Nemurenai Diamond (眠れないダイアモンド）

Shimizu may have made Minami's "Video City" a welcome to the tourists coming to Tokyo, but his work on Junko Ohashi's（大橋純子）scintillating "Nemurenai Diamond" is an urban odyssey for the well-heeled and well-to-do on a Friday night when all things were possible and payable. This is one of the prime examples for the caviar-and-champagne wing of City Pop.

(1984) Chika Takami -- Kuchibiru Nude （くちびるヌード）

The aidoru genre also had Shimizu helping out. One example is Chika Takami's（高見知佳）"Kuchibiru Nude" from 1984 which was used as a commercial jingle for Shiseido. J-Wiki doesn't mention whether the arranger had done a lot of jingle production for companies, but he certainly made a catchy one for the famed cosmetics producer. With EPO composing the tune, "Kuchibiru Nude" has the EPO-tastic feeling along with the jangly vibe that I often associated Shimizu with in the early 1980s.

(1992) Eri Hiramatsu -- Heya to Y-Shatsu to Watashi （部屋とＹシャツと私）

Eri Hiramatsu（平松愛理）and Shimizu had been married to each other for about eleven years from the 1990s into the 2000s. Just before the relationship got very personal though, the latter had helped arrange the former's trademark tune as a slow and adorable waltz about the family life. 

(2001) Misia -- Sunny Day

Before my Labels for this tribute get completely stuffed, I'd also like to mention that Shimizu arranged a few of Misia's songs including the very catchy "Sunny Day". There's something contemporary and yet old-school about this one which suits me just fine. A melodic strut down the street on a sunny Sunday is how I would describe it. From EPO to Misia...that is quite the range, and of course, there are many other works that are listed in the Shimizu file on KKP. 

Misia -- We Are The Music

 

I swear that the young lady in the middle of that busking band in Nakano looks a lot like an old classmate of mine. But I've never heard of her ever taking up any musical instrument let alone a banjo so it's most likely not her. 😏

Usually I can always rely on singer-songwriter Misia to come up with something to blow away the blues with her own rhythm and blues although there was a time in the early 2000s when I wasn't paying too much attention to her material since she seemed to only record introspective ballads. I did like her uptempo stuff, too.

And so it goes with "We Are The Music", a track from her 7th original album, the No. 2-ranking "Ascension", from February 2007. It brings back her happy-go-lucky disco feelings and the overall good vibes are almost downright Xmas-y. There's a bit of the song that reminds me of a really uptempo version of one of her most famous hits, "Everything", and that's not surprising since the melody was composed by Toshiaki Matsumoto（松本俊明）, the same fellow behind "Everything". Misia provided the lyrics while Seikou Nagaoka（長岡成貢）arranged "We Are The Music". Nagaoka was also behind the soundtrack for the original OVA for "Shinpi no Sekai El-Hazard"（神秘の世界エルハザード）more than a decade prior.

Misia -- Ultra X'mas

 

Welcome to December and we're just 24 days away from Christmas. 

OK...I have to admit seeing the thumbnail of this CD coated in a picture of chanteuse Misia standing in front of a battery of Ultramen in tuxedos caught me rather unawares. Misia is one of the premier singers in Japan and I think that she can blast the windows out of any performance hall with her own renditions of the Yuletide songs (including a song that probably wasn't officially an Xmas tune but I consider it as one). But I never thought that she would be collaborating with the heroic citizens of the M78 Nebula.

And yet, that's what she did for her "Ultra X'mas", the coupling song to "Hoshi no you ni..."（星のように…Like A Star）, her December 2009 single which was the theme song for one of the many "Ultraman"（ウルトラマン）movies, "Daikaijū Battle Ultra Ginga Densetsu"（大怪獣バトル ウルトラ銀河伝説...Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy） that came out in the same month. For "Ultra X'mas" (which sounds like a B'z title), it's a short and sweet ukulele ditty about the Yuletide written by Misia and Hinata with composition by JP. For those who love the anime "Shirokuma Café"（しろくまカフェ）, JP is the fellow who came up with the first opening theme for the show, "Boku ni Invitation"（ボクにインビテーション）. 

If I haven't already done so, I'm gonna have to put up an article about that theme song, "Hoshi no you ni...". But for those "Ultraman" fans, feel free to place that colour timer at the top of the Xmas tree and adorn it with plenty of Eye Sluggers. Also, "Ultra X'mas" can also be found on Misia's November 2020 Xmas album "So Special Christmas".

Misia -- Namida no Present（涙のプレゼント）

 Too bad about the breakup but some really fine music.

Groovy and cool are the words that I would use to describe "Namida no Present" (A Present of Tears), a track on Misia's 12th single, "Kokoro Hitotsu"（心ひとつ...One Heart） which saw the light of day in August 2003. With the singer providing lyrics and Shiro Sagisu（鷺巣詩郎）behind music and arrangement, as can be guessed from the title, it's the story of the end of a romance at some café, all tied up in a bow with a final present from the guy. I definitely do not want to be the wait staff servicing that table. Really awkward.

However as I said right off the top, that is some really nice melody by Sagisu flowing through my ears. There is elegance, soul, an urbane tone, a steady rhythm and even a touch of humour at the beginning as if "Namida no Present" were the theme song for a Tokyo-based rom-com that begins with the tabletop breakup that needed to be done to launch the plot. Misia's songs have been used as theme songs before but there's no sign that this particular one was used in that manner.

As for "Kokoro Hitotsu", it peaked at No. 7 on Oricon and earned a Gold standing. According to J-Wiki, the single was recorded in London. Hopefully, the breakup was done over high tea. I do love those scones with the clotted cream.😁

Misia -- Welcome One

 

Last Saturday, there was a special on NHK via TV Japan called "Live Yell" which I'd assumed was yet another retrospective on that popular morning serial "Yell" which had aired for a good chunk of last year on the national broadcaster. I kinda rolled my eyes since though I knew how much folks loved the program but I felt that it was time to let it go and move on.

But actually I was mistaken. "Live Yell" is the second annual music-based special that was first aired last year as a means to cheer up the nation during this pandemic. Basically it's the summer version of the New Year's Eve Kohaku Utagassen which itself had been established decades ago to also lift people's spirits up during the first uncertain years of Japan's recovery from World War II. Even the hosts, comedian Teruyoshi Uchimura（内村光良）and NHK announcer Maho Kuwako（桑子真帆）, were straight from the Kohaku. This year's edition may have been even more needed perhaps since it isn't just about COVID, as really bad as it is now, but also about the torrential rains and floods that have been damaging parts of Japan.

The first up to bat was the marvelous Misia who had not only performed Japan's national anthem at the Opening Ceremonies of the Tokyo Olympics a few weeks ago but also what I gather was the welcoming song for everyone in the stadium. Misia indeed performed that latter song, "Welcome One", which is her 50th single released in April this year.

"Welcome One" isn't Misia's first Olympic-related contribution. Back in 2002, she provided NHK's official theme song for its coverage of the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, the epic power ballad "Hatenaku Tsuzuku Story" （果てなく続くストーリー）. With "Welcome One", though, it is more of her earlier disco music mixed with some Disney cheer.

Written by Misia & Kelli Smith and composed by Minoru Komorita（小森田実）& Liantian, "Welcome One" doesn't have quite the affecting impact for me as "Hatenaku Tsuzuku Story" did, but it's still a fun and positive Misia number that would have been very welcoming for the tourists and athletes alike if they'd been able to tour through the megalopolis of Tokyo. I'm hoping that they will come back soon enough. One last point of trivia is that "Welcome One" hadn't started out as the Olympic welcome song; it was actually the campaign tune for the Japan Racing Association.

Misia -- Little Rose

 

Well, happy to say that I finally got my second shot of the vaccine earlier this afternoon, and despite a sudden major cloudburst, everything went amazingly smoothly. In fact, I received my vaccination so quickly that I was actually out of the community centre at the same time that I was supposed to have arrived there. So far, so good about any potential side effects, though. I don't even have a sore arm but I'm knocking on wood rather fiercely as I type this.

From Wikipedia

Years ago in high school, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's "The Little Prince" was required reading in French class so of course, we knew it as "Le Petit Prince". As one of the most famous literary examples of the observation of the human condition, I'd heard that depending on the age of the reader, that reader will gain different insights about the plight of Man. However in all honesty, although I remember that I did read the book, there is very little else that I remember in terms of the contents; in fact, I had to look up the Wikipedia article on "The Little Prince" to check its contents. Perhaps in my middle age, I should give Saint-Exupéry's magnum opus another go but I have to admit that I was never all that much of an appreciative bibliophile. Still, there might be something in the book that might have a connection with what we've all been through over the past year and change.

From what I've read on Wikipedia, "The Little Prince" is a rather somber story so it was with some surprise that I discovered J-R&B songbird Misia's "Little Rose" which was inspired by the 1943 novella. Written and composed by the singer, this track from her 5th original album "MARS & ROSES" from February 2004 is quite the uptempo and cheerful song with plenty of beats, and as the title hints, it's about the prince falling in love with that rose from the story itself. I can only hope that the story in "Little Rose" ends much more on a certain and happier note.

Certainly at the time that "MARS & ROSES" was released, I had been starting to think that Misia was only aiming to put out the melancholy ballads so to realize that there was something like "Little Rose" among the love songs is nice to know. As for the album, it peaked at No. 3 on Oricon and ended up as the 58th-ranked album for 2004.

Misia -- Ashita e（明日へ）

 

There isn't a separate J-Wiki article for Misia's song "Ashita e" (Toward Tomorrow), a track on her April 2011 10th studio album "Soul Quest", but Wikipedia does have an English-language article on the song.

"Ashita e" was created by the singer and Toshiaki Matsumoto（松本俊明）as a song of support and hope after the March 11th 2011 Tohoku Earthquake which had occurred several weeks earlier. As usual, her voice and the arrangements by Matsumoto (who was also on the piano and synthesizer) hit "Ashita e" out of the park, and perhaps on second thought, there is really no need to put up anything huge on the online encyclopedia or here. Just listening to the song is nourishment enough. However, I will add that Misia made her first appearance on the Kohaku Utagassen on NHK with this song at the end of 2012. "Soul Quest" itself peaked at No. 7 on Oricon.

Misia feat. Hide from GReeeeN -- Ai no Katachi（アイノカタチ）

 

Continuing a bit from my comments on the 71st annual Kohaku Utagassen which was broadcast last Thursday, I've noticed that there has also been a gradual shift of customs in the format. It used to be the thing that the final participants of the Red and White teams just before the votes are tallied to decide the winning team were veteran enka singers. But with the decrease in the representation of the genre within the show over the past several years, although enka singers still can and do come on, having folks like Sayuri Ishikawa（石川さゆり）and Hiroshi Itsuki（五木ひろし）wrap things up is no longer a guarantee, and of course, Saburo Kitajima（北島三郎）retired from the Red-and-White Song Festival a few years ago.

Indeed for the 71st edition, actor/singer Masaharu Fukuyama（福山雅治）actually ended up finishing for the White team at NHK Hall itself instead of his usual remote appearances during his own New Year's Eve concerts. And then finally, Misia completed the performances for the Red team.

I gather that I was probably eating breakfast or simply not paying attention in 2018 and 2019 since Misia sang "Ai no Katachi" (Shape of Love) near the end of those editions. However, I did keep my ears and eyes peeled this time around for the 2020 edition as she sang the song for the third year in a row. 

"Ai no Katachi" was actually Misia's 35th single released in August 2018 to commemorate the singer-songwriter's 20th anniversary since releasing her debut single (good heavens...it's been that long...the lady hasn't aged a day). Plus, this was in collaboration with the band GReeeeN who took care of words and music; the band also had their major contribution earlier in the show. The group's Hide assisted on backing vocals.

Should have given myself a Gibbs slap upside the head for not paying more attention in 2018 and 2019 because "Ai no Katachi" is another tenderhearted marvelous ballad by the singer. In fact, I could imagine that a number of tears were shed when she performed this one at the end of the Kohaku. What can anyone say about that golden voice of hers? 

In addition to its No. 15 ranking on Oricon, "Ai no Katachi" hit No. 1 on Oricon's digital download charts and earned Misia a Best Vocal Performance Award at the Japan Record Awards for 2018 as it went Double Platinum. It's also available on her 13th studio album from the same year "Life is going on and on". According to J-Wiki, in terms of sales, it ranks up there with another hit ballad of hers, "Everything" from 2000. And like that classic, "Ai no Katachi" was also used as a theme for a TV drama "Gibo to Musume Blues"（義母と娘のブルース...Foster Mother & Daughter Blues） on TBS.

GReeeeN performed a cover of "Ai no Katachi" which was recorded onto their 9th studio album, logically titled "Dai Ku"（第九...Number Nine） from September 2019. That album hit No. 8 on the Oricon weeklies. As much as the original sung by Misia sounds wonderfully Misia-esque, this version by GReeeeN sounds perfectly GReeeeN-esque.

Misia -- Amazing Life

Just caught an episode of NHK's "Darwin ga Kita! - Ikimono Shin Densetsu"（ダーウィンが来た! 〜生きもの新伝説〜...Darwin Has Come! New Legends of the Animals） less than an hour ago on TV Japan. The episode focused on the seemingly loopy Lawe's parotia of New Guinea which really needs to put on a show to attract a mate, including the magical appearance of a happy face from its own plumage.

But of course, this isn't a bird blog...it is indeed a kayo/J-Pop one. So I wanted to bring your attention to the relatively new theme song for "Darwin ga Kita!". Since around April, the new tune to replace Ayaka Hirahara's（平原綾香）long-running "Smile Smile" is "Amazing Life" by amazing singer Misia.

A mellow R&B-flavoured ballad of inspiration for the animal kingdom, I've been entranced by Misia's latest from her December 2018 album "Life is going on and on". There's that mix of orchestral strings and gospel soul in there that is pure Misia. If it weren't for the fact that it's already been spoken for by NHK, it probably could have ended up on the Japanese editions for the upcoming new version of "The Lion King". Misia took care of the lyrics while Hidekazu Uchiike（内池秀和）, the same composer for "Smile Smile", provided the new melody.

My Heisei by J-Canuck

As I write this, Japan is now in the last 24 hours of the Heisei Era, a period of time that I was happy to have spent much of in Gunma and then Tokyo/Chiba. Of course, being the sentimental and nostalgic guy I am, I've decided to put out a small list of the singers and bands which fairly screamed "HEISEI" to me. I'm not going to so much highlight any particular songs but rather put them up as representatives in this Author's Picks this time around...just the artists themselves. Moreover, this is a personal list; I'm not basing this on Oricon charts and numbers of albums sold. It's all about the affection for certain folks that hit the big time during this time, and to be honest, my picks will mostly be in the 1990s.

1. Wink

"Samishii Nettaigyo" was a title that I couldn't remember or say at all even though this was a Wink single that had just gone gangbusters when it was released in July 1989, a few weeks before my arrival in Gunma Prefecture to teach at the junior high schools there. All I could say was "that WINK song"! With expressions and movements reminiscent of porcelain dolls, Sachiko Suzuki and Shoko Aida struck me as being the anti-aidoru: no smiling and no skipping around. Their time at the top was relatively brief but boy, did they pack their hits in.

2. B'z

As I mentioned in the actual article for "Bad Communication", this was the song that woke me up during my mornings in the first year of my Gunma stay because of Rie Miyazawa in those computer commercials. Takahiro Matsumoto and Koshi Inaba did it fun and did it loud and have continued to do so right to the end of Heisei with other rockers such as "Be There" and "Love Phantom". I always wondered which would win the ultimate battle between Inaba's voice and Matsumoto's guitar.

3. Kazumasa Oda

(covered by Chris Hart)

Still awfully hard to find any of his original solo songs on YouTube but that hasn't deterred me to include the former member of Off-Course on the list since this was an artist who managed to come up with his own sound separate from the one that he and his bandmates created back in the 70s and 80s. "Love Story wa Totsuzen ni" was just one example of how he put together those synthesizers and those other instruments to come up with tunes for himself and other singers that would put him up as an urban contemporary balladeer in the last decade of the 20th century.

4. Namie Amuro

I guess for a lot of people that when Namie Amuro announced her retirement from the music business a couple of years ago, they figured that the Heisei Era really was heading for its end. She was one of the first singers that I heard on landing at Narita to start my second stint as an English teacher, this time in Tokyo. She wasn't just dynamic, she was a dynamo! Dancing, singing, showing off her fashion, Amuro started off a pop cultural trend all her own for a few years and I think she was one of the factors in the Komuro Boom that took over J-Pop for the middle years in the 90s. In fact, I still remember being in an Ikebukuro game centre one Saturday night and while my friend was doing his games, I was in a music video capsule watching her "a walk in the park".

5. Ayumi Hamasaki

I wasn't ever a huge fan of Ayumi Hamasaki but as much as Amuro had taken the Japanese pop world by storm around the middle of the 1990s, Hamasaki carved her huge slice of the pop culture pie by the end of that decade and into the new century. There isn't too much exaggeration involved here when I say that ads plugging her next big single and her appearances on "Countdown TV" were basically everywhere.

6. Dreams Come True

This was another band that was making its mark especially in the early 1990s. When I saw that "Music Station" episode on my host family's TV back in 1989 and Dreams Come True make that introduction with a beaming ear-to-ear Miwa Yoshida declaring herself in English, I felt that there was a seismic shift in pop music. I had equated Dreams Come True as a Japanese version of Swingout Sister but that wasn't quite accurate. They also had their own unique voice of sunny uptempo songs and heartbreak ballads.

7. Sing Like Talking

These guys may not have become hugely known on television per se, but I am so glad that I found out about Chikuzen Sato's amazing band and purely by mistaken identity. Cool and urban with plenty of soul, Sing Like Talking was a group that I had thought was another band whose name and output have largely disappeared from my memory. SLT, on the other hand, has stuck with me all these years and I've got a number of their albums to show for it.

8. Misia 

It was through the above video that I first got to know Misia. She among a few others symbolized my opinion that good ol' soul was coming back into Japanese popular music for a while from the late 90s, and that voice of hers was just incredible. One of my wishes that she will participate in the Opening Ceremonies for next year's Olympics...preferably to do a cover of Minako Yoshida's "TOWN".

9. Morning Musume

Just when I thought that the concept of female aidoru had gone onto the pop culture heap of history, Tsunku from Sharam Q took this group of runners-up in a television show singing contest and molded them into the core for Hello! Project. Morning Musume had some successes in their early years, but "Love Machine" in 1999 was the booster rocket that sent them soaring, and for a few years, the hits and the TV shows and the new members kept rolling in. It might be all about the alphabet teams now but for me and some of my contemporaries, Morning Musume was our beloved girl group.

10. SMAP

As was the case with Hamasaki, I was never a dedicated fan of SMAP's music although I did buy a few of their singles such as "Celery" and the super-catchy "Shake". But again, for many years, it just seemed that every one of their songs was destined to reach the top of the Oricon charts or at least hover in the Top 10 for several weeks. It didn't hurt either that all of the members achieved fame in other facets of mass media as well through dramas, variety shows, specials and commercials. I did enjoy my "Bistro SMAP", and wouldn't it have been something if it had still stayed on the air to host The Avengers?

My list is not a complete one by any means but I did want to keep things at 10, and obviously any music memories that you might have of the Heisei Era may be vastly different from mine. So I offer the invitation to commenters and fellow contributors alike...if you have your own Heisei list, by all means, let us know! Meanwhile, let's get ready for Reiwa.

The Works of David Foster

In Toronto, there is a 24-hour news station called CP24, and on the morning show yesterday there, the one-and-only David Foster, Canadian musician, songwriter and arranger, appeared to announce his upcoming concert tour. The interview ended a bit awkwardly since the reporter, a person that I do enjoy usually, asked a question that really didn't go anywhere with Foster, but otherwise, it was good hearing from him.

The first time I had heard about Foster was in the 1980s as a university student when he came up with a couple of famous instrumental tunes, one being the love theme from the Brat Pack classic "St. Elmo's Fire" and the boisterous "Winter Games", the theme for the 1988 Calgary Olympics. But as time went on, I found out that he'd contributed his talents to a number of other acts including Chicago, Earth Wind & Fire and Boz Scaggs and subsequently he's also helped on works by Josh Groban, Nelly Furtado and Michael Buble.

I only heard very recently that he had been involved in a musical partnership with Jay Graydon in the duo Airplay (earlier in the 1970s, Foster was the keyboardist in the band Skylark), which came up with one of my new earworms "Nothin' You Can Do About It" from 1980. It had originally been recorded by The Manhattan Transfer the year before. And yes, I did buy "Airplay" lickety-split!

1. Mariya Takeuchi -- Secret Love (1980)

But of course, the title of this blog is "Kayo Kyoku Plus", and not "North American Pop Plus", so on seeing Foster show up as genki as ever on the telly yesterday, I figured that perhaps I could give a summary of his contributions to a few of the Japanese artists over the past few decades. This article will actually become the 10th under the David Foster label which goes to show how much he's contributed.

Moreover, I would like to emphasize that this is more of a summary since the majority of what I'm going to introduce here has already been covered in previous articles. For example, "Secret Love" by Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）has its own article (in fact, there are two articles by me on the same song because of my forgetfulness...but hey, I like being whimsical!) as well as its originating album "Miss M", a Mariya release so AOR/City Pop, I was bleeding Perrier! In fact, the thumbnail photo at the top is from the booklet for this particular album with Airplay and Chicago band member Bill Champlin. As I've mentioned in both articles, Airplay and Marc Jordan were behind the creation of the song and were also instrumental as backing vocals and musicians.


2. Junko Yagami -- Purpletown (1980)

Foster was also responsible (partially...somewhat?...read the 2016 update in the original article) for one of my favourites by Yagami（八神純子）. It may have been about New York City but it still resonates with me as a classic City Pop number.

3. Ami Ozaki -- Wanderer In Love (1981)

A track on Ami Ozaki's（尾崎亜美）May 1981 album "Hot Baby", this time it was Foster and members of TOTO helping out on this synthesis of Ozaki and West Coast AOR. Loved it enough that I pulled the trigger on the credit card to get the album.

4. Naoko Kawai & David Foster -- Live Inside Your Love (1984)

As I mentioned in the original article, it was with some surprise that this really smooth and mellow mid-tempo number welcomed me since Foster was performing a duet with a bona fide Japanese aidoru of the 1980s in Naoko Kawai（河合奈保子）. However, coming across "Live Inside Your Love" for the first time many many years since it had been first recorded, I realized that Foster was wise since Kawai, for me, had one of the strongest vocals among the aidoru from the early 1980s. Listening to this one, I just went "Ahhhhh....summer!"

5. Seiko Matsuda -- Blue (1988)

This is the first time that "Blue", the opening track for Seiko Matsuda's（松田聖子）15th album, "Citron" is being showcased here on KKP but since I've already got its trackmate "Daite..."（抱いて…）on tap, I decided to go with this other Foster creation. The song was composed by Foster, Tom Keane and Michael Landau with Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）providing the lyrics. Y'know...it's been years since I've listened to "Citron", so hearing "Blue" in one way has been a new experience all over again. It's got a bit more West Coast drama, and according to the J-Wiki article on the album, this was seen as the opening salvo in the emergence of Matsuda the mature pop singer rather than Seiko-chan the aidoru. I'm not quite sure if I would agree totally with that since I think that she's recorded previous songs that took things above the aidoru/pop line, but "Blue" definitely has that pop touch from another world.

6. Katharine McPhee -- I Will Be There With You (2008)

I discovered last night that over a decade ago, Foster had created a campaign song for Japan Air Lines titled "I Will Be There With You" in 2008 with actress-singer Katharine McPhee behind the microphone. Incidentally, McPhee became engaged to Foster in June 2018.

7. Misia -- Life In Harmony (2010)

A couple of years later in 2010, Foster arranged a digital download single recorded by Misia titled "Life In Harmony". Written by the singer and composed by yellowRobato, listening to it, I just remarked that Foster and Misia should collaborate with each other more often. From the interview below, it certainly looked promising. "Life In Harmony" was also a track on her 10th original album, "Soul Quest", released in July 2011 which peaked at No. 7 on Oricon.

8. James Ingram -- Whatever We Imagine (1983)

I'd like to leave off with one more Foster creation along with songwriters Paul Gordon and Jeremy Lubbock since "Whatever We Imagine" by the late James Ingram was a song that I enjoyed hearing over the radio back in high school. It's magical and very Foster.

J-Canuck's 90s Playlist

Yup, don't those 90s CD singles look cute? If I were at one of my old music store haunts such as RECOfan right now, they would probably be going for something like 50 yen a disc. Would like to peruse the bins again someday.

Good evening, folks! And in commemoration of the 7th anniversary of "Kayo Kyoku Plus", I would like to put out my 90s playlist...those go-to songs from the decade of the Komuro Boom, guitar pop/rock bands and the return of aidoru via Hello Project. I think it was about time since it was at the end of 2013 that I put out the 80s playlist and the middle of 2014 when the 70s playlist got written up. So it's been about 4.5 years between the last time and this list. Also, another reason for finally putting up the 90s list is that I was inspired by Noelle herself putting up her 60s playlist.

As with those lists, I searched the old memories for my favourite Top 10 from the 1990s, and once again, it was another lip-biting and mind-grimacing process of whittling down the list to just ten entries. So, for example, I had to sadly let go entries by Dreams Come True, Pizzicato Five and Original Love. The interesting difference between this list and the other two lists is that for a lot of the songs here, I was actually in Japan when they first saw the light of day due to my time on the JET Programme and then my early years as an inhabitant in Ichikawa.

So, without further ado...

1. Kazumasa Oda -- Love Story wa Totsuzen ni (1991): Finding the Kazumasa Oda（小田和正）original is currently impossible (as it usually is) although there are plenty of covers, so let me go with Miku Hatsune（初音ミク）here. I realize that this hit was going up against Chage & Aska's "Say Yes", but in the end, I had to go with this magnum opus by the lead singer of Off-Course（オフコース）. What is it about "Love Story wa Totsuzen ni"（ラブ・ストーリーは突然にー）that still continues to thrill me right from the intro? It just seems to possess that feeling of excitement and drama of living in one of the world's biggest cities as these complicated love relationships play out on Fuji-TV.

2. Noriyuki Makihara -- Donna Toki mo (1991): From the drama of "Love Story wa Totsuzen ni" in the early months, I encountered the happy joy of Makihara's（槇原敬之）"Donna Toki mo"（どんなときも）just when I finished my time on JET and did a final trip around southwestern Japan. I was so drawn by this song that whenever I got into a department store, I made sure that I coursed through every CD shop to track the single down. I finally got it after a few tries. Yeah, my first attempts only saw it sold out.

3. trf -- Boy Meets Girl (1994): I had heard of this technopop tune even before I made my return trip to Japan at the end of 1994. Never heard of trf, never knew about Tetsuya Komuro（小室哲哉）creating his huge steamroller of acts and never realized that "Boy Meets Girl" was meant to sell cola. All I did know was that this song was percolating through my head for days. It ended up being one of the first CD singles that I bought during my Ichikawa life.

4. Sing Like Talking -- Mitsumeru Ai de (1994): And to think that I bought my first SLT album, "Discovery", as a pure mistake. Best mistake that I ever committed. Thus started my happy hunt to get more of their albums, and from "Discovery", I discovered the urban and urbane "Mitsumeru Ai de"（みつめる愛で）created by Chikuzen Sato（佐藤竹善）and keyboardist Satoru Shionoya（塩谷哲）. To be honest, it was difficult to come up with a song by Sing Like Talking since the band has had so many scrumptious contributions but "Together" has already been put up on a couple of lists, and it was time to give some more love to this one.

5. Namie Amuro -- Chase The Chance (1995): Granted that a lot of Amuro（安室奈美恵）fans will probably go with other bigger hits by the just-retired Okinawan singer, but I've always gravitated to "Chase The Chance" for some reason. I guess that I will always be attracted to high-energy tunes that give off that sense of action although this song was used as the theme for a show about a crusading hero chef. Those were good times.

6. B'z -- Love Phantom (1995): For me, if it comes to a B'z ultimate favourite, I would have to go with either "Bad Communication" or "Love Phantom". Considering that this was a promotion song for TV Asahi's broadcast of "The X-Files" (which I did watch on my remote-less, dial-only TV every Wednesday night), this may go down as the quintessential cool J-Halloween song. I can no longer listen to this song without images of Mulder, Scully and Fluke Man forming in my head.

7. Toko Furuuchi -- Dare Yori Suki Nanoni (1996): Another beautiful ballad to remind me that some soul music still existed since the transition from kayo kyoku to J-Pop. Whenever I think of the 90s brand of popular Japanese music, "Dare Yori Suki Nanoni"（誰より好きなのに）never fails to pop up in the head. The arrangement of Furuuchi's（古内東子）representative song also has me thinking back to the 1980s. It's no surprise that it has been covered by other singers since its release.

8. Maki Ohguro -- Atsukunare (1996): As much as one of my favourite songs by Furuuchi always calms me down, Maki Ohguro's（大黒摩季）"Atsukunare"（熱くなれ）works very well in getting my blood flowing at beyond the official speed limit. In fact, I'm typing faster (and making more typos) since I'm listening to it as I get this paragraph down. NHK chose wisely in adopting this for the 1996 Games in Atlanta, and I can hope that the network can find a song that ups the ante in excitement for the 2020 Games next year.

9. Misia -- Tsutsumikomuyouni (1998): Man, did Misia make a splash. Along with Hikaru Utada（宇多田ヒカル）and bird, the three of them along with some other artists heralded a J-R&B boom, and Misia brought some good old-fashioned R&B of years past and present. "Tsutsumikomuyouni"（つつむ込むように）is still a title that has problems sticking in my head due to its length and pronunciation, but there is no doubt about the music there.

10. Morning Musume -- Love Machine (1999): At the beginning of the 1990s, I do remember aidoru acts such as Wink and CoCo, but then it seemed like the whole teenybopper thing that wound its way through the decades since the 1960s finally petered out. For a lot of my time in the final decade of the 20th century in Japan, female aidoru struck me as being extinct although Johnny's Entertainment had SMAP and other groups going on the male side of things. But then came the whole Tsunku-led Hello Project umbrella of aidoru groups and individual aidoru, and it all started with Morning Musume（モーニング娘。）. Things were moving slowly but steadily in the early years of the group but then it all exploded into super fame and popularity with "Love Machine"（LOVEマシーン）, and soon, the various members were showing up on their own myriad TV programs for a few years before more groups started forming. "Love Machine" became the funky choice to sing at the various karaoke boxes and year-end parties before the turn of the century, and Morning Musume took a new electrifying direction in their career.

Man, that was quite the decade, and there were so many other songs and singers that I would have loved to have included in the list, but I'm keeping it to ten. However, if any of the fellow collaborators would like to give their own 90s lists, they're more than welcome and commenters are also very welcome to provide their own contributions.

Misia -- Rhythm Reflection

"Rhythm Reflection" is the first full track on Misia's marvelous 3rd album "Marvelous" from April 2001. I've already devoted an article to the album and there are plenty of great tracks there. In fact, there are so many great tracks on "Marvelous" that I think "Rhythm Reflection" kinda pales in comparison.

It isn't a bad song by any means. After all, it was written by Misia herself and Sakoshin took care of the music. It's just that the mix of post-disco, R&B and maybe hip-pop hasn't really settled with me as well when compared to some of the other tracks such as "Sunny Day" and "Everything".

However, I remember the title and the music video. There's a lot of that "Matrix" dystopia in there mixed in with a wolfman and some yuru characters. Plus, Misia looks great, and somehow that futuristic environment works well with her.

Misia -- The Glory Day

Years ago, I heard that R&B singer Misia had been inspired to enter a music career because of the musical "Mama, I Want to Sing!". I saw the commercial advertising it on TV years before that and saw one of the cast belting out the title song as a soaring gospel tune.

So I wonder if "The Glory Day", which was the gospel-influenced title track on her 1st mini-album from November 1998, was a tribute to that musical that so inspired Misia. Rousing and yep, I'm using that word again, inspirational, if you are going through the blues in Japan, track down this album and put it into the player (or download it into your computer). Chances are that you won't stay blue for long.

Pretty much every song that I've put onto the blog by Misia is a home run out of Candlestick Park but with "The Glory Day", I think I got a peek into where the singer-songwriter's roots first emerged. Misia and musician MASH wrote the lyrics while Shiro Sagisu（鷺巣詩郎）composed and arranged the song. The mini-album peaked at No. 6 on the charts while it ended up as the 174th-ranked release for 1998. However, it rocketed up to No. 46 on the 1999 yearly rankings and went Double Platinum.

Misia -- Wasurenai Hibi （忘れない日々）

Oh good heavens! It's been almost a year since my last Misia article. Wonderful thing to have her back in the fold.

Buying her debut album "Mother Father Brother Sister" in the late 1990s, my impression was that there was a true talent in Misia but perhaps she was tapping those higher registers a bit too much in those tracks. However, with some more judicious usage of that sonic weapon, she could make a dramatic statement.

Her 4th single "Wasurenai Hibi" (The Unforgotten Days) actually was on her 2nd album from New Year's Day 2000, "LOVE IS THE MESSAGE" with the single itself coming out in November 1999. As they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder, so it's definitely nice to hear this one again. Actually, I used to hear this one quite often back in the day because it was used as a campaign song for Hitachi Maxell audiotapes (I guess they were still selling those back then).

Man, I do miss those soul ballads from back then. Misia came up with the lyrics about a lady asking her very-soon-to-be ex-boyfriend to hold her hand one more time and remember past days before the end of their relationship while Toshiaki Matsumoto（松本俊明）composed the lovely music. It may have signaled the end of a romance but "Wasurenai Hibi" couldn't get much more romantic. In all likelihood, folks in the audience had to grab a Kleenex or handkerchief before Misia finished her performance.

The single got as high as No. 4 on Oricon and ended the year as the 65th-ranked single for 2000 as it went Platinum. As for "LOVE IS THE MESSAGE", it went all the way to No. 1 on the weeklies and became the 4th-ranked album of the year, winning a Best Album prize at the Japan Record Awards and breaking the 2 million barrier in sales.