Well, Jme, If We Can't Have Uta Con Because of the Beatles...

 

This week, we're not watching any "Uta Con"（うたコン）on NHK which was a bit weird because I swore that I'd seen "Uta Con" concierge Shosuke Tanihara（谷原章介）give out the lineup at the end of last week's episode for this week. And then, I figured something was up. Indeed, something was up...the number of non-Japanese songs being sung on the June 9th episode. Notably, the show's theme tonight was all about The Beatles, and this was confirmed by commenter Brian Mitchell in my last article yesterday. 

I've mentioned it before but our streaming provider of Japanese programming here in North America is Jme, and they've given us the heads-up on their website, but when it comes to the performance of American, British or any non-Japanese songs by Japanese artists in Japan, due to copyrights and all that legal stuff, they simply can't allow them to be heard. Usually, if it's one or two songs, Jme will put up the warning blurb at the top of the screen in Japanese and then mask the aural performance with Muzak although viewers can still see the singers doing the cover. However, when there's a whole bunch of foreign music played on a program, then Jme basically can't allow the episode to be shown. This has happened once before with "Uta Con" when the theme for that episode was Disney music.

This time, it's the Beatles. Not that I'm a huge fan of the Fab Four although there are several songs that I do like by Paul, John, Ringo and George, but it still gets rather annoying to have something that my family looks forward weekly get cancelled due to legal and money stuff (and personally, I did want to see Hiromi Iwasaki and Junko Yagami give their covers). Therefore, just off the top of my head, I've decided to put up some covers of the Beatles discography by Japanese singers...simply for the heck of it.

B'z -- Let It Be

Masayoshi Yamazaki -- All My Loving (and he's performing this in front of Sir Paul himself!)

Yellow Magic Orchestra -- Day Tripper

Mone Kamishiraishi -- Yesterday

Akiko Kanazawa -- Yellow Submarine Ondo（イエロー・サブマリン音頭）

Mone Kamishiraishi -- Seifuku (制服)

 

Well, since we are celebrating Seiko Matsuda's（松田聖子）birthday today, I figured another song associated with her (to join the previous article) wouldn't be a bad thing at all. And it's rather seasonal, to say the least.

Coincidentally (or not), I heard this particular song for the first time on Japan's Weathernews' "Weather Music" segment a few days ago and I thought it was the most adorable thing. I've known actress Mone Kamishiraishi（上白石萌音）for her appearances on TV although I've heard that she was also a very capable singer. Interestingly enough, back in June 2021, she released a couple of albums side-by-side titled "Ano Uta 1"（あの歌-1-...Those Songs） and "Ano Uta 2"（あの歌-2-）showing her love for the old kayo kyoku. "Ano Uta 1" covers her covers of 1970s pop songs while "Ano Uta 2" spotlights her versions of songs from the 1980s and 1990s.

From "Ano Uta 2" then is Kamishiraishi's cover of Seiko-chan's "Seifuku" (School Uniform), the B-side to her signature song and single, "Akai Sweet Pea" (赤いスイートピー）from January 1982. Created by lyricist Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）and composer Yumi Matsutoya（松任谷由実）under her stage name of Karuho Kureta（呉田軽穂）, the arrangement by Shin Kouno（河野伸）basically keeps to Masataka Matsutoya's（松任谷正隆）original style with perhaps a bit more embellishment in the classical strings. What's even neater is that Kamishiraishi's singing is very pure and outside of the aidoru realm...not to put Seiko-chan's vocals down any.

Just to reiterate from the original article for Seiko's "Seifuku", Matsumoto's lyrics describe a turning point in a high school couple's lives as the young man graduates from his small town alma mater so that his girlfriend realizes that he will no longer be sporting the uniform as he heads off to school in the big city. That would explain the photo of Kayo Grace and her beau at the top under the cherry blossoms. It is after all the graduation season now in Japan.