Nami Hirai -- Mada Yume dake no（まだ夢だけの）

 

The beginnings of the 1990s in Japan may have been the end of the high-flying Bubble era, but the City Pop music of that time was still very effective in giving that vibe of the good times, albeit in a more sophisticated pop sense.

Singer-songwriter Nami Hirai（平井菜水）is most likely not a household name in the Japanese music industry but she's just one of the unsung chanteuses who were keeping the luxury nights going in a melodic sense at least while the economy was finally coming down like a house of cards. One of the songs of hers that I have posted up in the past is her creamy but urbane "Kagayakitai kara"（輝きたいから）, her 2nd single from September 1991 and the final track on her debut album "Yume no Silhouette"（夢のシルエット）which was released a month later.

Another track from "Yume no Silhouette" is "Mada Yume dake no" (Still Just a Dream) which was written by Etsuko Kisugi（来生えつこ）and composed by Takao Kisugi（来生たかお）. The Kisugi siblings were known a decade prior for providing singers with some lush romantic ballads, but in the 1990s apparently, they could also come up with the City Pop creations, and in 1990, Takao (and Etsuko) got a hit with his urban classy "Yume yori Tooku e"（夢より遠くへ）. "Mada Yume dake no" is also another cool and contemporary city tune by him under Motoki Funayama's（船山基紀）arrangement. Those particular keyboards bring in a lot of nostalgia of that time.

Nami Hirai -- Shiroi Kasa（白い傘）

 

Back in 2018, I wrote a couple of articles on a singer by the name of Nami Hirai（平井菜水）from Nagasaki Prefecture who started releasing singles and albums right at the beginning of the 1990s. I'm not an expert on Hirai by any means but from what I've heard so far via "Kagayakitai kara"（輝きたいから）and "Tayumanai Yoru ni"（たゆまない夜に）, she seems to have delved into the urban contemporary. 

Additionally, from those two songs, the City Pop involved here has bumped borders with Mood Kayo and maybe even some Fashion Music. When it comes right down to it, those softer songs have struck me as what I have heard as the 1990s brand of the genre: something smoother and more elegant, belonging to the upscale hotel restaurants and penthouses of Tokyo.

However, this time around, Hirai's opening track from her June 1994 3rd (and final one to date) album "Cavendish no Oka to Kumo"（キャヴェンディッシの丘と雲...The Hills and Clouds of Cavendish）, "Shiroi Kasa" (White Umbrella), is a fair bit more uptempo but still very much in the urban contemporary category. The oomph behind "Shiroi Kasa" comes from the addition of that dance club beat, so the couple here may have decided to hit a disco for this Friday night. Pop-crooning singer-songwriter Takao Kisugi（来生たかお）had been responsible for the melodies of those first two songs that I've mentioned, but for this one (completed with a sax solo in the coda), it was City Pop stalwart Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）with Chihiro Sawa（沢ちひろ）in charge of the lyrics.

Nami Hirai -- Kagayakitai kara（輝きたいから）

I wrote about this singer, Nami Hirai（平井菜水）, in the beginning of this year, because I was entranced by her brand of elegant pop music which seemed to stretch over the pop, City Pop and Mood Kayo genres. Yep, as for that last genre for those who know the stuff from the 1960s, perhaps it's a bit too much of a stretch, but listening to her "Tayumanai Yoru ni"（たゆまない夜に）, I couldn't help but feel that there was that surrounding atmosphere of shining lights and bars such as would be found in the sophisticated Tokyo district of Akasaka.

For that same article, I also noted that a few of her singles (although not "Tayumanai Yoru ni", which wasn't even an official single) were used as the ending theme for the NTV variety show "Shitteiru Tsumori?!"（知ってるつもり?!）. Well, this song for this article is one of those singles. "Kagayakitai kara" (Because I Want to Shine) was her 2nd single from September 1991, and as with that other number I wrote about, it has that sheen of urban and urbane gentle elegance. However, I think that Mood Kayo element isn't quite as noticeable here alongside the other two genres when compared with "Tayumanai Yoru ni".

Sachiko Nishida（西田佐知子）was the lyricist here while veteran composer Takao Kisugi（来生たかお）came up with the dreamy night melody that could use with a glass of well-made sherry. I was surprised that "Kagayakitai kara" hadn't been chosen to adorn a commercial about jewelry or cigarettes instead. I mention the latter since all those Parliament cigarette ads often used those urban contemporary ballads. Anyways, this would be the song to decompress to after a long and fun night in Tokyo.

To finish my list of parallels, "Tayumanai Yoru ni" was the final track in Hirai's 2nd album "Te no Hira no Tanpenshuu"（てのひらの短編集）, and similarly, "Kagayakitai kara" turned out to be the last song in her debut album, "Yume no Silhouette"（夢のシルエット...Silhouette of a Dream）from October 1991.

For me, as much as the female rock bands and Shibuya-kei signified the early 1990s, I think this genre of classy urban music has also acted as a musical signpost for that time.

Nami Hirai -- Tayumanai Yoru ni（たゆまない夜に）

A good evening to you. In addition to those late 80s solo aidoru songs that I have been perusing recently, I've kept up searching for some more songs in the urban contemporary genre by singers that I've yet to learn about.

So I've found one intriguing song performed by such a singer. Nami Hirai（平井菜水）is a singer-songwriter from Nagasaki who won the grand prize at the Fukuoka Music Festival Big Contest in 1983 and later attended the Masaaki Hirao Music School. She made her debut in 1990 with the single "Mezame"（めざめ...Waking）that became the ending theme for the long-running TV variety show "Shitteiru Tsumori?!"（知ってるつもり?!...Do You Really Know About It ?!）on NTV. In fact, her next two singles also fulfilled the same role for the next couple of years.

However, the subject of this article is actually the final track for her 1993 2nd album "Te no Hira no Tanpenshuu"（てのひらの短編集...A Collection of Short Stories in the Palm of Your Hand）, quite the atmospheric title. "Tayumanai Yoru ni" (On This Unending Night) caught my notice since it seems to straddle a few genres at once through its arrangement. It can be considered to be a pop ballad but there is something of the city-at-night feeling to it which could also place it in a latter-day City Pop setting. At the same time, I can envision even some enka singers such as Sayuri Ishikawa（石川さゆり）and Aya Shimazu（島津亜矢）tackling this one as well so perhaps it may even be a Mood Kayo tune in a way. Furthermore, that languid evening arrangement and Hirai's soft-and-slightly smoky delivery had me thinking about Ruiko Kurahashi's（倉橋ルイ子）numbers from the 1980s.

Etsuko Kisugi（来生えつ子）and her brother Takao Kisugi（来生たかお）were responsible for the creation of "Tayumanai Yoru ni", and the sibling team knows a thing or two about bringing together a nice lush ballad. As for Hirai, she released a total of 5 singles between 1990 and 1994, and 3 original albums. A Golden Best compilation came out in 2011. In 2002, she joined her alma mater of the Masaaki Hirao Music School as an instructor at the Fukuoka branch.