I've been a fan of Japanese popular music for 40 years, and have managed to collect a lot of material during that time. So I decided I wanted to talk about Showa Era music with like-minded fans. My particular era is the 70s and 80s (thus the "kayo kyoku"). The plus part includes a number of songs and artists from the last 30 years and also the early kayo. So, let's talk about New Music, aidoru, City Pop and enka.
Credits
I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.
A few decades ago, someone had the bright idea to enshrine the third Monday of January as Blue Monday, the saddest day of the year. As much as folks and maybe even authorities have tried to debunk it, the concept has remained stuck to pop culture like hawk talons on a fish. Ironically, a lot of those credit card and utility bills have poured into my mailbox today.
Well, Monday is bad enough but a Blue Monday calls for some help and perhaps I can humbly provide some "blue" songs that can have you swaying, skipping, grooving or even dancing. Enjoy!
Following a few weeks of Xmas-themed Reminiscings of Youth articles, it's time to return to normal somewhat, although I know that we're still in the Holidays. And for this final ROY of 2022, I wanted to bring in something danceable and nostalgic since we're approaching the final party season of the year. Not that I will be going anywhere near a club on December 31st; I'm simply too old for that now. It's gonna be toshikoshi soba for dinner on that night.
My first ROY regarding the legendary 80s band New Order revolved around "Bizarre Love Triangle" which was a favourite on the dance floor in all of those discos that my university buddies and I had used to frequent such as The Copa and RPM in Toronto. As soon as we heard the familiar intro, we were up and at 'em. However, we also had an affinity for the band's darker but still plenty danceable song "Blue Monday".
When I saw the Wikipedia information on the song, I was surprised to see that it had been released so early...in March 1983. I certainly don't recall hearing it that early in the decade. But then, I realized that the version that we'd been used to hearing and dancing to was "Blue Monday '88" (a lot of us liked to do a march to it) remixed by Quincy Jones and released in April 1988. Indeed, I did get my copy of the record as you can see in the thumbnail photo at the top. And the video above us here is of this remixed version while the video below has the original 1983 song.
I figure that there are plenty of representatives for 1980s music. New Order's"Blue Monday" would be the ambassador for the UK dance territory. The combination of the rat-a-tat drum, the synths and the bass/bass synth and especially Bernard Sumner's vocals is iconic. If there is ever a movie set in the 1980s, this is the song for the trailer as much as "In the Mood" has usually been utilized for any flick taking place in the 1920s or 1930s.
Apparently, the movie was no great shakes but "Wonder Woman 1984" had Sebastian Böhm making his mark on its trailer with his own version of "Blue Monday". It would have been cool to use it during an action scene there.
So, what were up at Nos. 1, 3 and 5 on Oricon for April 1988?
In this Reminiscings of Youth article, I will let you know what the "power" songs were with my university friends and I when we hit the discos back in the 80s. I may have already mentioned at least some of them in past articles but here goes: Ministry's"Every Day is Halloween", Paul Lekakis' "Boom Boom" (although not my personal favourite), and Depeche Mode's"Strangelove".
Then, there were the works of British band New Order. I swear that all of their songs were worthy of wearing out our shoes on the dance floor, no matter how late the hour, but the one single that had us rushing from our drinks, conversation and tables was the Extended Mix of"Bizarre Love Triangle". As was the case with Pet Shop Boys and the aforementioned Depeche Mode, New Order had its own distinctive sound when it came to the synthesizers, bass and percussion, plus of course, Bernard Sumner's cooing vocals. No matter where we went to dance, whether it be the Copa, the Diamond or Sparkles in the CN Tower, the DJ would always play the Extended Mix...had to keep the joy going for as long as possible.
"Bizarre Love Triangle" was released in early November 1986. I remember that our disco-ing days began soon after I joined the inaugural form of the Japan-Canada Students' Association when it started up in that same month, so the timing was excellent. From what I've read of the song on Wikipedia, I gather that my fellow club members and I weren't alone in our love of the song. Although it didn't exactly set the general charts in the US or the UK on fire, it did well on the dance and indies charts and has been included in Rolling Stone's"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" at No. 204 as of 2004.
I can no longer see myself getting anywhere close to a dance floor nowadays except in the possible position of a chaperone which is just as well. If I hear "Bizarre Love Triangle" again in that situation, my legs may just propel me back onto the floor. That would probably launch this reaction from the younger folk:
Anyhow, since the release date of "Bizarre Love Triangle" was November 5th 1986, what were the Top 3 songs on Oricon's October 1986list?
